Historical Romance Readathon Wrap Up

Hey Guys!! So earlier this month, I made a post about the historical romance readathon, and how I wanted to participate. Well, it happened, and it was great. Today, I want to share with you all the great books that I read, and what I thought about them.

The first book I read for the readathon, was Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning. I have read books from her before, and loved them, so I decided that this was probably a safe start. I also had the audio book for it, through scribd, and was able to multitask and read at the same time. My thoughts on this book are very similar to my thoughts on her other series, Fever. She writes very headstrong, and stubborn main characters. I loved the main characters in this series, just like her other series.

If you don't know, this series is about a girl from 1997 who time travels in the past to 15th century Scotland. She is forced to marry a guy she does not know, who by the way, doesn't even show up to their wedding, so she isn't feeling to great about him. She meets him, and has an attraction to him, but likes nothing else about him. She also meets this mysterious guy who her new betrothed does not like, which makes her 'like' the new guy even more. This book is full of sexual tension, rivalry, stubbornness, and a little bit of magic. I really enjoyed it! I do believe that I want to continue on in the series. Although, the ending does read like a standalone, I love her writing and world building, and characters. I'm intrigued to continue.

I originally read this for the prompts: Scarred Hero, and Marriage of Convenience, I am going to add to that, Part of a series, as I did not get to my original read for that prompt. I thought this book did a great job of fulfilling all three of those prompts. The only iffy prompt would be Scarred Hero, but I think his scars are emotional, because he was forced into slavery for most of his life, so he has a lot of baggage.

The second book I finished was Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas. This book was not as successful for me as my first read for this readathon. If you don't know, this book is about a spinster girl in England who decides to move her family to the country for a chance of a better life. They recently experienced a lot of loss in their family, and need a change of scenery. Enter, a very cute/controversial man who sweeps the main character off her feet.

My problem with this book is that the first 150-200 pages were kind of boring. It felt like nothing happened. No action, no romance, just introduction to this family and their problems, which for the most part, had already happened before the book began. The book picks up after the halfway point, and it wasn't enough of a pick up to redeem what I already didn't like about the book. It also felt like the characters were formulaic. The spinster main character was uptight and controlling. Her sisters were all archetypes, not a lot of substance. The only character that I found to be a little interesting, was the love interest, and even he wasn't enough for me to really love this book.

What I did like about this book, was the commentary on race and class. I didn't expect that from this book. I liked that the main character saw past the guy's race, and stood up for him countless times. I also liked the sex in this book. I thought that the author did a great job explore the interest of the two characters. It was clear they were attracted to one another, and I thought everything about their relationship was good! No problems there, which is good because this is a romance!

Overall, didn't love it, didn't hate it. I know that this is a part of a series. I think it might be one of those series were it's in the same world, but explores the relationships of different characters. Right now, I don't think I will continue. I didn't like any of the characters enough to want to continue. I'm also not sure if I want to continue reading more from this author. My issues with her characters and pacing kind of turned me off of this book, and there are so many historical romance authors out their that I think my time would be better spent finding a new favorite author, rather than giving her another shot.

I read this for the prompt Rags to Riches, although their wasn't a huge riches part to this book. The characters moved to a house that they had inherited from their family. It's a little iffy for me, but I'm going to count it!

The last book I completed for the readathon, was Hearts Aflame by Johanna Lindsey. This was the buddy read book, it was also available with Kindle Unlimited, which was how I got to read it, because I could not find it anywhere.

This book is about a Viking girl in 900 A.d time period who is looking for love and adventure. She is like the town beauty, everyone wants to marry her, but she wants to have love and passion just like her parents, and she does think she will find it in her home town. To find this kind of love, she decides to stowaway on her brothers ship to go on the yearly merchants trip. She soon finds out that they aren't actually going to be trading, they are going to be raiding a town south of where they live. Things don't go according to plan, and she and her fellow ship mates (at least the ones that didn't get killed) become captured and enslaved. This being a romance, she falls for the guy that captures her, and things get a little controversial because she is now a slave, and a viking slave at that.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this book. I din't think that I would, the cover is a bit much for me, but it was great! I loved the Viking aspects, I've never read a book during that time period. I thought all of the religious parts were fascinating, and all of the sayings were really cute. I also loved the romance in this book. It's very hate to love, but for some reason it didn't bother me. I thought the characters were great. Once again, the main female character is very headstrong, she is also witty. The only reason this book is not a full 5 stars, and believe me, it had potential, is because the ending was very easy. I know that it's a romance, not an action book, but the ending happened very abruptly, and I didn't love that part.

I definitely see myself read more books by this author. She has so many books, so I have no idea where I would start, but I'm sure it will be great.

I read this for the prompt Bodice ripping.

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Overall, I had a great time during this readathon. I did not get to my last book The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare (who is my favorite historical romance author) but I think I will get to it soon. I feel like I got a chance to discover a lot about this genre, including what I like and don't like. For instance, I love marriage of convenience. I haven't read one that I dislike yet. I also love Scottish/highlander novels. I also don't hate "hate to love" tropes in historical romance for some reason. I do hate it in contemporary novels, though. I was able to find new authors that I like, and solidify my love for an author that I'd already read from. I'm very pleased with my week of reading, and I see a lot more historical romance in my future.

Please let me know if you have any recommendations based off of what I've written, I love getting new recommendations. I hope you all have a great day!

Happy Reading!