The Lady’s Bargain With The Rogue (The Disreputable Marsden Brothers) by Melissa Oliver

Tracy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Disreputable Marsden Brothers, #1

Release Date: January 16, 2025

When her no-good husband dies, Elisabeth “Eliza” Carew (nee Bawden-Trebarr), Viscountess Ritton, learns the extent of his debts and the fact that he used Trebarr Castle, her family estate, to settle a debt to the infamous Sebastian Marsden, owner of the Trium Impiorum gaming hell. She goes to see him in an attempt to ask him to return her property and when that fails, asks him for time to get the money her husband owed him in exchange for the property. Eliza plans to find the family treasure and use the money to repay Sebastian and free her mother from the asylum her husband had her committed to. She never expected Sebastian to take an interest in her hunt or to help her and she certainly never expected to fall in love with him! But unless she can find the treasure, she doesn’t believe they could have a relationship, even if Sebastian tries to convince her otherwise. Will she find the treasure, or will she let her pride cost her the love of a lifetime?

Sebastian Marsden is the eldest son of the Earl of Harbury, he was raised to be the next Earl, but upon his father’s death, his uncle produced evidence that his father was a bigamist and that Sebastian, and his brothers were illegitimate. He claimed the earldom and tossed the brothers and their mother out without a second thought. Their mother passed away not long after their banishment, and they struggle to survive, but survive they do and the open a gambling hell catering to the ton, who have dubbed the brothers the Marsden Bastards. Sebastian has learned to be ruthless in his business dealings, so he can’t understand why Eliza Carew affects him so much that he agrees to let her have three weeks to repay her late husband’s debt or why he decides to help her on her quest to find the treasure, which may or may not be real. Soon he realizes that Eliza is the true treasure but getting her to see this turns out to be harder than finding her family’s lost treasure!

This was a well-written, nicely paced story with very likable characters and a treasure hunt. I loved the chemistry between Sebastian and Eliza, as well as the relationship between Sebastian and his brothers. The treasure hunt added a bit of intrigue to the story and left readers as eager to find it as Eliza was! This book has wonderful characters, a road trip, steamyish love scenes, a treasure hunt, and finally a happily ever after that seemed impossible. I did feel like the storyline regarding her mother was a missed opportunity and found its resolution a bit unbelievable, but overall, this was a very enjoyable read, and I am already looking forward to the next book! This is the first book in a new series, and I believe it is the author’s first foray into the Victorian romance genre, a genre I predict she will excel at as well as she did with her Medieval romances. I loved this book and would happily recommend it to my fellow HR readers!

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