Lord Fenton's Folly

By Josi S. Kilpack

Lord Fenton is a gambler and a dandy, and he will be stripped of his wealth and position unless he rises to his responsibility—one of which is to marry. Far from being a giddy groom, Fenton chooses the unobjectionable Alice Stanbridge simply because he had known her as a young girl and his mother feels Alice would make a good wife.

Alice, however, has harbored feelings for Fenton since their first meeting years ago, and his proposal is a dream come true. Not only would a match with the most-eligible bachelor in London secure her future, but it will also give her a place of distinction and admiration. Had anyone admired Alice for anything before now?

When Alice learns that she is not only an unwanted wife, but a demanded one, however, she closes her heart. Only when Lord Fenton faces the greatest trial of his life does he begin to find love beyond the folly. Could a great love come from a beginning such as this?

The historical regency “proper” romances are one of my guilty pleasures, and I can’t help but blow through them for a shot of warm fuzzy goodness. I was especially excited about this one because of Lord Fenton’s funny cameos in Kilpack’s other regency romance “A Heart Revealed” and was looking forward to seeing the comedic Fenton meet his match (pun intended). This was an unpleasing read for me. I’m going to give a few spoilers in the following so stop reading if you don’t want to know. Usually there is some kind of moral hang up that happens preventing the romance from progressing. This is the case for Fenton, who has an issue with intimacy because of the transgressions of his father. I had a really hard time reading this because of that. I disliked reading it, and it didn’t feel like a true ‘proper’ romance because of it. As I’ve always stated however, I am highly sensitive and don’t care for anything of a sexual nature in my books. A good kiss is okay, but other than that makes me uncomfortable.

I give it a 2.75 out of 5

A Heart Revealed

By Josi Kilpack

Amber Marie Sterlington, the Rage of the Season in Regency-era London, has her pick of men, and she knows what she wants most in a husband: a title and a fortune. Why would she ever marry for something as fickle as love? And why would she ever look twice at Thomas Richards, a third son of a country lord?

But when Amber’s social standing is threatened, the character of her future husband becomes far more important than his position. After a public humiliation, she finds herself exiled to Yorkshire. Alone except for her maid, Amber is faced with a future she never expected in a circumstance far below what she has known all her life. Humbled and lonely, Amber begins to wonder if isolation is for the best. Who could ever love her now?

It’s very difficult to enjoy a book when you don’t like the main character. I had a hard time relating to or even feeling sympathy for Amber. She’s a brat. She’s totally vapid and doesn’t have one thought for someone else, she’s too fixated on her beauty and her ability to snag a rich husband. Even when things go horribly wrong for her and she has to start rethinking her life, I still held a grudge against this lady. I found myself latching on to the interesting facts I was learning about the disease that Amber has and the family history we learn as we read. I enjoyed reading this book, but I wasn’t sucked in or feeling any warm fuzzies at the romance. Thomas was way too good for her. I liked the maid better.

I give this a 3 out of 5

Lemon Tart

By Josi S. Kilpack

A recipe for murder!

5 families living on Peregrine Circle
1 flowered curtain tieback
1 missing child
1 body in the field

Mix with a long list of suspects and top with two very different detectives. Increase heat until only the truth remains.

In this debut volume, cooking aficionado-turned-amateur detective, Sadie Hoffmiller, tries to solve the murder of Anne Lemmon, her beautiful young neighbor-a single mother who was mysteriously killed while a lemon tart was baking in her oven. At the heart of Sadie’s search is Anne’s missing two-year-old son, Trevor. Whoever took the child must be the murderer, but Sadie is certain that the police are looking at all the wrong suspects-including her! Armed with a handful of her very best culinary masterpieces, Sadie is determined to bake her way to proving her innocence, resucing Trevor, and finding out exactly who had a motive for murder.


I hadn’t read a murder mystery in probably oh 5 years when I picked this culinary cozy up. To be honest, I used to be addicted to mysteries, but got really sick of them after a major overdose as a teenager. This book was fun for a mystery, having an older lady as the sleuth. I also really enjoyed the recipes scattered throughout the novel and was actually pretty excited to try a few of them out. As for the story and the mystery, I think lots of mystery lovers would really enjoy this new spin on the genre. There are currently 3 books in this little series; the next being English Trifle, and Devil’s Food. As for me, I didn’t much care for it. That was mostly the result of the depressing nature of murder mysteries because they contain, well, murder among other nasty things that I’d rather not dwell on. To me, mysteries seem to pull out the worst things that humanity is capable of and flaunting them so people think it is ingenious how others pull the wool over their eyes and “get away with it”. Yikes. That’s just my opinion though. If you like mysteries and have no problems with them, then absolutely and definitely read Lemon Tart.