Isle of Synne, Book 1
Heat Factor: Blip on the radar
Character Chemistry: I am not buying what they’re selling
Plot: She’s for sale to the highest bidder for her father’s social advancement. He’s only interested in revenge.
Overall: It must be me, because people seem to really like this book, but I just cannot
Originally published in the anthology For Love and Liberty: Untold Love Stories of the American Revolution.
Heat Factor: Just a little bit warm
Character Chemistry: Surprisingly believable emotional connection considering the length
Plot: Two enslaved Black people choose opposite sides in the Revolution and find themselves thrown together in a British encampment
Overall: The depth in this short story was marvelous
Bareknuckle Bastards, Book 3
Review of Bareknuckle Bastards, Book 2
Heat Factor: Very sexy
Character Chemistry: If you’re looking for a 380-page grovel, you’ve come to the right place
Plot: Stay with me – He tried to kill her when they were kids – Stay with me! – Now he’s a fraudulent duke – Stay with me – And she’s the queen of the Covent Garden criminal underground
Overall: MacLean nailed the close on this trilogy.
Seducing the Sedgwicks, Book 3
Review of Seducing the Sedgwicks, Book 1
Heat Factor: I’m waffling between “the door’s ajar” and “snuggled under a pile of blankets”
Character Chemistry: These two clearly adore each other
Plot: IDK, love is hard?
Overall: Character-driven, low-key, friends-to-lovers M/M snuggles
Heat Factor: Hot, tender, touching, strong, hopeful
Character Chemistry: All four couples have undeniable and complicated chemistry.
Plot: Four stories of love and hope entwined with Juneteenth–each story set in a slightly different time period, each story SO historically and emotionally vivid.
Overall: This is an absolutely phenomenal MUST read — it’s going to hit you right in the “feels” and stay there.
