An Affair in Winter

****4.5 Stars!****<br /><br />This was my first read from this author and I’m hooked! I loved book one of the seasons series and I can’t wait to move on to the next instalment!<br /><br />If you are looking for a historical romance that has family loyalty, love, and of course passion... then look no further! This had a great mixture and I couldn’t put the book down!!!<br />I’m always on the lookout for new authors who are talented and whose writing keeps me glued to the pages! Jess Michaels fits that bill perfectly! She has quite a big back list too which I’m excited to check out as well!

I see so many 1 star rate for this book that I am gleefully writing this review. Maybe it was the hiper enjoyable narrator, or maybe I missed something important, because I enjoyed listening to every minute of this book and I already listened to the second one, for you to see how entertaining I thought it all was. Who knows?<br /><br />Was it a ridiculous affair and I think the heroine needed to control her body a bit? Absolutely.<br /><br />Was the hero a controlling freak that mothered his siblings like nothing? Oh yes. <br /><br />I agree with everything bad I read about this review. That are many things I thought ridiculous but they in no way lessened my enjoyment.

<b> 3 Stars</b><br /><br /><b>Overall Opinion: </b>I feel like this one had a lot of potential, but it sadly was just kind of...meh. I get their lust and there were some pretty good sexy times, but I wanted more romance I guess. I also felt like their conflict was kind of stupid after a while. The h also turned into a stupid, horny puddle whenever the H so much as looked at her! That is definitely one of my pet peeves for hs, because I like the strong willed females that use their brains as well as their sexual prowess!<br /><br /><b>Brief Summary of the Storyline: </b> This is Rosalinde and Gray's story. They meet one night in a small inn when the weather has them off the roads. Because of the over capacity, they are forced to share a meal together and both are instantly attracted to one another and end up having a hot night together. They are shocked to find that they are headed to the same place where Rosalinde is going to support her sister for her upcoming wedding and Gray is trying to stop his brother from marrying her sister. They bump heads a little, but the strong attraction and connection they felt towards one another is too hard to deny. There is some family/past drama and some sexy times...and they get a HEA ending.<br /><br /><b>POV:</b> This alternated between focusing on Rosalinde and Gray in 3rd person narrative.<br /><br /><b>Overall Pace of Story: </b> Good until the abrupt ending. I never skimmed and I thought it flowed well otherwise.<br /><br /><b>Instalove:</b> Not really. Instalust? Yes. In the grand scheme of things the feelings did develop rather quickly, but I wouldn't call it instalove.<br /><br /><b>H rating:</b> 3.5 stars. Gray. I liked him alright. I thought his insistence to stop the wedding was a little weird considering they were all open about what it was. But I did appreciate how he cared for the h.<br /><br /><b>h rating:</b> 2.5 stars. Rosalinde. She was okay. I didn't like the way her mental capabilities went to mush when the H showed interest.<br /><br /><b>Sadness level: </b>Low, no tissues needed<br /><br /><b>Push/Pull:</b> Yes, but mild <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="3a044095-a749-49c9-8552-6099b72cb1b3" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="3a044095-a749-49c9-8552-6099b72cb1b3">The H pushes away a little emotionally. I would say that the H is also the main pursuer of the relationship. </label><br /><br /><b>Heat level:</b> Good. They have some good tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.<br /><br /><b>Descriptive sex:</b> Yes<br /><br /><b>OW/OM drama:</b> No<br /><br /><b>Sex scene with OW or OM:</b> No<br /><br /><b>Cheating: </b> No<br /><br /><b>Separation:</b> No<br /><br /><b>Possible Triggers: </b>Yes <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="55c9436b-456d-4f02-80da-0bb1a9d1fcbc" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="55c9436b-456d-4f02-80da-0bb1a9d1fcbc">Verbally abusing parental figure and spouse (off page), h was married before and husband died (off page), and blackmail/physical assault (on page). </label><br /><br /><b>Closure: </b>This had a kind of abrupt ending with what I would reluctantly call a HEA. I would've liked some time with them as an actual couple and maybe a farther glimpse into their future! <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="711f5b7c-de01-430c-963f-ed809bf449a6" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="711f5b7c-de01-430c-963f-ed809bf449a6">They got married</label> <br /><br /><b>Safety:</b> This one should be <u>Safe</u> for most safety gang readers<br /><input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="6c09f799-a348-4fce-90d7-e01cac1c4ad6" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="6c09f799-a348-4fce-90d7-e01cac1c4ad6"><br />- <b>Does Not</b> have cheating<br />- <b>Does Not</b> have a descriptive sex scene with OW/OM<br />- <b> Does</b> have the H pushing the h away<br />- <b> Does Not</b> have a separation between the h and H<br />- <b> Does Not</b> have abuse by mcs<br />- <b> Does Not</b> have OTT sad parts<br />- <b>Does</b> have a HEA ending</label>

<strong>Disappointing</strong><br /><br />I read one other book by this author and really enjoyed it. After that, this was quite disappointing. Too boring! Sorry, after 63%, couldn't finish. I don't expect it to get better by this point.

Not bad . 3.5 stars

Sorry to say this felt like a mess. Wish I could have <br />un-read this frustrating story. <br /><br />Grandpa was oppressive toward sisters Rosalinde <br />(the h) &amp; Celia. The hero, Gray, acted overbearing <br />toward his sibs &amp; seduced Rosa @ will. Judgmental <br />Gray reminded me of the old saying : Who died and <br />made you King? Grandpa forced Celia to become en-<br />gaged to Gray's older bro Luc. An indifferent couple. <br /><br />This had more sex than story. Gray defended Rosa <br />against G'pa. Too much pretending everything was <br />fine. The end.

In just a few chapters we got:<br />- Woman who is so utterly gorgeous that <i>every single man</i> a crowded inn stares at her but who is utterly convinced that she's ugly<br />- A dude who almost orgasms just from...watching her eat<br />- two MCs who keep doing/saying things and then informing us that they totes didn't want to to do that but have been compelled by some primal urge or whatever...<br /><br />Thanks but no

Trigger warnings: verbally abusive and controlling family member, blackmail. <br /><br />Okay, so here's the thing. I "bought" TWELVE free Regency romances at once a couple of weeks ago. I...have regrets. And yet I'm still going to work my way through them all, even though I have literally zero expectations at this point. <br /><br />This, once again, was fine but nothing special. It had a slightly fan fic feel to it and I can't quite put my finger on what didn't work for me. I enjoyed the "there was only one bed" trope at the beginning, but the heroine's incredibly toxic and verbally abusive grandfather was.......yikes. Like, I understand that he's there to create tension in the story but y.i.k.e.s.

4.5 stars rounded up.<br /><br />After her own failed married, widowed Rosalinde Wilde is excited to see her beloved sister marry a good man, but a storm impedes her journey to the nuptials. Stranded overnight at a packed in, Rosalinde winds up spending a steamy, unforgettable night with a stranger.<br /><br />Grayson Danford certainly didn’t expect to find himself unable to forget the stranger with whom he shared such an exciting night, but he’s grateful for the distraction from his brother’s upcoming wedding. So, he’s floored when he learns his lover of the previous night is actually sister to his brother’s fiancé.<br /><br />Rosalinde and Gray are now very much at odds, but that does nothing to curb the desire they still clearly feel for one another, and it remains to be seen who will win in their battle of wills.<br /><br />Lately I’ve decided to try to find some fall or winter set reads to get me into the feel of the cozy season, so I picked this one strictly because of the name and it did happen to have been on my TBR for some time. I’m not sure I really got cozy winter vibes from it, but I did enjoy the emotionally charged story. There are a lot of tropes at play here and I think they were all quite well done and made this story feel fresh and not quite like anything I’ve read before. Even with the enemies energy Gray kept trying to maintain with Rosalinde, these two still felt inevitable. It was obvious that they were drawn together, and he was afraid of his emotions, and I loved that Rosalinde was unapologetic about hers. Despite everything she’d faced with her unhappy marriage and her grandfather’s cruelty, she still believed in love and was willing to fight for it for herself and for her sister. She also showed Gray how to trust those feelings and accept the good with the bad, rather than living in fear of hurting or disappointing those he loved. I really liked that aspect, and it made Gray likeable, because otherwise he was a bit of a prat.<br /><br />The supporting characters were well-developed here as well. I was interested in Felicity, Celia and Lucien just as much as Rosalinde and Gray at times and I now want to read their stories. I loved how Gray defended Rosalinde and stepped up to embrace his feelings, but I also loved that it came about in such a way that Rosalinde was still the bold one who put herself out there first. I enjoyed this story and will hopefully continue the series.<br /><br />Blog link: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://mustreadalltheromance.blogspot.com/2022/10/an-affair-in-winter-by-jess-michaels.html">https://mustreadalltheromance.blogspo...</a>

3.5⭐️ rounded up. <br /><br />Tropes:<br />~they meet as one night stand <br />~forced proximity<br />~widow heroine <br /><br />TW for super toxic grandfather who is emotionally abusive