Tag: Lorraine Heath

The Notorious Lord Knightly by Lorraine Heath

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Part of a Series, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Notorious Lord Knightly (The Chessmen: Masters of Seduction, #2) Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: The Chessmen: Masters of Seduction #2
Publication Date: 6/27/23
Period: Victorian London – 1875 (mostly)
Number of Pages: 384

This author always manages to take a character I was prepared to totally dislike and makes them, not only tolerable but very likable. From what I’d seen in some discussions, I was thoroughly convinced there was no way she could make me even tolerate Lord Knightly. I was, of course, wrong. I came to not only tolerate him but love him and I hope you will as well. I guess it goes to prove that we should never judge someone – especially if we don’t know the whole story. He was a young man forced into a choice that no one should ever have to make. Did he make the right choice? I’m sure you’ll decide for yourself after you read the book, but for me, I think perhaps he did. He just handled it very, very, very badly.

Five years ago the Earl of Knightly met Miss Regina Leyland at her come-out ball. He never intended to be there in the first place, but once he saw her, he was smitten. Regina was the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Bremsford, but she was acknowledged and loved by her father – who also loved her mother. Regina’s father was oblivious to the reality of her life situation and he thought that just because he loved her and accepted her that all of society would as well. This ball was to find her a husband and she knew all of the eligible males who were there were only there because of the large dowry she had. Then, she was introduced to a man who seemed to care nothing about her dowry or her illegitimacy. How could she not fall in love with him? Theirs was an epic love story – until the day of the wedding when he arrived at the church and announced they would not marry.

Regina has had five years to stew about the way Knight had left her life in shambles. She is the one who paid the price for his betrayal. She lived abroad for a while – and when she came back, she was ready for revenge. Only, that revenge backfired, and – once again – Knight comes out the winner and she is in jeopardy.

Knight does his best to come to her rescue – and to keep his distance. Can Knight save Regina and still walk away again? Can Regina learn to even tolerate Knight after what he did to her? I absolutely loved the way Regina held on to her anger – because she had every right to that anger – she wasn’t bitter, but she was very distrustful of Knight. She questioned his every motive – even those that seemed to bring only good to her and bad to him. Can Regina ever get past the anger and hurt? Can she find love again with someone else? You’ll just have to read the book to see.

I can highly recommend this book. In it, you have an epic love story, a gut-wrenching betrayal, a villain, and an epilogue that will make your heart swell to the point of bursting. The writing is excellent, the pacing is near perfect, and the characters are deep and interesting. It is definitely a great read.

The Chessmen are four steadfast friends who have stood by each other since they met at school. One of the things they do is make pots of money as they are very good at investing. We first met them in the second book (The Duchess Hunt) of the Once Upon A Duke series where King finds his HEA. Bishop finds his HEA in the first book of this series – The Counterfeit Scoundrel. So, after this book, the last man standing will be Rook and I can only imagine it will be quite entertaining because in this book Rook tells Knight that love will never have its way with him. HA!

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

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The Counterfeit Scoundrel by Lorraine Heath

On By TracyIn Part of a Series, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's Reviews, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Counterfeit Scoundrel (The Chessmen: Masters of Seduction, #1)The Counterfeit Scoundrel by Lorraine Heath

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Chessmen, #1

Release Date: February 21, 2023

David Blackwood better known as Bishop is a scoundrel, or at least that is what most of London believes about “Blackguard Blackwood”, as he has been cited in at least 3 recent divorces and is completely unrepentant. But what they don’t know, in fact, no one knows, not even his three best friends, known as “the Chessmen”. His secret is that he doesn’t really have affairs with these women, but he lets society believe he does so the ladies can obtain a divorce. He is driven to help them escape unhappy marriages after watching his father abuse his mother and being unable to help her, she died of a “fall” when he was only fourteen and he has never forgiven himself or his father. That is another reason he helps these women because he knows it drives his father crazy when Bishop is written up in the papers. Is his reputation tainted beyond redemption? Probably, but he doesn’t care, he has no plans to marry and would rather continue to help unhappy wives than have one of his own. But that was before he met Marguerite “Daisy” Townsend while meeting with another woman looking to use him to get a divorce. He is immediately captivated by her but is certain she is not what she appears to be.

Despite being born into a noble family, Marguerite “Daisy” Townsend, has never felt that she fit into society. Her parent’s marriage was a misalliance, her father was the youngest son of an earl, and her mother a lady’s maid. Her mother died from an opium overdose and her father died a few days later, leaving her an orphan. She was raised by her Aunt Charlotte, who has never married and she has decided that marriage is not for her. Instead, she had become an Inquiry agent and opened her own agency, she hopes to make enough to live independently. Her current job has her posing as a maid in Bishop’s home to gather evidence of an affair between him and her client’s wife. She can see why women flock to him, he is gorgeous and kind, but clearly, he is having affairs with married women, but is her client’s wife one of them? Despite her best efforts, she is drawn to him and feels that something is not right with his affairs. That feeling is amplified when they meet at the Fair and the Spare club, the connection between them is electric, but just when she thinks he is going to kiss her, he leaves. The next day she catches him kissing her client’s wife and has the proof she needs to end her charade. After a passionate encounter and then a confrontation between them, she walks away, determined to forget him. But when the husband of one of his ladies turns up dead, Bishop is the prime suspect and she can’t refuse to help him clear his name. But she is risking more than her reputation, she is risking her heart.

What a great start to a new series! I loved Daisy and Bishop, I felt the connection between them immediately and it never wained, I did think they both were a bit jaded and cynical, but given their pasts, it was understandable, however, I have to agree with my blog partner, Bishop’s dedication to his mother’s memory was a bit too much and while it didn’t give me the same “creepy” vibe it gave her, I did feel that he needed to crank it down a notch. Besides that, this book was pretty much perfect, it has secrets, lies, a slow-burn romance that ignites an inferno, murder, deception, betrayal, heartache, familiar faces, steamy love scenes, shocking twists, surprising discoveries, and finally a sigh-worthy ending complete with an epilogue that will require a tissue or two. I do wish the “Chessmen” were a bit more prominent in this book, but otherwise, I loved this book and can’t wait for the next book! This is the first book in a spinoff series, the Chessmen were introduced in The Duchess Hunt, which is part of the Once Upon a Dukedom series, and that is when the first Chessman “King” found his HEA. I would venture to say these books are going to be very loosely connected and can be read as standalone titles.

*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.*