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The Royal Rewards #4
Lady Notorious
Who knew love would be her secret weapon?
Cassandra Benton has always survived by her wits and wiles, even working for Bow Street alongside her twin brother. When injury takes him out of commission, Cass must support the family by taking on an intriguing new George, Lord Northbrook, believes someone is plotting to kill his father, the Duke of Ardmore. Decades before, the duke was one of ten who formed a wager that would grant a fortune to the last survivor. But someone can't wait for nature to take its course—and George hopes a seasoned investigator like Cass can find out who.
Cass relishes the chance to spy on the ton, shrewdly disguised as handsome Lord Northbrook's notorious "cousin." What she doesn't expect is her irresistible attraction to her dashing employer, and days of investigation soon turn to passionate nights. But with a killer closing in and her charade as a lady of the ton in danger of collapsing at any moment, Cass has no choice but to put her life—and her heart—in the hands of the last man she ought to trust.
Cassandra Benton has always survived by her wits and wiles, even working for Bow Street alongside her twin brother. When injury takes him out of commission, Cass must support the family by taking on an intriguing new George, Lord Northbrook, believes someone is plotting to kill his father, the Duke of Ardmore. Decades before, the duke was one of ten who formed a wager that would grant a fortune to the last survivor. But someone can't wait for nature to take its course—and George hopes a seasoned investigator like Cass can find out who.
Cass relishes the chance to spy on the ton, shrewdly disguised as handsome Lord Northbrook's notorious "cousin." What she doesn't expect is her irresistible attraction to her dashing employer, and days of investigation soon turn to passionate nights. But with a killer closing in and her charade as a lady of the ton in danger of collapsing at any moment, Cass has no choice but to put her life—and her heart—in the hands of the last man she ought to trust.
276 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2019
48 people are currently reading
312 people want to read
About the author
Theresa Romain
41 books661 followersTheresa Romain is the bestselling author of more than 20 historical romances, including the Holiday Pleasures series, the Matchmaker trilogy, the Royal Rewards series, and the Romance of the Turf series. Praised as “one of the rising stars of Regency historical romance” (Booklist), her books have finaled for the RITA® award, received starred reviews from Booklist, and been named to the Best Books of the Year list by NPR. Theresa is hard at work on her next book from her home in the Midwestern USA.
To keep up with all her book-release news, please visit her online at theresaromain.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter, or find her on BookBub at https://www.bookbub.com/authors/there....
To keep up with all her book-release news, please visit her online at theresaromain.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter, or find her on BookBub at https://www.bookbub.com/authors/there....
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December 31, 2022
Lady Notorious is not your typical Historical Romance (HR) where a low born girl has to make her way in the world with her wastrel brother but in the mean time falls in love with a member of the aristocracy. So far above her, that he is addressed as “My Lord”.
Oh wait that is this story almost exactly. Only so much more, and dare I say it, so much smarter than most of what I’ve read.
If the HRs I usually read were actually people, I would say,” Bless their hearts.” With Lady Notorious I would say “You go, girl!”
Cass Benton’s twin brother, Charlie, is a Bow Street Runner. Cass assists him, and is the actual brains behind their partnership. Charlie is injured on a case they are working for George, Lord Northbrook.
Northbrook is the son Ardmore, a duke who long ago invested in a tontine, a type of insurance scheme where only one survivor collects the proceeds. The investors were mostly men with no expectations of inheriting lofty titles or fortune; second sons, or the spares for the most part. With six survivors, someone is anxious for the scheme to end and seems to be killing off the members in creative ways. With Northbrook’s permission, Cass takes over the investigation along with his help. Of course Cass and Northbrook fall in love and there is the usual sturm und drang .
There are at least three ways in which Lady Notorious differs from most other HRs. There is intelligent social commentary. This book gives the ladies of the aristocracy their due. It emphasizes their power behind their lordly husbands and how they can and do influence social change as the backbone of English society.
I was also delighted by the central premise of murder centered on a tontine. I haven’t seen a tontine mentioned but once or twice since I was a child and read a book by that title. So props galore for an original motive for murder.
Lord Northbrook is also an atypical HR character in that he has a goal in life. He spends most of his spare money and time in research and experimentation with a specific goal in mind. His is not disorganized research, but carefully follows the scientific method.
Most of the secondary characters were from Cassie’s world, therefore far more intriguing and interesting than usual. There is an informant clever and resourceful who recognizes the theme of her life as being needs must. Cass’s boss is a magistrate who is honest and caring but bowed under from the weight of his responsibilities. Charlie is a charming ne’er-do-well who deeply loves Cass but is finally forced to grow up.
Romain’s writing is bright and snappy, her plot inventive and her characters both amusing and clever.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange of a fair and honest review
Oh wait that is this story almost exactly. Only so much more, and dare I say it, so much smarter than most of what I’ve read.
If the HRs I usually read were actually people, I would say,” Bless their hearts.” With Lady Notorious I would say “You go, girl!”
Cass Benton’s twin brother, Charlie, is a Bow Street Runner. Cass assists him, and is the actual brains behind their partnership. Charlie is injured on a case they are working for George, Lord Northbrook.
Northbrook is the son Ardmore, a duke who long ago invested in a tontine, a type of insurance scheme where only one survivor collects the proceeds. The investors were mostly men with no expectations of inheriting lofty titles or fortune; second sons, or the spares for the most part. With six survivors, someone is anxious for the scheme to end and seems to be killing off the members in creative ways. With Northbrook’s permission, Cass takes over the investigation along with his help. Of course Cass and Northbrook fall in love and there is the usual sturm und drang .
There are at least three ways in which Lady Notorious differs from most other HRs. There is intelligent social commentary. This book gives the ladies of the aristocracy their due. It emphasizes their power behind their lordly husbands and how they can and do influence social change as the backbone of English society.
I was also delighted by the central premise of murder centered on a tontine. I haven’t seen a tontine mentioned but once or twice since I was a child and read a book by that title. So props galore for an original motive for murder.
Lord Northbrook is also an atypical HR character in that he has a goal in life. He spends most of his spare money and time in research and experimentation with a specific goal in mind. His is not disorganized research, but carefully follows the scientific method.
Most of the secondary characters were from Cassie’s world, therefore far more intriguing and interesting than usual. There is an informant clever and resourceful who recognizes the theme of her life as being needs must. Cass’s boss is a magistrate who is honest and caring but bowed under from the weight of his responsibilities. Charlie is a charming ne’er-do-well who deeply loves Cass but is finally forced to grow up.
Romain’s writing is bright and snappy, her plot inventive and her characters both amusing and clever.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange of a fair and honest review
February 26, 2019
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
“The ton is more bloodthirsty than I ever knew as a youth. Fancy betting on one’s survival at the expense of others.”
Fourth in the Royal Rewards series, we have a not quite official Bow Street Runner and a marquess. Cass works with her twin brother Charles at Bow Street but basically shoulders most of the work while George is experimenting with his camera obscura and basically just passing time until he inherits the dukedom. George loves his gambling father, though, and when members of the tontine, a bet his father entered into where the last surviving member gets all the money, start dying in auspicious ways, he hires Cass and her brother to help him uncover who is behind it.
This was a murder mystery and friends-to-lovers, that moved very slowly in both regards. The investigation regarding the tontine was a bit chaotic and confusing to understand in the beginning. I did not read the previous book in this series and I have a feeling our characters were introduced there and provided a foundation for them that was lacking here. Once I got further in the story and began to know Cass and George more, the story began to click better. However, the investigation seemed to stall out here and there as actual investigating seemed to be missing from the pages. We don't get to really know all the characters involved in the tontine, or even if there is anything nefarious going on. The murder mystery began to feeling glaring obvious as a mechanism to get our hero and heroine together and with a pretty quick boom ending with an info dump about the culprit, there wasn't much about it that I found griping.
“I’m always joking a little bit but serious underneath. Once you know that, you can see to my very soul and understand me utterly. It’s a great curse.” He said this, of course, as if he were joking, but his blue eyes were deep and worried. She had smiled then, almost.
I liked George's kind of shy, vulnerable personality. His father is bent on gambling away his inheritance and his mother spends her days laying in bed drunk on laudanum, he seemed very lonely. He does have a sister that he seemed close with but we don't get any in depth scenes with them. His hobby of trying to create pictures was interesting but like the murder mystery, it just seemed there, something listed for the character, given the same weight as his blue eyes. Overall, he seemed a little hapless and I would have liked to have seen his character given more range through conversations with his sister or friends.
Cass was splendid, with her pockets and her weapons and her matter-of-fact ways.
I liked the heroine and her matter of fact ways, she was a cut and dry character. Her twin brother is a little lazy and a little bit of a scapegrace, so it is up to her to be responsible with the money. I was a little thrown when she declares she wants to sleep with the hero. There was definitely ground laid for the reader seeing and feeling George's attraction to her but I didn't completely buy into from her. Even halfway through the book they felt like friends from her side; some appreciating of looks. These two seemed like great friends but their romantic chemistry was a bit dull.
“You really matter to me,” he said, then kissed her neck, bared by her pinned-up hair.
There was a secondary romance involving the heroine's brother but that to felt dropped in out of nowhere, I wasn't connected to the characters to become involved in their romance. The depth and character background was missing for me here, being dropped into their investigation right away didn't give me time or material to really care for them. The romantic chemistry was also off, these two were more believable as friends. I appreciated the shy vulnerability from the hero and practical heroine but I just felt the story and characters were missing some magic, which made the story somewhat dry and a wade to get through.
“The ton is more bloodthirsty than I ever knew as a youth. Fancy betting on one’s survival at the expense of others.”
Fourth in the Royal Rewards series, we have a not quite official Bow Street Runner and a marquess. Cass works with her twin brother Charles at Bow Street but basically shoulders most of the work while George is experimenting with his camera obscura and basically just passing time until he inherits the dukedom. George loves his gambling father, though, and when members of the tontine, a bet his father entered into where the last surviving member gets all the money, start dying in auspicious ways, he hires Cass and her brother to help him uncover who is behind it.
This was a murder mystery and friends-to-lovers, that moved very slowly in both regards. The investigation regarding the tontine was a bit chaotic and confusing to understand in the beginning. I did not read the previous book in this series and I have a feeling our characters were introduced there and provided a foundation for them that was lacking here. Once I got further in the story and began to know Cass and George more, the story began to click better. However, the investigation seemed to stall out here and there as actual investigating seemed to be missing from the pages. We don't get to really know all the characters involved in the tontine, or even if there is anything nefarious going on. The murder mystery began to feeling glaring obvious as a mechanism to get our hero and heroine together and with a pretty quick boom ending with an info dump about the culprit, there wasn't much about it that I found griping.
“I’m always joking a little bit but serious underneath. Once you know that, you can see to my very soul and understand me utterly. It’s a great curse.” He said this, of course, as if he were joking, but his blue eyes were deep and worried. She had smiled then, almost.
I liked George's kind of shy, vulnerable personality. His father is bent on gambling away his inheritance and his mother spends her days laying in bed drunk on laudanum, he seemed very lonely. He does have a sister that he seemed close with but we don't get any in depth scenes with them. His hobby of trying to create pictures was interesting but like the murder mystery, it just seemed there, something listed for the character, given the same weight as his blue eyes. Overall, he seemed a little hapless and I would have liked to have seen his character given more range through conversations with his sister or friends.
Cass was splendid, with her pockets and her weapons and her matter-of-fact ways.
I liked the heroine and her matter of fact ways, she was a cut and dry character. Her twin brother is a little lazy and a little bit of a scapegrace, so it is up to her to be responsible with the money. I was a little thrown when she declares she wants to sleep with the hero. There was definitely ground laid for the reader seeing and feeling George's attraction to her but I didn't completely buy into from her. Even halfway through the book they felt like friends from her side; some appreciating of looks. These two seemed like great friends but their romantic chemistry was a bit dull.
“You really matter to me,” he said, then kissed her neck, bared by her pinned-up hair.
There was a secondary romance involving the heroine's brother but that to felt dropped in out of nowhere, I wasn't connected to the characters to become involved in their romance. The depth and character background was missing for me here, being dropped into their investigation right away didn't give me time or material to really care for them. The romantic chemistry was also off, these two were more believable as friends. I appreciated the shy vulnerability from the hero and practical heroine but I just felt the story and characters were missing some magic, which made the story somewhat dry and a wade to get through.
January 21, 2019
I am so torn. I really liked the first book in this series, but the last two were disappointments for me. I was hoping this one would be more like the first one, but I just couldn't connect with this book. And I loved Romain's earlier books!
This book has a lot going for it: slow-burn romance with two great characters, friends-to-lovers, independent heroine who works for a living, decent hero who worries about his family, is kind to strangers, and has a scientific mind.
But... The thing is, I loathe this new trend in historical romance where we dress people up in period costumes and otherwise throw all pretense out the window. I don't understand why these books can't just be published as contemporary romances, because if I want a female investigator (whose only claim to gentility, if I paid attention correctly, was a grandfather who was a "gentleman") marrying the son of a Duke, that's where I'd go look for it. I know these days you can't expect much accuracy from these "historical" romances, but really. The first son of a duke hiring a female Bow Street Runner (who is accepted and tolerated by the magistrate and everyone else she works with - granted, she's not officially a Runner, but her brother is, and she always works with him and receives payment for it) to investigate a crime that involves ten high-ranking members of the aristocracy who started a fund ten years ago which would go to the last surviving member and who are now dying one by one? I should never have requested this based on this premise. And don't even get me started on the hero's magic penis (I'm not kidding: She could have lasted forever, falling under the spell of his cock.). I was rooting for those two to get together, because I really liked them, but honestly. That was just too much for me.
This might work for fans of similar authors (Tessa Dare and Valerie Bowman come to mind), but sadly, I did not enjoy this very much. There's nothing wrong with this book - it's just not my thing. SORRY!
2.5 stars
*I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
This book has a lot going for it: slow-burn romance with two great characters, friends-to-lovers, independent heroine who works for a living, decent hero who worries about his family, is kind to strangers, and has a scientific mind.
But... The thing is, I loathe this new trend in historical romance where we dress people up in period costumes and otherwise throw all pretense out the window. I don't understand why these books can't just be published as contemporary romances, because if I want a female investigator (whose only claim to gentility, if I paid attention correctly, was a grandfather who was a "gentleman") marrying the son of a Duke, that's where I'd go look for it. I know these days you can't expect much accuracy from these "historical" romances, but really. The first son of a duke hiring a female Bow Street Runner (who is accepted and tolerated by the magistrate and everyone else she works with - granted, she's not officially a Runner, but her brother is, and she always works with him and receives payment for it) to investigate a crime that involves ten high-ranking members of the aristocracy who started a fund ten years ago which would go to the last surviving member and who are now dying one by one? I should never have requested this based on this premise. And don't even get me started on the hero's magic penis (I'm not kidding: She could have lasted forever, falling under the spell of his cock.). I was rooting for those two to get together, because I really liked them, but honestly. That was just too much for me.
This might work for fans of similar authors (Tessa Dare and Valerie Bowman come to mind), but sadly, I did not enjoy this very much. There's nothing wrong with this book - it's just not my thing. SORRY!
2.5 stars
*I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
April 5, 2019
I've given this a B- at AAR, so that's 3.5 stars rounded up. Mostly for George, I confess...
Lady Notorious is the fourth in Theresa Romain’s Royal Rewards series, although we’ve moved on from the initial premise of the first two books which concerned the hunt for several chests full of gold sovereigns which were stolen from the Royal Mint. Lady Notorious picks up a plot-thread from the previous book, Lady Rogue, and re-introduces readers to the Benton twins, Charles – a Bow Street Runner – and his twin sister, Cassandra, who is a sort of ‘unofficial’ Runner, openly working alongside him.
The plot in Lady Rogue was kick-started when the Duke of Ardmore was set to sell a forged painting as part payment of gambling debts owed to a notorious London crime lord. As Lady Notorious opens, we learn the duke is still deeply in debt – thanks to his addiction to the gaming tables – and his heir George, Lord Northbrook, is able to do little more than watch as his father continues to reduce the once affluent dukedom to a pile of debt. Debt that will be George’s when he eventually inherits the title.
George is prompted to hire the Bentons – brother and sister – after he discovers the existence of something called a tontine, a kind of wager, placed decades earlier by ten gentleman including his father. Part investment scheme and part wager, the funds (and interest) are left untouched until all but one of the group is dead – and the last man standing receives the full amount of the fortune. The tontine has existed for almost forty years at this point, and while a couple of its members died some years ago, George becomes concerned for his father’s safety when he learns that three of the other ‘investors’ have died under mysterious circumstances within the last year.
As he lives under his father’s roof, George is well placed to protect the duke, so he arranges for Cass and Charles to be taken into the household of his godfather, Lord Deverell, another member of the tontine. When the book opens, Cass is part way through another late-night vigil when the house is plunged into uproar. Lady Deverell starts screaming and once the rest of the household is roused, Charles is discovered to have broken his leg (most likely falling out of the lady’s bedroom window!), and Lord Deverell is found sprawled on the sofa in his study, passed out from drink and with a serious knife wound to his leg.
It seems the threat to the lives of the remaining members of the tontine is very real, and George is determined to get to the bottom of it. With Charles out of action, the bulk of the investigation is going to fall to Cass – which is par for the course really, as she normally does all the work anyway – but installing her as a servant in one household or other is clearly not going to help much. So George suggests instead that she pose as a distant relative; a notorious cousin newly arrived from the Continent who will be best placed to hear all the gossip, the secrets women don’t talk about in front of men which might have some relevance to the case. And if that cousin is fashionable and a bit fast, all the better, as she’s bound to be at the centre of a swirl of gossip herself.
This set-up will, of course, allow George and Cass to spend time together and explore the attraction that’s been simmering between them from the start, and their interactions and witty exchanges are some of the highlights of the book. The plot concerning the possible threat to the members of the tontine is fairly thinly stretched, but my biggest issue with the novel as a whole was the concept of Cass as an unofficial investigator/thief-taker. I give a big thumbs-up to Ms. Romain for writing about non-aristocratic characters, but Cass being openly accepted in her role by everyone she works with, including the magistrate, was difficult to swallow given that the story is set in 1819 and even a lower-class female would have had limited options. (And of course, Cass isn’t really lower-class; her grandmother was a gentleman’s daughter who married beneath her, this making it just about acceptable for her to eventually find her HEA with a duke’s heir.) I liked her intelligence and resourcefulness and the exploration of the difficulties of her relationship with Charles is really well done, but I had to ignore the implausibility of her ‘profession’ for most of the book, which did put a bit of a damper on things.
On the positive side, however, is George, who is a simply lovely hero. He’s charming, possessed of a dry sense of humour and doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he’s also a kind, conscientious man who wants to take care of those he loves but doesn’t quite know how. He lived the dissipated life of many a ducal heir until his mother’s near death from a laudanum overdose pulled him up short, and even though he soon came to the realisation that nothing he could do was going to make any difference to either of his parents’ addictions, he still feels guilty about that. He attempts to fill his time experimenting with his collection of camera obscurae and trying to fix images using sunlight and chemicals – an unusual hobby to be sure, and one that turned out to have no bearing on the mystery plot, which made me wonder why the author chose to include it.
Lady Notorious is a difficult book to rate because I have such mixed feelings about it. I liked the central characters (especially George!) and their interactions, but ultimately, didn’t feel there was a strong connection between them – and I found it difficult to get past the idea of the heroine as an investigator at this period in time. The writing is excellent as always and the familial relationships – George’s with his parents and Cass’ with Charles – are well done, but the mystery is lacklustre and while I wasn’t bored, I wasn’t completely invested either. I’m going with a cautious recommendation – the good things about the book are good, but its weaknesses mean I can’t give it a whole-hearted endorsement.
Lady Notorious is the fourth in Theresa Romain’s Royal Rewards series, although we’ve moved on from the initial premise of the first two books which concerned the hunt for several chests full of gold sovereigns which were stolen from the Royal Mint. Lady Notorious picks up a plot-thread from the previous book, Lady Rogue, and re-introduces readers to the Benton twins, Charles – a Bow Street Runner – and his twin sister, Cassandra, who is a sort of ‘unofficial’ Runner, openly working alongside him.
The plot in Lady Rogue was kick-started when the Duke of Ardmore was set to sell a forged painting as part payment of gambling debts owed to a notorious London crime lord. As Lady Notorious opens, we learn the duke is still deeply in debt – thanks to his addiction to the gaming tables – and his heir George, Lord Northbrook, is able to do little more than watch as his father continues to reduce the once affluent dukedom to a pile of debt. Debt that will be George’s when he eventually inherits the title.
George is prompted to hire the Bentons – brother and sister – after he discovers the existence of something called a tontine, a kind of wager, placed decades earlier by ten gentleman including his father. Part investment scheme and part wager, the funds (and interest) are left untouched until all but one of the group is dead – and the last man standing receives the full amount of the fortune. The tontine has existed for almost forty years at this point, and while a couple of its members died some years ago, George becomes concerned for his father’s safety when he learns that three of the other ‘investors’ have died under mysterious circumstances within the last year.
As he lives under his father’s roof, George is well placed to protect the duke, so he arranges for Cass and Charles to be taken into the household of his godfather, Lord Deverell, another member of the tontine. When the book opens, Cass is part way through another late-night vigil when the house is plunged into uproar. Lady Deverell starts screaming and once the rest of the household is roused, Charles is discovered to have broken his leg (most likely falling out of the lady’s bedroom window!), and Lord Deverell is found sprawled on the sofa in his study, passed out from drink and with a serious knife wound to his leg.
It seems the threat to the lives of the remaining members of the tontine is very real, and George is determined to get to the bottom of it. With Charles out of action, the bulk of the investigation is going to fall to Cass – which is par for the course really, as she normally does all the work anyway – but installing her as a servant in one household or other is clearly not going to help much. So George suggests instead that she pose as a distant relative; a notorious cousin newly arrived from the Continent who will be best placed to hear all the gossip, the secrets women don’t talk about in front of men which might have some relevance to the case. And if that cousin is fashionable and a bit fast, all the better, as she’s bound to be at the centre of a swirl of gossip herself.
This set-up will, of course, allow George and Cass to spend time together and explore the attraction that’s been simmering between them from the start, and their interactions and witty exchanges are some of the highlights of the book. The plot concerning the possible threat to the members of the tontine is fairly thinly stretched, but my biggest issue with the novel as a whole was the concept of Cass as an unofficial investigator/thief-taker. I give a big thumbs-up to Ms. Romain for writing about non-aristocratic characters, but Cass being openly accepted in her role by everyone she works with, including the magistrate, was difficult to swallow given that the story is set in 1819 and even a lower-class female would have had limited options. (And of course, Cass isn’t really lower-class; her grandmother was a gentleman’s daughter who married beneath her, this making it just about acceptable for her to eventually find her HEA with a duke’s heir.) I liked her intelligence and resourcefulness and the exploration of the difficulties of her relationship with Charles is really well done, but I had to ignore the implausibility of her ‘profession’ for most of the book, which did put a bit of a damper on things.
On the positive side, however, is George, who is a simply lovely hero. He’s charming, possessed of a dry sense of humour and doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he’s also a kind, conscientious man who wants to take care of those he loves but doesn’t quite know how. He lived the dissipated life of many a ducal heir until his mother’s near death from a laudanum overdose pulled him up short, and even though he soon came to the realisation that nothing he could do was going to make any difference to either of his parents’ addictions, he still feels guilty about that. He attempts to fill his time experimenting with his collection of camera obscurae and trying to fix images using sunlight and chemicals – an unusual hobby to be sure, and one that turned out to have no bearing on the mystery plot, which made me wonder why the author chose to include it.
Lady Notorious is a difficult book to rate because I have such mixed feelings about it. I liked the central characters (especially George!) and their interactions, but ultimately, didn’t feel there was a strong connection between them – and I found it difficult to get past the idea of the heroine as an investigator at this period in time. The writing is excellent as always and the familial relationships – George’s with his parents and Cass’ with Charles – are well done, but the mystery is lacklustre and while I wasn’t bored, I wasn’t completely invested either. I’m going with a cautious recommendation – the good things about the book are good, but its weaknesses mean I can’t give it a whole-hearted endorsement.
February 23, 2019
I enjoyed the first two books in this series...and then I felt like Ms. Romain simply lost her way. Book three started with a strong premise and two compelling leads and then faltered, and this book? Well, I can't lie. It's a mess and a miss. The author assumes we know more about these two principal characters from the get-go, and spends little time investing us - or them - in their backstory or lives or the suspense premise that initially brings them into each others orbit. The novel tediously meanders until eventually reaching an unsatisfying conclusion.
Okay. Where to start?
I was disoriented by the opening sequence - trying and failing to recollect whose PoV we were following - and then once I finally sorted that out, I was confused all over again as multiple story lines abruptly begin. A stabbing, a runaway lover/Bow Street runner, a cheating wife, a marquess materializing out of thin air...I could go on but won't. Suffice it to say, the opening is complicated and initially relies too much on familiarity with the series and the heroine whose PoV we are trying to follow. Friends: I was lost from the start, and things never improved.
While I eventually decided I liked both principal characters - Cass is a beleaguered quasi/unofficial Bow Street Runner (look - I'm not an expert on the time period but this character strikes all sorts of alarm bells with me) who essentially lives her life in service to her lazy/spoiled/slightly slutty twin brother, and George is a lonely camera obscura enthusiast (right. okay) whom everyone loves but for some unknown reason, no one wants - they have very little chemistry and even less in common. I had a hard time buying into their reason for spending time together (Cass impersonates a notorious relation of his in order to pursue an investigation) and essentially everyone just leaves these 2 single/ready to mingle adults on their own to do...well, whatever they want to! The investigation that unites them is related to a 'tontine'/bet George's father and godfather participated in decades ago. George suspects a murderer is eliminating the surviving tontine participants and that his father and godfather are in danger. The men in question aren't nearly as concerned - but since it's the premise of the story, their opinions don't matter. George and Cass forge ahead with their investigation (although very little of their investigation makes it into this story).
George and Cass work together to find the killer and enlist their friends (super villain/heart of gold) Angelus, (lovebirds) Callum Jenks & his wife Isabel, a pick-pocket/whore/detective-in-training/mannequin, and Charlie (the twin) to help. Nothing really happens except they fall deep in love with each other. Oh - you missed that part? Me too. There is no relationship development in this story - just your garden variety pining and some sexual longing and oversharing about Cass's sex life.
In case you missed that last bit:
They pine. They get a peek at each other's secret lives before all THE LONGING AND THE PINING AND THE LUSTING and then Cass tells George she's ready for them to have sex. AND THEN THERE ARE FEELINGS - CONFUSED FEELINGS - AND LONGING AND PINING AND LUSTING AND DOUBTS. And threats.
Onwards.
If you don't want to read the spoiler - and really it's very general and won't ruin the book for you - suffice it to say, not much happens in the second half. Lots of longing, pining, frustration and little investigating. The big reveal is anti-climatic (ridiculous) and I just couldn't wait for it to be over.
I hate to say it, but I can't recommend this novel & I hope Ms. Romain's next effort is an improvement on these last two books - or I'm out.
Okay. Where to start?
I was disoriented by the opening sequence - trying and failing to recollect whose PoV we were following - and then once I finally sorted that out, I was confused all over again as multiple story lines abruptly begin. A stabbing, a runaway lover/Bow Street runner, a cheating wife, a marquess materializing out of thin air...I could go on but won't. Suffice it to say, the opening is complicated and initially relies too much on familiarity with the series and the heroine whose PoV we are trying to follow. Friends: I was lost from the start, and things never improved.
While I eventually decided I liked both principal characters - Cass is a beleaguered quasi/unofficial Bow Street Runner (look - I'm not an expert on the time period but this character strikes all sorts of alarm bells with me) who essentially lives her life in service to her lazy/spoiled/slightly slutty twin brother, and George is a lonely camera obscura enthusiast (right. okay) whom everyone loves but for some unknown reason, no one wants - they have very little chemistry and even less in common. I had a hard time buying into their reason for spending time together (Cass impersonates a notorious relation of his in order to pursue an investigation) and essentially everyone just leaves these 2 single/ready to mingle adults on their own to do...well, whatever they want to! The investigation that unites them is related to a 'tontine'/bet George's father and godfather participated in decades ago. George suspects a murderer is eliminating the surviving tontine participants and that his father and godfather are in danger. The men in question aren't nearly as concerned - but since it's the premise of the story, their opinions don't matter. George and Cass forge ahead with their investigation (although very little of their investigation makes it into this story).
George and Cass work together to find the killer and enlist their friends (super villain/heart of gold) Angelus, (lovebirds) Callum Jenks & his wife Isabel, a pick-pocket/whore/detective-in-training/mannequin, and Charlie (the twin) to help. Nothing really happens except they fall deep in love with each other. Oh - you missed that part? Me too. There is no relationship development in this story - just your garden variety pining and some sexual longing and oversharing about Cass's sex life.
In case you missed that last bit:
They pine. They get a peek at each other's secret lives before all THE LONGING AND THE PINING AND THE LUSTING and then Cass tells George she's ready for them to have sex. AND THEN THERE ARE FEELINGS - CONFUSED FEELINGS - AND LONGING AND PINING AND LUSTING AND DOUBTS. And threats.
Onwards.
If you don't want to read the spoiler - and really it's very general and won't ruin the book for you - suffice it to say, not much happens in the second half. Lots of longing, pining, frustration and little investigating. The big reveal is anti-climatic (ridiculous) and I just couldn't wait for it to be over.
I hate to say it, but I can't recommend this novel & I hope Ms. Romain's next effort is an improvement on these last two books - or I'm out.
March 8, 2019
Theresa Romain has the wonderful capacity to sustain a delightfully funny, rompish feel to her romances while underlying them with seriousness. Her latest, Lady Notorious, 4th in the Royal Rewards series and one of her strongest novels yet, exhibits this balance. It’s heartfelt romance, adorable hero, loveable heroine, compelling suspense plot, thematically underlined with the idea that love coupled with purpose make for contented lives. Romain brings together her cross-class heir-to-a-dukedom hero, George Godwin, Lord Northbrook, and Bow-Street-Runner heroine, Cassandra Benton, via the mystery surrounding George’s father’s, Lord Armore’s, involvement in a “tontine”, a monetary agreement whereby a set amount increases on interest and is “won” by the last person left living. But many of the tontine’s members are dying under mysterious circumstances. George fears for his father’s and godfather’s lives and sets Cassandra Benton the task of helping him both protect and discover who’s threatening them. Cassandra joins the Ardmore household disguised as a notorious cousin, hence, how the “notorious” made it to the eponymous “lady”.
Romain’s George is adorably droll and humble. He’s a bit of a bumbler, but his heart is always in the right place and he recognizes Casssandra’s worth from the moment he meets her. He is, endearingly prone to blurting awkward phrases, his tongue moving faster than his sense. When the novel opens, he and Cassandra are at his godfather’s household, where Cass and her twin brother, Bow Street Runner Charles, are investigating the tontine nasty’s potential victims. It is obvious that George is attracted to Cass for her intelligence and frightening adeptness: “She was the most damnably capable person he’d ever met … She was so capable that she made chivalry seem like self-indulgence.” George, though big and handsome, isn’t of the uber-masculine, great at weaponry alpha-male-dom, au contraire, he’s a reader, “the gothic novels he sometimes enjoyed,” and artist, carrying on a variety of “dark room” experiments, working to capturing images (what we recognize as nascent photography).
In contrast to Cass’s frightening competence, George feels helpless before his family’s dysfunction: “He couldn’t make the duchess discard her laudanum bottle, just as he couldn’t keep the duke away from cards. He was powerless in the face of their compulsions.” His mother is an opium addict and his father, a gambler. While he can’t heal them of their “compulsions,” he hopes that, at the very least, with the marvelous Cassandra as investigator, he can keep them safe.
Cass arrives at Ardmore House, even disguised, aware of her inferior status. But, she comes to realize that status doesn’t protect you from heartache: “As a guest under the Ardmore roof, Cass had quickly seen that not even the privileged and titled were spared from ordinary human heartaches. The duchess was ill, the duke was lonely, the dogs were afraid, the servants were weary … ” How does Romain bring George and Cass together, beyond mutual attraction? They’re compatible, Romain seems to say, because they care. They care about justice, about keeping people safe, about doing good in the world. As attracted as they are to each other, as compatible in conversation and opinion, they also work well together. I thought this made them sexy as heck and likeable as a hero and heroine can be. George and Cass were humble and had a good dose of being able to laugh at themselves. They could also laugh together and that only added to their adorable sexiness.
Cass comes to George with a deep sense of what she’s learned her entire orphaned life, no matter how wonderful George may be, no matter how much he doesn’t see class lines, she is bound by work, the need to survive in a world that’s done very little to ensure she does: “She wanted to take him to bed because she liked him. His words, his laughter, his curiosity. The gentle way he treated her and the burning way he looked at her. She liked it all. But liking something, wanting something, had never been reason enough for Cassandra Benton to pursue it.” I loved this reversal of stereotypical male-female notions of who’s the emotional one. George is all the feelz (hence, his love of gothic novels!) while Cass is all the withholding of them.
George wants Cassandra to recognise her worth and he goes about showing her by putting himself in the background – with humour and by giving her a wide berth of choice. I adored how he made sure to accompany her on an investigative mission: ” ‘Would you like company?’ ‘I can go on my own.’ ‘I never doubted it. You’re the investigator, and you don’t need my presence. But I’m very handsome and you might like having me around to look at.’ ” Isn’t that a hoot? George’s poke at his self-importance is wonderfully rendered by endowing himself with the “pretty face” attributed to women. Cassandra is the smart, capable, and action-driven one, the one who gets things done. As George notes, watching her in investigative action: “Cass was splendid, with her pockets and her weapons and her matter-of-fact ways.” Her pockets, ladies, her pockets!
No matter how loving, sexy, unassuming, and considerate a lover, Cass has a journey to allowing herself to need another person. She wears her “capabilities” like armour, but in the face of George, his care, respect, and desire to be with her for herself alone, it’s too much for a spinster to bear, too uncertain, too alien, too frightening to give up necessary autonomy for free partnership. Cass struggles with what comes easily to George: “He had got used to leaning on her, to having her lean right back. They held each other up, and if she was gone, he felt he would topple again into wasted days and half-hearted hopes.” Like George, Cass loves easily and like Cass, George finds his worth in loving others. Romain doesn’t do heart-rending betrayal for Cass and George, only a running-away from giving up the familiar: “And in the end? There was a reason, a purpose to it all. Life itself. And the truth, and knowing it, and seeing wrongs righted.” When George and Cass win their HEA, it is to a life of love, laughter, hearty desire, and purpose. The epilogue is perfect. With Miss Austen, we say Lady Notorious is proof “there is no charm equal to tenderness of heart,” Emma.
Theresa Romain’s Lady Notorious is published by Zebra Books (Kensington Publishing). It was released on February 26th and may be found at your preferred vendors. I am grateful to Zebra Books for an e-ARC, via Netgalley.
Romain’s George is adorably droll and humble. He’s a bit of a bumbler, but his heart is always in the right place and he recognizes Casssandra’s worth from the moment he meets her. He is, endearingly prone to blurting awkward phrases, his tongue moving faster than his sense. When the novel opens, he and Cassandra are at his godfather’s household, where Cass and her twin brother, Bow Street Runner Charles, are investigating the tontine nasty’s potential victims. It is obvious that George is attracted to Cass for her intelligence and frightening adeptness: “She was the most damnably capable person he’d ever met … She was so capable that she made chivalry seem like self-indulgence.” George, though big and handsome, isn’t of the uber-masculine, great at weaponry alpha-male-dom, au contraire, he’s a reader, “the gothic novels he sometimes enjoyed,” and artist, carrying on a variety of “dark room” experiments, working to capturing images (what we recognize as nascent photography).
In contrast to Cass’s frightening competence, George feels helpless before his family’s dysfunction: “He couldn’t make the duchess discard her laudanum bottle, just as he couldn’t keep the duke away from cards. He was powerless in the face of their compulsions.” His mother is an opium addict and his father, a gambler. While he can’t heal them of their “compulsions,” he hopes that, at the very least, with the marvelous Cassandra as investigator, he can keep them safe.
Cass arrives at Ardmore House, even disguised, aware of her inferior status. But, she comes to realize that status doesn’t protect you from heartache: “As a guest under the Ardmore roof, Cass had quickly seen that not even the privileged and titled were spared from ordinary human heartaches. The duchess was ill, the duke was lonely, the dogs were afraid, the servants were weary … ” How does Romain bring George and Cass together, beyond mutual attraction? They’re compatible, Romain seems to say, because they care. They care about justice, about keeping people safe, about doing good in the world. As attracted as they are to each other, as compatible in conversation and opinion, they also work well together. I thought this made them sexy as heck and likeable as a hero and heroine can be. George and Cass were humble and had a good dose of being able to laugh at themselves. They could also laugh together and that only added to their adorable sexiness.
Cass comes to George with a deep sense of what she’s learned her entire orphaned life, no matter how wonderful George may be, no matter how much he doesn’t see class lines, she is bound by work, the need to survive in a world that’s done very little to ensure she does: “She wanted to take him to bed because she liked him. His words, his laughter, his curiosity. The gentle way he treated her and the burning way he looked at her. She liked it all. But liking something, wanting something, had never been reason enough for Cassandra Benton to pursue it.” I loved this reversal of stereotypical male-female notions of who’s the emotional one. George is all the feelz (hence, his love of gothic novels!) while Cass is all the withholding of them.
George wants Cassandra to recognise her worth and he goes about showing her by putting himself in the background – with humour and by giving her a wide berth of choice. I adored how he made sure to accompany her on an investigative mission: ” ‘Would you like company?’ ‘I can go on my own.’ ‘I never doubted it. You’re the investigator, and you don’t need my presence. But I’m very handsome and you might like having me around to look at.’ ” Isn’t that a hoot? George’s poke at his self-importance is wonderfully rendered by endowing himself with the “pretty face” attributed to women. Cassandra is the smart, capable, and action-driven one, the one who gets things done. As George notes, watching her in investigative action: “Cass was splendid, with her pockets and her weapons and her matter-of-fact ways.” Her pockets, ladies, her pockets!
No matter how loving, sexy, unassuming, and considerate a lover, Cass has a journey to allowing herself to need another person. She wears her “capabilities” like armour, but in the face of George, his care, respect, and desire to be with her for herself alone, it’s too much for a spinster to bear, too uncertain, too alien, too frightening to give up necessary autonomy for free partnership. Cass struggles with what comes easily to George: “He had got used to leaning on her, to having her lean right back. They held each other up, and if she was gone, he felt he would topple again into wasted days and half-hearted hopes.” Like George, Cass loves easily and like Cass, George finds his worth in loving others. Romain doesn’t do heart-rending betrayal for Cass and George, only a running-away from giving up the familiar: “And in the end? There was a reason, a purpose to it all. Life itself. And the truth, and knowing it, and seeing wrongs righted.” When George and Cass win their HEA, it is to a life of love, laughter, hearty desire, and purpose. The epilogue is perfect. With Miss Austen, we say Lady Notorious is proof “there is no charm equal to tenderness of heart,” Emma.
Theresa Romain’s Lady Notorious is published by Zebra Books (Kensington Publishing). It was released on February 26th and may be found at your preferred vendors. I am grateful to Zebra Books for an e-ARC, via Netgalley.
February 26, 2019
If you like 100% historical accuracy in your Regency romances, this definitely isn’t the book for you. With a female Bow Street Runner (in all but the salary) and the son of a Duke as romantic protagonists, there are aspects of the story that definitely fail the plausibility test.
That said, it was absolutely brilliant and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, yes, I know, I’m normally a nitpicky cow about historical inaccuracies, but there’s a difference between implausible and impossible. It’s implausible that a woman was working for the Bow Street Runners as an unofficial investigator in 1818, whereas it’s impossible (I’m looking at you, Marie Force) to have a horse-drawn carriage travel from Essex to Scotland with a single overnight stop. Just imagine this as a parallel-universe Regency England where women could hold down jobs and were treated with respect, and you’ll thoroughly enjoy it.
Cassandra works for Bow Street unofficially as her twin brother Charlie’s (the actual Runner) assistant, but the reality is she’s the mastermind of the pair. When Charlie breaks his leg on a case while climbing a trellis into a lady’s bedchamber because he fancies himself a Romeo, Cassandra takes the case on alone, and is thrust into company with George, Marquis of Northbrook, who believes someone may be out to kill his father.
George is an absolute delight. Yes, he’s the spoiled and pampered son of a duke, but he’s also a smart sort who can see clearly the devastation his father’s love of gambling and his mother’s addiction to laudanum has wrought. He’s fun and likable and nobody really takes him seriously, but Cassandra not only sees through his facade, she makes him want to be more than an heir in waiting. His willingness to try new things, his near-insatiable curiosity about everything and his acceptance of Cassandra for exactly who she was made him honestly one of my favourite romance heroes in ages.
Suspend your disbelief at the door and just enjoy this charming, witty and clever Regency romance with an enlightened hero and an emancipated heroine. I was delighted, and I definitely want to read more by this author, who I hadn’t encountered before. And on that note, this isn’t the first in the series, but I didn’t find it a problem at all to follow along with the plot and the other characters. Five stars for a great fun read.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review from NetGalley.
That said, it was absolutely brilliant and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, yes, I know, I’m normally a nitpicky cow about historical inaccuracies, but there’s a difference between implausible and impossible. It’s implausible that a woman was working for the Bow Street Runners as an unofficial investigator in 1818, whereas it’s impossible (I’m looking at you, Marie Force) to have a horse-drawn carriage travel from Essex to Scotland with a single overnight stop. Just imagine this as a parallel-universe Regency England where women could hold down jobs and were treated with respect, and you’ll thoroughly enjoy it.
Cassandra works for Bow Street unofficially as her twin brother Charlie’s (the actual Runner) assistant, but the reality is she’s the mastermind of the pair. When Charlie breaks his leg on a case while climbing a trellis into a lady’s bedchamber because he fancies himself a Romeo, Cassandra takes the case on alone, and is thrust into company with George, Marquis of Northbrook, who believes someone may be out to kill his father.
George is an absolute delight. Yes, he’s the spoiled and pampered son of a duke, but he’s also a smart sort who can see clearly the devastation his father’s love of gambling and his mother’s addiction to laudanum has wrought. He’s fun and likable and nobody really takes him seriously, but Cassandra not only sees through his facade, she makes him want to be more than an heir in waiting. His willingness to try new things, his near-insatiable curiosity about everything and his acceptance of Cassandra for exactly who she was made him honestly one of my favourite romance heroes in ages.
Suspend your disbelief at the door and just enjoy this charming, witty and clever Regency romance with an enlightened hero and an emancipated heroine. I was delighted, and I definitely want to read more by this author, who I hadn’t encountered before. And on that note, this isn’t the first in the series, but I didn’t find it a problem at all to follow along with the plot and the other characters. Five stars for a great fun read.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review from NetGalley.
February 26, 2019
Murder and mischief!
An historical romance with a difference. Cassandra Benton is an unlikely and rather marvelous lead. Feisty, caring and a realist, she works for Bow Street with her brother.
Someone is trying to kill Lord Northbrook's father, the Duke of Ardmore. Lord George employs Cass and her twin brother Charles to find the culprit. That chase is well and truly a twisted warren that whelms up from his father's past and a tontine that has been growing steadily over the years. The novel explains to some degree what this particular tontine is,
"Part an investment scheme, part a wager, it had been organized forty years before when ten younger sons of the aristocracy had each contributed an equal amount to a certain fund. The interest and principal were left to grow together over the years, untouched, as time reaped the lives of the contributors. When only one survivor of the investment group remained, he would receive the full amount of the fortune."
It's now forty years on and some members of the group seem to have died under questionable circumstances." The background for George's concern is well and truly set, if only his father would consider things more seriously.
I have to admit our first introduction to George and Cass in the cupboard is unexpected. I was a startled as Cass was.
I really enjoyed Cass. Her intelligence, her directness and her empathy engage you.
Cass becomes George's notorious cousin when the focus needs Cass to be able to move amongst the ton.
The chase is on and the resolution is unexpected.
The secondary characters are strong. I particularly liked Cass and Charles's colorful informant Janey Trewes, "a sometime prostitute and frequent pickpocket."
I was surprised but not upset by the theme of girl from wrong side of the traps meets lord as unlikely as that might be given the times. A strong injection of fresh blood makes for an interesting dilemma but not here it seems.
A strong cast and intriguing storyline makes this Romain offering a winner!
A NetGalley ARC
An historical romance with a difference. Cassandra Benton is an unlikely and rather marvelous lead. Feisty, caring and a realist, she works for Bow Street with her brother.
Someone is trying to kill Lord Northbrook's father, the Duke of Ardmore. Lord George employs Cass and her twin brother Charles to find the culprit. That chase is well and truly a twisted warren that whelms up from his father's past and a tontine that has been growing steadily over the years. The novel explains to some degree what this particular tontine is,
"Part an investment scheme, part a wager, it had been organized forty years before when ten younger sons of the aristocracy had each contributed an equal amount to a certain fund. The interest and principal were left to grow together over the years, untouched, as time reaped the lives of the contributors. When only one survivor of the investment group remained, he would receive the full amount of the fortune."
It's now forty years on and some members of the group seem to have died under questionable circumstances." The background for George's concern is well and truly set, if only his father would consider things more seriously.
I have to admit our first introduction to George and Cass in the cupboard is unexpected. I was a startled as Cass was.
I really enjoyed Cass. Her intelligence, her directness and her empathy engage you.
Cass becomes George's notorious cousin when the focus needs Cass to be able to move amongst the ton.
The chase is on and the resolution is unexpected.
The secondary characters are strong. I particularly liked Cass and Charles's colorful informant Janey Trewes, "a sometime prostitute and frequent pickpocket."
I was surprised but not upset by the theme of girl from wrong side of the traps meets lord as unlikely as that might be given the times. A strong injection of fresh blood makes for an interesting dilemma but not here it seems.
A strong cast and intriguing storyline makes this Romain offering a winner!
A NetGalley ARC
January 27, 2019
Theresa Romain's stories often include characters who are not nobility and I find that to be a refreshing change. Lady Notorious centers on Cass Benton, a de facto Bow Street Runner. Readers met Cass & several other characters here, in Lady Rogue. Cass is not officially a runner, because she's a woman, but she and her twin brother work cases together, with Cass often doing the bulk of the work. She is hired by George, Lord Northbrook, to investigate a possible plot to kill his father, the Duke of Ardmore. This plot involves several other nobles, and allows for some repeat appearances of other Lady Rogue characters. In helping George, Cass poses as a member of the nobility, but this isn't a Pygmalion trope, and there is little in the narrative to support the portrayal of Cass as Lady Notorious. I still enjoyed Cass; she is a bundle of smarts and I loved her vitality. She is doing all the work, "finding a way" while still struggling against the constraints on women. She knows this and it bothers her. George, Lord Northbrook, is not the usual dilettante noble or a rake. He's charming and basically kind, as well as interested in learning about the Duchy he's to inherit. He wants to help his troubled parents but doesn't know how to yet. And he's passionate about his camera obscura. There is chemistry between the two and the heat level is just right. The scheme and plot against members of the nobility, really feels like just a set up tool and is frankly not really dealt with much. When the scheme is included, the pacing slows and the story suffers a bit. The connection between Cass and George is really the warmth and heart of the story. They don't simple solve a murder plot, George and Cass help each other see that perhaps making your way in the world, is about what you yourself do and not just the rules others put in place for you. And it helps to have someone by your side along the way. A good addition to the Royal Rewards series, with the mystery playing a smaller role than in the other books. Fans of Theresa Romain should enjoy this one. Readers new to Romain, should start with the first in the series, to get a better feel for Romain's style.
I received an e-ARC from the publisher via Net Galley. All opinions are my own.
I received an e-ARC from the publisher via Net Galley. All opinions are my own.
February 24, 2019
Lady Notorious by Theresa Romain is book 4 in the Royal Rewards Series. This is the story of Cassandra Benton and George, Lord Northbrook. I have read the previous book, but feel you can make this a standalone book if you wish to do so.
Cass's brother Charles is a Bow Street Runner. Because Cass is a women she is not allowed to be a official Bow Street Runner, but she is her brother's partner. Cass does most any and all of the work needed, so she knows what she is doing. This leads her to help take on George's case of someone trying to hurt his father, the Duke of Ardmore. Cass is to pretend to be a distant cousin of George to try to disguise herself into getting information for their case. Overall enjoyed this book and I have been in love with this series! I will be looking for more books from Ms. Romain!
Cass's brother Charles is a Bow Street Runner. Because Cass is a women she is not allowed to be a official Bow Street Runner, but she is her brother's partner. Cass does most any and all of the work needed, so she knows what she is doing. This leads her to help take on George's case of someone trying to hurt his father, the Duke of Ardmore. Cass is to pretend to be a distant cousin of George to try to disguise herself into getting information for their case. Overall enjoyed this book and I have been in love with this series! I will be looking for more books from Ms. Romain!
January 30, 2019
Who knew love would be her secret weapon?
Cassandra Benton has always survived by her wits and wiles, even working for Bow Street alongside her twin brother. When injury takes him out of commission, Cass must support the family by taking on an intriguing new case: George, Lord Northbrook, believes someone is plotting to kill his father.
Cass relishes the chance to spy on the ton, shrewdly disguised as handsome Lord Northbrook’s notorious “cousin.” What she doesn’t expect is her irresistible attraction to her dashing employer, and days of investigation soon turn to passionate nights.
Is there a killer closing in? Is there enough attraction between our intrepid pair to lead to love in this dangerous and mysterious historical romantic suspense?
This isn't the first book I have read by this author but it just may be the best.
I gave this title 4.75 of 5.0 stars for storyline and character development. The heat level is just right in this 4th book in the series.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book to read. This in no way affected my opinion of this title which I read and reviewed voluntarily.
Cassandra Benton has always survived by her wits and wiles, even working for Bow Street alongside her twin brother. When injury takes him out of commission, Cass must support the family by taking on an intriguing new case: George, Lord Northbrook, believes someone is plotting to kill his father.
Cass relishes the chance to spy on the ton, shrewdly disguised as handsome Lord Northbrook’s notorious “cousin.” What she doesn’t expect is her irresistible attraction to her dashing employer, and days of investigation soon turn to passionate nights.
Is there a killer closing in? Is there enough attraction between our intrepid pair to lead to love in this dangerous and mysterious historical romantic suspense?
This isn't the first book I have read by this author but it just may be the best.
I gave this title 4.75 of 5.0 stars for storyline and character development. The heat level is just right in this 4th book in the series.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book to read. This in no way affected my opinion of this title which I read and reviewed voluntarily.
January 24, 2019
I was bored and that upsets me because I could have been reading another book that I could actually like and enjoy. I felt this was too slow paced for me, and I stopped would start again, and stopped again, I just couldn't get into it and could not finish..I didn't care for our heroine Cass and I didnt' care for George, I didn't feel any chemistry with them, so my friends I gave up..
Rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions.
Rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions.
March 6, 2019
Ever had one of those books that you liked the story and the characters but did not really have a hard time putting it down and coming back to it later?
This plot had a good "whodunnit" theme to add to the mutual attraction of the main couple who were having a hard time being professional even when it seemed ludicrous but there were some humorous moments to be enjoyed. Still not that addicting motivation the true 5 Star novels have ...
That is where this book was with me, the story, the main couple, the plot were all good, but there was that "something" that makes books addicting and you wonder what is going to happen next anytime you are not reading it. That is what was missing but I did love the story and the ending so at the end of the day I have a book I enjoyed but was easy to put down and pick it back up later so 4 Stars it is.
This plot had a good "whodunnit" theme to add to the mutual attraction of the main couple who were having a hard time being professional even when it seemed ludicrous but there were some humorous moments to be enjoyed. Still not that addicting motivation the true 5 Star novels have ...
That is where this book was with me, the story, the main couple, the plot were all good, but there was that "something" that makes books addicting and you wonder what is going to happen next anytime you are not reading it. That is what was missing but I did love the story and the ending so at the end of the day I have a book I enjoyed but was easy to put down and pick it back up later so 4 Stars it is.
February 14, 2019
George, Lord Northbrook, needs help: he fears his godfather's life might be in danger. However, the Bow Street Runner who was on the case, Charles Benton, got hurt. Again, Charles' twin sister Cassandra will have to do her brother's job; she knows the work, she is also a Runner, albeit unofficially. In order to gather information, Cass will go undercover as George's notorious cousin.
If only a book blurb could aptly describe the magic that awaits us with starting a new novel by the incomparable Theresa Romain. LADY NOTORIOUS is like the first day of spring after a long, hard winter; like being enveloped in a cozy cashmere blanket: warm and elegant, soft and luxurious. The writing is exquisite, the dialogues are phenomenal and set the author apart from the masses. I found myself gigglin at Cass' clever repartees, then entranced by the inadvertently philosophical musings that eventually colour her and George's conversations. The author's attention to historical detail is astounding, enlightening, yet woven effortlessly into the narrative, particularly with regards to the Bow Street Runners and George's preoccupation with his camerae obscurae. Ms. Romain's descriptions are precise, and colourful; her fictional world bursting with life; and the characters are enthralling creations, even minor ones such as Augustus, Charles, and the most delightful Janey Trewes.
The romance between George and Cass is the epitome of sensual loveliness, embodied in those fleeting touches and subtle looks; LADY NOTORIOUS is all show and no tell, and there is no higher compliment I could pay an author. Ms. Romain never rushes anything, and the easy pace allows the reader to fully embrace the story and the fabulous characters. What a marvelous and unforgettable world is that of LADY NOTORIOUS! I hope this series will go on for a long time, I honestly don't want to let go of those characters! Theresa Romain has written a book about how one can matter, how important it is to follow one's dreams, what love means, and that you should embrace who you are if you are to live, not merely exist. LADY NOTORIOUS is a delight for all the senses, and filled me with joy. A book so wonderful, no review could do it justice.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
If only a book blurb could aptly describe the magic that awaits us with starting a new novel by the incomparable Theresa Romain. LADY NOTORIOUS is like the first day of spring after a long, hard winter; like being enveloped in a cozy cashmere blanket: warm and elegant, soft and luxurious. The writing is exquisite, the dialogues are phenomenal and set the author apart from the masses. I found myself gigglin at Cass' clever repartees, then entranced by the inadvertently philosophical musings that eventually colour her and George's conversations. The author's attention to historical detail is astounding, enlightening, yet woven effortlessly into the narrative, particularly with regards to the Bow Street Runners and George's preoccupation with his camerae obscurae. Ms. Romain's descriptions are precise, and colourful; her fictional world bursting with life; and the characters are enthralling creations, even minor ones such as Augustus, Charles, and the most delightful Janey Trewes.
The romance between George and Cass is the epitome of sensual loveliness, embodied in those fleeting touches and subtle looks; LADY NOTORIOUS is all show and no tell, and there is no higher compliment I could pay an author. Ms. Romain never rushes anything, and the easy pace allows the reader to fully embrace the story and the fabulous characters. What a marvelous and unforgettable world is that of LADY NOTORIOUS! I hope this series will go on for a long time, I honestly don't want to let go of those characters! Theresa Romain has written a book about how one can matter, how important it is to follow one's dreams, what love means, and that you should embrace who you are if you are to live, not merely exist. LADY NOTORIOUS is a delight for all the senses, and filled me with joy. A book so wonderful, no review could do it justice.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
June 28, 2019
I've kept pushing on with this series because I hoped that I'd eventually like a book as much as Fortune Favors the Wicked. And while I didn't like this as much, Lady Notorious came close! I really enjoyed this romance+mystery story. I think we were just missing some characterization and a smoother first few chapters.
February 5, 2019
I usually love Theresa Romain, and there were lots of things to like about her latest in the Royal Rewards series, but Lady Notorious didn’t hold my attention as much as usual.
I think the romance didn’t hold my attention as much as I would have wished it to. Cass, or Cassandra, one of a pair of twin investigators who takes a case to discover who is killing the members of a group wager which involves a huge amount of money, is a competent but not passionate investigator. She is motivated by helping people, but she keeps her heart guarded. Her brother Charles is a bit lackadaisical, and spends all he earns, swives the women he encounters in the course of his work, and has managed to break his leg during one of these encounters.
Cass takes on the investigation alone, and promises to also keep doing his work at Bow Street, with the runners. Leaving aside the strange lack of conflict in the story at the thought of a women at the time this is set doing this type of work, Cassandra is a pleasant character with an admirable sense of duty, a sense of humour, and very competent. I could understand why Lord Northwood was attracted to her. Unfortunately I couldn’t understand what she saw in him.
Lord Northwood is worried about the group wager started by his father, Duke of Ardmore and his cronies, which operates as a type of accumulator, as the men in the wager die. Three men have died, and his godfather, Lord Deverell is now targeted. He employs Charles and Cass to investigate and protect his father.
George, Lord Northwood just comes over as a bit dull. He is a reformed rake, he now has a relatively comfortable life, living with his father who is a compulsive gambler, and rather distant and uninterested, and his mother who spends her life drugged with laudanum. He is worried about them both, but doesn’t seem to act in any way to help them, until right at the end. He spends his time experimenting with developing a method to take photographs.
I really couldn’t see why Cass was interested in him, and also why she overlooked him calling he plain when they first met so quickly. There didn’t seem to be any wooing at all.
I was much more intrigued by the secondary love story between Charles and Janey, and would have liked to know more about them.
I received an ARC of this book, which I voluntarily reviewed.
I think the romance didn’t hold my attention as much as I would have wished it to. Cass, or Cassandra, one of a pair of twin investigators who takes a case to discover who is killing the members of a group wager which involves a huge amount of money, is a competent but not passionate investigator. She is motivated by helping people, but she keeps her heart guarded. Her brother Charles is a bit lackadaisical, and spends all he earns, swives the women he encounters in the course of his work, and has managed to break his leg during one of these encounters.
Cass takes on the investigation alone, and promises to also keep doing his work at Bow Street, with the runners. Leaving aside the strange lack of conflict in the story at the thought of a women at the time this is set doing this type of work, Cassandra is a pleasant character with an admirable sense of duty, a sense of humour, and very competent. I could understand why Lord Northwood was attracted to her. Unfortunately I couldn’t understand what she saw in him.
Lord Northwood is worried about the group wager started by his father, Duke of Ardmore and his cronies, which operates as a type of accumulator, as the men in the wager die. Three men have died, and his godfather, Lord Deverell is now targeted. He employs Charles and Cass to investigate and protect his father.
George, Lord Northwood just comes over as a bit dull. He is a reformed rake, he now has a relatively comfortable life, living with his father who is a compulsive gambler, and rather distant and uninterested, and his mother who spends her life drugged with laudanum. He is worried about them both, but doesn’t seem to act in any way to help them, until right at the end. He spends his time experimenting with developing a method to take photographs.
I really couldn’t see why Cass was interested in him, and also why she overlooked him calling he plain when they first met so quickly. There didn’t seem to be any wooing at all.
I was much more intrigued by the secondary love story between Charles and Janey, and would have liked to know more about them.
I received an ARC of this book, which I voluntarily reviewed.
March 14, 2019
Lady Notorious is part of Theresa Romain's Royal Rewards series and features characters introduced in previous books (specifically Lady Rogue). Here, George, Lord Northbrook, has engaged the services of Bow Street Runners Charles and Cass Benton to find out who is behind the killings involving the tontine. The tontine being an investment fund started by prominent younger sons and who ever lives the longest will get the full fund. Sadly, both George's father and godfather are part of the group and when unexplained deaths of other members were uncovered he started to worry for the both of them. Enter Cass Benton who now has to solve the mystery and save the day. But these two, are definite soul mates but coming from different classes in society their relationship could never go beyond the now. But first they need to solve the who, since the next victim seems to be George's father.
I do love the plot of this book and the evolving relationship of George and Cass. It feels little bit slow paced but it does add to the time element of how the romance develops in a believable.manner. It's a page turner, with suspense, mystery and a great romance. Looking forward to the next book!
I do love the plot of this book and the evolving relationship of George and Cass. It feels little bit slow paced but it does add to the time element of how the romance develops in a believable.manner. It's a page turner, with suspense, mystery and a great romance. Looking forward to the next book!
March 25, 2019
very sweet book. If you like historical this is the book for you. If you like a spy like historical with ladies in disguise. Please read this book. here is a summary of the book.
Who knew love would be her secret weapon?
Cassandra Benton has always survived by her wits and wiles, even working for Bow Street alongside her twin brother. When injury takes him out of commission, Cass must support the family by taking on an intriguing new case: George, Lord Northbrook, believes someone is plotting to kill his father, the Duke of Ardmore. Decades before, the duke was one of ten who formed a wager that would grant a fortune to the last survivor. But someone can't wait for nature to take its course—and George hopes a seasoned investigator like Cass can find out who.
Cass relishes the chance to spy on the ton, shrewdly disguised as handsome Lord Northbrook's notorious "cousin." What she doesn't expect is her irresistible attraction to her dashing employer, and days of investigation soon turn to passionate nights. But with a killer closing in and her charade as a lady of the ton in danger of collapsing at any moment, Cass has no choice but to put her life—and her heart—in the hands of the last man she ought to trust.
Who knew love would be her secret weapon?
Cassandra Benton has always survived by her wits and wiles, even working for Bow Street alongside her twin brother. When injury takes him out of commission, Cass must support the family by taking on an intriguing new case: George, Lord Northbrook, believes someone is plotting to kill his father, the Duke of Ardmore. Decades before, the duke was one of ten who formed a wager that would grant a fortune to the last survivor. But someone can't wait for nature to take its course—and George hopes a seasoned investigator like Cass can find out who.
Cass relishes the chance to spy on the ton, shrewdly disguised as handsome Lord Northbrook's notorious "cousin." What she doesn't expect is her irresistible attraction to her dashing employer, and days of investigation soon turn to passionate nights. But with a killer closing in and her charade as a lady of the ton in danger of collapsing at any moment, Cass has no choice but to put her life—and her heart—in the hands of the last man she ought to trust.
February 20, 2019
3.5 Stars
Cassandra Benton has always survived by her wits and wiles, even working for Bow Street alongside her twin brother Charles. When Charles falls from a trellis & breaks his leg, Cass must support them by taking on an intriguing new case: George, Lord Northbrook, believes someone is plotting to kill his father, the Duke of Ardmore. Four decades before, the duke was one of ten who formed a tontine that would grant a fortune to the last survivor. But someone can’t wait for nature to take its course and members are dying in suspicious circumstances.
Cass relishes the chance to spy on the ton, shrewdly disguised as George's notorious “cousin.”
I was drawn into the story from the first page & really enjoyed Cass working on the case, this was the highlight of the book for me. I liked both George & Cass but I felt that there was chemistry missing from their relationship & I found it hard to believe that they fell in love. Maybe it's me as I find it hard to comprehend a Marquis & future Duke wanting to marry someone who is basically a nobody, no way does it fit with my understanding of society in the early nineteenth century. Apart from this aspect I enjoyed the book
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
Cassandra Benton has always survived by her wits and wiles, even working for Bow Street alongside her twin brother Charles. When Charles falls from a trellis & breaks his leg, Cass must support them by taking on an intriguing new case: George, Lord Northbrook, believes someone is plotting to kill his father, the Duke of Ardmore. Four decades before, the duke was one of ten who formed a tontine that would grant a fortune to the last survivor. But someone can’t wait for nature to take its course and members are dying in suspicious circumstances.
Cass relishes the chance to spy on the ton, shrewdly disguised as George's notorious “cousin.”
I was drawn into the story from the first page & really enjoyed Cass working on the case, this was the highlight of the book for me. I liked both George & Cass but I felt that there was chemistry missing from their relationship & I found it hard to believe that they fell in love. Maybe it's me as I find it hard to comprehend a Marquis & future Duke wanting to marry someone who is basically a nobody, no way does it fit with my understanding of society in the early nineteenth century. Apart from this aspect I enjoyed the book
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
January 23, 2019
Cass and her twin brother are Bow Street runners and have taken a private investigation case. George, who has hired the twins, is the son of a Duke who might be the next murder victim in a series of murders. The romance between Cass and George was wonderfully written. And believable. Their characters were complicated; their self awareness and confidence slowly unfolded as they helped each other with the investigation. The story at times was slow paced but so worth it.
Some passages that I enjoyed:
“On this particular morning, barely past dawn, he couldn’t be alone. His thoughts were too persistent. Intrusive, really. Obstinate. Unexpected. Much like Cassandra Benton.”
“It wasn’t a burst like a firework. It was more like a candle flame. It was warm and steady and lasting, so that she hadn’t even realized how much she had come to rely on it. Without it, the world around her wouldn’t be the same anymore. Nothing would be as bright. Soon, she would not be able to do without it. Already she was unable to stay away, a moth to that little candlelight. Unwinking and irresistible.”
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy.
Some passages that I enjoyed:
“On this particular morning, barely past dawn, he couldn’t be alone. His thoughts were too persistent. Intrusive, really. Obstinate. Unexpected. Much like Cassandra Benton.”
“It wasn’t a burst like a firework. It was more like a candle flame. It was warm and steady and lasting, so that she hadn’t even realized how much she had come to rely on it. Without it, the world around her wouldn’t be the same anymore. Nothing would be as bright. Soon, she would not be able to do without it. Already she was unable to stay away, a moth to that little candlelight. Unwinking and irresistible.”
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy.
February 1, 2019
This is the first book I have read from this author. I had not realised it was one in a series but this really did not detract from the plot and it was easy to follow the characters.
Cass works for Bow Street alongside her twin brother but when an injury takes him out of commission, Cass is forced to undertake the investigations herself. One of these cases involves George, Lord Northbrook who hires Cass to watch his father. He believes that the duke was one of ten who formed a wager that would grant a fortune to the last survivor and now one of the groups is looking to gain the monies through murder.
Overall, I enjoyed this book but I felt the story was little contrived and I cant help feel that it could have been so much more. There are some great themes but they needed a little more development. I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Cass works for Bow Street alongside her twin brother but when an injury takes him out of commission, Cass is forced to undertake the investigations herself. One of these cases involves George, Lord Northbrook who hires Cass to watch his father. He believes that the duke was one of ten who formed a wager that would grant a fortune to the last survivor and now one of the groups is looking to gain the monies through murder.
Overall, I enjoyed this book but I felt the story was little contrived and I cant help feel that it could have been so much more. There are some great themes but they needed a little more development. I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 19, 2019
I love a hero with a sense of humour!! George, Lord Northbrook, hires Cassandra Benton to investigate if someone is plotting to kill his father, as well as the other surviving members who, decades before, had formed a wager that would grant a fortune to the last survivor. Cass works with her twin brother as a Bow Street runner but when he's injured, she decides to take on the job Lord Northbrook offers her. I really enjoyed their banter and George really did have a wonderful sense of humour. Amidst danger and suspense, romance and love grows but there are a few issues that Cass has to solve before she gives that love a chance. All in all, an enjoyable read.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
March 7, 2019
This book was unique in that we have an Alpha heroine and a Beta Hero. I did enjoy the fact that Cass was so intelligent and capable as a detective but George, Lord Northbrook was just a bit too Beta for my taste. He seemed to be so set on his camera obscura experiments to the ignoring of the task he hired Cass to do. He even took his experiments along on their trip to the seaside. Still the romance was fun with Cass playing the seductress. The mystery was solved (although it was a bit obvious). I do recommend this book for that twist of Alpha and Beta, it is well done.
I received this book free for review from the publisher.
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I received this book free for review from the publisher.
More reviews: http://ladeetdareads.wordpress.com
February 25, 2019
I have really been enjoying this series because the characters are not typical. Cass and her twin brother have been asked to figure out why someone is killing or trying to kill different members of a tontine. George's father is part of that tontine and George is sure that his life is in danger. After Cass's brother is injured, she continues to find the truth. As they are looking for a killer, they grow so much closer, but since they come from such different backgrounds, she is sure it wouldn't work. She is a Bow Street Runner and he is a member of the aristocracy. Could it work? Maybe, but first they have to find the killer before someone else is murdered.
December 30, 2020
2.5 stars, rounded up because it's the holidays, and it's 2020, and why not. This had some nice moments, but also a lot of round-and-round dialogue (internal and external) that slowed the pacing considerably.
January 14, 2019
I really don't like writing bad reviews. I really don't. But this is one of those. Can you imagine that a beautiful writing could have a story that doesn't spark any magic in you? Can you imagine that you are so excited for the synopsis and then you blow out the disappointment because you were simply bored as hell? I couldn't believe this. I'm sad now. This is all I have to say about this as I do not wish to put myself in a misery any longer.
Maybe I should only add that I had nothing against the writing? I really liked it, it was very... proper. And you could see how much work author has put into it. I just wished that such a beautiful summary of the book had more action in it. Woman working for the Bow Street Runners... C'mon - so much potential!
Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for sending me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Maybe I should only add that I had nothing against the writing? I really liked it, it was very... proper. And you could see how much work author has put into it. I just wished that such a beautiful summary of the book had more action in it. Woman working for the Bow Street Runners... C'mon - so much potential!
Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for sending me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
February 26, 2019
A mystery to solve and two romances provides the reader with an engaging read. I enjoyed the relationship between George, Lord Northbrook and Cassandra, his hired investigator. They were such interesting characters, both were intelligent and had their own set of skills. There is also a secondary romance for Cassandra’s twin, Charles. This story has humour and passion. The mystery was solved with some help from characters from the previous book. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
January 21, 2019
Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Our heroine, Cass along with her twin brother are asked to spy on our hero's father whom his son suspects might be killed due to a wager set years ago. She infiltrates first as a maid then as a scandalous cousin. The son George, develops feelings for her and admires her tenacious spirit. The romance is a very slow burn and I honestly did not feel any real connection between Cass and George. He calls her plain at one point and she's wary of him. It's when she's forced to role play that you see a small spark between them. This was bit too slow and a bit boring to read for me but as a whole it a decent novel.
Our heroine, Cass along with her twin brother are asked to spy on our hero's father whom his son suspects might be killed due to a wager set years ago. She infiltrates first as a maid then as a scandalous cousin. The son George, develops feelings for her and admires her tenacious spirit. The romance is a very slow burn and I honestly did not feel any real connection between Cass and George. He calls her plain at one point and she's wary of him. It's when she's forced to role play that you see a small spark between them. This was bit too slow and a bit boring to read for me but as a whole it a decent novel.
January 12, 2019
It's been a while since I have read a historical romance and the synopsis of this one sounded intriguing. The plot line was interesting but I found it too slow with characters that I really couldn't relate to. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.
February 7, 2021
Cassandra Benton has honed her investigative skills working as a Bow Street Runner alongside her brother, Charles. The twins are hired by George Godwin, Marquess of Northbrook to investigate what he believes to be a plot to kill his father, the Duke of Ardmore, and his godfather, Lord Deverell, both members a 40 year old tontine, of which one member apparently doesn't want to wait for his fellows to die of natural causes. When Cass' brother is injured, Northbrook asks her to stay on the investigation, delighted that she also believes something sinister is at work. They decide the best way for her to gain information is to listen to gossip in disguise as Northbrook's scandalous cousin. This entails Cass moving into Ardmore house with George to pretend to be a lady of the ton, leading to lots of close-quarters time with George.
George has pretty much steered clear of any serious relationships with women since the death of his fiance several years prior and though Cassandra has taken several lovers, she has never become serious with any of them. But in this situation it's unclear who can be trusted, lives are at stake, and Cass and George begin relying on each other more and more. The two struggle to ignore their mutual attraction, knowing that nothing can come of it, yet each opens the other's eyes to another world and mindset they find hard to give up.
George was delightfully charming with his simultaneously arrogant, yet self-deprecating humor. Cass was that rare strong heroine who isn't annoying. She still showed human weakness and an inner struggle with her feelings for George and her own place in the world that I found endearing and relatable. The female investigator concept was original and made believable due to Cass' working at Bow Street with her twin brother. I found myself rooting for these two, George who realizes he's never really been loved and Cass who has always taken on responsibility for others and is beginning to notice the crushing weight of it. There was good mystery here and those elements of uncertainty helped drive our hero and heroine together as both learned what it is to be able to rely on another person. I enjoyed the changes these two wrought on each other and this was a good read. Just when it was in danger of dragging or becoming tedious, the author added in something to move the plot along and kept the pacing up.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Blog link: https://mustreadalltheromance.blogspo...
George has pretty much steered clear of any serious relationships with women since the death of his fiance several years prior and though Cassandra has taken several lovers, she has never become serious with any of them. But in this situation it's unclear who can be trusted, lives are at stake, and Cass and George begin relying on each other more and more. The two struggle to ignore their mutual attraction, knowing that nothing can come of it, yet each opens the other's eyes to another world and mindset they find hard to give up.
George was delightfully charming with his simultaneously arrogant, yet self-deprecating humor. Cass was that rare strong heroine who isn't annoying. She still showed human weakness and an inner struggle with her feelings for George and her own place in the world that I found endearing and relatable. The female investigator concept was original and made believable due to Cass' working at Bow Street with her twin brother. I found myself rooting for these two, George who realizes he's never really been loved and Cass who has always taken on responsibility for others and is beginning to notice the crushing weight of it. There was good mystery here and those elements of uncertainty helped drive our hero and heroine together as both learned what it is to be able to rely on another person. I enjoyed the changes these two wrought on each other and this was a good read. Just when it was in danger of dragging or becoming tedious, the author added in something to move the plot along and kept the pacing up.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Blog link: https://mustreadalltheromance.blogspo...
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