The Marquess Next Door by Virginia Heath #BlogTour

On By TracyIn Blog Tour, Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Marquess Next Door

The Marquess UK cover

The Marquess Next Door

A dashing new neighbour…
Temptation on her doorstep!
To avoid an unwanted suitor at a ball, Hope Brookes asks another gentleman to rescue her. He obliges – with a surprisingly passionate kiss! Revealed as her sinfully handsome new neighbour, Lucius, Marquess of Thundersley, they forge a friendship over their balconies. It’s refreshing that Lucius is more interested in her writer dreams than her looks, so why can’t she stop thinking about that kiss?

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The Marquess Author
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 the insomnia and start writing them down. Despite that, it still takes her forever to fall asleep.

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Giveaway

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Tracy’s Review

The Marquess Next Door: A sexy, funny Regency romanceThe Marquess Next Door: A sexy, funny Regency romance by Virginia Heath

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Talk of the Beau Monde, #2

Release Date: June 29, 2021

Hope Brookes and Lucius “Luke” Duff, the newly minted Marquess of Thundersley meet quite by chance in the gardens while attending her sister’s engagement ball. Hope asked Luke’s help in discouraging a persistent suitor and he complies by kissing her. Outraged Hope pushes him into the pond and storms off.

Later they meet again when Luke moves into the house next door and it turns out their balconies connect. Hope is an aspiring author and is currently working on a gothic novel, she and Luke strike up a friendship and he soon becomes her biggest fan. He begs Hope to trust him with her novel, trust is not easy for Hope as men have never treated her as an intelligent woman, mostly because she is gorgeous and has a body that makes men stupid, that is until Luke. She is still scared to trust him but relents when trusts her with his darkest secret.

Luke’s mother was the marquess’ second wife and went a bit mad after Luke’s birth, the marquess subjected her to many “treatments” before giving up and banishing her and Luke to an estate in Cornwall. In time his mother gets better and she and Luke enjoy a quiet life. Luke never expected to inherit and didn’t get along with his brother. When their father died, his brother had Luke’s mother committed and ban Luke from visiting her – it was years before he was able to have her released and the damage was done, but with good care and Luke’s devotion to her, she once again seemed to recover, and when Luke unexpectedly inherits, encourages him to go to London. What he finds is his brother’s widow who is bent on marrying him and a mountain of responsibilities he was never trained to deal with. He is trying to do his best and is feeling like a fish out of water until he meets Hope. His friendship with her quickly progresses into more and soon he can’t imagine a life without her in it.

Things are going well and he brings his mother to London, worried that she will have a setback, but is happy that she thrives. Everything seems to be going perfectly and HEA seems to be within reach when it all comes crashing down and hearts are broken.

This was a great read; I am going to go as far as to say that it is my new favorite book from this author. I loved it, it is well-written, nicely paced, and just about perfect. Luke and Hope are wonderful characters who are both likable and relatable, their chemistry was spot on and you can’t help but root for them! This book has it all secrets, witty dialogue, warm to steamyish love scenes, excellent secondary characters, misunderstandings that are quickly resolved, and HEA that is bound to leave you with a smile on your face! This is the second book in the series, but it can easily be read as a standalone title. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would happily recommend this title.

*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.*

An Inconvenient Arrangement by Callie Hutton

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

An Inconvenient Arrangement (The Rose Room Rogues #3)An Inconvenient Arrangement by Callie Hutton
Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Rose Room Rogues #3
Publication Date: 6/30/29
Period: Victorian London, May 1892

Once upon a time, there were three brothers who owned the best gaming establishment in London – maybe in all of England. Two brothers were legitimate and one was not, though he was raised right along with his two legitimate brothers. We’ve already been delighted with the stories of the two legitimate brothers – Hunt (A Scandalous Portrait) and Driscoll (A Lady’s Trust). Now, we have Dante (don’t you love the name) who is a rogue extraordinaire. He loves the ladies and they love him, so why should he ever wish to give that up and marry. He isn’t in line for a title and has no need to create an heir – let his legitimate brothers take care of that, he’ll just enjoy his life.

“Another reason to not get involved with a wife. They never stayed where you put them, never did what you told them, and when things didn’t go their way, they cried. Or threw things at your head.”

I loved this well-written and well-delivered story of two people who both vowed they’d never marry because they loved their lives just as they were. Seeing them fall in love for the first time (and forever) – all the while denying it – was a delight. That magical coming together of two hearts was truly sigh-worthy.

Aside from owning a gaming establishment, the Rose brothers also take on occasional assignments for the Home Office. When Dante is summoned to pay a visit to Sir Phillip DuBois-Gifford, their home office ‘handler’, he knew it was to be an assignment that would last quite some time. But that was ALL he knew. Imagine his total surprise when he arrived at the appointment and was introduced to his partner for the assignment – a frivolous, empty-headed, unmarried spinster, Lady Lydia Smythe, daughter of Viscount Sterling. Groooooan! Well, wasn’t that just what he needed. Just wait until both of them discover that reputations and appearances can definitely be deceiving.

“This woman had a spine of steel and for the first time in his life he was interested in a woman for reasons other than her body.”

Lydia is on the shelf, definitely by choice. She’s had dozens of proposals, but she has never met any who stirred her interest and since her widowed father doesn’t push her to marry, she’s very happy to leave things as they are. Her father leaves her free to make her own choices about social functions, friends, activities, etc., and at her advanced age, she doesn’t even require a chaperone. Yes, life is good for Lydia. Right? Lydia especially enjoys the occasional tasks she performs for the Home Office. Her main skill is language – she can speak and write seven including German which is the language needed for her current assignment. She’s happy enough with the assignment, but she’s not thrilled to be working with a rakish, gambling, womanizer like Dante Rose. Who, in their right mind, would believe that theirs is a real courtship as required by their assignment?

“See. There is always a solution to any problem.” Dante rested his hands on her shoulders. “Yes, but the solution to some problems tends to be worse than the problem itself.”

I absolutely loved watching these two come to realize the other has strengths they would never have imagined. I loved them learning to value – and to love – those strengths. Poor Dante fought it tooth and nail, but when Lydia was in danger and he realized he could lose her – well – that just brought it all home to him.

“She imagined a little boy with Dante’s features and his charming personality. He would have all the female staff wrapped around his little finger. Perhaps they would have a daughter with the same traits. She frowned. They would have to keep an eye on that one.”

I hope you’ll read and enjoy this book as much as I have. Now, I can hardly wait for the fourth, and final, book in the series – A Rose for Laura – which will feature a previously unidentified illegitimate brother. We’ve met the brother, but we didn’t KNOW he was a brother, so that is something to anticipate for September 30th.

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

View all my reviews