This is a fun collection of historical romance novellas featuring some new-to-me authors and some beloved favorites. Some stories were better than others, but it is a delightful anthology overall. I would recommend it for fans of steamy historical romance!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this title.

I had so much fun reading novellas from my favorite historical romance writers.

That being said, there were a few novellas that I was playing catch up on, as I had not read the series they are associated with. That made the overall reading experience 3 stars.

I am not sure why I didn’t read this book sooner — Let me tell ya the stories included are wonderful!!

If you like Historical romance — check out this collection!!


Thank you for providing a review ARC

5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Really great collection of stories! I mainly dove in for Kerrigan Byrne, but each short story was great, enjoyable and well written.

5 Stars Earl on a Train

The Earl on the Train: Eliminating an enemy is at the forefront of Sebastian Moncrieff's mind, but coming face to face with the siren of his dreams leaves Sebastian in shock. Whether their meeting is a good or bad thing has to be determined, but he discovers in Lady Veronica a means of finding redemption and new beginnings.

Loved and Found: Separated from her soul mate by manipulative and autocratic parents, Lady Edith is forced into a marriage with a cruel man who is many years her senior. His death may bring relief but does nothing the heal her broken heart after experiencing rejection from the only man she has loved. An accident on the way to her brother's estate inadvertently puts her in Thaddeus' path, but when she comes face to face with him, she realizes that he still hasn't softened towards her. It takes a little time for Thaddeus to learn the truth of all that happened so many years before, and when he does, he finds it may be too late to make amends.

The Wolf of Westmore: A family feud has kept warring families apart for so long that they have lost sight of the original reasons for the discord between them. Used by her family as a pawn in the accumulation of more land and the opportunity to put a further spoke in Westmore's wheel, Lady Jocelyn determines her own fate by putting herself into the enticing hands of the Wolf of Westmore. With an attraction that transcends the bitterness and recriminations between the two families, Jocelyn and Wulfric gravitate toward one another but do not count on the mischief stirred up by her conniving cousin.

A collection of historical regency reads ranging in heat level from spicy to inferno.
Bite sized delights with stories of love, betrayal, longing, and hope. Each other delivers a fabulous story filled with passion, adventure, and love.

A great introduction to must read authors.

The Earl on the Train by Kerrigan Byrne

A train, a knife, a pirate, and a Dowager Countess ... what could possibly go wrong? A spicy read!

Loved and Found by Christi Caldwell
A game of hide and seek, a Lieutenant, a broken carriage, a snowstorm, and a second chance. A spicy treat.

The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
A dungeon, a duel, rules, and an invitation. Will this Little Red be devoured by her Wolf or will they discover a wickedly fun love. An inferno read.

Put Up Your Dukes by Janna MacGregor
When Amelia married Richard Martin she never imagined that he'd spend more time with his gossip paper than at home with her. Tired of watching lives destroyed she does the only thing she can to save her heart and what is left of her reputation, she leaves her husband ... well ... sorta ;)

What happens next is a delightful story with a second chance element, a woman who knows what she wants and a man who must find the courage to admit his desires. When Richard discovers that he can't live without his wife, will she forgive him?

"Life is hard, in so many ways." ... Discover a scorchin read.

Duke of Every Sin by Stacy Reid

A marriage of convenience, a secret that could destroy them both, a sketchbook, and both desire love. Will they find it despite their arrangement or will they be able to forgive the past before it leaves them both broken and unable to live a life they are both worthy of. This is an inferno read

Thank you NetGalley and Olive Heber Books for this advance reader copy for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I was waiting so long for Moncrieff's story and I'm happy that it didn't disappoint me. I truly enjoyed THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne. Sebastian is a typical Byrne's hero, that I always love to read. Great chemistry between him and Veronica. If you love this author work, you cannot miss this novella.
I also read LOVED AND FOUND, which was nice second chance romance.

I really loved Byrne's and Reid's story. In all honesty I didn't finish the other authors because I didn't finish their writing style compliment my reading preferences.
Thank you for the ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Oliver Heber Books for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the stories and that this was a collection of stories by a diverse range of authors.

This book features novellas from some of my favorite historical romance authors. Each story is well written and well paced. This is a talent not many authors have but each story in this book shows how masterful these authors are.

While I preferred some stories over others. I mean Stacy Reid can not disappoint, each story is worth a read.

Like many multi-author collections, mileage here will vary. These stories are quick and HOT but don't have much depth. Good for a little palette cleanser between bigger reads or for catching up on side character stories from a favorite story. Worth checking out if curious about an author's work, too.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Big Duke Energy is an anthology from authors Kerrigan Byrne, Amalie Howard, Stacy Reid, Christi Caldwell and Janna MacGregor. I am a Caldwell and MacGregor fan and figured I’d want to read this. It turns out to be the very best decision I made while stuck in a pandemic. Each story though a standalone is also slightly intertwined. The first title, ‘The Earl on the train’ one finds witty comedy, and lots of steam between two unlikely partners in crime, who discover that they are just perfect for each other. In title 2 ‘Loved and found’, we get a heartfelt story of friendship that grew into love misunderstood and lost. I got so much joy at watching Thaddeus and Edith Rose, his Edie reconnect and get a chance to start anew leaving all the heartache and misery they endured behind. In title 3, ‘The Wolf of Westmore’ the heat is turned way up when a wronged and vengeful Duke of Westmore falls for his enemy’s beautiful daughter Jocelyn, despite trying to rein that sinking ship. Complete with a marriage of duress, the way to their HEA leaves you cheering on love and forgiveness. In title 4, ‘Put up your Dukes’, we find ourselves entertained by the shenanigans of married and yet sort of estranged couple Amelia and Martin Richmond who clearly need some gentle nudges and reminders from the duke and other characters we had met along the reading of the anthology to remember why they married and what’s truly important in this world. The anthology closer ‘Duke of every sin’ finds our heroine Verity standing her grounds against the Devil Duke, the Duke of Bainbridge to regain custody of her beloved nephew. I may be biased but I think it was well chosen as the closer. It tied up the characters and the hinted stories we had glimpsed in the gossip rag of the Richmond’s. As I mentioned I was already familiar with authors Christi Caldwell and Janna MacGregor, but Kerrigan Byrne, Amalie Howard and Stacy Reid turned out to be delightful new finds for me to some explore more. This review was given on the ARC copy received from the Publisher via NetGalley in return for my honest opinion, grab yourself a copy and enjoy it as I did!

These are some of my favorite authors in HR, which is my fave genre, so I was excited to get the arc for these from NetGalley! 4.25 overall stars

Book 1: Kerrigan Byrne - Earl on a Train - 4/5 stars; 3/5 steam
Sebastian Moncrieff is a former pirate whose character first appears in The Duke in the Dragon Tattoo (you don't have to read it to enjoy this book, but I recommend it). He runs into the one woman he has not been able to get his mind off of - Veronica Weatherstoke - who is serving as the chaperone for the daughter of the man Sebastian is on a mission to kill.

Book 2: Christi Caldwell - Loved and Found - 2/5 stars; basically no steam :(
This one is my least favorite of the series. I find Caldwell to be hit-or-miss. I have a couple of her books that I LOVE, and then there are some that are really subpar, including some with pretty much zero steam. I feel like she needs to note that in her blurbs so I don't waste my time, tbh.
This is a second chance between a common man and duke's daughter that grew up together and were torn apart by the h's parents. Meh.

Book 3: Amalie Howard - The Wolf of Westmore - 4.5/5 stars; 3.5/5 steam
Wow! This is a reverse auction situation where the children of long-time rivals come together very passionately. When Lady Jocelyn Capehart attends an auction for charity where she bids on her sworn enemy, Lord Wulfric Bane, the Duke of Westmore. Hotness ensues. Lots of it. Yum.

Book 4: Janna MacGregor - Put Up Your Dukes - 4/5 stars; 3/5 steam
This was a steamy married couple coming back together. Very hot (let me just say: desk scene!).

Book 5: Stacy Reid - Duke of Every Sin - 4.25/5 stars; 2.5/5 stem
Ethan Benedict, Duke of Bainbridge finds the infant child of his best friend on his doorstep and vows to care for the baby, but he knows he is ill-equipped to handle it on his own. Lady Verity Stanton is horrified to learn that her sister abandoned her own baby, so she ends up accepting a marriage of convenience with the Duke to be able to stay in her nephew's life. I really, really wish this one was longer!

Overall, a great anthology!

This was a very mixed anthology in terms of quality and enjoyment but definitely worth a read. I love using anthologies as a way to get a taster from new authors or something extra from old favourites.

LOVED AND FOUND: Christi Caldwell
4 stars. This story broke my heart. Christi Caldwell is one of my favourite historical romance authors and her ability to tug at my heart and make me feel all the emotions is one of the reasons for that. Despite that I was hesitant about this as I don't typically enjoy second chance romances. This absolutely worked though. Edie and Thaddeus were childhood lovers but she was a dukes daughter and he the son of a brick layer so were separated to tragic lives apart from one another. Both had their hearts broken by this for different reasons yet both secretly still loved and pined for the other. I actually cried, I just wished all the bad things hadn't happened to them. I think Edie's brother Crispin may have had his own book so I'm off to search for his story.

THE WOLF OF WESTMORE by Amalie Howard
4 stars. I really did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did after being disappointed by the Beast of Beswick but oh my this was good. Very Romeo and Juliet with feuding families and a heroine who took her life and her pleasure in her own hands. The chemistry between the two was truly sublime and the plot was engaging and actually worked for the length of the story. The only thing I wasn't so keen on was how much the Rakehell of Roth played into this. I haven't yet read that and I feel like quite a few scenes placed in here not only spoiled parts of that book but also didn't add anything to this one so I wish they hadn't been included.

DUKE OF EVERY SIN by Stacy Reid
3 stars. I really enjoy Stacy Reid so I had such high hopes for this that sadly weren't met. This was a fast and engaging story but I don't feel like I truly believed these two fell for each other so quickly. My main issue was that I don't think the tropes used here worked for this novella. I won't say what because it isn't in the synopsis, (although I think it should be as it would reflect the story better) but I honestly found the way it played out a bit ridiculous. It gave a very insta-love air to the novella.

THE EARL ON THE TRAIN by Kerrigan Byrne
2 stars. This was by no means bad but it was seriously lacking in substance with a definite case of lust not love. Kerrigan Byrne is a really great writer but having now read a few novellas by her I don't think she is able to pull them off to the same standard as her full length novels.

PUT UP YOUR DUKES by Janna MacGregor
I made an executive decision to skip this story as I do not get along with Janna MacGregor's work. Too many 1 and 2 stars.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

The Earl On The Train by Kerrigan Byrne
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ out of 5
Our ex-private hero stumbles across the woman he once held captive when he is on a mission to assassinate someone
(Wow). Of course Kerrigan Byrne writes the most amazing anti-heroes and this one is no different! This novella is sensual awakening for the heroine and it’s hot 🔥🔥🔥.

Loved And Found by Christi Caldwell
❤️❤️❤️❤️ out of 5
A second chance romance with a class difference. Our heroine is the daughter of a duke and now a widow and our hero was a working class man and then joined the army to make something of himself. Years later our hero finds her in his bed in the middle of nowhere like goldilocks and he finds himself drawn in once again. On the sweeter and angstier side with some steam but still a great read!

The Wolf of Westmore by Amalie Howard
❤️❤️❤️❤️ out of 5
This novella was HAWT 🔥🔥🔥🔥 with a capital H! Our heroine has decided to take her body into her own hands when she learns her father is set to marry her off to someone old enough to be her grandfather. So in a rather scandalous auction she buys herself a duke for a night and what a night it is! One that neither she nor her duke can forget…. However she was masked the whole time and he has no idea that the woman he can’t stop thinking about is the daughter of his enemy. The only thing that I wasn’t the biggest fan of was dropping the L word after too few interactions, other than that I loved it!

Put Up Your Dukes- Jana MacGregor
❤️❤️❤️❤️ out of 5
Our hero and heroine have been married for years but separated after our hero refused to give up his gossip paper for the heroine. Our hero wants the heroine back and is willing to do anything in his power to bring her back…. Except give up his paper. This has some hot moments 🔥🔥🔥 and was angsty yet sweet all at the same time.

Duke of Every Sin- Stacy Reid
❤️❤️❤️❤️ out of 5
When a baby is left on the hero’s doorstep he steps up to care for the child. Our heroine is the baby’s aunt and wants to raise the baby. The hero’s offer- a marriage of convenience and then they can BOTH raise the baby! Sweet and steamy and there is nothing more attractive than a man with a baby! The ending pulled my heart strings.

Every one of these stories was amazing.
Unfortunately I had a family tragedy while reading, and was not able to post a fully loaded review to my blog before release day. I will do so in the future.
I loved it. I love every one of these authors, and this book just blew my mind. I am so happy to have read it. I recommend it strongly for everyone.

THE EARL ON THE TRAIN
by Kerrigan Byrne
4.25 Stars

I'll admit, Kerrigan Byrne’s name on this anthology was the draw for me. Especially since her Victorian Rebels series is a favorite and The Earl on the Train is a spin-off novella. The last we saw of Sebastian Montcrief was in book six and his behavior was not at all conducive to getting his own happy ever after, let alone his own story. Yet, this is Byrne's specialty and unsurprisingly, she was able to turn the tables from the contentious situation this couple had in book six to an actual romance. It helped that we'd already seen this couple in an intimately precarious situation. It turns out that Sebastian Moncrieff had a conscience buried deep within himself and Veronica had the key to open it up and let it out. Like its predecessors, I love a romantic antihero romance and Byrne kicked it up a notch with one of the most wicked. Too short, but still fun.

I will be updating this review as I complete each of the additional stories within this collection.

I absolutely loved Kerrigan Byrnes story and have, in fact, been waiting for her to write this one forever. To be honest, the others were fine- but I was obsessed with Ms. Byrnes contribution.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

As with most anthologies, this was sort of a mixed bag. The first and last were definitely the strongest for me. The heat levels were mixed as well, a few felt especially steamy, but one or two felt quite average.

KB- Well damn. I really wasn't expecting Sebastian to redeem himself after the nonsense he pulled at the end of The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo. He just didn't really seem like 'leading man' material. But, I did end up rooting for both of them, and I really enjoyed this story. It fills you in on all their important backstory to a remarkable degree, so it probably could stand on its own, though there are spoilers for tDwtDT if you did end up reading this first, so be forewarned. I don't know how Byrne was able to reset the stage bringing forward all the important bits to their previous interactions, further flesh out their characters and personal backstories, add current plot besides just the two of them together, AND still dedicate like half the pages to steam. lol. All in just a novella! It's really kind of a marvel. A lovely addition to the Victorian Rebels series. 5 stars.

CC- I tend to like the childhood sweethearts, class difference, second chance sort, so this started off promising, but I think Caldwell's writing just isn't really for me. I didn't 'buy' it. Aspects seemed inconsistent and unlikely, the characters seemed a little wooden. I found myself giving the page squinty skeptical looks. lol. 2 stars.

AH- I have enjoyed the two previous books in this series (and there were nice cameos from those previous couples), but this was a bit too far-fetched for me and the gaps in reason a little too prevalent. I actually rolled my eyes at multiple points, and things kept taking me out of the story. I kept thinking 'I don't think that's how that works'. There was a nice dose of steam, but unfortunately it ended up being 2 stars for me.

JM- I've liked MacGregor's writing previously, but didn't care for this one all that much. It felt a bit 'on the nose' or something. 'Gossip? Bad! Orphans? Good!' =/ I didn't entirely buy the characters' feelings, so I ended up not caring all that much for them. They handled things poorly for the majority of the story anyway. Hands down the strongest part of the story was the steam. (Though I would have felt more invested in those scenes had I cared more for the characters). A low 3 stars.

SR- This was nice. The characters were mostly reasonable, which I like. And though it's harder to go from complete strangers to love in so short of a story, I think Reid pulled it off. I liked both leads and felt like they're well suited to each other. 4 stars.

This was a nice mix of stories all from authors I have never read before. The title pulled me in, and even though they are not all dukes, I liked them enough to forgive it! I was expecting a bit more raunchiness judging by the title but the stories were still very enjoyable and put a huge smile on my face.

I don't normally like anthologies since they tend to drag on for me. This one ,however, kept my attention throughout and I was pleasantly surprised. The earl on the train was definitely my favorite but the other stories also intrigued me to try each of the authors’ other works.

I’d definitely give this one a go!