Book Review: Knockout by Sarah MacLean

Knockout (Hell's Belles #3) by Sarah MacLean 
Genre: Adult Fiction (Historical Romance)
Date Published: August 22, 2023
Publisher: Avon

New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean returns with the next Hell’s Belles novel about a chaotic bluestocking and the buttoned-up detective enlisted to keep her out of trouble (spoiler: She is the trouble).

With her headful of wild curls and wilder ideas and an unabashed love of experiments and explosives, society has labeled Lady Imogen Loveless peculiar…and doesn’t know she’s one of the Hell’s Belles—a group of vigilantes operating outside the notice of most of London.

Thomas Peck is not most of London. The brilliant detective fought his way off the streets and into a promising career through sheer force of will and a keen ability to see things others miss, like the fact that Imogen isn’t peculiar…she’s pandemonium. If you ask him, she requires a keeper. When her powerful family discovers her late-night activities, they couldn’t agree more…and they know just the man for the task.

Thomas wants nothing to do with guarding Imogen. He is a grown man with a proper job and no time for the lady’s incendiary chaos, no matter how lushly it is packaged. But some assignments are too explosive to pass up, and the gruff detective is soon caught up in Imogen’s world, full of her bold smiles and burning secrets…and a fiery passion that threatens to consume them both.

Knockout is the third book in the Hell’s Belles series by Sarah MacLean. I don’t know what happened this time around. I normally love these books, but this one was definitely not my favorite. I’ve been looking forward to Imogen and Tommy’s story too. Uggh! It just all fell flat and repetitive and predictable for me. I knew right away who the villain was. I felt like the author was in a different, more agenda pushing mood this time around too. The characters were missing all the fun, quirkiness that I usually enjoy about them. Actually, it fell like an entirely different author wrote this one. This one just wasn't for me. 

Check out my reviews of more books by this author!

Sarah MacLean grew up in Rhode Island, obsessed with historical romance and bemoaning the fact that she was born far too late for her own season. Her love of all things historical helped to earn her degrees from Smith College and Harvard University before she finally set pen to paper and wrote her first book.

Sarah now lives in New York City with her husband, baby daughter, their dog, and a ridiculously large collection of romance novels. She loves to hear from readers. Please visit her at www.macleanspace.com

To learn more about Sarah MacLean and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Book Review: If Only I Had Told Her by Laura Nowlin

If Only I Had Told Her by Laura Nowlin
Genre: Young Adult Fiction (Contemporary)
Date Published: April 1, 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

If only I’d told her that I loved her years ago, then I wouldn’t be here now.

Finn has always loved Autumn. She’s not just the girl next door or his mother’s best friend’s daughter, she is his everything. But she’s not his girlfriend. That’s Sylvie, and Finn would never hurt her, so there’s no way Autumn could know how he truly feels.

Jack, Finn’s best friend, isn’t so sure. He’s seen Finn and Autumn together. How could she not know? And how is he supposed to support and protect Finn when heartache seems inevitable?

Autumn surrounds herself with books and wants to write her own destiny—but one doesn’t always get a new chapter and fate can be cruel to those in love.

Told through three different perspectives, If Only I Had Told Her is a love story brimming with truth, tragedy, and unexpected bonds that heal us.

If Only I Had Told Her is the sequel to If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin. We get Finn and Jack's perspective this time around. Like the first book, we get a lot of day to day stuff with their perspectives. Some of it was necessary, as it shows how the different relationships built up and/or crumbled. But I feel like a lot of it could have been skipped through.

We also get more from Autumn's perspective. I enjoyed watching how her character grew and coped after the death. I feel like it was very believable, and the pacing was much better than it was in the first book or with the boy's perspectives in this book. I can see how these books would be helpful to people in similar situations.

Have you read the first book?

Laura Nowlin is the NYT bestselling author of If He had Been with Me and This Song is Not for You.  She holds a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Missouri State University.   When she isn’t at home agonizing over her own novels Laura works at the public library where the patrons give her plenty of inspiration for her writing.  She lives in St. Louis with her family.

To learn more about Laura Nowlin and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads and Twitter.

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Book Review: Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean

Heartbreaker (Hell's Belles #2) by Sarah MacLean 
Genre: Adult Fiction (Historical Romance)
Date Published: August 23, 2022
Publisher: Avon

A Princess of Thieves

Raised among London's most notorious criminals, a twist of fate landed Adelaide Frampton in the bright ballrooms of Mayfair, where she masquerades as a quiet wallflower--so plain and unassuming that no one realizes she's the Matchbreaker...using her superior skills as a thief to help brides avoid the altar.

A King of Reputation

Henry, Duke of Clayborn, has spent a lifetime living in perfection. He has no time for the salacious gossip that arises every time the Matchbreaker ends another groom. His own reputation is impeccable--and the last thing he needs is a frustrating, fascinating woman discovering the truth of his past, or the secrets he holds close.

A Royal Match

When the two find themselves on a breakneck journey across Britain to stop a wedding, it's impossible for Clayborn to resist this woman who both frustrates and fascinates him. But late-night carriage rides make for delicious danger...and soon Adelaide is uncovering Clayborn's truths, throwing his well-laid plans into chaos...and threatening to steal his heavily guarded heart.

Heartbreaker is the second book in the Hell's Belles series by Sarah MacLean. I loved the whole Match Breaker premise of this one, plus the enemies to lovers, and it was just a whole lot of fun to read. I love the characters and the chemistry between them. I'm a big fan of the bantering. I've seen a lot of people saying it's unrealistic for the times, but you know what? When it comes to this author, I really don't care. I thoroughly enjoy her books for the fictional escape that they are. 

The light was fading fast inside the building, so she worked quickly. Replacing the bottom of the drawer, she returned the ledger books, dismantled her skeleton key, and stood, tucking her snuffbox away and settling the wooden cube into the crook of her arm.

“That doesn't belong to you.”

Her heart leapt into her throat as she looked to the doorway, her free hand already sliding inside her skirts to the false pocket at her thigh, headed for the blade she kept there. She preferred to remain invisible and not leave a mess on missions, but she wasn't above taking out this bruiser if she had to.

He was the opposite of invisible, tall and lean, standing in the shadows just inside the office door, peaked cap pulled low over his brow, doing absolutely nothing to hide the sharp lines of his handsome face—a long, straight nose and an angled jaw that appeared to have been honed by the best of bladesmiths.

This was not one of her father's bruisers.

Even if she hadn't been able to hear it in his proper voice, or see it in the way he held himself, as though it had never occurred to him that he did not belong in a place—even a dark warehouse owned by a hardened criminal . . . even if he didn't look as though he'd spent his youth learning to fence instead of fight . . . it was the nose that gave it away.

He'd never once spent a night hungry. Never once had to brawl for his safety or his supper. Never once had to steal, because he had obviously been born into all he had.

The man was money.

Check out my reviews of more books by this author!

Sarah MacLean grew up in Rhode Island, obsessed with historical romance and bemoaning the fact that she was born far too late for her own season. Her love of all things historical helped to earn her degrees from Smith College and Harvard University before she finally set pen to paper and wrote her first book.

Sarah now lives in New York City with her husband, baby daughter, their dog, and a ridiculously large collection of romance novels. She loves to hear from readers. Please visit her at www.macleanspace.com

To learn more about Sarah MacLean and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

Buy this book at: