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Noble #4

The Truth About Leo

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The much-anticipated, brand-new Regency romance from New York Times bestselling author Katie MacAlister.

Can Dagmar flee Denmark

Dagmar Marie Sophie is a poverty-stricken Danish princess whose annoying royal cousin is about to have her stuffed away in a convent. When she finds a wounded man unconscious in her garden, she sees a way out of her desperate situation.

By Lying to Leo?

Leopold Ernst George Mortimer, seventh earl of March, and spy in the service of the king, finds himself on the wrong end of a saber and left for dead. He wakes up not remembering what happened...in the care of a beautiful woman who says she is his wife.

Back in London, Leo-with the help of his old friends the eccentric Britton family-sets out to unravel what he's forgotten... Is Dagmar truly the wonderful, irrepressible woman who makes his heart sing, or is she a dangerous enigma bent on his destruction?

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 5, 2014

94 people are currently reading
1213 people want to read

About the author

Katie MacAlister

121 books5,975 followers
For as long as she can remember, Katie MacAlister has loved reading. Growing up in a family where a weekly visit to the library was a given, Katie spent much of her time with her nose buried in a book. Despite her love for novels, she didn't think of writing them until she was contracted to write a non-fiction book about software. Since her editor refused to allow her to include either witty dialogue or love scenes in the software book, Katie swiftly resolved to switch to fiction, where she could indulge in world building, tormenting characters, and falling madly in love with all her heroes.

Two years after she started writing novels, Katie sold her first romance, Noble Intentions. More than thirty books followed during the years after Noble's publication. Her novels have been translated into numerous languages, been recorded as audiobooks, received several awards, and placed on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. She also writes for the young adult audience as Katie Maxwell, and for the mystery world as Kate Marsh.

Katie lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and dogs, and can often be found lurking around online.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
Profile Image for Lauren.
1,482 reviews216 followers
Read
April 25, 2025
Read: 2014
archived

old review:
This was not her best work. It's too silly to be called a romance. It's more like a comedy with a side of romance. If the book had more serious moments, it could have been a great hr.
Profile Image for Caz.
3,270 reviews1,176 followers
September 6, 2016
This one just scraped a C- at AAR, so I'm leaving it at 2 stars

The Truth About Leo is the fourth book in Ms MacAllister’s Noble series, the first of which, Noble Intentions was released over a decade ago. Two more books followed, but Ms MacAllister turned her attention elsewhere after the third, and has only now returned to the Regency era with this new addition to the series.

I had a good idea of what I’d be getting when I requested this book. I reviewed the audiobook version of Noble Intentions a while back, and said that it was “a well-done piece of romantic fluff” in the vein of a slapstick comedy, so I was looking forward to more of the same. I don’t know whether the humour I found in that audiobook came more from the performance than the material, or whether it’s just a better book, but whatever the reason, The Truth About Leo doesn’t measure up - it falls flat, and, because the author is trying too hard to be funny just – isn’t.

Leo Mortimer, Earl of March, works for the British government and is making his way to Berlin from Russia via Denmark. Stopping to rescue a kitten from a tree proves to be a very bad idea, because after heroic efforts on behalf of the imperilled feline, he is beaten, stabbed and left for dead in the back garden of the Yellow House, the residence of Her Serene Highness, the Princess Dagmar Marie Sophie of Sonderburg-Beck and her English companion, Julia.

Dagmar is in dire straits. Her cousin, the Crown Prince, who for some, unexplained reason detests her, is planning to evict her within a matter of days, and Dagmar has nowhere else to go. She has no other relatives she can turn to, she certainly doesn’t fancy the idea of living out the rest of her days in a convent, as her cousin has threatened, and even though she’s half-English, she cannot obtain passage to England due to the unforeseen lack of available transport because of the recent decimation of the Danish fleet.

It seems there is only one way she can possibly get out of Denmark, and that would be if she were the wife of an English officer. But where on earth is she going to find one of those at short notice? And even were she to find one, how can she convince him to marry her?

Yep. You’re way ahead of me.

And actually, the problem I had at this point is exactly the same as the one I had with the earlier book; the author tries to draw out the (supposed) humour in a situation by dragging out a misunderstanding until the reader is tempted to throw the book at the wall. (Although I was reading on my new Paperwhite, so no way was that going to happen!) But when Dagmar returns, exhausted, from a day traipsing around Copenhagen trying to either bring her cousin around or find a way out of Denmark, the fact that Julia tells her that the drunkard they’d found in their back garden earlier isn’t actually drunk, but hurt, and that he’s English just doesn’t register with her; her double-take comes about five minutes too late.

So Dagmar and Julia drag Leo inside, and in spite of the doctor’s pronouncement that he won’t live to see the morning, they care for him, Dagmar marries him, they take ship for England and he doesn’t die.

When he eventually recovers, Leo is by turns furious at Dagmar’s actions and unable to keep from ogling her over-large boobs. Which are mentioned in passing. Often.

Once returned to London, Leo has to find somewhere suitable to house his new wife, but his search for suitable accommodation is interrupted when Julia is arrested for murder. The mystery plot doesn’t really get off the ground – the author lays a few clues early on in the book, and the identity of the wrong-doer is pretty obvious, but the actual dénouement is silly and the events which lead to Leo’s deduction of whodunnit happen off screen, so there’s no real involvement for the reader.

Dagmar is clearly supposed to be kooky and ditzy – but while there are moments where she can be quite endearing, she’s just too ingenuous and wide-eyed to be anything but cartoonish. She’s incredibly curious about sex and seems to have spent much of her girlhood ogling the grooms and the footmen! – and her enthusiasm of course delights her new husband. But her utterances about her “lady secret” are so twee as to be vomit-inducing. And then there are the really crass moments, such as Leo’s monologue about shaving a hairy ass. Yeah. Not going back there. (Note to Ms MacAllister: On this side of the pond, an ass is a donkey, your arse is the thing you sit on.)

Leo is…um, I’m not sure what he is, because I didn’t get a sense of him as a character at all. He’s not bad looking, he has a terrific arse and nice hands, but other than that he’s barely two dimensional.

It’s a quick read, and while it wasn’t difficult to get through, I did find myself skimming occasionally, as there were chunks of it that just don’t move the story forward. The funniest scene is one in which Dagmar together with three of the other female characters (from earlier books) gets tipsy while attempting to work out the whys and wherefores of the murder accusation levelled at Julia.

But otherwise, if you’re looking for a story to make you giggle fairly frequently, I’d look elsewhere.
Profile Image for Maggie Hesseling.
1,368 reviews13 followers
August 9, 2016
I'm so frustrated by this series. I didn't really like book 1 and 2, but then I LOVED book 3! However, I've been disappointed by 4. I understand what the author was trying to achieve in the jail section, but it was not only confusing, but began to look really messy. It's hard to get characters to talk at the same time on paper and make it understandable.

That being said, I really liked the beginning (even if the novel was once again very predictable), as I thought the set-up of the story line was not only interesting, but also fun and different.

But when they all cram into that jail cell, I feel that not only have the characters lost the plot and a couple marbles, but that I have as well.
Profile Image for AH.
2,005 reviews386 followers
August 5, 2014
Initial Thoughts: I enjoyed this new addition to Katie MacAlister's Noble series. This book focuses on Princess Dagmar and her love interest Leo. If you are not sure that you'd like historical romance, this series may be a good start as it combines historical romance with a great some comedy. It's guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. As an added bonus, characters from the earlier books make a lengthy appearance in this book. It's so nice to see Gillian and Noble, Harry and Plum and a grown up Nick with lady problems of his own.

The Review:
I fell in love with Katie MacAlister’s Noble series when I first read Noble Intentions. I am convinced that nobody writes historical romance like Ms. MacAlister. Her books are full of the usual romance, however they can also be classified as romantic comedies, full of hilarious situations and tongue in cheek humor. The Noble series is a perfect place for the uninitiated to get a taste of historical romance and all of its rather strange vocabulary. (Can you tell that HR is not my usual genre?)

The Truth About Leo is the fourth book in the Noble series and while it can be read as a stand alone book, you’ll want to go back to Noble Intentions, just to meet Gillian and Noble and her two smelly dogs.

What I love about this book is that the women are certainly a force to be reckoned with. These women are not the demure, shrinking violet of the time period – they are opinionated and resourceful and they do keep their men on their toes. In The Truth About Leo, Her Serene Highness Princess Dagmar sort of weasels her way into Leo’s life. In fact, she weds him when he was injured and unconscious. She does have some regrets and offers him an annulment, however Leo seems to like the irreverent Dagmar. It was amusing watching Leo and Dagmar get to know each other. I loved how their romance built slowly over the course of the book.

Each chapter begins with some sage motherly advice from Dagmar’s mother, brought about by Dagmar’s mischievous behavior. The topics are hilarious and underscore exactly what type of personality Dagmar had as a young girl.

I enjoyed seeing characters from the previous books make an appearance in this book. It was nice to visit with Gillian and Noble along with a grown up Nick (Noble Intentions) and Harry and Plum and Thom (The Trouble With Harry). Of course there are references to Plum’s scandalous book about connubial calisthenics, too.

The Truth About Leo was a lot of fun to read. It’s a perfect book for a summer read at the beach. I’m looking forward to reading more of Ms. MacAlister’s books in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for a review copy of this book.

Review posted on Badass Book Reviews. Check it out!
Profile Image for Janet.
3,330 reviews24 followers
October 10, 2019
This is a fun read. I really liked Dagmar and how she uses finding Leo to her advantage and the way the plot unfolds.
Profile Image for Farrah.
1,248 reviews210 followers
May 22, 2014
A light-hearted, sweet, and fun read, The Truth About Leo was a wonderful historical romance. I really liked this book. It was entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable.

Dagmar was a good heroine. She refused to let anyone, even the king of Denmark, tell her what to do with her life and she was clever (or perhaps impulsive) enough to figure a way out. She was a likable heroine and I thought she was great.

Leo was a total sweetie. He was the definition of a gentleman, totally adorable, and utterly endearing. I really liked him. I thought he was perfect.

The romance was lovely. Dagmar and Leo were great together and I liked how they both didn't bother to hide their feelings for each other. And, the chemistry between them was hot, considering how they both could keep their hands off each other (or, at least, couldn't stop thinking about it). I thought they were great together.

The plot was well paced and I was hooked the entire way through, though the story did start to drag near the end. The story was delightfully funny and entertaining and, though it did cross the line to silly at a few points, it kept a smile on my face. There was a surprise in store that I never saw coming, about one of the characters. I really enjoyed the story and the ending was lovely.

The Truth About Leo was a wonderful, light, and fun romance. I really liked this thoroughly entertaining read. From the sweet romance, to the surprising secret, and the endless fun, this book was lovely. Romance lovers, this is a book worth checking out.

*I received a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Profile Image for Jujubee.
998 reviews58 followers
October 29, 2017
“That’s the second time you’ve saved my life.”
“I’m a princess,” she said loftily, as if he needed reminding. “Saving handsome men from certain death is what we do best.
That and waving gracefully to crowds.
Have you ever seen me wave? My mother taught me..."

Oh, dear author, I've missed you.

I attribute Katie MacAlister to jump starring my reading heart when I picked up Love in the Time of Dragons whilst perusing paperbacks at my local Target one Sunday afternoon in 2010. Real life had put my love of reading romance novels on a back burner for decades and with children then off to college, me finally done with college, work life and personal life in perfect chaotic order, I was looking to reacquant myself with my first true addiction: romance novels. Baltic, Tully, and Brom were just what I didn't even know I needed. Then I read everything on KM's backlist...so I am well versed in her writing career and remain a stalwart #fangirl4ever. With that said, I also understand much of the reviewer's comments about her most current writing style, that of a Marx brother's slapstick comedy routine. And I am in agreement. In part. Her stories can be farcical and silly, with some of the banter verging on tedious, but who doesn't need a little silly served with a poignant romance?
Poo-poo to those reviewers that feel they need to pick apart her stories to leave them "less," yet miss the main parts for what they are worth...a happy-go-lucky, witty, madcap love affair that ends with a HEA for two fictional characters that are made exactly for each other. You know you'll always get a few chuckles, wide-eyed smexy times, and a HEA with a Katie MacAlister story...you just have to have the time to take that trip down the rabbit hole for that sip of Mad Hatter tea!


What can I say other than I've had this one on my dusty TBR listy for far too long. The Noble series is on the lighter side of historicals romps, where the imperfect heroines are quirky and their lonely alpha-ish heroes are, well, noble.
Oh, and I still am in love with Harry!!
Anywho, Leo and Dagmar are adorable together.
The mystery is not that mysterious, albeit needed to have something to bring all my faves of the series (sadly, no Dare or Charlotte) together...literally...all in one prison cell together!
And it looks like there won't be a separate story for our young lovers Nick (Noble's son) and Thom (Plum's niece) , just in case you were wondering. So if this is the end, all I can say is this final book was a good read and the series overall is a delight. Solid 3.5* for The Truth about Leo and a solid 4* for the four book series. #notroublewithHarry
Profile Image for Oleander .
452 reviews26 followers
January 23, 2022
I'm so glad Katie MacAlister added another book to this series. I love her heroines that are do not get discouraged or intimated. Princess Dagmar marries a man she doesn't expect to survive in order to get boat passage to England. He does survive, and he sure is surprised to be married. That isn't really a bad thing though, as they soon discover.
Profile Image for Eleanore June.
683 reviews29 followers
Read
July 11, 2017
nope. DNF at 2%
- Terrible reader
- Literal Cat Saving in the first 2 min
- Annoying "My boobs are too big" conversation
- Mediocre at best other reviews.

Not wasting my time even though it is a library find.
Profile Image for 🐝 Shaz 🐝 .
830 reviews24 followers
March 4, 2020
Dagmar the impoverished Princess. Finds Leo Earl of March injured in her garden. This starts there hilarious love story.
This is my first reading of Katie MacAlister. won't be my last.
Profile Image for Nancy Haddock.
Author 8 books419 followers
September 18, 2017
Absolutely adorable

I haven't laughed aloud over a historical romance in a while, but this one had me chuckling throughout. Run to get the book!
Profile Image for Patty McKenna Van Hulle.
779 reviews8 followers
June 2, 2014
The Truth About Leo (Noble, #4) by Katie MacAlister
Katie MacAlister

Your Serene Highness finds, saves and uses a wounded and dying English spy to get to England, for free!

Leopold Ernst George Mortimer, the Earl of March, is a spy for the Crown and has just finished his assignment in St. Petersburg, Russia and on his way to Germany via Copenhagen. Leo isn't happy, when a tree climbing kitty, his proud horse, a troublemaking girl and 3 Danish soldiers with swords, make his day go very bad!

Princess Dagma Marie Sophie of Sonderburg-Beck has no family left, but the Prince Regent Frederick of Denmark, her greedy, mean and slightly whimpy cousin. After her Sainted mother dies, her Dearest Papa and her Mom's companion, now hers, Julia Deworth are all she has left. Over a year after her Dearest Papa dies, Prince Frederick wants Dagma gone from Denmark and she has 3 chooses, back to her Sonderburg-Beck relatives (who hate and disowned her father), to her mother's English relatives (who has 10 kids) or a French Convent (Dagma doesn't have a "kneel on your knees and pray" bone in her body). So when a wounded and dying man shows up in her garden, Julia and her try to save him, then Dagma marries and uses him for free passage to England.

Dagma uses the ship ride to England to nurse her newly and unaware hubby back to the living. A fever ridden Leo wakes up to a wartless harpy, evil men who move him to Hades, Hades coming and going and when he is finally alert, he sees a harlot in his room calling him, her dearest hubby. Dagma is drawn to her newly awakened, yummy, tattooed and sexy hubby and can't keep her hands to herself. Leo is pisses that she married and used him for a ride to England, but she has a "to die for" body and bountiful breasts.

When they reach England, Dagma wants an annulment and Leo wants to keep this luscious wife by his side. Leo must find a place to live because his bachelor pad won't do. After finds rooms with Philip Danes and his sister, who they met on the ship, he must look for Phillip's nephew's murderer, report to his boss, heal his wounds, look for a home and keeps his eyes on his wife! This two clash like oil and water and they fight, rip one another clothes off and have a hilarious time having massive sex. With a little help from a cast of hilarious and kooky characters from the Noble clan, Leo and Dagma take a madcap journey to solve a decades old mystery, dodge the chicken poxes, get a roof over their head, see Roman relics, drink lots of whiskey and have a tons and tons of steamy, passionate and fire extinguishers worthy sex! Will Dagma stay with Leo and open her heart? Can Leo stay out of his wife's dress long enough to solve the mystery? Will Dagma and her new female family and friends stop drinking all the whiskey? Can sea air really make Dagma's breast larger? How long until Dagma and Leo's hearts bust with love? Will they unusual marriage last?

This hilarious and madcap romance was so awesome that I rolled on my floor hyperventilating with laughter and it was so not a pretty sight. Ms. MacAlister has the writing style that I love the most, humorous! Dagma is so funny with all her sayings, like "Your Serene Highness", "Sainted mother" and "Dearest Papa!" She is a scrappy, feisty and too curious princess that has a heart of gold! Leo is a lone wolf with has a unique, funny and loving surrogate family and friends. They give him a sense of family and unconditional love. Ms. MacAlister pulls in her cast of unusual and kooky characters from her Noble series and she makes you click, that evil and mean, Amazon button to order all her quirky Noble books. Yes, she made me book POORER and I am a new devotee of her and I can't wait to read the whole Noble series. She earns my top score of 5 fingers up and 10 toes (insert pompoms here) for this original and hyperventilate with laughter romance.

NetGalley ARC given for my honest review.
1,153 reviews16 followers
May 17, 2015
I think the strength of this book is also its weakness. It is unapologetic and staunchly ridiculous. I think this is either a book one loves or hates. I started this book rating it five stars. It was hilarious but I do understand that it can get a bit tiring, so I marked it down to four stars. However, this book is filled with hilarious one liners and the characters are just ridiculous. I think the author is truly talented to be able to write this. I do commend the way the book owns its over the top comical situations. The only way I can describe it is it is unapologetic. It knows it is ridiculous and embraces it. I love it but I do understand it can be a bit much. However, I am four books in the series so this aspect of the book isn't a surprise. It is what keeps me coming back, after all.

The book revolves around Dagmar. Her cousin has refused to support her and she is hounding him. When pushed, he gave her a choice, go to a convent or go to her English relatives, who were poor and no space for two mouths to feed. She took her chances on going to England. However, there is no ride there. The only way she could go with the English navy is if she is married to the officers. She failed to convince the captain of her plight and she went home with her pilfered goods. When she did, she found that there is a wounded man in her backyard. Her companion led her to him. They nursed him back to health and she was convinced to marry him. Since it appeared that he was dying, she might as well have the benefits of a marriage, namely, passage to England.

However, Leo recovered. He found himself married with no recollections of it. He rolled with the punches though and accepted it. He even fought for it when she presented him with the choice of divorce or annulment. The conflict lies mainly in their marriage. She felt she took advantage, while he feels that marriage isn't so bad. Of course, the biggest conflict is their personalities. They have ridiculous personalities. Dagmar is single-minded and very convinced with her point of view. May it be her persistence to make a living with no known funding or her melodramatic sacrifice to leave Leo. Of course, Leo is ridiculous in his own way, he is a bit insane to go along with Dagmar and see it as par for the course.

The other conflict is the missing murderer. The siblings really want to frame Julia. They framed her for the murder of the sister, which Dagmar and Leo disproved. It involved breaking into a sealed coffin full of dead horses. However, she did commit a crime. Julia attempted to compromise someone but it backfired. It led to his death and the siblings were just exacting justice in their own way.

The book ends with Dagmar and Leo running for safety. They were on a covert mission, which Frederick blew. He revealed their identities and they are running to somewhere safe.

Highlights of the book:
-Dagmar stealing a puppy and giving it away, not before she names it herself, after a demon nonetheless.
-Dagmar's relationship with her royal cousin. Enough said.
-Dagmar pointing out she cannot be in a convent because she wasn't Catholic.
-Dagmar guilting the captain for a ride to England, telling him her only alternative is to walk the streets.
-Leo calling Dagmar and Julia harpies when he had a fever.
-Dagmar and Thom hitting Nick with a book when they figured out he thought she was an actual princess and not a prostitute calling herself a princess.
-Dagmar fondling Leo's buttocks.
-Frederick receiving the bill for her ride to England.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sophia.
Author 5 books399 followers
September 14, 2014
When it comes to this series, I get so excited to see each new installment because I know I'm going to get high entertainment from cover to cover. I was laughing before I finished the first page.

This book is part of a series and its best read in order due to the inclusion of recurring characters and particularly one side plot that carries over from the last book. However, this does feature a brand new couple and their story is completely contained in this book.

The story opens with Princess Dagmar, cousin to the Crowned Prince of Denmark, given an ultimatum from him that she leave to her mother's relations in England or he'll have her sent to a convent. Dagmar goes to the English navy ships in harbor and is told that they will only transport wives and children of officers. Dagmar is determined that this isn't the end of it and finds that fate is kind when she returns home to find an unconscious Englishman in her garden. Serendipity! She marries the insensible man who happens to be an army officer and whisks him aboard the ship to a new life in England.

Leo has no idea how he ended up on a ship for England, recovering for a wound and married to a beautiful, headstrong Princess. He knows Dagmar hasn't told him the whole truth of how things came to be, but oddly he is willing to let things be. Dagmar is a big surprise. He never thought to get married in his line of work participating in political intrigue on behalf of England, but when Dagmar talks of annulment, he won't hear of it. In fact, not only does he want to stay married, he finds himself a bit possessive.

Dagmar is surprised at how pleasing she finds Leo and worried that he will take her up on her talk of getting out of their marriage. She feels the stirrings of guilt for entrapping him in her schemes and is determined to make things right for Leo's sake. To add to it all, her companion is accused of murder and Leo's employer is ordering him back to Europe to finish the job he started. It will take all their ingenuity and the help of all their friends to get everyone out of danger.

The plot is full of the humor and mayhem I've come to expect from these stories. The chronological time frame of the storyline is a few years after the last book and the hero, Leo, is of age and friendship with Noble's son, Nick. The entrapped marriage plot line is fun the way it works out and I cracked up over the fixation there was with Dagmar's large bosom and her innocent fascination with the physical side of marriage. Dagmar is the spoiled, autocratic type and Leo balances her with his phlegmatic personality. Their romance is under-developed and not based on anything substantial really, but they were a fun couple. The murder mystery plot thread wasn't too challenging, but it was a nice addition.

I think my favorite part was the reunion feel of all the main players for the series coming together in this one with Nick and Thom's story get resolved. While this was a fun story, it was by no means as sparkling as a couple of the earlier ones at least from my perspective. The plot isn't as sharp and tight with some stuff left vague.

In the end, this one is for those who like saucy, light historical romance with an 'anything goes' quality.

My thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this one in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Olivia.
219 reviews14 followers
August 20, 2014

The truth about Leo is the 4th installment in the Noble series, this being the first I have read in this series I would say it can totally be read as a standalone. But after you read this one you’ll probably smash through the others. I found this book to be one of the best Historical Romances I have read, it embodies everything you can want: Humor, Historical setting, Love, Deception and Romance.

Dagmar Marie Sophie is a princess who also happens to be down on her luck with both parents gone and the impending eviction from the only house she knows, where to go that is the question? Dagmar is doing extremely unladylike things to keep food on her table but her ideas get even more questionable when it comes to gaining passage to England. This witty Danish royalty will do whatever it takes to stay out of the convent her boorish cousin intends to send her to. So when a solider of sorts is unconscious and looks like death might take him, she sees opportunity… Marry the man! If he dies you get safe passage, if he lives you get safe passage and a husband to later divorce. Seems reasonable!
Or just hold him hostage? A Lady must have options~

“It’s this or harlotry, Julia. I cannot go to the French convent. I’m not at all the sort of person who would thrive in such a strict environment, and if you had any love for me, any love at all, you would help me ransom that hurt man!”

Leopold Ernst George Mortimer is a spy for the king; his memory is a little foggy after the kitten rescue. One would think getting married would be a memorable thing, upon awakening aboard a ship heading to England with a wife no less! His situation gets even more peculiar when he realizes he wants Dagmar, even if her companion is accused of murder.

“I am a virgin. Would you mind sucking on my other breast? It is out of sorts because you’ve paid so much attention to the right one.” Dagmar~

“ I want to consummate you as you’ve never been consummated, and the continue consummating you until one or possibly both of us expire from sheer, unadulterated pleasure, but that, my fine temptress, is not going to happen until I have made a few decisions. And to that end, let us continue the discussion we were having when you attempted to seduce me by means of your delicious breast”. Leo~

Another Favorite moment~

“ I am gentle,” she said pinching his arm. And innocent! Most definitely not a harlot.” Dagmar~

“And yet just a few minutes ago you were sitting on my lap, playing with my penis and trying to suck the tongue out of my head.” Leo~

“That’s because we’re married.” ~Dagmar


I am in awe of how wonderful this book truly was. I have a large portion highlighted. The comical way Dagmar handles all situations is a thing of beauty. Katie MacAlister has a magical way of thinking, the way she writes is unique to say the very least. The Harpy part was so funny I didn’t think it could get any better than that and then it did.
Quick witty writing even in the most sensually compromising positions, I was unsure whether to fan myself or laugh! Well done indeed~

I received this for an honest review~
Profile Image for Marilyn Rondeau.
496 reviews24 followers
September 1, 2014
Dagmar Marie Sophie is a poverty-stricken Danish princess who is the bane of her royal cousin’s (the King) existence. Because she is not entirely Danish, he wants her to go and live off of someone else’s charity - not his. His latest edict - go away or be placed in a convent! When Dagmar finds an unconscious, wounded and dying man in her garden who is obviously English; and if she is the wife of an English officer, would be able to procure passage to England, she arranges for a quick marriage.

Leopold Ernst George Mortimer, seventh earl of March, and spy in the service of the king recovers on the voyage home to find he is married to a stranger, albeit a very lovely, very buxom young woman. He is at wit’s end to discover how this happened and what he’s forgotten. Is Dagmar truly the wonderful, jaunty woman who makes his heart sing, or is she a dangerous enigma bent on his destruction?

*** True to form, Ms. MacAlister can really make one laugh and she does this throughout the tome. Having first discovered this author with her NOBLE INTENTIONS book I was hooked and from that point on I have been a huge fan. However, with THE TRUTH ABOUT LEO, I can honestly say I’m disappointed. Not by the zany actions and dialogs between the protagonists, but by questions I didn’t think were answered and were not addressed.

It started out with Leopold in a tree trying to save a kitten with an adorable little girl whom I figured would have a more prominent spot in the telling of the story. Little girl disappears; Leopold fell from the tree surrounded by soldiers.

The next thing is Dagmar’s trials and tribulations with her cousin the king, and totally ignoring pleas from her lady companion that she should do something about the drunk vagrant in her garden. How did he get there? Then after discovering that she could not get passage to England without being the wife of an officer, in spite of her connections to a dead duke, and time running out to avoid being sent to a convent, she decides to take a look at the vagrant in the garden.

Bottom line: I could go on to summarize the entire plot, but for me it seemed disjointed and did not answer the question of who and why was Leopold attacked; what did the papers hidden in his boot have to do with the story; and so many other questions. Laugh at the antics - yes; understand or get a satisfactory ending? - I’m sorry to say, no.

Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com
Profile Image for Tabatha.
688 reviews79 followers
August 5, 2014
Katie MacAlister is back, and I honestly couldn’t be happier! I’ve always loved her trademark witty humor and her colorful cast of characters, so I was delighted to find that she was releasing another historical in her Noble series. I will admit, that I may be a bit of a MacAlister fan girl (it was her books that got me back into reading after all) but I think that she is an amazingly talented lady. The Noble series has always been my favorite of her books, so I’ve eagerly anticipated this fourth installment for some time now. I am exceedingly pleased to report that The Truth About Leo has definitely lived up to my expectations and it was so much fun to read!

We start out the book with Princess Dagmar (or her Serene Highness as she likes to be called) in a bit of a pickle, but that doesn’t keep the ever resourceful Princess down for very long. She jumps at the opportunity presented to her in marrying our injured hero, Leopold Ernest George Mortimer the seventh Earl of March, and quite quickly setting course for England. There these two embark on a thoroughly entertaining journey of intrigue and mystery that will keep you guessing as to what is going to happen with this couple next. I was pleased that Katie brought back the majority of the characters from the previous books in this series, so that we may catch a glimpse as to where they have gone since we last parted. As all of Katie’s heroines are known to do, the Princess stole the show for me. I just loved Dagmar (even if she does have an unappealing name). She is a resourceful woman, and I found her to be beyond funny. She has wit, intelligence, and a forthright manner of speaking that you just can’t help but love. On the flip side though, I wish we got to know Leo a bit more, but I did enjoy what little we got to know of him. Overall, The Truth About Leo was pleasure to read. If you enjoy well written stories with light-hearted humor in your romance and engaging plots, then I couldn’t suggest Katie more strongly as a great author for you to read. I’m definitely looking forward to what Katie has in store for us next.

*I received a review copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

You can see this and more of my reviews on
Blending Perspectives Book Reviews
Profile Image for Jessi.
5,601 reviews19 followers
September 10, 2016
If this hadn't been an ARC from NetGalley, there is no way I would have made it past the first chapter. I just plain do not like Dagmar (Dagmar?). She is headstrong as well as ignorant and just something of a spoiled child. Yes, I get that is supposed to be her character, but we don't really see any evolution. She just magically becomes a good person... or maybe her negatives were just over-emphasized and then suddenly de-emphasized. It was odd. Anyway, she needs to escape her current situation so when she finds a near-dead English soldier in her garden, she marries him.
Only it turns out he's not just any soldier, he's an earl. The seventh earl of March, Leopold Ernst George Mortimer doesn't know what's going on. He's not in heaven because it seems he's surrounded by harpies. Luckily, those harpies save him. And one is even his wife! That's a surprise.
While there were a lot of issues with this book (a LOT of issues), Katie MacAlister overall weaves a wonderful story as long as you can really, really suspend your disbelief (e.g. use of the word recap which didn't come into the current use until the 1920s. Even the first use wasn't until the 1850s).
Overall, an enjoyable story. Not as good as the first but definitely better than the second.
Profile Image for Shannon   The Romance Addict!.
1,606 reviews
September 24, 2014
H:Leopold Ernst George Mortimer, seventh earl of March
h: Dagmar Marie Sophie

This is my first time reading by this author. I though the book was pretty good.

I really liked Leo. I though he was a sweet Hero. I liked that he was good but could be bad also. The book starts with him hurting himself to save a cat for a little girl, AWWWW. I also liked Dagmar she was a strong-take no nonsense-knows what she wants heroine. It rear to find a book were i like the h ans H equally, I lean toward one or the other. I loved how they love each other. They had GREAT chemistry.

Ok, so lets get started. Leo gets ruffed up and left for dead Dagmar finds him and think he just might be the answer to her prays. She tells a fuzzy headed Leo that she his wife to get him to take her back to London. Once there all the real action start. This a great book with some pretty funny parts.

I love Historical Romance and if you are like me and want to get lost in a good book then give this a try you wont be disappointed.
29 reviews
November 27, 2014
I can say very little that is nice about this book. The author tried too hard. She tried too hard to be humorous. She tried too hard to incorporate characters from other books.

She didn't try hard enough to build a complex plot. It was predictable, which was very disappointing. The plot could have been unique and interesting if it wasn't so obvious.

Dagmar was annoying. She was a thief (out of necessity, but still a thief). Her thievery was handled so glibly. She was overly naive, unbelievably so. And she lacked character development. It was ridiculous.

I originally rated this at a two, but the more I think about it, the more I hate the book and wonder why I even finished it.
Profile Image for Rachel Blom.
Author 6 books10 followers
November 21, 2014
Once again, I made the mistake of reading a book that was part of a series without reading the other books first. That doesn't work in this case, because many of the secondary characters in this otherwise entertaining read are from previous books in the series and aren't properly introduced. It left me with a barrage of names and hints at backstory I couldn't decipher. Also, it made a few scenes (like the scene in the jail or the interactions between Plus and Harry) completely bewildering.

I liked the tone and the sense of humor, but don't read this book without reading the others in the series first.
Profile Image for Brittany.
3,520 reviews27 followers
May 13, 2014
I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Now, I definitely cannot read books like this very often it just makes my brain hurt. The main character is just way too ADD for me. It made it a tad bit hard to follow at times. Other than that it was a very entertaining read. I had a smile on my face for most of the book. Not sure about reading more from the author though but this was a nice change of pace.
Profile Image for Hotaru.
9 reviews
December 14, 2021
It is a rare occasion that I would write such a negative review on a book. I am actually surprised at myself for finishing it. It is really a pity, for the author has the ability to pen her words in a flourish, but what is truly lacking in this book, is an actual plot. This book is a tremendous failure in its characters, as instead of describing the female protagonist as someone who is innocent but with wit and character, she comes off as a selfish and inconsiderate. Both her and the male protagonist, as well as the entire cast of supporting characters feels fake and downright ridiculous, the way they would go off on a tangent about completely inappropriate topics in what should have been serious scenes. It is outrageous that not only the main protagonist couple, but also another pair of supporting characters would suddenly go about discussing their relationship woes while supposedly trying to investigate what may or may not be a case of misconstrued justice at a prison cell, with an entire cast of supporting characters watching/listening to the exchange.

Not wasting any more time on this review, as it is truly a disappointment.
Profile Image for Sharyn.
3,141 reviews24 followers
July 29, 2019
This is the fourth in a series , the first 3 I read before I was on Goodreads. This is the 2nd time this has happened this month and now I have 2 series to reread. If the first 3 are as laugh out loud funny as this one, it will be worth it. Dagmar is a poverty stricken Danish Princess. Her cousin the Prince disliked her and wants to put her in a convent. We find out why from little excerpts before each chapter. Dagmar finds a wounded man in her garden, and that starts a hilarious adventure.
Profile Image for Andi.
878 reviews
October 30, 2016
Good book...

From start to finish like the rest of the series. I laughed and sighed at the romance. The characters are crazy people that I would hang out with. I'm looking forward to more by this author.
Profile Image for Diane.
420 reviews1 follower
August 13, 2017
Dagmar is hilarious! I really enjoyed the style of writing in this story. I'm not quite sure what the plot was though and felt let down at the end. Maybe it had something to do with not reading books 1-3 of this series? My library didn't have them on audio which is what I have time for.
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