I was extremely hesitant to pick up A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem because it has a pretty low rating on Goodreads. Like 3.43 stars low (at time of writing this review). But I'm really glad I did because I highly enjoyed it.

My favourite part of A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem was definitely the mystery. I'm not a big fan of thrillers but I do enjoy some softcore mystery! There was the right amount of intrigue for me and I really enjoyed that the book was more mystery-forward than romance-forward. I also really enjoyed the way that the mystery played out because I was expecting it to be predictable but the reveal ended up surprising me. And I didn't mind the way that it was resolved either, though I can see why people were a bit dissatisfied by how quickly and easily the resolution came about.

I absolutely loved the characters in this novel. Lady Katherine was such a strong female lead, who was independent and strong-willed. She's a widow and had some more freedoms despite being a single woman in the 19th century. I loved that she was a business owner and refused to let anything get in the way of her being an independent person who could take care of herself. I also really liked Eversham, her love interest, though for me he was overshadowed by Katherine's friend, Val (who features in the second book of the series).

And I enjoyed the romance between them and how it happened organically. I wouldn't say that there was a lot of romance but I was so invested in the characters and the way they interacted with each other that I didn't mind that the romance was only a small component of the book.

Come for the romance and stay for the mystery! I don't think you can go wrong with this one if you enjoy strong female characters, historical fiction and a good murder mystery.

Rating: 4 out of 5

I was really excited to pick up An Heiress's Guide to Deception and Desire after learning that it would feature Caroline and Valentine, two characters that I loved in A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem. It also featured some of my favourite tropes: enemies to lovers and second chance romance.

An Heiress's Guide had a bit more focus on the romance compared to A Lady's Guide, which was kind of what I wanted because I was so curious about Caroline and Valentine's history together. They were so cute together that I just wanted to give them both big hugs. I thought they were really well-suited to each other and I loved that Val was really supportive of Caro and all of her pursuits, even when he was worried for her safety. The only thing that could've made it better for me was a bit more milking of the second chance romance trope.

I also enjoyed the mystery in this novel but I felt like it took a bit of a backseat to the romance. I was interested in the disappearance of the Caro's friend but there was a little bit of a lull in the middle of the book where nothing really progressed with the mystery. It also wasn't quite as intriguing as the murder mysteries in A Lady's Guide but I did appreciate the side characters that we met along the way. I'm hoping that the next book in the series will feature Flora and a certain duke.

If you love second chance romances that also involve the enemies to lovers trope, An Heiress's Guide to Deception and Desire is an easy and delightful read. The romance was super cute and I can't wait to read more about Caro and Val in future books.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5