Welcome to Litsy!

New book & new eggplant recipe! I wanted to eat gochujang tonight, so I hit Google and found this beauty. The glaze was delish and the eggplant itself cooked up especially good.

THE DUKE HEIST isn‘t actually a NEW book; I technically started it last night, but I‘m in the middle of a big, brain-monopolizing organizational project and I kept putting it down to get back to that. I hope I can really dig in tonight. The Wynchesters are great.

The audio version of this book was good.

This romance was okay. I personally think Chloe forgave the Duke way too quickly for his jerky behavior. His mood swings were exhausting. The Duke is poor and needs a rich wife with a dowry (which he thinks isn‘t Chloe). So he basically has her on the side while still looking for a wife.

However, it‘s a romance so it has a HEA.

This was a Book Riot #GetTBR recommendation.

The Duke Heist is book 1 in the Wild Wynchsters series. I previously read & loved book 2 (The Perks of Loving a Wallflower) and had to go back and read the first.

Chloe Wynchester is the family leader who is invisible to everyone but her siblings. She accidentally kidnaps the Duke of Faircliffe in her quest to find their stolen painting. I loved the way these two start to really see each other as the story moves forward & they fall in love.
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It's funny reading this *after* having read the second book; I'd normally never do that, but I was assured it wouldn't matter. It doesn't, much, but they definitely are in the expected chronological order, so I do know a little of how things turn out.

I was initially really unsure about the male lead and how his behaviour in the prequel novella would actually lend itself to him being a romantic interest, but I'm warming to him rapidly.

A pleasant Regency romance between a near-destitute Duke and an adopted rags-to-riches orphan who accidentally kidnaps him while trying to retrieve a family heirloom. This didn‘t make a huge impression on me but it was light and enjoyable.

Book 29 of 2021. Sometimes you just need a Happily Ever After! ❤️

That was really cute!! I love a good found-family story, & this one was funny, warm & sweet. The characters were sympathetic & witty, & the plot kept me invested without feeling contrived. The writing felt kind of anachronistic from time to time, & certainly some plot points were predictable (as expected). I‘m not going to remember this one forever, but still it was a light, adorable romance. ★★★½.

New to me author. Really enjoyed the found family presumably set up as the framing device for this one. Despite the somewhat heavier subject matter, the tone of this sometimes still read as light to me at times. Though, the third act did get me teared up as well. I think the second half is when this really hit its stride. It has the setup of something like a MacLean but doesn‘t wade fully into the darkness. Also VERY intrigued by next book setup.

The books I get in book boxes have been dinged from time to time, but this is the worst shape one has ever shown up in...

This was SUCH a rollicking good time, heck yeah. Love a superspy baron's ward plotting with her siblings to steal a painting from a duke only for said duke to fall head over heels for the "mousy" orphan. Chloe and Lawrence have real love, y'all. #romance #historicalromance

I got surprise #bookmail today. It definitely lifted my spirits after feeling like utter poo after having my second dose of the vaccine. And it takes my mind off waiting to hear about my application to grad school.

This is my first book by Erica Ridley and now I am a huge fan. The beginning of a new series following the Winchester family, orphans adopted by the late Baron of Winchester. We follow the head of the family, Chloe, as she infiltrates the Duke of Faircliffe‘s life to regain a family painting that was stolen by his father. In a game of cat and mouse the enemies begin to see the other side and have to fight their attraction for one another.