Courtney Milan

Miss Minerva Lane is a quiet, bespectacled wallflower, and she wants to keep it that way. After all, the last time she was the center of attention, it ended badly--so badly that she changed her name to escape her scandalous past. Wallflowers may not be the prettiest of blooms, but at least they don't get trampled. So when a handsome duke comes to town, the last thing she wants is his attention. But that is precisely what she gets. Because Robert Blaisdell, the Duke of Clermont, is not fooled. When Minnie figures out what he's up to, he realizes there is more to her than her spectacles and her quiet ways. And he's determined to lay her every secret bare before she can discover his. But this time, one shy miss may prove to be more than his match... The books in the Brothers Sinister series: ½. The Governess Affair (free prequel novella) 1. The Duchess War 1½. A Kiss for Midwinter (a companion novella to The Duchess War) 2. The Heiress Effect 3. The Countess Conspiracy 4. The Suffragette Scandal 4½. Talk Sweetly to Me

The Duchess War

Megan BV

He smiled. “I know. I know precisely who you wore them for.”

“You wore them because you knew that color would soften the angles of your gown. That touch at the neckline makes your eyes look like storm clouds. It’s a lovely effect, Minnie. I know who you wore them for.”

“You wore them for you,” he said. “Good for you.” 

She let out a breath. “You’re a very dangerous man.”

“Of course I’m overmatched.” He was lightly stroking her cheek. “The male of the human species has a fundamental flaw. At the moment when we most want to say something clever and impressive, all the blood rushes from our brains.”

 “Physiological fact,” His Grace said. “Arousal makes me stupid. It makes me say idiotic things like ‘I like your tits’ and, ‘Help, we’ve had a paste emergency over here.’ It makes me want to stay around you even though I know I’m overmatched, even though I’m sure you’re going to win.” His voice lowered. “You see, I want to watch you do it.”

I love Minnie. (And also I want her to be happy so bad)

“Lucky you,” she said bitterly. “Lucky you that you can plan and think and plot without pretense. That you can want openly, that you don’t have to stuff it all inside yourself to molder. Lucky you that you can lift your eyes to the sky without singeing your wings. Lucky you that you can consider the future without terror.”

I don’t read a lot of historical romance but dang this book has me swooning!

She didn’t. Her head remained stubbornly bowed before him. He wanted to grab her and shake her. He wanted to tilt her chin up and force her to gaze in his eyes. He wanted— He wanted a great many things after that, none of which he was going to get from her by force. “I’m not pretending to flirt with you,” he said instead. “There’s no pretense in it. I want you. God, I want you.”

All you have to do is believe, he’d told her from the time she was five. We don’t need wealth. We don’t need riches. We Lanes just believe harder than everyone else, and good things come to us. 

And so she’d believed. She’d believed him so hard that there had been nothing to her but hollow belief when all his schemes had broken apart. 

“If you believe in the impossible,” Lydia said, jerking her back to the present, “it might come true.” 

“If you believe in the impossible,” Minnie said tartly, “you let go of what you have.”

Robert Blaisdell, the ninth Duke of Clermont, was not hiding. True, he’d retreated to the upstairs library of the old Guildhall, far enough from the crowd below that the noise of the ensemble had faded to a distant rumble. True, nobody else was about. Also true: He stood behind thick curtains of blue-gray velvet, which shielded him from view. And he’d had to move the heavy davenport of brown-buttoned leather to get there.

But the Duke of Clermont was smiling and cheerful, and he’d thrown it out there as if it were merely one more fact to be recounted. The weather is lovely. The streets are paved with cobblestone. Your tits are magnificent.

“Look at yourself sometime the way you are now, all fire and anger, ready to do battle with me. If you’d ever once looked at yourself that way, you wouldn’t question whether I’d want a flirtation with you. You’d know I would.”

maryam

i’ve come to the conclusion that i’m not a fan of regency romance lol

erin

I am not a romance reader (fic does it better and is queerer), but enough people suggested Courtney Milan as a well-written exception that I gave it a shot. 

I thought I was getting regency cishets, and I did, but with a big dose of labor rights and unionization. Hell yeah!

Still not my genre, but this surpassed my (low) expectations. Well written, tolerable sex scenes, healthy relationships and communication. Probably better than 90% of romance novels. 

May or may not care enough to continue the series.

Winona 

I liked it but there was something about it that was just  missing . I understand what Milan was doing by situating the character's within the rise of industrial unrest in England, and I really appreciate it, actually, it's so refreshing after reading HR's that choose to glorify racism and colonialism, but the book is too short to really do anything with it. So, it sort of feels like it gets in the way of the romance instead of being part of it. We go from romantic scenes - with smutty thoughts - and then kind of whiplash to scenes about organising against masters, or paying factory workers fairer wages, and it feels like if Milan had more space to write in she could have connected these two points together in more of an epic way. I don't necessarily see this as a fault in her writing, but maybe a fault in genre convention becoming too restricting for the story. 

I still liked it though. Minnie's and Robert's love story is very sweet. I like how they're both virgins and experience a sexual awakening together. The supporting characters are fun and, importantly, interesting. I'm definitely looking forward to reading Sebastian's and Countess Violet's book hehe. 

The sub-plot with Robert and his half-brother and mother, respectively, was very moving. I did shed a tear whilst reading his scenes with his mother. Milan did a good job in conveying his pain at being abandoned. However, I feel like she was a bit more heavy-handed with Minnie's on parental trauma: the situation seemed so outlandish that I didn't really connect with it because it threw me out of the story altogether.

Nevertheless, this was a sweet romance. Sometimes felt a little undercooked because there were many pieces moving on the chess board all at once (ha!) but not enough space and time to really let everything melt together. I will definitely be reading the next books though - especially Lydia's novella.

This book is absolutely brilliant. I’m not often in to historical romance but I absolutely adored this one. 

Minnie and Robert both have their secrets and trauma and they are worked through and dealt with in such a lovely way. He’s a radical duke and she’s spent her life hiding, together they are everything. 

The writing style is beautiful, the characters are so fully realized. Basically, I loved this book. I have no bad things to say only swoony praise. 

This book is absolutely brilliant. I’m not often in to historical romance but I absolutely adored this one. 

Minnie and Robert both have their secrets and trauma and they are worked through and dealt with in such a lovely way. He’s a radical duke and she’s spent her life hiding, together they are everything. 

The writing style is beautiful, the characters are so fully realized. Basically, I loved this book. I have no bad things to say only swoony praise. 

Becky A

Awww, basically a nice book about nice people.

Annabella

Arianna M

Ohh, this book definitely got me hooked on the Brothers Sinister series. I can't wait till I read the next one (not the Christmas novella, which is technically the next, because I'll save that for Christmas time).
Most of all I was intrigued by the socio-political themes and… wow… a man who is aware of his privilege and wants to use it for good AND abolish it? Hi. I'm yours.

Maria Arc

more interesting and emotional than i thought a historical romance could be

alisa 

Robert isn't just a Duke? but a RADICAL DUKE???? WOW. I LOVE HIM. ID KISS THE GROUND HE'D WALK UPON.

Imane

He was an anti-peerage Duke, she was a half-blind spinster with a chaotic past, can I make it any more obvious?

No but seriously. This book is a delight to read. Both main characters are fully developed adults with motivations and personalities and backstories that don't seem farfetched or stretched too thin to accommodate their current behavior. Robert was such a loveable character for all that he fumbles through romance with barely any finesse. He's clumsy but he CARES so much about everyone. Minerva's cleverness and her backbone are offset by her traumas and it was so sad to see her shrink herself to nothing just because she thought it'd keep her safe. The secondary characters were fleshed out as well and I particularly loved the emphasis on found family and friendship instead of simply focusing on the romance with no regard for the surrounding environment/context in which the story takes place. Honestly I could talk about this book for hours. It's definitely in my top 5 favorite romances and I'm looking forward to reading the other books because I'm a huge fan of both Oliver and Sebastian. But Robert <3 I love him.

Becky

I've had this on my kindle so long I've forgotten when I got it but I'm so glad it do. This was an absolutely brilliant read. I admit it did start slow but the wait for everything to come together was completely worth it. I even sacrificed sleep on one of the hottest nights to finish it and I have no regrets.

Averi Hobbs

I have never read a historical romance like this before, and it was AMAZING. I loved all the complexity of the characters, even the side characters, and how it was about more than the romance between our two main characters. I adored this. It had me feeling alllll the emotions. 

Kerry Gibbons

I really liked this book. Very light on the sex scenes and really heavy on the romance and political messaging.

Renee Delcourt

This was seriously a wild ride. I loved this book. Robert and Minnie's relationship is the most adorable thing in the world. Her aunts' love Minnie so much and the friendship between Lydia and Minnie is seriously so heart warming. The book evokes so much unconditional love from so many characters even with the strife both Minnie and Robert have gone through in their lives. It's beautiful and I seriously will be thinking about this book for weeks now that I have finished it. Seriously I think that this will be in my favorites of the year hands down.

The Duchess War

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