Book Review: Knockout by Sarah MacLean

Knockout (Hell's Belles #3) by Sarah MacLean 
Genre: Adult Fiction (Historical Romance)
Date Published: August 22, 2023
Publisher: Avon

New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean returns with the next Hell’s Belles novel about a chaotic bluestocking and the buttoned-up detective enlisted to keep her out of trouble (spoiler: She is the trouble).

With her headful of wild curls and wilder ideas and an unabashed love of experiments and explosives, society has labeled Lady Imogen Loveless peculiar…and doesn’t know she’s one of the Hell’s Belles—a group of vigilantes operating outside the notice of most of London.

Thomas Peck is not most of London. The brilliant detective fought his way off the streets and into a promising career through sheer force of will and a keen ability to see things others miss, like the fact that Imogen isn’t peculiar…she’s pandemonium. If you ask him, she requires a keeper. When her powerful family discovers her late-night activities, they couldn’t agree more…and they know just the man for the task.

Thomas wants nothing to do with guarding Imogen. He is a grown man with a proper job and no time for the lady’s incendiary chaos, no matter how lushly it is packaged. But some assignments are too explosive to pass up, and the gruff detective is soon caught up in Imogen’s world, full of her bold smiles and burning secrets…and a fiery passion that threatens to consume them both.

Knockout is the third book in the Hell’s Belles series by Sarah MacLean. I don’t know what happened this time around. I normally love these books, but this one was definitely not my favorite. I’ve been looking forward to Imogen and Tommy’s story too. Uggh! It just all fell flat and repetitive and predictable for me. I knew right away who the villain was. I felt like the author was in a different, more agenda pushing mood this time around too. The characters were missing all the fun, quirkiness that I usually enjoy about them. Actually, it fell like an entirely different author wrote this one. This one just wasn't for me. 

Check out my reviews of more books by this author!

Sarah MacLean grew up in Rhode Island, obsessed with historical romance and bemoaning the fact that she was born far too late for her own season. Her love of all things historical helped to earn her degrees from Smith College and Harvard University before she finally set pen to paper and wrote her first book.

Sarah now lives in New York City with her husband, baby daughter, their dog, and a ridiculously large collection of romance novels. She loves to hear from readers. Please visit her at www.macleanspace.com

To learn more about Sarah MacLean and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Book Review: Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean

Heartbreaker (Hell's Belles #2) by Sarah MacLean 
Genre: Adult Fiction (Historical Romance)
Date Published: August 23, 2022
Publisher: Avon

A Princess of Thieves

Raised among London's most notorious criminals, a twist of fate landed Adelaide Frampton in the bright ballrooms of Mayfair, where she masquerades as a quiet wallflower--so plain and unassuming that no one realizes she's the Matchbreaker...using her superior skills as a thief to help brides avoid the altar.

A King of Reputation

Henry, Duke of Clayborn, has spent a lifetime living in perfection. He has no time for the salacious gossip that arises every time the Matchbreaker ends another groom. His own reputation is impeccable--and the last thing he needs is a frustrating, fascinating woman discovering the truth of his past, or the secrets he holds close.

A Royal Match

When the two find themselves on a breakneck journey across Britain to stop a wedding, it's impossible for Clayborn to resist this woman who both frustrates and fascinates him. But late-night carriage rides make for delicious danger...and soon Adelaide is uncovering Clayborn's truths, throwing his well-laid plans into chaos...and threatening to steal his heavily guarded heart.

Heartbreaker is the second book in the Hell's Belles series by Sarah MacLean. I loved the whole Match Breaker premise of this one, plus the enemies to lovers, and it was just a whole lot of fun to read. I love the characters and the chemistry between them. I'm a big fan of the bantering. I've seen a lot of people saying it's unrealistic for the times, but you know what? When it comes to this author, I really don't care. I thoroughly enjoy her books for the fictional escape that they are. 

The light was fading fast inside the building, so she worked quickly. Replacing the bottom of the drawer, she returned the ledger books, dismantled her skeleton key, and stood, tucking her snuffbox away and settling the wooden cube into the crook of her arm.

“That doesn't belong to you.”

Her heart leapt into her throat as she looked to the doorway, her free hand already sliding inside her skirts to the false pocket at her thigh, headed for the blade she kept there. She preferred to remain invisible and not leave a mess on missions, but she wasn't above taking out this bruiser if she had to.

He was the opposite of invisible, tall and lean, standing in the shadows just inside the office door, peaked cap pulled low over his brow, doing absolutely nothing to hide the sharp lines of his handsome face—a long, straight nose and an angled jaw that appeared to have been honed by the best of bladesmiths.

This was not one of her father's bruisers.

Even if she hadn't been able to hear it in his proper voice, or see it in the way he held himself, as though it had never occurred to him that he did not belong in a place—even a dark warehouse owned by a hardened criminal . . . even if he didn't look as though he'd spent his youth learning to fence instead of fight . . . it was the nose that gave it away.

He'd never once spent a night hungry. Never once had to brawl for his safety or his supper. Never once had to steal, because he had obviously been born into all he had.

The man was money.

Check out my reviews of more books by this author!

Sarah MacLean grew up in Rhode Island, obsessed with historical romance and bemoaning the fact that she was born far too late for her own season. Her love of all things historical helped to earn her degrees from Smith College and Harvard University before she finally set pen to paper and wrote her first book.

Sarah now lives in New York City with her husband, baby daughter, their dog, and a ridiculously large collection of romance novels. She loves to hear from readers. Please visit her at www.macleanspace.com

To learn more about Sarah MacLean and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

Buy this book at:

Book Review: Bombshell by Sarah MacLean

Bombshell (Hell's Belles #1) by Sarah MacLean 
Genre: Adult Fiction (Historical Romance)
Date Published: August 24, 2021
Publisher: Avon

New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean returns with a blazingly sexy, unapologetically feminist new series, Hell’s Belles, beginning with a bold, bombshell of a heroine, able to dispose of a scoundrel—or seduce one—in a single night.

After years of living as London’s brightest scandal, Lady Sesily Talbot has embraced the reputation and the freedom that comes with the title. No one looks twice when she lures a gentleman into the dark gardens beyond a Mayfair ballroom…and no one realizes those trysts are not what they seem.

No one, that is, but Caleb Calhoun, who has spent years trying not to notice his best friend’s beautiful, brash, brilliant sister. If you ask him, he’s been a saint about it, considering the way she looks at him…and the way she talks to him…and the way she’d felt in his arms during their one ill-advised kiss.

Except someone has to keep Sesily from tumbling into trouble during her dangerous late-night escapades, and maybe close proximity is exactly what Caleb needs to get this infuriating, outrageous woman out of his system. But now Caleb is the one in trouble, because he’s fast realizing that Sesily isn’t for forgetting…she’s forever. And forever isn’t something he can risk.

Bombshell is the first book in the Hell's Belle's series by Sarah MacLean. Sesily is another one of the infamous Talbot sisters. I love these ladies. She's brave, spunky, and doesn't give two flips what society thinks of her. Her group of friends are ... I want friends like these! They are like the best kind of girl power mafia. And, they're super funny too. I hope they get their own books too. Poor Caleb didn't have a chance. No way would she give him one. But, he tried to resist anyway, making for some fun banter. Like always with this author, these characters are well fleshed out. You truly get to know them as you read, and there's always more to them than meets the eye. 

Check out my reviews of more books by this author!

Sarah MacLean grew up in Rhode Island, obsessed with historical romance and bemoaning the fact that she was born far too late for her own season. Her love of all things historical helped to earn her degrees from Smith College and Harvard University before she finally set pen to paper and wrote her first book.

Sarah now lives in New York City with her husband, baby daughter, their dog, and a ridiculously large collection of romance novels. She loves to hear from readers. Please visit her at www.macleanspace.com

To learn more about Sarah MacLean and her books, visit her website. You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.

Buy this book at: