Blog Blitz – How To Catch A Sinful Marquess by Amy Rose Bennett

How to Catch a Sinful Marquess (The Disreputable Debutantes, #3)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Disreputable Debutantes
Publication Date: 8/25/20
Number of Pages: 320

My favorite book of the series so far! I absolutely loved both Olivia and Hamish in this beauty and the beast tale. She is sweet, giving, and has a heart as wide as all England. He is dour, cantankerous, standoffish, and holds himself away from others. The story is well written, well-plotted, and the pacing is excellent. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

We’ve learned of orphaned Olivia de Vere’s trials with her misbegotten uncle and his family over the previous two books. The only bright spot in her existence is her time she manages to steal with her friends Charlie, Sophie (How to Catch a Wicked Viscount), and Arabella (How to Catch an Errant Earl). They don’t ridicule her because of her stammer – they just love her for who she is.

Things are getting very tense at the de Vere household. Olivia’s twenty-first birthday is rapidly approaching and her guardians – her aunt and uncle – are pressuring her more and more to marry their son Felix to keep her fortune within the family. They constantly denigrate her and assure that she knows she isn’t good enough to receive any other offers. Felix is a cruel, mean-spirited, profligate who taunts Olivia at every turn. When she discovers that Felix has been embezzling from her trust fund, he threatens her in a way that lets her know she has to flee – the sooner the better. Lucky for her, the opportunity presents itself and she grabs it.

Hamish MacQueen, Marquess of Sleat, has a scarred face from Waterloo, but most of his scars are from much earlier in his life and they are on the inside. Hamish knows he can never love or marry – or even become close with anyone because he’ll only harm them. He’s a violent person who can’t be trusted not to hurt those for whom he cares. At least, that is his view of himself. Those who know him, know he is a kind, giving person who always ‘saves’ others. So, when he needs to get back to the Isle of Skye to save his sister – and at the same time a lovely three-year-old little girl is dropped off on his doorstep – he leaps at the offer from the girl who lives next door. She’ll travel with him to Scotland and be nursemaid to young Tilda – who might – or might not – be Hamish’s illegitimate offspring.

When circumstances along the road cause Hamish to offer a marriage of convenience to Olivia, she accepts. She wants a real marriage, but he insists they’ll only stay married until her twenty-fifth birthday when she comes into her inheritance. That is quite a bitter pill to swallow for romantic Olivia who wants the whole thing – love, marriage, family – all of it.

I loved how Olivia slowly figures Hamish out and does her best to help him – even if he won’t give their marriage a chance. She has long admired him and it didn’t take much to tip her over to loving him. He also finds that he loves her, but he cannot let himself act on it – he has to protect her.

I loved their journey into their HEA. This would easily have been a 5-star read for me – except – it committed one of my cardinal sins. The villains of the piece got away totally free – actually they got rewarded. They had spent years abusing Olivia, demeaning her, ridiculing her, threatening her – and they get rewarded by Olivia and Hamish. No, I don’t think so!

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

How to Catch an Errant Earl by Amy Rose Bennett #ReleaseDayBlitz

9781984803948

How To Catch An Errant Earl:

A young debutante makes a hasty exit from London only to create new headlines on the Continent.
After being expelled from a young ladies’ academy, a disgraced Miss Arabella Jardine is whisked away to the Continent until the controversy in London subsides. However, it doesn’t take long for Arabella to shock her family all over again when an encounter in Switzerland with the irresistible rakehell-in-exile Earl of Langdale leads to a compromising situation. Despite his wicked reputation, Lord Langdale is the sort of man she has dreamed of marrying.

When Gabriel Holmes-Fitzgerald is caught in flagrante delicto with the apparently prim and proper Miss Arabella Jardine, he’s obliged to offer for the young lady’s hand. Unprincipled cad that he is, Gabriel is no stranger to scandal. He’ll do the right thing and wed Arabella, although he secretly despairs his tainted soul will corrupt and ultimately destroy her.

When Arabella’s life is unexpectedly threatened by an unscrupulous enemy from the past, one thing becomes crystal clear to Gabriel: the worst torment of all will be losing the woman he loves. And he would do anything, even sell his soul to the Devil himself, to save her.

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Author Bio:

Amy Rose

Amy Rose Bennett has wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember. As she is an avid reader with a particular love for historical romance, it seemed only natural to write stories in her favorite genre. She has a passion for creating emotion-packed–and sometimes a little racy–stories set in the Georgian and Regency periods. Of course, her strong-willed heroines and rakish heroes always find their happily ever after.


Praise for Amy Rose Bennett:

“In the stellar debut of her Disreputable Debutantes series, Bennett makes the Regency historical seem fresh and new through her vividly rendered settings, which display her impeccable command of the glittering world of the ton; her perfectly matched protagonists, whose potent sexual chemistry evolves into sizzling love scenes; and her expertly graceful, tartly witty writing.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Readers will enjoy this expertly executed Regency with likable characters. A well-written start to a historical romance series full of rakes and the women who love them.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Bennett delivers a fun start to a new Regency series in which embracing one’s bad reputation yields some pretty good results.”—Library Journal


 

Tracy’s Review:

 
How to Catch an Errant Earl (The Disreputable Debutantes, #2)How to Catch an Errant Earl by Amy Rose Bennett

Tracy’s rating: 4/4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Disreputable Debutantes, #2

Release Date: April 28, 2020

Gabriel Holmes-Fitzgerald, the Earl of Langdale is not having a good day – he is recovering from a night of debauchery after being punched by his lover’s husband while attending a ball at their home and if that was not bad enough, his cousin has informed him that once his father, Gabriel’s uncle passes away, Timothy plans to challenge Gabriel’s right to the Earldom. He contends that Gabriel’s parents were not legally married in England, therefore rendering him illegitimate. Gabriel needs proof and there is only one person who can help – his mother, problem is, he hasn’t seen her since she left his father many, many years ago. But a little digging and he finds out where she was last year and since London is not the best place for him right now, he heads off to Switzerland to find her.

Arabella Jardine thought that the scandal caused by her “unbecoming” behavior at finishing school ruined her life, she was sadly mistaken. She quickly learns that being caught in a passionate embrace with a half-dressed, well-known rake is much more ruinous and life changing. Arabella is in Switzerland with her family when she runs into Gabriel, he tells her he has a letter for her and promises to deliver it – which he does, but ends up injured and in need of medical assistance. Lucky for him, Arabella has medical knowledge as she often assisted her grandfather in his medical practice. She tends him and he begs for a kiss, which quickly spirals out of control and has him proposing.

Arabella has no choice but to marry him – a man who is honest and tells her he will probably never love her and most likely won’t be faithful. She never expected to marry for love, but the idea of him breaking her heart has her throwing up a wall between them, a wall he desperately wants to knock down.

This was a very good book, it was well written and paced nicely. Both Gabriel and Arabella have had less than stellar childhoods and their experiences have scarred them both in different ways. Arabella is guarded and cautious, while Gabriel is self-indulgent and promiscuous – but deep down they are both insecure and have abandonment issues – they just deal with them differently. There is a lot going on in the book and I wondered if the romance would be lost in the mix, but it works, so be prepared for outrageous flirting, steamy love scenes, secrets, jealousy, addiction, evil relatives, kidnapping, a bit of angst, great secondary characters and a wonderful HEA (complete with an epilogue!!!) This is the second book in the series, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone title. I am happy to recommend this this book, it was a delightful read and am looking forward to the next installment.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review of an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*