By Kate Bateman
Her Majesty's Rebels Book 1
Star rating: ★★★★★
Blurb
Meet Her Majesty’s Rebels: three brilliant women who run King & Co., London’s most exclusive investigative agency...
The wedding-night death of her much older husband left Tess Townsend the Dowager Duchess of Wansford—and still a virgin. Now she and her two best friends investigate London’s most scandalous crimes, and while Tess longs to experience physical pleasure for herself, she can’t risk losing her treasured independence...
Cynical shipping magnate Justin Thornton never expected to inherit a dukedom, but he’ll do his duty. When the ravishing woman he kissed at a party turns out to be the Dowager Duchess, Justin sees an obvious solution: a marriage of convenience that will suit them both.
But the passion that sparks between them is anything but convenient. As Tess works on a new case at the request of Queen Charlotte, her increasingly suspicious behavior makes Justin question her motives—and her past. The infuriating woman clearly can’t be trusted, but Justin doesn’t believe in love, so there’s absolutely no danger of him falling for his own wife...is there?
Genre: Historical Romance
Read if you Like:
👑 Marriage of convenience
👑 Virgin Widow
👑 Mystery subplot
👑 Investigator heroine
My Thoughts:
Second Duke's the Charm is a story about a hero who doesn't think he's capable of love completely losing his heart. It is a plot I always enjoy and Kate Bateman does it well!
I liked Tess and Justin as a couple. They both admired the other for their intelligence and they had good banter. I also liked that Tess was the one familiar with the estate. It was a nice reverse from most historicals.
For readers who like a mystery subplot this story had that as well. I am more interested in the romance but I think this would be perfect for fans of Manda Collins or other writers who combine mystery and romance!
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with an arc of this book in order to review it. All opinions are my own.
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