The Last Man in London

Rogues & Gentlemen #9

by Emma V. Leech

Dinah Osborne needs a husband and she needs one now.
Not just any man will do. To meet the terms of her rather eccentric grandfather’s will, she must be safely engaged to marry a man of worth before her twenty-first birthday or she’ll not receive a penny of her rather large inheritance. Sadly her social climbing grandfather’s notions of worth and her own are not in the least alike, and nothing but a Lord will satisfy the terms of his will. But Dinah is alone in the world and has no entry into the select ranks of the ton.
She does, however, know a thing or two about blackmail.
Lord Benjamin Lancaster is a determined rake, a hardened gambler, and the kind of man who fills Dinah with disgust. However a title is a title, and she’s quite content to use him for her own ends.
Yet her fake fiancé is not quite as easy to handle as Dinah had hoped, and he’s determined to have more for his trouble than the financial reward promised him. Dinah is not immune to his deep blue eyes or his dark charm, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s the last man in London that she would ever give her heart to…

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

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 29, 2018

About the author

Bestselling author hiding mostly in 19th-century England, venturing out only for chocolate and tea.

Emma V. Leech is the award-winning author of multiple bestselling series across Regency romance, Regency mystery and paranormal romance. Fall in love with swoon-worthy rogues, bold heroines, witty banter and deeply romantic happily-ever-afters. Follow Emma on BookBub for new releases and exclusive deals.

EMMA’S BOOKS

Rogues And Gentlemen
Regency romance – 17-book series (ongoing)
Sexy, tumultuous and irresistibly romantic. From pirates and smugglers to earls and dukes, these unforgettable rogues will sweep you away!

Winter Rogue
A Regency Christmas romance within the Rogues & Gentlemen world
A scandal-weary earl, a runaway heiress and a crumbling country estate snowed in for Christmas. A sensual, heart-tugging holiday novella about redemption, desire and a love neither of them expects.

A Rogues and Gentlemen Christmas
A standalone Regency Christmas romance
A collection of three romantic holiday stories featuring beloved Rogues & Gentlemen characters. Expect snowstorms, sizzling tension, unexpected proposals, mistletoe moments and heart-melting happily-ever-afters – a cosy festive escape for Regency romance lovers.

The Girl Is Not For Christmas
A standalone Regency Christmas romance
Miss Olivia Penrose is the only thing standing between her family and ruin when a brooding aristocrat crashes into her carefully laid plans. Sparks fly amid family secrets, snowy scandals and irresistible festive longing in this passionate, witty and deeply romantic winter read.

Girls Who Dare
Regency romance – 12-book series
Inside every wallflower is the heart of a lioness. When these overlooked young women make a pact to change their lives, rules are broken, reputations are risked and love becomes the most daring adventure of all.

Daring Daughters
Victorian romance – 19-book series and two compilations
The next generation of the Girls Who Dare. Their mothers risked everything for love – now their daughters are ready to be even bolder. An ongoing series of fiercely romantic stories set in a rapidly changing world.

Wicked Sons
Victorian romance – 12-book series
Their mothers dared all for love. Their sisters did the same. Now it’s the sons’ turn… dangerous, tempting and determined not to fall – until the right woman brings them to their knees.

The Venturesome Ladies Of Little Valentine
Regency romance – my current series
A quiet seaside village, a wave of scandalous newcomers and local ladies who refuse to be swept aside. A warm, witty Regency series full of secrets, second chances and delicious enemies-to-lovers romance.

The Regency Romance Mysteries
Regency romantic suspense – 3-book series
Dashing heroes, wicked villains, murder, mystery – and heroines who refuse to sit prettily and wait to be rescued. Perfect if you like your Regency romance served with danger and intrigue.

The French Vampire Legend
Paranormal romance – 4-book series
A dark, dramatic and heart-wrenching tale of courage, sacrifice and a love that not even time, war or monsters can destroy. Gothic atmosphere, high stakes and a romance that refuses to die.

The French Fae Legend
Fantasy romance – 4-book series
An award-winning saga with close to sixteen million online reads. Moving between modern-day France and the Fae Lands, these books weave powerful magic, danger and an all-consuming love that proves stronger than any enchantment.

The Book Lover
A standalone paranormal romance novella
A book-obsessed young woman, an infuriatingly charming stranger and the unnerving sense that stories might be bleeding into real life. A short, intensely romantic tale for anyone who has ever fallen in love with books… and perhaps with something not entirely of this world.

Reviews

[Jultri · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5. The beginning was fire. The protagonists were matching wit trying to outsmart one another. There was a lot of attraction mingled with animosity making for a combustible mix.

The orphaned Dinah Osborne has been living a hand to mouth existence for many years, getting by using her cunning and beauty to distract and con people. She has a chance to reverse her fortune. She is the unexpected heir to her estranged grandfather's fortune, provided she can get herself engaged to titled man. She and her father figure partner in crime devises a plan to entrap Lord Benjamin Lancaster, a hedonistic rake who is always tempted by high stakes.

Very entertaining story. The pace slowed down in the middle somewhat but the chemistry between the main characters elevated the story. Joe, her de facto father , is such a sweetheart.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ridiculously good

This book brought tears to my eyes more than once - it was just that sweet of a story.
Renowned rake and the poverty stricken girl that reforms him. I think I liked this trope more than the rake and the wallflower.

[Laura J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dinah is the granddaughter of a wealthy self-made man who has disowned her father. She’s living in poverty with Joe who has loved her like a daughter since her parents’ deaths. Joe has insisted she maintain her lady-like appearances which includes a lush of a chaperone at the same time partnering her in his swindles. A sleazy lawyer informs her that her grandfather has died and if she’s engaged by her 21st birthday to an aristocrat, she will inherit his fortune. Since she only has weeks to find a fiancé, she and Joe con Ben, a Lord (I didn’t know 3rd sons were “lords”) into agreeing to pretend to be engaged. Ben hasn’t done anything worthwhile in his life; he gambles, drinks and is a rake. He’s also of course handsome, charming and wants Dinah as his mistress.

The set up was entertaining but the rest of the book was predictable and the characters were boring. Dinah turns into a watering pot; Ben is a hot head. All their troubles could have been avoided by hiring a solicitor.

[Silver Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful addition

If you're like us, you may have been following this series for a time now and have "shipped" and rooted for your favorite love teams - rogue gentlemen and women with substance is always a recipe for misunderstanding and desire.

Dinah and Ben do not disappoint in this. You can place your bets but remember miss Emma has tricks up her sleeves like Miss D herself. She cares for her characters and you will too. Can't wait to read Flaming June.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (3/7/2019)! 🎁

Blurb:
Dinah Osborne needs a husband and she needs one now.
Not just any man will do. To meet the terms of her rather eccentric grandfather’s will, she must be safely engaged to marry a man of worth before her twenty-first birthday or she’ll not receive a penny of her rather large inheritance. Sadly her social climbing grandfather’s notions of worth and her own are not in the least alike, and nothing but a Lord will satisfy the terms of his will. But Dinah is alone in the world and has no entry into the select ranks of the ton.
She does, however, know a thing or two about blackmail.
Lord Benjamin Lancaster is a determined rake, a hardened gambler, and the kind of man who fills Dinah with disgust. However a title is a title, and she’s quite content to use him for her own ends.
Yet her fake fiancé is not quite as easy to handle as Dinah had hoped, and he’s determined to have more for his trouble than the financial reward promised him. Dinah is not immune to his deep blue eyes or his dark charm, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s the last man in London that she would ever give her heart to …

[T. Isajanyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a romance, very well written. Love the characters and wish everyone had a Joe to protect them when hard times hit. The style was perfect, and a fast read to give you a good night's sleep when you finish through a chapter.

[Melba Hard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the rest of the series.

Good but not as riveting as the other books in the series. The characters were well described and I only realised that Ben was the same Ben that was in a previous book when he went to visit Tommy!

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE LAST MAN IN LONDON : is a pleasant , easy , one day read. I appreciate that the book pulls all the ends together for the ending. Joe is my favorite character.

[Winnifred D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Ben, the hero of this book, from his role in the previous entry in this series, so I was looking forward to seeing how he'd get his HEA. The blackmail angle is far-fetched here but I enjoyed the dynamic between Ben and the heroine, Dinah, and her interactions with Joe, who has been a father figure to her. I liked the focus on H/h forming a friendship instead of just falling into bed. Unfortunately, at the 60% mark, the plot goes awry. Instead of being patient and seeing how their relationship develops, Dinah decides to seduce Ben, although she is well aware of the pressures he's facing from society and his family by maintaining their deception of an engagement. After that point, everything becomes rather silly, with angsty misunderstandings that could have been avoided if characters had just talked things through.

By the end, I was done with Dinah's judgmental nature. She makes several snarky comments about Ben's reputation that don't seemed earned. He's supposed to be a "rake", but other than the woman he wakes up next to at the very beginning of the book, he has absolutely no other remotely sexual interactions with other women, including past flames. He never dallies during their fake engagement. He's a skilled gambler, but that doesn't make him morally inferior; after all, she's a card sharp. Ben treats Dinah with respect, but all of his efforts seem to backfire on him. Instead of at least sending him a letter to discuss how the fake engagement should end, she humiliates him by walking into his gentleman's club (which NEVER would have happened in those days) and stages a meltdown, pretending he was unfaithful. Once they're apart, she automatically assumes he's sleeping around because of what she's read in gossip rags.

I have liked other books in this series, but I think this one is a bit muddled. There's an unhealthy underlying message that a woman should be angry and vengeful because a man won't have sex with her when she's ready, even if he isn't.

If you like your regencies "clean and sweet" this one does have post-marital sex. Language is pretty tame, PG rated. Sex is semi-descriptive.

[Vania Nunes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Dinah Osborne was a poor girl whose parents had died and left her in the care of their friend Joe.
Her grandfather, a wealthy merchant, had abandoned and disinherited his only son years before when he fell in love with a saleswoman, instead of marrying a lady of the Ton.
Needing to put food on the table, Joe and Dinah applied the most different scams, but Joe's great desire was for Dinah to finally find a good man to marry and protect her.
The heavens light up in a miracle when she receives a letter from her grandfather's lawyer, and discovers that she would be the sole heir to vast wealth... however, she would need to be engaged to a lord by her twenty-first birthday in six weeks.
Then the hunt for the perfect target begins. And Benjamin Lancaster is the chosen one.

Lord Benjamin Lancaster, the youngest son of a marquess, led a life of privilege and vagrancy.
He took married women to bed, created scandals and spent the family's money on cards.
The older brother, the Earl of Dreighton, was tired of trying to talk some sense into Ben, and Ben loved to torment his older brother.
Taken in by Dinah and Joe's audacious plan, Ben finds himself forced to participate in the scam they would carry out on the lawyer, and of course Ben would receive a good payment for it. But upon realizing that Dinah's goal was simply to get the money - she would never stay with a rake man like Ben -, he also sets his sights on getting Dinah into his bed.
Which of the two smart guys will win first?
The characters are so endearing, Joe is a huge, scary cute man, and the chemistry between the couple is perfect.
5 stars

[Martha B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never in His Wildest Dreams

Lord Lancaster, third son of the Marquess of Henshaw, is definitely a dispensable spare. Which is probably why he lives only for his own pleasure. He is justly known as a rake and wastrel. A true gentleman he is not.

If not for Joe raising her and protecting her, Dinah Osburne would have been lost to the streets of London when she was orphaned. She has learned well the many talents Joe taught her, but still she has lived a hand-to-mouth existence. She has been tutored in the was of a lady, but a true lady she is not.

When Ben Lancaster and Dinah Osburne cross paths, fireworks, angst and passion will be on display for all to see.

I'm a big fan of Emma V. Leech. I love both her stories and her writing style. Her works are easy to read and she brings the Regency period to life. She is also a master at morphing her characters personalities from the not so likable to the lovable. Which is why I am not surprised that I enjoyed The Last Man in London so much.

All in all this was an entertaining and engrossing read with a happy ending that included an epilogue.

Content alert: God's name is used 37 times; there is some light swearing (d*mn/h*ll); there are two lightly described intimate scenes; and there is some passionate kissing.

Notice: I also posted my review on Amazon (as Rural Reader) and with BookBub.

[Lana Birky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed all the the books in the Rogues & Gentlemen Series! Emma V. Leech writes with an emotional & loving touch that it draws the reader right in to the thick of things. Dinah Osborne's eccentric & very rich grandfather has never claimed Dinah but now he has died & will leave all of his wealth to her with one stipulation. She is 6 weeks away from her 21st birthday & she must be engaged to a Lord by then or she will receive no money at all. Lord Benjamin Lancaster has been chosen by Dinah & her adopted father, Joe to help with a fake engagement. Ben leads a wastrel life gambling, womanizing & drinking & they form an agreement which will have Ben & Dinah out among the Ton ( she has never been out in society) so they can appear to be a new couple falling in love & then announce their engagement - Dinah will release him from the engagement & pay him money for the acting job. Both agree on a business agreement & nothing else - Ben will never marry & Dinah knows not to fall for his charming womanizing ways. Hmmmmm..........things go quite the opposite with lots of happenings on the journey to their HEA. I highly recommend this book (which can be read as a stand alone) & the other in this series to all historical romance readers.

[S.K. Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enter a beautiful, tenacious, card-dealing con artist who finds herself in a desperate situation. Is she above blackmail? Not when it involves a game of chance that will change her life forever. After all, who could it hurt? No one when it involves one of our old friends and a nobleman, Lord Lancaster, who, if you recall, is a notorious rake and a gambler who can't resist a wager, especially an interesting one. But Ben knows he's been cheated; he just can't prove it. So what's the next best outcome? Give as good as he gets; what could happen? He either wins or loses and walks away to play another day. Not so fast! Leech has other plans and throws in another villain, a nasty solicitor who wants the fortune Dinah Osborne is desperate to obtain, and Grubber will do what he must to thwart her plans in order to force her into marrying him to get it. Lord Lancaster decides he loathes the solicitor more than the crafty temptress. Leech takes us on a ride filled with surprises, twists, and unexpected turns but doesn't disappoint, especially with some more of her wonderful minor characters. If you can call Joe a minor, anything and, of course, the ever-intoxicated lady's companion Dorothea.

[E Oygard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A host of good characters

A slightly different setting in Cheapside the more humble side of London. Having been living from hand to mouth, learning how to pick locks, pick pockets and cheat at cards, Dinah Osbourne discovers she has been left a fortune by a grandfather she has never met. The only stipulation to the will is that she be engaged before she is twenty one years old, to a member of the ton.
Lord Benjamin Lancaster is a well know rake. Having made a bet with a young woman to owe her a debt of honour of he loses, he does so when playing cards with her. The debt?....A fake engagement for a short period of time.
The different setting allowed for other types of character to emerge. There is drunken Dot who is kept by Dinah as propriety demands. In particular there is a great character Joe who brought Dinah up rather than see her go to the workhouse when she lost her parents at a young age.
The story adds another dimension of showing what happens when the ton believe one of their own is stepping out of line. A good read.

[Pontiki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dinah and her best friend/father figure, Joe, are clever card sharps. They need to be, because her grandfather has given her nothing, so she’s grown up poor. When the grandfather dies, in his will it stipulates she must get engaged by age 21, which she becomes in 6 weeks.

Her prey is Ben, well known rake and gambler. She tricks him into a fake engagement, but as they spend time together, they’re attracted and intrigued. It takes a lot to get them together, because he doesn’t realize he’s falling in love and she’s afraid he’ll leave her because he’s titled. She even breaks their engagement to free him, and they’re both miserable.

Joe is adorable, very protective of both of them, actually. Ben also has some good friends, but nasty brothers, and has to deal with disapproval from the ton.

Lovely relationship, with desire, heartache, and some dumb moves on Ben’s part, but that makes the story more interesting. Loved it.

KU

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does one convince the Last Lord of London to become engaged-yet alone marry—in 6 weeks?

An enjoyable story of Ben, a spoiled third son of a Lord and Dinah, the penniless granddaughter of a wealthy man who find themselves under obligation to become engaged—she, to inherit from her grandfather, and he, to honor his gambling debt to her. Ben is the last of his profligate friends—all the rest have become ‘leg-shackled’. None of that for him!
There is the evil lawyer who wants Dinah and her wealth all to himself, who must be convinced of the sincerity of the betrothal. And there is Ben’s family which must, somehow, accept Dinah into the fold, despite her rough background. The stage is set for an enjoyable story that develops a romantic overtone and ends with a HEA. Readers who love clean Regency Romances will enjoy this delightful, and rather light-hearted, book.

[Merrilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read!

Dinah Osborne, was raised in very tough conditions after her parents passed away when she was around seven years old, in spite of having a Grandfather who had become very wealthy through trade. He had cut off his son, and only child, when he married a lowly clerk instead of a woman who was member of the upper class. Diana was very lucky because, Joe, a con man, who had been a friend of her father, took on the responsibility of raising and loving her as a daughter no matter how tough things got. He tried to raise her the way her parents would have done, educating her himself with the goal that she would be a lady someday. I think you will like Dinah’s story and how she and Joe manage to ensnare Lord Benjamin (Ben) into her plans to get her rightful inheritance.

[Barbara "Cookie" Serfaty Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Man in London (Rogues and Gentlemen Book 9)

The love story of Dinah and Benjamin. Dinah's grandfather disowned his son before she was born. And now he is dead and he left her a future, the only think she has to do to get it is to be engaged to a lord. Her grandfather's lawyer say he can get around it if she marry him but Dinah has a better idea. Lord Benjamin Lancaster fit the bill. Can she get Ben to be her fake fiance or will be have to marry the lawyer? Great story.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fake engagement

Dinah can't inherit her grandfather's fortune until she's engaged to a titled gentleman by her twenty-first birthday. Because of the scheming lawyer who withheld this vital piece of information, it doesn't leave her much time. Ben turns out to be the perfect victim, until an emotional connection grows between them. Is his goal still to have her as his mistress or is it now as his wife? Ben has such a hard time growing up with his ups and downs. He really has a good heart. Being the third son really is tough. Very entertaining to read how he changes.

[Nanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like ELs style. She creates vividly colorful characters with good plots while sticking Pretty closely to historical accuracy. In this book the heroine was on the unique side. She was tough and worked hard to hide her vulnerabilities through ELs skill. Then was it’s typical product of his environment – a aristocrat born and bred, selfish insular, narrowminded in his adherence to the parameters of society. Watching him change and her open up is a treat, even if it’s someone predictable, because EL is I gifted writer.

[SynergyQuest · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it

She cheated to earn his cooperation and he’s furious, but honorable. The temporary engagement, to be believed, requires a force proximity. During their outings, he learns more about her and the circumstances that have led her to her current situation. That knowledge coupled with her beauty, the truth of her sincerity and wish for a comfortable (not lavish) life quickly transform his compliance to infatuation and ultimately love. I enjoyed it!

[Danielle Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is hilarious and brought a smile and laughter as Dinah tries to manage Lord Benjamin Lancaster. I don't think the author meant it to be a romantic comedy, but these two reprobates are perfect together as they face the ridiculous to get Dinah's inheritance from the nasty weaselly lawyer. Let's face it, a regular woman of the ton would never had snared Ben's heart. The man is reprehensible, and needs someone who has the backbone to stand against his rakish ways.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was intrigued to read this one after the previous installment in the series. Incorrigible rake Ben, Lord Lancaster gets taken in a "fuzzed" card game by the lovely Dinah Osborne, who is driven by desperation to trick him into a fake engagement in order to secure the inheritance of her wealthy merchant grandfather. Lovely found family between Dinah and Joe, the old con man who has raised her as a substitute father.

[Marilyn Burrows · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pair that was a mismatch

Loved the characters. They were very different from each other. Even the family members, the story was funny and sweet. But the ton again, gets away with their snob binges. It wasn't the clean romance I enjoy, but skipping pages doesn't spoil the story. I just wish I knew it was not in the catagory I request

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this better than average. Setups where the main characters trick the other somehow can sometimes feel kind of icky, but it wasn't too bad here. Both leads made some mistakes, but they were generally sensible, and likable, and a good match for each other. They also spend a lot of time together and their feelings seemed to develop in an organic believable way. I'm glad I read it.

[Mary Gallo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a book to read

Ms. Leech combines witty writing, likable characters and a strong storyline into a wonderful novel. It definitely doesn't seem like a series as the previous books are lightly mentioned. Definitely a good story for a quiet afternoon.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rogues

I have bought and read every single rouges and gentleman book up to this one which i read in one day. These books are entertaining and draw you in from the first chapter. I will read them all now onto book 10

[Bobbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is original. The characters hold a reader’s interest and the reader sympathizes with the main characters. There are some sex scenes, but not on every page. The emotions are realistic as are the interactions between the hero and heroine showing often witty dialog.

[Phil Ellenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good again

So far as I can tell Ms. Leech write two kind of regency romances ,good and great This one was great. I chuckled my way through threw the characters as they struggled their way through their romance They plot even better tel.

[Ann Marie Curry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Star x 4

Another happily ever after love story... thanks Emma!! This was a good story. The characters were all in their proper places each taking their significant places. A really fun read!