Taming of the Screws was chaotic, flirty, hilarious, and honestly so much fun to read.

Jade Hendren absolutely nailed the banter in this book. The chemistry between the characters felt effortless, with the perfect balance of tension, humor, and those moments where you can tell they’re falling long before they’re willing to admit it. The back-and-forth had me smiling constantly, and there were multiple scenes that genuinely made me laugh out loud.

What I loved most was that underneath all the sarcasm and playful chaos, there was still emotional depth. The characters felt messy and relatable in a way that made it easy to get invested in their story instead of it feeling like just another light romance.

This book felt like the perfect mix of romantic tension, comedy, and heart…. basically the kind of read you fly through while grinning the entire time.

I really liked this book. It was an easy read and very light,the chapters was not to long,as someone who have a hard time reading a big +.

I liked the characters very much. They were written in a soft way that I like,not to much and not less. It was equally important for me that it was not to soft but vulnerable.

A new romance genre from Jade Hendren. A series of historical romances with a "chronic illness variety." Miss Adelaide Harris suffers from the modern day equivalent of rheumatoid arthritis. The eldest daughter of a Viscount, her illness started as a teenager. Her parents took her away from London to their country estate before her first season. For eight years, Della has lived with only her staff and away from her only friend, Andrew Lockhart. Communicating with letters, the bond is there. An unexpected secret comes to light and Della needs his help. An unusual second chance romance. Looking forward to reading the next one.
Mild descriptive sex.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book from Netgalley.

4.5 rounded to 5.

Yays 👍
After reading another book recently with the FMC suffering from an ailment this was something that was intriguing. It did not disappoint, well crafted, beautiful story with its fair share of heartbreak that only makes the end sweeter and more beautiful. MMC was such a wonderful character, solid, loving, and there, always there, in any way she wanted him. It's hard to believe it's the author's first book and her love for these characters shows. Loved how the FMC's condition was portrayed without fluff or sugar coating. Suspect we will get a story for Harry and Clara, perhaps Gwen later??

I for one am looking forward to it all.

Nays 👎
Lots of unexplained bits lingered too long, like their history of the "night" from eight years ago, Harry & Clara's back story. It felt like the book was trying to cramp together a full story and setup for future books in it's short length, which felt distracting and rushed. I hope the future books get that bit of pacing right.

Verdict 🪒
Definitely recommend this unique take of regency with wonderful characters and a satisfying HEA.

This was such a sweet gem of a romance that was such an easy read. Della and Andrew had such an enduring chemistry and I loved their letters and clear communication with each other. Della was such a fabulous heroine, dealing with her condition (likely rheumatoid arthritis) which had her exiled by her horrible parents. Andrew was just a wonderful sweetheart, he took Della's lead and supported her. I appreciate the way the author layers in ableism in a way that didn't feel like a lecture. The found family Della forms with her maid and the other household staff was also delightful. I can't wait for the next books in the trilogy.

The Taming of the Screws was like a warm hug after a hard day.
The FMC deals with a chronic illness, which we don't often see represented in fiction, let alone in regency romance!

Della may be in constant pain, and her family may have sent her to the countryside, but that has not stopped her from finding and building her own family and life. She has kept in constant contact with one person from her old life in London - Andrew. After one letter asking for help, we find our MMC visiting Della in her country estate, and a web of secrets her family has kept from her starts to unravel.

This book was a cozy romance with lovable characters.
If you want a nice, easy read that shows a different side of regency romance, try picking this one up!

Thank you to Jade Hendren and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dragonblade for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this historical romance featuring a heroine living with rheumatism and her childhood friend/first love who is of lower social standing than her. I enjoyed that the story was told from both of their third person POV, as we got to see how strongly they each felt and also their worries that the love was unrequited.

This had a cozy fairytale feeling within the Regency setting. I loved rooting for Della, a strong woman trying to find the life she wants while living with chronic pain and battling her cruel family members.

There are some really great romantic and sexy scenes throughout the story, including some dressing and undressing scenes filled with sexual tension. I also loved how the author showed Della finding what makes her feel good even while living with the pain of her rheumatism.

I also really loved getting to know Della’s loyal staff members who came to feel more like her family, and certainly loved her more than her family did. Between them and Andrew’s mother, there was a lovely sense of found family through the story.

This is partially an epistolary novel, and I loved how the letters were used to introduce the romance but then continued even as they reached their happy ending.

This was a lovely read and I would definitely recommend it for historical romance lovers and people who want to see chronic pain representation in fiction.

“You can always do whatever you want with me, Della.”

rating: 4.25★
regency hisrom with an FMC with rheumatoid arthritis and her childhood friend turned yearning lover boy 💖💖💖

this was such a sweet read. Andrew’s devotion to Della definitely puts him in top book bfs, esp for readers who love a man down bad for his girl.

Della deals with not only the physical frustrations of her chronic pain, but the societal ramifications. i’d never considered what might happen to women in nobility of this time period who dealt with chronic illness, but i def hadn’t realized the ostracization they faced. v eye opening.

romance-wise, this was a very cozy and endearing read (with just the tiniest bit of angst) for hopeless romantics like me.

"He didn’t want to be anything but gentle with her. It wasn’t that he thought she was fragile, as everyone else did. He thought she was precious, and that was something entirely different."

i look forward to upcoming books in this series!

an honest arc review ✎ (❁ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈) ༉‧ ♡*.✧