Barbara’s Review

This new author is keeping her readers jumping (happily I’m sure) with her rapid release of the first three books in her debut series. In October, we had Spruced Up For Murder; In November we have For Richer, For Deader; and in December will be Not Mushroom For Death. The series features a delightful cast of recurring characters – especially Daisy, Beatrice’s dog.

Lady Beatrice, seventeenth in line for the British throne, along with her new business partner and friend, Perry Juke, are happily working on their next project. They are redecorating/refurbishing The Lodge – a seven-bedroom house on the grounds of Fawstead Manor. The Lodge will be the UK base for Sybil and Otis Trotman once they are married – or – maybe we should say IF they are married because it seems someone is determined to see it called off.

The threats begin with a dead rat bearing a note demanding that the wedding stop – then more animals and more notes. However, finding a dead body is what really focuses everyone on how dangerous the situation is. Everyone is frightened – especially the American contingent of the wedding party – because it was one of them who was murdered. Should Sybil and Otis just postpone? Can they even accomplish that at this late date?

There is a special security bureau charged with keeping all members of the royal family safe. Since Lady Beatrice is working at the location where all of that mischief is taking place, the PaIRS bureau is called in to handle the investigation. Of course, that means DCI Fitzwilliam will be the one in charge and he and Lady Beatrice don’t have the best of relationships. DCI Fitzwilliam wants Lady Beatrice to keep her nosey little self out of his investigation even though she was a help in his last case and that really sets her off. She is absolutely determined that she and Perry will solve the case first and she can thumb her nose at him then.

As with the first book, I found this one to be a tad slow in spots, but it wasn’t anything that precluded me from enjoying the book. My biggest issue with this book is something Lady Beatrice’s mother does. I can’t/won’t say much about it because it would spoil it and I wouldn’t want to do that. Then, she forgives much too quickly and too easily. Had my mother done that to me and/or my family/friends, I would still love her – but I would be living someplace different. I understand the reasoning given in the book – but I just don’t buy it and don’t like it.

I always need some romance to go with my mysteries – I always want either a married couple or a couple with a committed relationship. I assume we’ll end up with that in this series, but I’m not sure where it is going at the moment. We have two candidates at the moment for Lady Beatrice – One I don’t care for, but I think he’ll be gone after the next book, and the other I would like but if it goes forward, I’ll be interested to see how the author will handle/explain the large differences in social class.

I can recommend this book and hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Never Rescue a Rogue

Why on earth would she want to kiss him when he vexed her so?

Diana Merriwell and Giles Sinclair only tolerate one another for the sake of their nearest and dearest. Everyone believes that they are meant to be together, but Diana and Giles know that it is animosity, not attraction, that fuels their barbed exchanges. Anyway, Diana loves her freedom too much to give it up for marriage, and Giles is happily wedded to his bachelor lifestyle.

After Giles’ curmudgeonly father, the Duke of Harpenden unexpectedly turns up his toes, it’s only a matter of time before the circumstances of his only son’s birth are revealed. With the threat of blackmail hanging over him, Giles must uncover the truth, or he and all those who depend on him will be ruined.

As Giles and Diana dive into his family’s past, the attraction that they insisted wasn’t there proves impossible to ignore. It seems that the future of the Sinclair estate isn’t the only thing on the line…

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Author Bio:

When Virginia Heath was a little girl it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older, the stories became more complicated, sometimes taking weeks to get to the happy ending. Then one day, she decided to embrace insomnia and start writing them down. Twenty-five books and three Romantic Novel of the Year Award nominations later, it still takes her forever to fall asleep.

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Tracy’s Review:

Never Rescue a Rogue by Virginia Heath

Tracy’s rating: 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: The Merriwell Sisters, #2

Release Date: November 8, 2022

Miss Diana Merriwell and Giles Sinclair are not friends and most certainly are not infatuated with each other, but since her brother-in-law is his best friend, they must spend time in each other’s company and pretend to tolerate each other for the sake of familial harmony – yep – that’s their story and they are sticking to it.

Diana has trust issues thanks to her vile father and has no desire to marry and be “owned” by a man. She has worked hard and has earned her position at The London Tribune, a job she hopes will ultimately support her dream to live independently as a spinster. But for now, she resides with her sister and brother in law, her family knows she works at the paper, and despite her insistence that she is just a copy editor, they all think they know her secret – that she writes for the gossip column – which she does and is happy to let them believe that is her secret, but the truth is she also writes serious, investigative exposes under the nom de plume of the Sentinel.

Since the death of his mother, Giles has known the family’s “Dirty Secret”, but his father never expressed any concern about it, until recently when out of the blue he decides to remarry. But when he dies just days before his wedding, Giles learns why his father was in such a rush to wed when someone threatens to expose the secret and destroy everything Giles has worked for as the new Duke of Harpenden. He isn’t sure how to thwart the villain, that is until he figures out Diana’s secret and wonders if she would be willing to put aside their animosity and help him find out the truth, without revealing his growing regard and desire for her.

This was a well-written, nicely-paced romance story that happened to have a really great mystery. This book is supposed to be a “enemies to lovers” trope, but I don’t feel like that is accurate, I never believed that they disliked each other. Distrusted? Yes. Hated? No. I also found Diana’s constant denial of her true feelings to be a bit too much – to quote the Bard “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” and she doesn’t stop until almost the very end of the book. I understood the reason for her mistrust, but Giles proved himself time and again, and yet, she still refused to let it go, Sigh – I love strong heroines, but Diana’s refusal to even consider any future other than being alone got tiresome. For me, the best part of the story was when they began to investigate Giles’ “Dirty Secret”, it was really well done, very touching, and stuck it to the villain. This is the second book in the series, but it could easily be read as a standalone title. Bottom line; This book was a fun read that is light on the romance, and heavy on the mystery story that ends with a HEA.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*