Susan's Review of An Heiress's Guide to Deception and Desire-By Manda Collins-- A Lady's Guide -2

England, 1867 : As half of the writing duo behind England's most infamous crime column, Miss Caroline Hardcastle has quite the scandalous reputation. It may have cost her a fiancé, but she would much rather bring attention to crimes against those ignored by society than worry about what the ton thinks of her.

After Caro's dear friend is kidnapped, however, she has no choice but to work with Lord Valentine Thorn, the same man who broke her heart. Worse, when her actions put her father's business at risk, a marriage of convenience may be her only solution . . . but can she trust Val to stand by her? Or will their past repeat itself?

Val--the new Viscount Wrackham--is in an untenable position: His father is demanding he find a respectable bride to secure the succession. Yet the only woman he's ever loved, Miss Caroline Hardcastle, is notorious for behaving improperly. And she's never forgiven him for his youthful transgressions, missteps made in the name of familial duty, but ones he still regrets to this day.

As they grow closer to unmasking the culprit, Val sees an opportunity to show Caro he's a changed man. But can he convince her to give their love a second chance--before death does them part?

Caroline Hardcastle and Lady Katherine Eversham are summoned to their friend Effie Warrington’s home. Effie has been kidnapped and her fiancé Francis Thorn was left unconscious and bleeding at her doorstep. Caro discovers that her former fiancé Valentine Thorn has arrived at Effie’s home ahead of them. Loved the heated and entertaining conversations between Caro and Val as they form a truce to find Effie's kidnapper. The couple must put aside their feelings and work together when Francis Thorn suddenly disappears.

Manda Collins creates an emotional, entertaining second chance romance for Caro and Val. Both characters have grown since they ended their engagement. Caro is very independent and politically savvy. She a newspaper columnist with a huge following, a cookbook author and she hosts salons. Val is the new Viscount Wrackham and is feeling pressured by his father to marry. Caro is the only woman Val has ever loved and he deeply regrets not standing up to his father and brother when they insulted Caro’s family. He has never forgiven himself and this endeared him to me.

Manda Collins chooses to have Caro and Val’s story play out slowly during the first part of the novel. This choice worked for me as the couple had so much to work through—old hurts, new feelings and family concerns plus the kidnappings. I liked that neither character was perfect. Val owned his mistake and knew he needed to speak up to his father before telling Caro his true feelings. And Caro needed to forgive Val before they could move forward.

Manda Collins kept me intrigued with many characters, twists and turns in the storyline. The differences between the social classes is threaded throughout the novel during this time of moral and political reforms. The combination of the romance and kidnapping mystery worked for me.

An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Danger is well plotted whodunit, the romance between Caro and Val tugs at your heartstrings and I screamed when the identity of the kidnapper was revealed! Thank you Manda Collins for another fabulous read!

Reviewed by Susan Gorman

ARC provided by the Publisher

Manda Collins grew up on a combination of Nancy Drew books and Jane Austen novels, and her own brand of Regency romantic suspense is the result. A former academic librarian, she holds advanced degrees in English Lit and Librarianship. Her books have been favorably reviewed in Entertainment Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, Bookpage, and USA Today.  Her novel Duke with Benefits, was named one of Kirkus Books Best Romance Novels of 2017. When she's not writing she can be found advocating for disability rights on Twitter, watching true crime documentaries, and knitting very inexpertly. A native of Alabama, she lives on the Gulf Coast with a very stubborn cat and more books than are strictly necessary. 

Contact Info

Manda Collins

manda@mandacollins.com

Social Media

Twitter: @mandacollins

Instagram: @mandacollinsauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/manda_collins

Susan's Review of A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins

An intrepid female reporter matches wits with a serious, sexy detective in award-winning author Manda Collins' fun and flirty historical rom-com!

England, 1865 : As one of England's most notorious newspaper columnists, Lady Katherine Bascomb believes knowledge is power. And she's determined to inform and educate the ladies of London on the nefarious-and deadly-criminals who are praying on the fairer sex. When her reporting leads to the arrest of a notorious killer, however, Katherine flees to a country house party to escape her newfound notoriety-only to witness a murder on her very first night. And when the lead detective accuses Katherine of inflaming-rather than informing-the public with her column, she vows to prove him wrong.

Detective Inspector Andrew Eversham's refusal to compromise his investigations nearly cost him his own career, and he blames Katherine. To avoid bad publicity, his superiors are pressuring him to solve cases quickly rather than correctly. When he discovers she's the key witness in a new crime, he's determined to prevent the beautiful widow from once again wreaking havoc on his case. Yet as Katherine proves surprisingly insightful and Andrew impresses Katherine with his lethal competency, both are forced to admit the fire between them is more flirtatious than furious. But to explore the passion between them, they'll need to catch a killer. 

The connection between strong willed newspaper owner and columnist Lady Katherine and the serious, determined detective Andrew Eversham drew me into A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem immediately. Katherine authored an article about the “Commandments Killer” citing new information. This article contained an interview with a witness that the police overlooked. The newpaper article ruined the lead detective, Andrew Eversham's career. Andrew and Katherine meet at a crowded assembly announcing that the Commandments Killer had been caught. Andrew rescues her from the crush and sees her to safety.

I adored this delightful whodunit which takes place at a house party at a country estate. The storyline reminded me of Clue, one of my favorite board games. The cast of characters was fabulous! The guest list includes an American businessman and his daughter, an ex-prize fighter, the Earl and Countess of Eggleston and Reeve Thompson. Lots of different personalities that added to my enjoyment of the novel.

Andrew and Katherine are reunited when a murder occurs at the house party. Loved the initial conflict between these two characters and how their relationship changed as they learned to work together to solve the murders. The attraction between Andrew and Katherine intensified with every murder and the author crafted fabulous dialogue for them—witty, serious and passionate.

The focus of the storyline was solving the mystery— which appealed to me. Enjoyed that the author added in several red herring clues which added intrigue and a sense of uneasiness to the novel. I loved trying to figure out the killer’s identity and when he or she might strike again.

A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem is well written, the romance between Andrew and Katherine is engaging and the unmasking of the killer totally surprised me!

Well done Manda Collins--I fell for one of the red herring clues and believed another character was the murderer!

Reviewed by Susan Gorman

ARC provided by the Publisher