The Handbook to Handling His Lordship

Scandalous Brides #4

by Suzanne Enoch

What Could Be More Tempting

Emily Portsman has a secret, and three years ago she decided the best way to keep it would be to work at the Tantalus Club, a notorious gaming establishment for gentlemen. It’s not the sort of work a beautiful, well-bred governess would ever consider—unless she’s hiding from her past and a man who wants to destroy her present…

Than Surrendering To Love?

Nate Stokes, Earl of Westfall, is a supremely accomplished former spy more at home on London’s seedy streets than in any glittery ballroom. His peers know him only as a bookish fellow who can find anything—or anyone. When the Marquis of Ebberling hires him to find a murderess, Nate’s search leads him to the Tantalus Club and Emily Portsman. In a game where no one is who they seem and when every conversation is a deadly dance of trust and desire, the only thing Nate knows for sure is that once he gets Emily in his arms, he will never let go…

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Regency, Regency Romance, Audiobook

325 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 26, 2013

About the author

Suzanne was born in Southern California sometime in the latter half of the 20th century. In the way that some people are born knowing they want to be astronauts or cellists, Suzanne always knew she wanted to be a writer. Early dreams of becoming a zoologist and writing true stories about her adventures in Africa were crushed, however, after she viewed a television special about the world’s most poisonous snakes; she did NOT want to write about how she’d been bitten and lost a limb to a cobra. Thankfully at the same time the movie “Star Wars” premiered, and she realized that she could make up adventures and write about them, and not be eaten by deadly predators while doing research.

She dabbled in romantic fantasy writing for a year or two after graduating with a degree in English from the University of California, Irvine, until her affection for traditional Regency romances led her to write one for fun. After several encouraging rejections from publishers, she snared the interest of the world’s best and most patient literary agent, who advised her to revise the manuscript. This ultimately led to the publication of her first book, The Black Duke’s Prize, from Avon Books in the Spring of 1995. A second Regency, Angel’s Devil, followed that Fall.

When Avon folded its traditional Regency line, Suzanne was encouraged to try her hand at historical romance. As she remained keenly interested in England’s Regency period, she decided to attempt another manuscript set in that time. Lady Rogue hit the shelves in March of 1997. She wrote a total of 29 books for Avon, including two anthologies and a five-part contemporary series which received a pair of starred reviews from Publishers Weekly. One of those books, Twice the Temptation, was named one of the five best romances of the year by PW in 2007.

In 2002 her well-known love of all things “Star Wars” led to an invitation to appear on the E! channel in the television special “Star Wars: The Force Is Back”, where she discussed the romance in the movie series and ended up with more air time than George Lucas.

In 2010 Suzanne left Avon Books for St. Martin’s Press, where she continues to pen historical romance novels. Her 31st book, Taming an Impossible Rogue, is set to arrive in March 2012.

Suzanne is known for her humorous characters, sexy bad boys, and whip-sharp, witty dialogue. She currently resides in Placentia, California with several hundred guppies and various other tropical fish, and handful of very loud, spinach-loving finches. And her collection of action figures and statues from “Star Wars”, “Lord of the Rings”, “X-Men”, and “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Everybody needs some inspiration, after all.

www.facebook.com/SuzanneEnoch

Reviews

[Geo Just Reading My Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

În “Lasă-mă să te iubesc”, Suzanne Enoch ne aduce în prim plan povestea secretoasei Emily Portsman, fata de la Tantal care nu părăsește niciodată clubul. O poveste încâlcită, plină de pericole mortale și amenințări, care ne taie respirația chiar de la început.
Nate Stokes, conte de Westfall, un împiedicat cu aspect de șoarece de bibliotecă, fost spion în slujba Coroanei britanice în timpul războaielor napoleoniene este angajat de un marchiz pentru a o găsi pe cea care i-a ucis soția.
Ajunge printr-un concurs de împrejurări la clubul Tantal și în patul uneia dintre fete: Emily, care-i dă impresia că ascunde ceva, dar încă nu știe ce.
Cei doi joacă un joc destul de incitant, de a se interoga unul pe celălalt. Asta până când adevarul complet iese la iveală iar Nate decide să o ajute pe această tânără curajoasă care a fost capabilă să se ridice după toate piedicile sorții.
Urmează o cursă contra cronometru, plină de pericole și suspans, unde o mulțime de personale cunoscute și prieteni își dau mână pentru ca dreptatea să se împlinească.
Singura problemă care amenință fericirea până la adânci bătrâneți pare a fi moartea. Dar, multe se pot întâmpla pe parcurs.
Nate și Emily evoluează împreună, descoperă că pot fi prieteni, iar momentele lor pline de pasiune pot da naștere sentimentelor profunde. Astfel că, fiecare este hotărât să îl protejeze pe celălalt.
O lectură cu adevărat deosebită, pe care nu o poți lăsa din mână până la final.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Handbook to Handling His Lordship is the fourth and final installment in Enoch's interesting series about a gambling club owned and run by women. In this series, the stories covered the young widowed owner and three of the women who worked at the gambling club. I disliked the first one, laughed my butt off during the second one, loved and adored the third one, and had lukewarm feelings about this one.

The two leads in this novel are extremely secretive. The hero is a former spy who has inherited a title but has to be cautious (and acts oafish) to avoid being found out by enemies he betrayed during his spy days. The heroine saw something she shouldn't and had to start over at the Tantalus club, always looking over her shoulder.

When the two meet (and for the first 40% of the book), they did not trust each other. In fact, they become intimate so they each can try to outwit the other. While I don't find casual sex entirely off-putting (but it isn't a fave of mine) and it can still work out eventually, in this case, I really didn't like it because of the way the two were trying to use each other. For most of the book, that was how it was. I got tired of all the sex scenes with limited banter or insightful sharing of thoughts. These two did develop trust by revealing their past, but that was about it...I just didn't get the same emotional connection that I got in books 2 and 3 of this series.

The ending of this story at first was fun because there were characters from earlier books in the series that I enjoyed making a reappearance, but then it just got CRAZY. There were too many important figures popping up, the plan was implausible, and how the two finally lived HEA didn't seem much like a satisfactory ending (nor were all threads wrapped up). It just felt unfinished and madcap.

While the writing was easy as usual and I wanted to finish it and see what happens, I never liked the main leads and the ending was insane. Therefore, it is just okay overall. Enoch definitely has better ones out there. Books 2 and 3 of the series can stand alone and are definitely worth a look, but I don't recommend this one.

[Mary - Buried Under Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suzanne Enoch has a penchant for penning unusual romances, and I must say her Scandalous Brides series just proves it. Unlike other stories with rakes and virgins, here the heroine is neither a virgin nor a courtesan, which, paired with an unusual Earl, makes for a somewhat unbelievable story but a great romance.

Nathaniel Stokes had retired from his spy services to the Crown two years ago upon receiving the title Earl of Westfall from a deceased cousin. The sudden end of ten years of spy services has left him feeling empty and bored, so he becomes a detective of sorts, mainly to help people locate lost things. It's a hobby of his, and he meets a challenge when the Marquess of Ebberling hires him to find a runaway governess, whom he claims to have killed his wife. By sheer coincidence, Nate comes to the Tantalus Club and becomes interested in the beautiful Emily Portsman, both in mind and body. Emily plays a game of seduction with Nate to test if he's here to find her old identity, but didn't count on winning his protection and ultimately, his heart.

This was a good read, though with some bumps and farcical elements at the end. (The Prince Regent disguised as a lunatic?!) Nate has become so accustomed to changing identities that he has trouble finding who he is, and his road to finding the man beneath the title and disguises is similar to the one Emily takes to confront her own name. Both Nate and Emily are intelligent and loyal people who wanted to be noticed for themselves, which makes their love all the more sweet and poignant.

What I didn't like about the book was the resolution with Ebberling. The murder mystery was fairly solved early in the book, so the latter half of the book was mostly concerned with how to make the culprit pay. What that involved was pages of back-and-forth indecision with Emily not wanting to involve her friends (All the main characters from the previous books offered their help) and Nate's internal conflict with with status and love. The final resolution seemed to me a harebrained scheme, even in a romance novel, and left me in serious want of an epilogue. Regardless, I would recommend this book to readers who like suspense, romance, and a lot of lust (yes, there's quite a pouring of love scenes in this book), and pray for the slight chance that Mrs. Enoch would include an epilogue in her next book.

On a side note, I have a good feeling the next book in her Scandalous Brides series will feature two former spies, so this will likely also be a dark and intense story.

[Caz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read and enjoyed the other books in this series, so came to this one with reasonably high expectations of enjoyment, and I’m pleased to report that I wasn’t disappointed. I liked the story and the way the author built the romance between two people for whom life hasn’t been particularly easy, despite the fact that one of them – the hero – is now an earl.

Nathaniel Stokes spent ten years serving his country as a spy for Wellington and was supremely good at his job. In fact, he was so good at disguising himself and assuming a myriad of different identities, that he finds it difficult sometimes to remember who he is - to the extent that, when he returns to England upon the inheritance of an earldom he doesn’t want, he maintains the persona he had adopted as a cover for his activities in Europe, that of bookish, bespectacled Nate Stokes, preserver of antiquities.

Our heroine, Emily Portsman, is also living under an assumed identity. She works at the Tantalus Club, a very select gentlemen’s establishment in which all the staff (except the bouncers) are women. Its membership is select as are its employees, all of whom are genteel young ladies who, for one reason or another, need a position and somewhere to live.

When Nate inherited his earldom from a cousin, he was sent home from his life in the army. Now Lord Westfield, he has made himself a name as being a man who “finds things” – lost paintings, jewellery etc. and as someone who is very, very discreet. The Marquis of Ebberling charges him with finding a valuable necklace – along with the young woman who stole it, the family’s former governess, Rachel Newbury, whom Ebberling asserts murdered his wife three years earlier. Intrigued – and sensing that something isn’t quite right – Nate accepts the job and gets a lot more than he bargained for.

In some ways, the relationship that grew between Nate and Emily was refreshingly honest, considering they were both keeping secrets as to their true identities. I suppose what I mean is that they were both attracted to each other and didn’t dance around each other while waiting for someone to make the first move. Yes, they had sex early in the book, and yes, the first time was because they both wanted information (as well as the sex!) and thought that pillow-talk would be an ideal way to try to get some of the answers they wanted. But in the context of the story and who these two people are, it works; and I rather liked the idea that the sex came first (and there’s a fair bit of it!) and the falling in love happened more slowly afterwards. Neither of them is particularly comfortable in their own skin (especially Nate, who has spent ten years being anyone other than himself) and they are both guarded and find it hard to trust others. I thought the story of how they both find themselves as they find love was rather sweet and very well done.

The other relationship in the book I really enjoyed was the one between Nate and his younger brother Lawrence, who is almost a decade Nate’s junior. The brothers have clearly not had much of a relationship before the start of the book, when Laurie is sent down from Oxford for having a girl in his room. Nate wants desperately to ensure that his little brother doesn’t follow in his own footsteps as he wants him to have a normal life; while Laurie wants to know and help his big brother. I loved seeing the two of them become closer and Nate realising that his little brother has grown up into a thoroughly decent young man.

While I enjoyed the book very much, there were a few things about it that didn’t quite gel for me, one of which was the ease with which Nate found Rachel – who is, of course, Emily. That said, his reasoning was quite sound, and I suppose that to have had him searching for months would have made for rather a dull read! Emily’s indecision about involving (or not) her friends from the Tantalus in her problems got a little annoying after awhile, as did her frequent assertions (to herself) that she and Nate could never be together because of their difference in station, even after he’d told her he loved her. There were also a couple of things in the dénouement that made me roll my eyes a little, namely the inclusion of both the Duke of Wellington and the Prince Regent in Nate’s plot to deal with Ebberling and secure Emily’s safety. And while Nate’s solution to the problem of how they could be together and how he could avoid being targeted by some of the unsavoury types he’d dealt with during his tenure as a British spy may have seemed a little far-fetched for a historical romance, I actually thought it seemed a rather sensible course of action.

This is yet another of the books I’ve read recently in which the title bears practically no relation to the book content. I can see (sort of) a very very tenuous link (in that Emily, when first she meets Nate and is determined to pump him for information thinks about the best way to ‘manage’ men), but other than that, it’s completely unrelated. I know how hard it can be to come up with a zingy title, but really… this is the best a major publishing house can do?

Minor quibbles aside, The Handbook to Handling His Lordship was a very well-written romantic adventure story featuring an unusual central couple. It was rather nice to read about a heroine who was neither a virgin nor a courtesan, and an aristocratic hero who didn’t want to be an aristocrat and who wasn’t afraid of his feelings for the heroine, and I’d certainly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a dash of suspense with their romance.

[HR readsNstuff]

I might come back and try to read it when i've gotten over my issues the heroine's lack of virginity. If this was a contemp i wouldn't care, but one of my pet peeves in historicals is people behaving with modern day values... in this case within the first couple of chapters it is revealed that a well educated woman on the run has had some lovers, but she doesn't kiss them because it's too intimate. Pretty Woman anyone? so now i have the prostitute associations going on in my head and i just don't want to read it anymore...

but yeah, unless the heroine is widowed or been sweet talked out of her prized virginity by a no good rake who promised her marriage(and even then i'm automatically putting that h in the TSTL category) or died before they could get to the altar, i don't want to read it in my historical romances. i'm old school, you don't open your legs in a historical for anything less than love (unless it was that whole arranged marriage thing).

I wouldn't have any issues with this if it was a contemp story though... go figure.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Seductive Stars!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was such a different, sexy, fun book. I love Suzanne Enoch, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. I’m not a huge fan of the “gaming club” trope, as I think it’s a bit over-done in HR, but I really enjoyed The Tantalus Club and that whole setting/story. Plus, spies? Yes, please! Always. 😍

I looooved the pairing of Nate and Emily and man! Did they have some serious sexual chemistry or what?! 🔥😅 And I absolutely loved that the sex happened as soon as it did because it worked here where in a lot of other HR stories it wouldn’t have. I totally bought it though in their situation and because of their individual backgrounds etc. Plus, a main point of the story was to show that sometimes sex can happen first, and then the relationship building. S.E did a great job of showing them each learn to trust each other and how their connection only grew from there.

The ending was also something I loved and thought was super creative, yet necessary. Let’s face it, Emily was a commoner through and through, and they needed a miracle to be able to end up together in this time period. So I loved how things were settled and I’m so happy they got the happy ending they so deserved. ❤️

I will definitely be checking out the others in this series! Superb! 😘

[PoligirlReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read for me. As with the other books in the series, the titles have zero to do with the actual story.

Emily is a good heroine, although her character is a bit uneven. One minute she's fainting from fear, the next minute she wants to sneak back to Ebberling's house undercover. One minute says she wants to flee, the next she determines that she's tired of running. You'd think it was growth, but it happens back-and-forth throughout the book.

Enoch's real strength is in writing male characters, and their relationships with other men. Nate Stokes was a great character, and his background and current struggles explain why the ending is so plausible. I loved the way that he and his brother Laurie overcame their once-distant relationship and became close...with a couple of very believable bumps along the road.

And yes, for those keeping count at home, she did work in "apoplexy."

I liked the way previous characters were woven into the book. If you'd read the earlier books, it's like visiting an old friend, and if you hadn't read them, you won't miss much--they just seem like well-developed secondary characters. Less convincing is the way that Wellington and Prince George are shoehorned in. Pretty implausible, but no harm done.

I am on pins and needles for the "French twist" Jenny's (Genevieve's) book, and have been waiting on it for some time. Such an intriguing character. I can only hope the hero is Jack Rycott (how could it not be?). Those two have a backstory that seems like it will be a lot of fun to uncover.

[May Mostly Romance · Rating 3 out of 5]

เราเริ่มอ่านหนังสือเรื่องนี้อย่างไม่คิดอะไรมากมาย ไม่ได้คาดหวังอะไรมากมาย หลังจากอ่านไปสองสามบท และเริ่มจับใจความเนื้อเรื่องได้ เราก็พบว่าตัวเองไม่ชอบคาแร็คเตอร์ของนางเอกเอาเสียเลย ความคิดของเราก็คือ จะต้องรีบอ่านให้มันจบ ๆ กันไป ยังไงเราก็ต้องไม่ชอบเรื่องนี้อยู่แล้วนี่นา เราจึงเร่งจังหวะการอ่าน

แต่แล้วสิ่งที่แปลกมาก ๆ ก็เกิดขึ้น เราพบว่า เราเริ่มชอบเรื่องนี้มากขึ้น มากขึ้น แล้วก็มากขึ้น

นี่จึงเป็นหนังสือที่เราตั้งใจ จงใจแล้วว่าจะไม่ชอบ คิดว่า ยังไงก็ไม่สนุก แต่ท่ามกลางประเด็นที่เราไม่ชอบ เรากลับชอบเรื่องนี้ขึ้นมาอย่างจริงจัง ชอบมากเสียด้วยล่ะค่ะ

นาธาเนียล สโตคส์ เอิร์ลแห่งเวสต์ฟอลใช้เวลาเกือบทั้งชีวิตเป็นสายลับ เขาไม่ได้เริ่มต้นเพราะอุดมการณ์ด้วยซ้ำ ไม่ใช่สายลับแบบที่หนังสือโรแมนซ์ทั่วไปใช้กัน เขาเป็นสายลับเพราะมันเป็นอาชีพเดียวที่จ่ายเงินมากพอที่จะให้เขาใช้เลี้ยงมารดา และน้องชายได้ สิ่งที่เนททำ แกล้งทำ การโกหก หลอกลวง มันทำให้เขาไม่รู้อีกต่อไปแล้วว่า แท้จริงแล้ว เนท สโตคส์คือใคร จนกระทั่งวันนึงเขาถูกเรียกตัวให้ลาออกไปจากการเป็นสปาย เพราะญาติห่าง ๆ คนนึงตาย และทิ้งบรรดาศักดิ์เอาไว้ ทุกคนคาดหวังว่าเนท สโตคส์จะกลายเป็นเอิร์ลแห่งเวสต์ฟอล

เพราะตัวตนที่สร้างขึ้นอย่างจอมปลอม และเป็นสิ่งเดียวที่ทำให้เนทมีชีวิตอยู่ต่อไปได้ เขาเริ่มรับงานจากสมาชิกในวงสังคมในการออกตามหาของหาย แม้เขาจะไม่ได้ต้องการเงินค่าตอบแทน เพราะการทำแบบนี้ การได้เล่นละครหลอกลวงคนในวงสังคม ให้คิดว่า เวสต์ฟอลเป็นท่านเอิร์ลคงแก่เรียน ออกอาการเอ๋อ ๆ บ่อยครั้ง ขาที่เดินกระแผลกทำให้ไม่มีใครคิดว่าเขามีอันตราย นั่นเป็นตัวตนเดียวที่เขาอยู่กับมันได้

เนทรับงานจากลูกค้ารายนึงให้ตามหาครูพี่เลี้ยงที่ขโมยเพชรไป แต่ไม่เพียงเท่านั้น ขุนนางคนนี้ยังกล่าวหาลูกจ้างที่หายตัวไปของตัวเองว่า เกี่ยวพันกับการฆาตกรรมภรรยาของเขาด้วย เบาะแสนำเนทไปสู่คลับหรูชื่อดังแต่อื้อฉาว เพราะในคลับสำหรับสุภาพบุรุษแห่งนี้ มีพนักงานเป็นหญิงล้วน ไม่มีการขายบริการทางเพศ แต่มีอิสระตามแต่ที่พนักงานสาวจะตัดสินใจว่าจะขึ้นไปข้างบนกับสมาชิกในคลับหรือไม่

และเมื่อเนทที่คลับแห่งนี้ เขาก็ได้พบกับเอมิลี พอร์ทแมน สาวเจนโลก เธอไม่มีอะไรเหมือนกับครูพี่เลี้ยงคนที่เขาตามหา แต่บางอย่างก็บอกเขาว่า เธอน่าจะรู้เรื่องบางอย่าง นั่นเป็นเหตุผลที่เขาให้กับตัวเองในการตกปากรับคำเชิญของเอมิลีในการชวนเขาขึ้นไปยังชั้นบน ความสัมพันธ์ทางเพศที่เกิดอย่างรวดเร็ว นำคนทั้งสองเข้าไปเกี่ยวพันมากขึ้น เรื่อย ๆ

และเอมิลีนี่เอง ก็คือคนที่ทำให้ในที่สุด เนท สโตคส์ก็ได้รู้จักตัวตนที่แท้จริงของตัวเองอีกครั้ง

เราไม่ชอบอาชีพของนางเอก ในเรื่องไม่ได้บอกว่าเธอเป็นโสเภณีนะคะ คลับแห่งนี้ไม่ได้ดำเนินงานแบบนั้น แต่เราเป็นคนที่ไม่ชอบพล็อตหนังสือแนวย้อนยุคที่นางเอกเป็นหญิงเจนโลก และเอมิลีก็เป็นแบบนั้น เธอไม่ใช่สาวบริสุทธิ์ (นางเอกไม่จิ้นเราโอเคนะคะ แต่ไม่ชอบว่าถึงขนาดมีความสัมพันธ์กับชายหลายคน) มีประสบการณ์ทางเพศมาก็ไม่น้อย เราเตรียมตัวมาก ๆ ว่าจะไม่ชอบ

แต่คาแร็คเตอร์ระหว่างเอมิลี และเนทคลิกกันลงตัวมาก ๆ มากจนเราอดไม่ได้ที่จะถลำตัวลงไปในความสัมพันธ์ของคนทั้งสอง และในที่สุดจากความไม่ชอบก็กลายเป็นชอบมาก ๆ เลยล่ะ เราว่าทั้งสองคนนี้เหมาะสมและเข้ากันได้ เนท อดีตสายลับที่ใช้ชีวิตกับการโกหก ในที่สุดก็เจอกับผู้หญิงที่ไม่เคยมีตัวตน แต่เป็นหญิงสาวคนเดียวที่เข้าถึงตัวตนของเขา และเมื่อเนทตัดสินใจว่า รัก ก็ไม่มีทางเลือกอื่นอีก

เราชอบที่พระเอกรู้ใจตัวเอง ทุ่มเท และทำทุกอย่างเพื่อช่วยนางเอก แต่ในขณะเดียวกันเขาก็ไม่ได้ปกป้องเธอจนละเลยกับความจริงที่ว่า ก่อนจะเจอกับเขา เอมีลีมีชีวิตของตัวเอง เนทยอมรับด้านนั้นของเธอได้ และนี่เป็นเหตุผลใหญ่ที่เรายอมรับภูมิหลังของเอมิลีได้ เพราะสำหรับเนทแล้ว มันไม่สำคัญแม้แต่นิดเดียวเลย

เรารู้สึกว่า เรื่องนี้มีความสมจริงเอามาก ๆ ในส่วนของพล็อต สิ่งที่เนททำในอดีตไม่ได้จากไปง่าย ๆ มันนำอันตรายมาสู่เขา ความแตกต่างทางชนชั้นระหว่างเอิร์ลแห่งเวสต์ฟอล และสาวนั่งดริ๊ง (เราแปลอาชีพของเอมิลีเป็นแบบนี้ค่ะ) ไม่อาจเกิดขึ้นได้ ไม่สำคัญว่าทั้งสองจะรักกันแค่ไหน หรือเนทจะยิ่งใหญ่แค่ไหน นี่เป็นอุปสรรคที่ไม่ได้จบไปเพราะคนแต่งเขียนว่าจบ ทางออกในความสัมพันธ์ของทั้งคู่จึงไม่ได้ผูกโบว์แดงสวยงาม มันแฝงไปด้วยความขมขื่น แต่เหมาะสมกับตัวตนของเนท และเอมิลี

น้อยครั้งมากนะคะที่หนังสือจะเปลี่ยนใจเราได้ เล่มนี้ทำได้ และเราก็ชื่นชมอย่างมาก

คะแนน 77

[Beth pretends to read everything (i.e. romance) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded down, because phew that ending was shite. ANOTHER one whose title makes little to no sense.

This book didn't do anything great and it didn't do anything really poorly until the end.

The pacing was all wonky because Westfall and Rachily (Emily? Rachel?) just removed all tension by banging at first meeting. Oh, spoilers! But in the first 20% I'm not even tagging spoilers. As complete strangers, they were both attempting to outwit and take advantage of the other. Be still my heart.

And to add insult to that setup, the spice was uninspired and lackluster. I'm not entirely sure why they were so in lust with one another because it didn't seem all that exciting from where I was sitting.

It was really hard for me to picture this hero and his double personas. He was supposed to be this bumbling fool who fidgeted with his glasses but also built and athletic. It felt odd.

Overly preoccupied with class differences in this one. I understand that it was a big deal, but this is a work of fiction and fantasy. With all the other ridiculous things they did (girl club, anyone?), I'm sure they could have have made that ever after a little more of an actual HEA.

Almost forgot that I had definitely read this one before. It was pulling strands of memory but at no point could I actually remember what was going to happen. Just snippets here and there. I would take that as a bad sign 😬

[Starbubbles · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a stupid book. A stupid stupid book. I just. Wow. So so stupid. If these two could have kept it in their pants for more than 5 seconds, maybe an epilogue could have been written, or at least a better thought out plan than fake crazy people or a faked death. What about Laurie becoming an earl? Will Nate really never see him again? It just felt like there were, at best, barely half baked plans in here.

Don't get me wrong, ridiculous plots are kind of my thing, but this? It was like there were too many fun spy ideas to leave out, so they were all included. There was false identity, an unwanted title, like 5 name changes, a spy vs spy theme, commoner loving an aristocrat, like 5 spies, secrets getting spilled everywhere, disguises, murder mystery, female ran club, reconnecting with a brother, identity crisis with a career change (or 2), making friends, running from an evil boss, and super dumb plans.

Parts were really good and others, meh. I also found Emily-Rachel-Princess Banana Hammock difficult to like. I loved Nate, Laurie, Jenny, even minor people such as Diane, and Sophie. From what I understand, this is the last one of the series which is a shame because I would love to read about Laurie, Jenny, and Jack. Maybe their story is in another series, who knows. It felt like their stories were unfinished, much like Nate and Emily's.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Enoch's better efforts. The premise is fine—former spy now Earl who now serves as a detective to the ton is asked to find a murdering governess who disappeared three years ago. His initial efforts lead nowhere, but after wondering if the lady might be taking refuge in the gentlemen's club that employs women as croupiers and waitresses, he hones in on the very woman he's looking for. Of course she's innocent, and of course, they fall in love.

I could live with the melodrama, but the lack of real detecting, the telling rather than the showing (for example, the earl thinks often about how he just doesn't fit into his new life as an aristocrat, but we never SEE him feeling out of place), and the utterly improbable climax and denouement made this a difficult one to swallow. And I found the reason why they quickly fall into sex (each thinks to get the other to reveal his/her secrets after sleeping with him/her) an utter turn-off.

[Barbara Elsborg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a great fun read. I know I can rely on Suzanne Enoch to deliver, just as I can with Mary Balogh and Loretta Chase. There was a bit of different twist to this at the end - a reminder of the price paid for society having different social classes. Some very funny lines and some acutely 'aaah' moments.

[Luz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t usually like “spy” books. But I enjoyed this one a lot. Out of all the heroines in this series, I liked Emily Portsman the most.

[Shelby Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, but it lagged near the end.
MMC was fab.

[Elis Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good gravy, publishers are really stretching for titles these days. Especially since this book has nothing to do with handbooks or "handling" except in the most Biblical sense. ;)

Grouses about the title aside, this is a pretty good tale.

Nate Stokes, former spy and now reluctant Earl of Westfall, is sort of in trade. That is, he uses his spy training to track down stolen and missing things and people. He makes some money off it, not that he needs it, but his snooty clients feel a need to pay because they think it buys his discretion. He has recently been hired by the Marquis of Ebberling to find a necklace that was stolen 3 years ago—oh yeah, and also the governess who stole it and, by the by, murdered Ebberling's wife. Because the necklace is the first thing a guy would mention when seeking his wife's killer.

Ebberling is offering a finder's fee of £10,000--that's a bit over $500,000 current US $. But he wants the governess handed to him, not the authorities.



Nate tries all the usual places he assumes a young ex-governess might try to find shelter, and comes up empty. Then he's reminded of the Tantalus Club, and zeroes in on this as the perfect place for a murdering servant-on-the-run to roost. For anyone not familiar with Enoch's other works (as I was not) the club is evidently famous for its beautiful, educated-but-fallen female employees. The girls aren't exactly prostitutes, but are encouraged to make free with the male clientele.

Emily Portsman (not her real name) works at the Tantalus Club, keeping the books and occasionally acting as hostess. She is on the floor when Nate brings his brother for luncheon.

Em doesn't quite look like the picture Ebberling verbally drew of the governess, but her odd reaction to a hint that Nate is looking for a thief makes him suspicious. Obviously she knows something about his target. Nate decides to seduce her, cuz if he sexes her up she'll talk, right?

Em decides to find out more about this guy who's visiting the club looking for a thief (never mind that she fled before Ebberling made up the story about the necklace, so if he's looking for a thief, she can relax)—he might just be looking for her. And if she sexes him up, he'll talk, right?



The story turns into a neat howcatchum, worthy of at least 3.5 stars.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read.

A young girl trying to overcome her common birth goes to work as a governess for the Marquis of Ebberling. When the Marquis wife winds up dead, the governess has to run for her life. Changing her identity, she hides in the notorious Tantalus Club - a gaming club in the midst of London where she befriends the characters from the earlier books in this series.

After many years as a spy serving his country, Nate Stokes becomes the accidental Earl of Westfall after he inherits the position when his cousin drowns. The high society life is an ill-fit for the ex-spy and he takes up the hobby of solving puzzles by finding missing items for the Ton. When the Marquis of Ebberling hires Nate to find a missing governess the task intrigues him and he accepts. With the help of his younger brother, Lori, who is sent home early from Oxford for bad behavior, Nate must find the missing girl before the Marquis remarries.

What follows is a fun story of false identities, murder, and a love stronger than societies rules. Can Nate find the governess? If he does is he willing to turn her over to Ebberling? Who really murdered the Marquis's wife?

I agree with other reviewers that the ending was a bit rushed, but the story is enjoyable and a fun summer read.

Hero: 4.5/5
Heroine: 4/5
Story: 4.5/5
Side Characters: 4/5
Steaminess: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a perfect book.. I couldn't put it down. Even if you have not read any of the other books in this series, you can still totally appreciate this story.

Nate and Emily are both very real, likeable characters. You are pulling for both of them right from the start of the story. The story itself is fast paced and intricate, without being too complicated. I liked the fact that Emily was a strong woman who even when running seems like the best answer, she sticks to the plan and doesn't sit by idly while others solve her problem. Nate is a complicated male character who is a nice mix of masculine pride, strength and sensitivity.

For those of you who have read the other books in the Scandalous Brides series.. this book gives you nice updates on the characters from the other books.

Epilogue Whore Alert: There is none. Guess we will have to wait for next book in the series to hear about what's up with this couple!

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book number four in the Scandalous Brides series.

Emily Portsman has a secret, so three years ago she decided the best way to keep it would be to work at the Tantalus Club, a notorious gaming establishment for gentlemen. It's not the sort of work a beautiful, well-bred governess would ever consider-unless she's hiding from her past. Nate Stokes, Earl of Westfall, is a superb accomplished former spy more at home on London's seedy streets than in any glittery ballroom. His peers know him only as a bookish fellow who can find anything-or anyone. When the Marquis of Ebberling hires him to find a murderess, Nate's search leads him to the Tantalus Club and Emily Portsman. So begins a game where no one is who they seem and when every conversation is a deadly dance of trust and desire, the only thing Nate knows for sure is that once he gets Emily in his arms, he will never let go . . .
Great read, really enjoyed this one. An interesting and intriguing series.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it but it was not as good as some of the other books I have read by here. It seems so hard to find a "keeper" that you wish to reread over and over. London's Perfect Scoundrel and England's Perfect Hero are two of my favorite reads of all times and this was just doesn't measure up. It had an interesting plot but the chemistry between the two characters, what I look for in a romance novel, just couldn't grab my attention.

[Keri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never warmed up to Emily, but really liked Nate. I never felt the romance between the two or the love. Never worked for me. But I am looking forward to Jack and Jenny's romance. I am happy that we get to see Cammy and Keaton again...can't wait until they have a baby...Keaton is going to be such a fun dad.

[Ilze · Rating 3 out of 5]

I completely agree with Mary C's review of the book. Interesting story, great characters in the hero and heroine, sizzling love scenes, but the final scene at Newgate Prison was too far off the wall for me ... I wish the author had left the real historic personages out of that because there is no way that they would have participated in a situation like that in real life.

[Alex Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book but the kissing and other stuff kinda made me uncomfortable. I liked how the female lead wasnt a damsel in distress letting other people do her work but taking initiative in solving her problems by herself.

[Kristina]

The horniest one of the series, definitely, but I hate when the story’s being told from the person’s POV but you don’t know everything that person knows.

[Daydreamer Tyche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think i have begun to fall in love with the name of the main characters right after i finished this book.
Honestly, i have been crazy about Suzanne Enoch works for the past four days and i admire very much of her work. It's just...something so fascinating about this story.
Emily has been a mysterious girl since the first time she met Diane and i did not expect her to be as intelligent and spontaneous as the others. How amazing it is when she read Nathaniel while he deciphered her, they are tried to exploit each other and by the same time, found pleasure in sex (turn out to be an excellent way to show chemicals between them).
I love the differences between Suzanne Enoch's male characters. If Greaves is a duke (an appropriate, arrogant, powerful, rich person) then Blackwood is entirely opposite (kinda poor, violent bold and hasty) and Oliver seems distinguished from them (devilish, astute, pretentious but sincere). That's the reason why i was astonished by the last male character in this collection, absolutely insightful and intelligent, also confident in his way of handling things. Furthermore, this book still contains brilliant dialogues that intrigued me unlike any other romance stories i have ever had a chance to experience. Nat repeated his statement several times while holding his hand around her just the key factor to show how perfect and romantic this iron-heart male character was invented.
English is my second language and i read her two first book in the collection Scandalous Brides in my mother tongue language, but for the remains i have no other choice but to read in English and from now on, I will read Suzanne Enoch' books in English forever.

[Lorien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I was a bit torn on this one.
The narration Anne Flosnik was okay, I can't put my figure on it, but I just couldn't get into her style I guess. But she did have a butt load of characters to manage, a few of those with had more than one accent. And for the most part I could tell everyone apart. Plus she did a fairly good job with the abundance of love scenes in the book.
Honestly I kind of lost count.
Because there was no virginal misses in this one. Emily and Nate, both of them enjoyed sex and when they had it there wasn't a lot of regret about the act it self. Only how much two people with things to hide might have revealed. I enjoyed the this mature depiction of that part.
Some of the drama and angst was a bit higher than I'd care for, but it wasn't too drawn out and most of it felt valid.
This was the forth in the series and I only listened to it to check off a challenge for forth in a series. And I was avoiding a re-read. But I think so much more of this book would have been enjoyable if I'd read the earlier books. So that's on me.

But my favorite bit was where the two characters ended up. Not everything ended perfectly, not everyone got all the things. They had to give some things up and ended up with what they really needed in the end. And I really loved that part.

One day I might have to read this one. See if was the narration/audio version that was part of my problem. Enoch has written some of my favorites books so I'll always give her a chance.

[Booklover · Rating 2 out of 5]

Emily & Nate

The story wasn't terrible but it was so outlandish that I risked injuring my eyes from the number of eyerolls I executed while reading this drivel.

The idea of the club seemed unlikely and unseemly to me. It was a flimsy excuse to apply 21st century morals on a regency romance. Women of loose morals are welcome to invite men up to their rooms, but are not expected to, and there are tons of condoms around for safe sex, but it's not a brothel and all the women better speak 4 languages, and be able to pass for minor aristocracy if needed. Um ok...wait, NO!

The more interesting part of the story to me was the mystery and how Nate was going to manage to "save" Emily. And while it kept me turning the pages I thought the execution was clumsy at best. Lord Wellington? Prinny? Jeez, many, many, many, more eyerolls.

At the end of the day though, my biggest gripes were that they were sleeping together with zero expectation of marriage and within 5 seconds of meeting each other and because the hasty hop in the sack, precautions were needed that kill the intimacy and trust that were the main reason I showed up to begin with.

I will not likely pursue others in this series or by this author. Not a good fit.

[Malin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nathaniel Stokes became the Earl of Westfall when his cousin fell out of a boat in the Lake District and drowned. Before he was an earl, he was plain Nate Stokes, one of Wellington's most trusted spies, and he still can't seem to settle down and be a staid aristocrat. So no one will look to closely at him, or ponder why he was absent for so much of the war on the Peninsula, he cultivates a clumsy and bookish persona, wears fake spectacles and walks with a limp. He likes finding lost and stolen trinkets and artworks for his fellow peers, and is intrigued when the Marquis of Ebberling comes to him to find a governess that fled his home three years ago, who stole from him, and may have killed his wife. He's offering an obscene amount of money to get the job done quickly, and Nate likes the challenge of finding someone who disappeared without a trace so long ago.

Emily Portsman, as the girl is now known, found refuge at the scandalous Tantalus Club, a gambling establishment staffed entirely by well-born and educated young ladies, run by Lady Haybury, the heroine of A Beginner's Guide to Rakes (and the first book in this series). She's not left the club for three years, for fear of Ebberling finding her. Twice a week, she has to dye her hair brown, and while she invites the occasional gentleman up to her rooms, she tries to stay unnoticed as much as possible. So when she overhears Nate at lunch, talking to his younger brother about locating a thief among the staff at the club, all her paranoia returns in full. Believing him to be a befuddled scholar, she invites him to her room to seduce his mission out of him, not realizing that she's playing straight into Nate's hands. As the two become closer, Nate becomes more and more convinced that Ebberling left several key points out of his tale, and that Emily is not the ruthless murderer he's been sent to find, at all. But how can they prove her innocence, against the word of a rich and powerful peer of the realm?

This is the fourth book in Suzanne Enoch's Scandalous Brides series. While all the couples from the previous books appear in this as supporting characters, it's also a pretty good book to start with, as it gives the reader all the information needed about the Tantalus Club and intriguing glimpses of the former couples, so that if you've not read the earlier books, you might be ore tempted to do so. It's probably also my favourite of the four, on a par with, and probably even better than the first one in the series.

The formidable Mrs. Julien has mentioned that she's partial to a big lug in her romances. While I don't mind them, I'm much more fond of the intelligent, slender and frequently sardonic hero, myself. Nate Stokes is just such a man, a war hero who can't boast about any of his achievements, because he's been a spy. He's had so many secret identities that he barely knows who he really is anymore, and he's certainly not comfortable with the Earldom that fell in his lap. He keeps himself busy finding lost trinkets for other peers, as well as teaching his younger brother how to be a responsible and trustworthy adult.

Emily (also known as Rachel, or Eloise) is a wonderful heroine. She's worked hard to get to where she is, getting an education and a higher position in society mainly by deceit and false references, and has had to hide, fearing for her life for years. She's proud of her abilities and enjoys her job at the club, making an honest living even though most of society scorns her and her fellow Tantalus Girls. She's refreshingly different from a lot of romance heroines in that she's not a virgin (none of the Scandalous Brides are, if I recall correctly), she enjoys sex and isn't afraid to admit it to herself or the hero. It's even more refreshing that the hero in no way judges her for it, or slut-shames her in any way.

Used to being the smartest person in any given situation, what Nate wants most of all, is to be surprised. Emily constantly ends up reacting in a different way than he expects, and he finds it wonderfully invigorating. The initial stages of the relationship, when the two of them are trying to subtly interrogate each other, while also trying to dupe the other from finding out their true intentions, is very enjoyable. I also liked that they came clean to each other before the situation got too much out of hand, and once they'd started being honest with each other, there was very little in the way of insecurities and melodrama, despite the two characters' gap in social standing.

While the resolution of the romantic plot line was fine, and seemed to be a lot more plausible than a lot of other historical romances out there (certainly a lot more than them just getting married and not caring what the consequences would be for their standing in society, Loretta Chase, you might want to take notes!), the resolution of the murder plot was utterly ridiculous. My disbelief can only be suspended so much, and I just see no way that Nate, highly valued agent of the Crown though he may be, would get that sort of assistance in clearing the name of his beloved, the employee in a gambling den. The rest of the book is delightful, though, so I will forgive the extreme implausibility of that bit of the plot. Be warned, if you're planning on reading this book, that it gets a bit silly there towards the end. Apart from that, I highly recommend it.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emily has been in hiding for 3 years at the Tantalus club but the man she's been hiding from is back in London for the first time in years. The Marquis of Ebberling has hired Nate(Earl of Westfall) to find the woman he accuses of murdering his wife and stealing from him because he is marrying again in less than 2 months and he can't have the chit showing up and telling her side of the story.
Nate is a former spy who doesn't love being an Earl so he finds things for people to stave off the boredom, so when he's asked to find a person who vanished 3 years ago he's excited by the challenge, though when he meets Emily nothing goes according to plan.
This is a bit more of a wild ride than the rest of the series with assumed identities, murder and intrigue, this entire series is a good time but I think this is my fave.

[Fae · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just want to say that this whole series was a disappointment because i couldn’t relate to the characters, didn’t feel the chemistry between the hero and heroine & was not invested in the plots. This book was no exception. The plot was also similar to “taming an impossible rogue”.

It had me yawning but I forced myself to finish every single book. It always starts off interesting but turns boring or goes bad halfway through. Suffice to say, I did not enjoy this book as there was no chemistry at all between hero and heroine nor did I like any of them. It was hard to read a book where there isn’t any romance or chemistry between the hero and heroine. The boring plot didn’t help.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars rounded down to three because I wanted more from the ending.
Another hero that I really liked and I appreciated all he was willing to sacrifice at the end for the woman he loved. Yes, we know they get their HEA, but so much more was left unsaid. This book, this series could definitely have used an epilogue.
I also would have liked to see more growth from Emily during the book. I mean, she never left the grounds of The Tantalus for 3 years, then she just decides to go for a drive with a man she just met, and just had sex with. Yes, we saw them start to trust each other, but I would have liked more dialogue showing that and less internal thoughts.