Loving Roxie by G. G. Vandagriff

Roxie Castro comes to Florence, Italy to help her friend Georgia heal after the death of her husband. While there she decides to chase her dream of being an author, collaborating with the gorgeous Professor Stefano Nae in researching the murder of Princess Isabela di Medici. However, when they begin to delve into her history, strange things start happening to Roxie: panic attacks, the resurfacing of buried memories, and a fear that something from her past has come forward to haunt her future.

The professor's help triggers her powerful attraction to him, and this in turn worsens the attacks.The closer they get to solving the mystery surrounding her past, the more tangled her emotions become. Will discovering Roxie’s secret finally free them to explore their newfound feelings or will it snatch away the one chance they have for a lasting love?

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This book wasn't exactly what I was expecting.  But now, going back and reading the blurb, I guess it is exactly what it said it was going to be.  I must have just got the wrong first impression when I read it.  I thought this was going to be more of a mystery/suspense kind of book with some romance thrown in but it was more of a tangled web of emotional and mental trauma that the main character had to work through.

Roxie is an unusual and very confusing character.  I honestly didn't know if I liked her for most of the book but I knew I could if the understanding were there.  It took a long time to get to that point, but it did happen and once I understood where Roxie was coming from, I liked her better.  

Stefano is a saint among men.  I didn't really understand his connection with Roxie or what he saw in her, but I did love his patience and the devotion he had to his mother and family.  He is a steady, kind man and he kept this book anchored amidst the emotional turmoil that was everywhere.

I loved the Italian setting. The descriptions of the places there were fantastic and made me long to be there too.

Content:  Mention of abuse, nothing descriptive.  Death, depression, dysfunctional families, PTSD

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Spring in Hyde Park (Timeless Regency Collection) by Jennifer Moore, G.G. Vandagriff, Nichole Van

From the publisher of the #1 Amazon bestselling A Timeless Romance Anthology series in Clean Romance.

Join three bestselling Regency Romance authors, Jennifer Moore, G.G. Vandagriff, and Nichole Van, for three new novellas in SPRING IN HYDE PARK:

A HAPPY ACCIDENT by Jennifer Moore. Jonathan Burles father has just died, making him the new Marquess of Spencer and the most sought after bachelor in London. An unfortunate accident leads to a forced marriage to Maryann Croft, a young woman who possesses no title, and an unexpected secret. With the unstable beginning to their marriage, finding love together seems impossible.

THE DISDAINFUL DUKE by G. G. Vandagriff. Lady Saphronia Huffington has always thought of herself as plain next to the beauty of her sister, Lady Lavinia. So when her sister becomes engaged to Lord Gilbert Caldwell and Saphronia is paired for wedding events with his brother, the granite-faced Duke of Mayfield, who is known to prefer beauties, she sharpens her wit. Thus begins a lengthy sparring contest during which the Duke realizes Saphronia is anything but plain.

AN INVISIBLE HEIRESS by Nichole Van. Miss Belle Heartstone has everything money can buy—houses, servants, carriages, clothing, jewels. A husband, however, is proving much harder to, ehr . . . purchase. Colin Radcliffe, the newly minted Marquess of Blake, is in desperate need of funds—preferably of the wife-free variety. When circumstances draw the two together, Blake might be the only man able to see beyond the Belle’s outer façade, and fall in love with the woman inside.

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I think this is one of my favorite books for the month, and I have read a LOT of books this month.  It's actually three books (novella size) in one, each by a different author.  Regency romance is also one of my favorites so this book just made me happy.  

Two of these authors are not new to me- I have read many books by them and I know how fantastic they are.  Nichole Van is new to me.  I know she has a series out that has done well but I haven't had a chance to read it yet but guess what?  After reading her novella here (which I LOVED), I went right over to Amazon and picked up the first book in her House of Oak series.  I hope I can get to it soon!

All three of these novellas are so good.  They transported me to the regency era and I could easily imagine the clothing, the settings and the food.  My heart had many smiles and romantic sighs.  It was perfect.  Love!

Lord John's Dilemma (Grenville Chronicles Book 2) by G.G. Vandagriff

When Lord John returns from the Battle of Waterloo nursing a serious wound and a case of melancholia, he is hopeful of beginning a happier phase in his life. His sights are set on the lovely Miss Lindsay, his country neighbor’s daughter. But to his mystification, he keeps getting distracted by her family’s governess—a little dab of a thing who is not at all what she seems.

His determination to solve the mystery of Miss Haverley begins to seriously undermine his interest in Miss Lindsay, who is confident he is about to offer for her. In the face of this, how can he pursue his interest in the family governess? Not only must he solve this dilemma, but he must discover what the petite woman is hiding.

When Miss Haverley begs him to resist satisfying his curiosity because such a course could bring her harm, his dilemma doubles. He is more determined than ever to rescue her from whatever demons she is trying to escape, for Miss Haverley alone seems to have the power to stir him to passion and hope for a new life.

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Sometimes this girl is just in the mood for a good regency romance.  This book fit the bill perfectly.  Imagining those lovely dresses, walks in the garden and taking tea is all part of the regency charm.

Lord John is tired.  After facing the atrocities of war, he is longing for a quiet life in the country to lift his spirits and rejuvenate his soul.  Now he needs to find a wife who shares the same desires.  Lord John thinks he knows what he wants but then he meets Miss Haverley and he becomes distracted by her loveliness and charm.  He knows there is more to Miss Haverley than meets the eye.  She is hiding something and he is determined to find out what and why.

Miss Haverley is a mystery and there are things about her that just don't add up.  She has everyone wondering.  Especially Lord John.  He is determined to unravel her secrets because she is the sunshine and light to his darkness.

I enjoyed this book and it's characters.  It was a gentle, easy read and I was quite content to stay in the English countryside with Lord John and Miss Haverley.  I need to pick up the first book in this series because I'm so curious about Lord John's brother and his story.  This book can stand alone though.  I don't think you need to read the first to be fully invested in the second.  It's just my curiosity now, driving me to read the first book.  I know where I'll go when that regency mood hits again!