Brazen and the Beast

I stand by what I said in my placeholder review that there needs to be a novella about Nik and Nora - regency lesbians! Named NIK and NORA, come on! This has to happen.

Anyway, this is my first Sarah MacLean in quite some time; she was one of the first authors I read when I was getting into romance years ago, but her recent books haven't been clicking with me, so I probably wouldn't have picked this up if not for romance bingo. I'm glad I did, because I really liked the heroine (and again, this book needed more Nora as well). I liked that Hattie was plus-size and tall - as a person like that myself, generally romance heroines are one or the other (or neither), but not all of the above, so I enjoyed that. I also liked that Hattie and Nora pointed out how ridiculous the nickname “Beast” is and that it wasn't used very much, because it is ridiculous.

There were a couple of plot issues that keep me from giving this five stars: 1) the whole premise of the series, with three illegitimate sons all born the same day and forced to battle to become the heir, is just bonkers, but this is historical romance, so... 2) I know it mentions that Hattie's family is preoccupied and doesn't pay much attention to her, but you think they might notice if she just disappeared and was in a coma for at least several days? Anyway. Overall, I enjoyed this, which was a pleasant surprise, and I'll probably read the next book in the series for bingo if my library ever gets it.

(2020 summer romance bingo: violet eyes. Would also work for “I'm on a boat” and bootleggers. Maybe “midsummer ball,” but I honestly am not sure what time of year the ball in this book takes place.)