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A review by ontheshelf_romance
Big Duke Energy by Amalie Howard, Kerrigan Byrne, Christi Caldwell, Stacy Reid, Janna MacGregor
5.0
While short stories and novellas aren’t my normal go-to books – the longer the better I believe! – the anthology of stories within Big Duke Energy is just brilliant; I didn’t even realise while reading that the stories were so short, as from page one each individual story gripped me, pulling me into a world that I felt I’d known forever.
The main reason I wanted to read this book was for Sebastian Moncrieff’s story – he had a prominent part in The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo and I was hoping he would get his own story one day, so when Kerrigan Byrne mentioned in an interview he was to be a part of this anthology, I knew I would have to pick up a copy and devour it, even if I didn’t like the other stories. Thankfully this story was just a delicious starter to a delectable main course.
All the other stories in the book were well written by authors I had heard of but I had never actually read their novels before – a mistake on my part that my bank account is now paying heavily for! I read a lot of historical romance and I’m ashamed to say that these authors have passed me by, but I am thankful for the amount of reading material that is now on my kindle.
I wanted to be able to state my favourite story but there is something special in all of them; they kept me riveted from start to finish and that made it too hard to pick an actual favourite. I felt the stories where the characters had a history with each other worked extremely well, as the narrative was already deeply established and that’s why the words were so engaging from page one – I felt like I knew these people from their thoughts and feelings’, and I wanted to know more. Caldwell, Byrne, and especially MacGregor showed this in their writing, and it worked very well, the story flowed and gave their characters more depth.
From what I can gather, each story is a stand-alone but also a part of the authors other works, so while you needn’t have read the other novels in the series, you might like to read them before or after you read this anthology. I know I am!
I had decided before reading the book that I would give a star to each story that I enjoyed, and I’m pleased to say that I give this book 5 stars out of 5. Every story kept me captivated from beginning to end and I felt sad when I’d finished them all that I wanted to read them all over again.
I recommend this book to anyone who already loves these authors as it will not disappoint; the steam, the feels and the love is on a high scale and spills over the pages. I also think it is a brilliant gateway novel into the world of historical romance, if you’ve never read one before but you want to dip your toe in, make sure it is this one!
*I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The main reason I wanted to read this book was for Sebastian Moncrieff’s story – he had a prominent part in The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo and I was hoping he would get his own story one day, so when Kerrigan Byrne mentioned in an interview he was to be a part of this anthology, I knew I would have to pick up a copy and devour it, even if I didn’t like the other stories. Thankfully this story was just a delicious starter to a delectable main course.
All the other stories in the book were well written by authors I had heard of but I had never actually read their novels before – a mistake on my part that my bank account is now paying heavily for! I read a lot of historical romance and I’m ashamed to say that these authors have passed me by, but I am thankful for the amount of reading material that is now on my kindle.
I wanted to be able to state my favourite story but there is something special in all of them; they kept me riveted from start to finish and that made it too hard to pick an actual favourite. I felt the stories where the characters had a history with each other worked extremely well, as the narrative was already deeply established and that’s why the words were so engaging from page one – I felt like I knew these people from their thoughts and feelings’, and I wanted to know more. Caldwell, Byrne, and especially MacGregor showed this in their writing, and it worked very well, the story flowed and gave their characters more depth.
From what I can gather, each story is a stand-alone but also a part of the authors other works, so while you needn’t have read the other novels in the series, you might like to read them before or after you read this anthology. I know I am!
I had decided before reading the book that I would give a star to each story that I enjoyed, and I’m pleased to say that I give this book 5 stars out of 5. Every story kept me captivated from beginning to end and I felt sad when I’d finished them all that I wanted to read them all over again.
I recommend this book to anyone who already loves these authors as it will not disappoint; the steam, the feels and the love is on a high scale and spills over the pages. I also think it is a brilliant gateway novel into the world of historical romance, if you’ve never read one before but you want to dip your toe in, make sure it is this one!
*I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.