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....Reverend Augustus Shackleford’s mission in life (aside from ensuring the collection box was suitably full every Sunday) was to secure advantageous marriages for each of his eight daughters. A tall order, given the fact that in the Reverend’s opinion they didn’t possess a single ladylike bone in the eight bodies they had between them. Quite where he would find a wealthy titled gentleman bottle headed enough to take any of them on remained a mystery and indeed was likely to test even his legendary resourcefulness. ....
Grievously wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar, Nicholas Sinclair was only recently returned to Blackmore after receiving news of his estranged father’s unexpected death. After an absence of twenty years, the new Duke was well aware it was his duty to marry and produce an heir as quickly as possible. However, tormented by recurring nightmares after his horrific experiences during the battle, Nicholas had no taste to brave the ton’s marriage mart in search of a docile obedient wife. …..
Never in his wildest dreams did Reverend Shackleford envisage receiving an offer for his eldest daughter from the new Duke of Blackmore. Of course, the Reverend was well aware he was fudging it a bit in describing Grace as respectful, meek or dutiful, nevertheless, he could never have imagined that his eldest daughter’s unruliness might end up ruining them all….
Perfect for fans of Regency Romances with wit and humor and a little bit of steam.
Praise for the Shackleford
‘Very funny, kept laughing out loud when reading them.’
‘Such an entertaining series, full of laughter and delightfully quirky characters.’
‘Terrific series, very funny.’
‘Thoroughly enjoyed this series, love the humour.’
‘There is constant action and so much funny banter, I couldn’t help laughing.’
‘These were wonderful. Lots of fun and great love stories.’
Grievously wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar, Nicholas Sinclair was only recently returned to Blackmore after receiving news of his estranged father’s unexpected death. After an absence of twenty years, the new Duke was well aware it was his duty to marry and produce an heir as quickly as possible. However, tormented by recurring nightmares after his horrific experiences during the battle, Nicholas had no taste to brave the ton’s marriage mart in search of a docile obedient wife. …..
Never in his wildest dreams did Reverend Shackleford envisage receiving an offer for his eldest daughter from the new Duke of Blackmore. Of course, the Reverend was well aware he was fudging it a bit in describing Grace as respectful, meek or dutiful, nevertheless, he could never have imagined that his eldest daughter’s unruliness might end up ruining them all….
Perfect for fans of Regency Romances with wit and humor and a little bit of steam.
Praise for the Shackleford
‘Very funny, kept laughing out loud when reading them.’
‘Such an entertaining series, full of laughter and delightfully quirky characters.’
‘Terrific series, very funny.’
‘Thoroughly enjoyed this series, love the humour.’
‘There is constant action and so much funny banter, I couldn’t help laughing.’
‘These were wonderful. Lots of fun and great love stories.’
182 pages, Hardcover
First published October 21, 2020
About the author
Beverley Watts
44 books315 followersBeverley spent 8 years teaching English as a Foreign Language to International Military Students in Britannia Royal Naval College, the Royal Navy’s premier officer training establishment in the UK. She says that in the whole 8 years there was never a dull moment and many of her wonderful experiences at the College were not only memorable but were most definitely 'the stuff of fiction.' Her debut novel An Officer And A Gentleman Wanted is very loosely based on her adventures at the College.
Beverley particularly enjoys writing books that make people laugh and currently she has four series of Romantic Comedies, both contemporary and historical, as well as a humorous cosy mystery series under her belt.
She lives with her husband in an apartment overlooking the sea on the beautiful English Riviera. Between them they have 3 adult children and two gorgeous grandchildren plus 4 Romanian rescue dogs of indeterminate breed called Florence, Trixie, Lizzie and Aggie.
Until recently, they also had an adorable 'Chichon" named Dotty who was the inspiration for Dotty in The Shackleford Diaries.
You can find out more about Beverley’s books at www.beverleywatts.com
Beverley particularly enjoys writing books that make people laugh and currently she has four series of Romantic Comedies, both contemporary and historical, as well as a humorous cosy mystery series under her belt.
She lives with her husband in an apartment overlooking the sea on the beautiful English Riviera. Between them they have 3 adult children and two gorgeous grandchildren plus 4 Romanian rescue dogs of indeterminate breed called Florence, Trixie, Lizzie and Aggie.
Until recently, they also had an adorable 'Chichon" named Dotty who was the inspiration for Dotty in The Shackleford Diaries.
You can find out more about Beverley’s books at www.beverleywatts.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,094 reviews
May 26, 2024
Read: 5/26/24
2.5 stars
This was just an okay novella! Luckily, it was a quick read and free on KU. I would have rated it lower if I had paid for it.
The author had the premise of a good story but didn't bother to flush out the characters. She couldn't decide if she wanted a serious book on wounded soldiers or a cute romance. Therefore, she failed at both
I won't be trying the other books in the series
2.5 stars
This was just an okay novella! Luckily, it was a quick read and free on KU. I would have rated it lower if I had paid for it.
The author had the premise of a good story but didn't bother to flush out the characters. She couldn't decide if she wanted a serious book on wounded soldiers or a cute romance. Therefore, she failed at both
I won't be trying the other books in the series
March 31, 2023
Amazon recommended this to me as a romantic comedy similar to The Bridgertons. The only problem is that it’s not original, the story is very predictable, the characters do not develop well, and it’s not humorous. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone.
October 9, 2025
Yeah I actually hated this.
Fmc grace was a doormat. Mmc was a dumbass (I casted him as Henry Cavill bc I don’t like him). I pictured grace’s father as Ben Franklin bc they’re the same breed of dumbass. Literally NONE of the men in this book were capable of taking any sort of accountability. There was no yearning. There was no groveling. He practically banished her out of their house for 3 months for her retaliation (riding on hay bails) to some dumb shit HE DID (left her all alone 3 days after getting married). She was just being a girl fr. And she immediately forgave him. IM PISSED YALL. 0/5 frfr
Fmc grace was a doormat. Mmc was a dumbass (I casted him as Henry Cavill bc I don’t like him). I pictured grace’s father as Ben Franklin bc they’re the same breed of dumbass. Literally NONE of the men in this book were capable of taking any sort of accountability. There was no yearning. There was no groveling. He practically banished her out of their house for 3 months for her retaliation (riding on hay bails) to some dumb shit HE DID (left her all alone 3 days after getting married). She was just being a girl fr. And she immediately forgave him. IM PISSED YALL. 0/5 frfr
September 27, 2021
Better than the 2nd
Liked this story about a Duke and a country bumpkin. So many misunderstandings and He was so pompous it was awful. When he threw her out, I did tear up a little for her. She was so sad and then he leaves her alone for a couple of months I believe. The Father is a bumbling fool but he has a good heart. And Percy his curate is a perfect accomplice. The scene where The Father dressed up as a woman was very amusing. The hero and heroine do finally make up which was good and they end up with an HEA and it was a quick read and free on KU.
Liked this story about a Duke and a country bumpkin. So many misunderstandings and He was so pompous it was awful. When he threw her out, I did tear up a little for her. She was so sad and then he leaves her alone for a couple of months I believe. The Father is a bumbling fool but he has a good heart. And Percy his curate is a perfect accomplice. The scene where The Father dressed up as a woman was very amusing. The hero and heroine do finally make up which was good and they end up with an HEA and it was a quick read and free on KU.
June 9, 2024
This could have been so great
This is a novella, so it gets 3 ★ because I judge them less harshly than novels. But it came really close to being a 2 ★ read.
🌹 The good
For such a short book, it managed to deliver great laughs and quick but unexpectedly poignant angst. You know that angst when a character is 'my lorded'/'your graced' when they least expect it? Damn, the delivery had me almost crying.
🥀 The bad
・
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・
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
This is a novella, so it gets 3 ★ because I judge them less harshly than novels. But it came really close to being a 2 ★ read.
🌹 The good
For such a short book, it managed to deliver great laughs and quick but unexpectedly poignant angst. You know that angst when a character is 'my lorded'/'your graced' when they least expect it? Damn, the delivery had me almost crying.
🥀 The bad
・
・
・
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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November 15, 2024
3 Stars for Grace: The Shackleford Sisters, Book 1 (audiobook) by Beverley Watts read by Eilidh Beaton and Mark Elstob.
So I gave Regency another try and I just don’t think it’s my cup of tea. I know that I’m not the target audience and the story was alright but I just don’t understand the hype.
So I gave Regency another try and I just don’t think it’s my cup of tea. I know that I’m not the target audience and the story was alright but I just don’t understand the hype.
Did Not Finish
June 18, 2024DNF at 2%. I am just not in the mood to read a romantic "comedy" that starts with a father disliking all of his daughters and only caring about their ability to bring wealth in for sake of his son.
Makes me sad
Makes me sad
September 5, 2021
Rev. Shackleford had 8 daughters (3 of marriage age) &
1 son. Likely his antics and drinking alcohol w/ his curate
friend at the tavern were meant to be witty? 3 stars.
Nicholas & Grace met & disliked each other. Nick told Rev.
he wanted to wed one of his dtrs. By the end of the week
he wed her, but soon left her for his visit to Scotland. Nick
presented as brooding +had flashbacks to his Royal Navy
wartime experience. Nick made assumptions about Grace
rumors & he cut her off. Talk to her, big guy! Heartless. We
saw too many examples of Grace's clumsiness.
The best relationship in the story was Nick & Malcom
his valet, also former Navy man.
1 son. Likely his antics and drinking alcohol w/ his curate
friend at the tavern were meant to be witty? 3 stars.
Nicholas & Grace met & disliked each other. Nick told Rev.
he wanted to wed one of his dtrs. By the end of the week
he wed her, but soon left her for his visit to Scotland. Nick
presented as brooding +had flashbacks to his Royal Navy
wartime experience. Nick made assumptions about Grace
rumors & he cut her off. Talk to her, big guy! Heartless. We
saw too many examples of Grace's clumsiness.
The best relationship in the story was Nick & Malcom
his valet, also former Navy man.
October 8, 2022
Dull and uninteresting
I practically skipped through the book just to try and finish it. It seemed as if the story lacked any coherence. It started out with a brave, witty, sharp tongued girl but soon she was just forgiving and in love and ready to jump into bed. Just didn’t make sense. The guy fell in love so quick too so really what was the whole point of the story. He never once apologised for his disappearances and his hot and cold treatment or keeping his secrets.
I practically skipped through the book just to try and finish it. It seemed as if the story lacked any coherence. It started out with a brave, witty, sharp tongued girl but soon she was just forgiving and in love and ready to jump into bed. Just didn’t make sense. The guy fell in love so quick too so really what was the whole point of the story. He never once apologised for his disappearances and his hot and cold treatment or keeping his secrets.
February 8, 2024
3.5 stars 🌟
Grace is the first book about 8 sisters and 1 brothers. With a bumbling fool of a father. Who is trying to marry the sister off . So he can save some money for his 5 year old son inheritance.
Grace is the eldest daughter, who marry a Duke who offered for her without meeting her. He has bad war nightmares and tries to turn off his feelings. Due to loosing people he loved. 🥲😂
Grace is the first book about 8 sisters and 1 brothers. With a bumbling fool of a father. Who is trying to marry the sister off . So he can save some money for his 5 year old son inheritance.
Grace is the eldest daughter, who marry a Duke who offered for her without meeting her. He has bad war nightmares and tries to turn off his feelings. Due to loosing people he loved. 🥲😂
June 2, 2023
I didn't like the plot, or the H and his PTSD was no excuse. The h was an inexperienced country girl, he knew it and still judged her harshly. He's not a Hero and this had another heroine could not walk without tripping. Not the author for me.
July 20, 2023
I struggled to finish this story. I couldn’t stand MMC. He was awful and not at all love able or redeemable IMO. The MFC was okay but didn’t develop or grow. I found it depressing.
January 5, 2024
one is enough
I enjoy romances but the storyline was underdeveloped and lacking in depth. I will not be wasting my time with the subsequent books of the series.
I enjoy romances but the storyline was underdeveloped and lacking in depth. I will not be wasting my time with the subsequent books of the series.
August 29, 2022
The Amazon synopsis said, "with a little bit of steam." Not really! There was a full bedroom scene with few details spared the reader. This is not why I read Regency novels. I continued to read it as I liked the heroine but then the villain was introduced. This book was too full of cliches and just too predictable. I stopped at 60%.
Amazon synopsis:
Reverend Augustus Shackleford’s mission in life (aside from ensuring the collection box was suitably full every Sunday) was to secure advantageous marriages for each of his eight daughters. A tall order, given the fact that in the Reverend’s opinion they didn’t possess a single ladylike bone in the eight bodies they had between them. Quite where he would find a wealthy titled gentleman bottle headed enough to take any of them on remained a mystery and indeed was likely to test even his legendary resourcefulness. ....
Grievously wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar, Nicholas Sinclair was only recently returned to Blackmore after receiving news of his estranged father’s unexpected death. After an absence of twenty years, the new Duke was well aware it was his duty to marry and produce an heir as quickly as possible. However, tormented by recurring nightmares after his horrific experiences during the battle, Nicholas had no taste to brave the ton’s marriage mart in search of a docile obedient wife. …..
Never in his wildest dreams did Reverend Shackleford envisage receiving an offer for his eldest daughter from the new Duke of Blackmore. Of course, the Reverend was well aware he was fudging it a bit in describing Grace as respectful, meek or dutiful, nevertheless, he could never have imagined that his eldest daughter’s unruliness might end up ruining them all….
Perfect for fans of funny, lighthearted Regency Romances with a little bit of steam.
Amazon synopsis:
Reverend Augustus Shackleford’s mission in life (aside from ensuring the collection box was suitably full every Sunday) was to secure advantageous marriages for each of his eight daughters. A tall order, given the fact that in the Reverend’s opinion they didn’t possess a single ladylike bone in the eight bodies they had between them. Quite where he would find a wealthy titled gentleman bottle headed enough to take any of them on remained a mystery and indeed was likely to test even his legendary resourcefulness. ....
Grievously wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar, Nicholas Sinclair was only recently returned to Blackmore after receiving news of his estranged father’s unexpected death. After an absence of twenty years, the new Duke was well aware it was his duty to marry and produce an heir as quickly as possible. However, tormented by recurring nightmares after his horrific experiences during the battle, Nicholas had no taste to brave the ton’s marriage mart in search of a docile obedient wife. …..
Never in his wildest dreams did Reverend Shackleford envisage receiving an offer for his eldest daughter from the new Duke of Blackmore. Of course, the Reverend was well aware he was fudging it a bit in describing Grace as respectful, meek or dutiful, nevertheless, he could never have imagined that his eldest daughter’s unruliness might end up ruining them all….
Perfect for fans of funny, lighthearted Regency Romances with a little bit of steam.
Did Not Finish
February 2, 2026DNF @ I have no idea. Halfish way? 🤷♀️
I had been told this was clean and all the reviews I looked at said it was clean. The reviews my mom found said it was clean.
Yet, surprise surprise, it was NOT clean.
Language:
D*mn
H*ll
Sh*t
B*stard
Taking Gods name in vain.
Multiple references to the wedding bed, thinking about it and wanting it. Like every other page.
A kissing scene that was WAY too much.
I stopped when a spice scene happened. I was not expecting it at all, they literally hate each other and all the sudden that happens! Why?!?!? 🤢
Definitely not something I want to be reading and I’m probably not going to be reading any more of this authors book.
I had been told this was clean and all the reviews I looked at said it was clean. The reviews my mom found said it was clean.
Yet, surprise surprise, it was NOT clean.
Language:
D*mn
H*ll
Sh*t
B*stard
Taking Gods name in vain.
Multiple references to the wedding bed, thinking about it and wanting it. Like every other page.
A kissing scene that was WAY too much.
I stopped when a spice scene happened. I was not expecting it at all, they literally hate each other and all the sudden that happens! Why?!?!? 🤢
Definitely not something I want to be reading and I’m probably not going to be reading any more of this authors book.
December 10, 2020
3.5*
I’ve been struggling to find something to read. So I thought I’d return to my first love, historical romances.
This was a fun little read.
Featuring the new Duke of Blackmore.
Unfortunately, that would involve procuring a wife. Something he neither needed nor wanted.
And Grace the eldest of eight daughters to the Reverend Augustus Shackleford.
These two may seem like an unlikely couple but they could be perfect for each other. But will they realise this before it’s too late
I’ve been struggling to find something to read. So I thought I’d return to my first love, historical romances.
This was a fun little read.
Featuring the new Duke of Blackmore.
Unfortunately, that would involve procuring a wife. Something he neither needed nor wanted.
And Grace the eldest of eight daughters to the Reverend Augustus Shackleford.
These two may seem like an unlikely couple but they could be perfect for each other. But will they realise this before it’s too late
November 6, 2023
Really did not enjoy this book. The story line was weak, with over exaggerated characters and the parts about the FMC's father, the vicar, were dire. Ended up skipping large sections of the book. Shouldn't have wasted my time. Will definitely not be reading others in the series
February 27, 2023
Didn't really like the Duke. Story was a little dull. Didn't finish it. 3☆
January 4, 2024
Take my advice. Don't waste your time. I thought this series sounded like such a cute story line. I had to push myself to finish this book and so will not read the others. The hero and heroine are fine (the one star in my rating was for Grace and Nicholas, who are a lovely couple). I liked their romance. But the Reverend: oh my word, he's a stupid man. How can the author write such a ridiculously simple character? And then she throws in all this Shakespeare -esque Victorian slang that's supposed to be comical but just muddies the waters of the reverend's personality even more. He's like a terrible caricature of Mrs. Bennett, which is saying something.
June 4, 2024
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. A short, fun romance read.
Grace is getting older (25) so her father has her wed off to the duke to secure the duke an heir and get her out of his care. They have their little spats and pretty much ignore each other at first. The Duke of course doesn’t want anything from her besides an heir but hasn’t consummated the marriage yet. Anyways, there’s a reason he doesn’t want to fall in love and it’s heartbreaking. they catch feelings and the rest I don’t want to spoil :)
The loss of a star is because of how often the author used the word “apoplexy” and also that the point of view was switching between the two MC, her father, and some smattering of villagers that we shouldn’t have had their point of view in the first place. That really could have been used to further character development for the main 2, especially considering the book is under 200 pages.
Spice 🌶️🌶️
Grace is getting older (25) so her father has her wed off to the duke to secure the duke an heir and get her out of his care. They have their little spats and pretty much ignore each other at first. The Duke of course doesn’t want anything from her besides an heir but hasn’t consummated the marriage yet. Anyways, there’s a reason he doesn’t want to fall in love and it’s heartbreaking. they catch feelings and the rest I don’t want to spoil :)
The loss of a star is because of how often the author used the word “apoplexy” and also that the point of view was switching between the two MC, her father, and some smattering of villagers that we shouldn’t have had their point of view in the first place. That really could have been used to further character development for the main 2, especially considering the book is under 200 pages.
Spice 🌶️🌶️
July 23, 2024
This is a cute and funny story about a family of mostly girls whose father decides to give his oldest daughter to a neighboring duke who is in need of a wife. Grace is headstrong and can't believe what her father has done, but she decides to make the best of it. When all goes wrong, she still decides to do what she needs to do to get through the situations, and she succeeds. This is a cut above the normal girl-forced-to-wed story.
April 2, 2024
Really was hoping this series would be a fun read… it was not
September 12, 2026
This was an amusing little listen. A humorous historical romance, the first in a series of inter-related stories, each centred around a particular sister. A great palette cleanser from all the romantasy and contemporary romances I've been into lately.
October 12, 2024
wow that was bad
January 13, 2022
This inspired more emotions in me than I thought it would. It made me smile, laugh, have second hand embarrassment, and almost cry. So, very well written in my opinion.
I liked the characters and all the problems they had and how they were ‘solved’.
Also *spoiler* the reverend is an idiot. A well-meaning idiot, but still an idiot.
It was also quite interesting reading perspectives of characters that weren’t the main characters - it added a whole new depth to the story.
I liked the characters and all the problems they had and how they were ‘solved’.
Also *spoiler* the reverend is an idiot. A well-meaning idiot, but still an idiot.
It was also quite interesting reading perspectives of characters that weren’t the main characters - it added a whole new depth to the story.
February 4, 2024
Tear jerker from both laughter and sadness. Wonderfully emotional story of Vicar with too many hellion daughters and a penchant for drinking. Daughter no 1, Grace, is married off to grumpy Duke Nicholas. The duke is a war ship capt with serious emotional wounds. Marriage becomes path to healing with shared burden. Loved this theme. Sexual chemistry and tension keep it interesting.
January 16, 2026
The narration on the audiobook was almost a little annoying. I saw a recommendation for this on social media and I was in the market for a quick, “Hallmarky” read. It was short and predictable. I wanted to see a little more backbone in Grace.
January 8, 2022
That was ridiculous.
May 1, 2024
Really enjoyed this! It was funny and cute. I’m excited to continue with the series
P.s.- I hated the ended but this isn’t high art so it’s still 4 stars for fluff. Maybe a 3.5.
P.s.- I hated the ended but this isn’t high art so it’s still 4 stars for fluff. Maybe a 3.5.
July 1, 2024
3 stars another simple story about the spunky heroine trying to get the scarred hero to fall in love with her and the comical (not lol) antics of all to make this happen.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,094 reviews