WOW! There is a lot packed into this excellent, well-written, historically accurate book. I see discussions on the internet about an author not being able to make a book historically accurate and still have an interesting historical romance for today’s reader. Well, this author has done that, so maybe those others should just take lessons from Ms. Quinn.

One of the fabulous things in this book is catching up with all of the characters from previous books. Most of them make cameo appearances of one sort of another and it is lovely to visit with them. Another great thing is learning what it was truly like to travel during that time. Talk about a logistical nightmare! Then consider all of the things you have to take with you – especially for a trip outside of England. I loved the details of the trip and watching the romance grow as they progressed along the route. Additionally, I really liked the way Augusta was portrayed – she was a bluestocking in that she was very, very intelligent and interested in learning, but she was also a lady who liked fashions, shopping, etc. (all those lady things) rather than dressing in dull, drab gowns, having unkempt hair, and ink all over her fingers.

Lady Augusta Vivers wants a husband and children – but she wants them after she gets her university degree. There are only two or three universities that will admit women and the closest one of those is in Padua, Italy. She’s done all of her research and she’s even corresponded with the university there and they will admit her. Now, all she has to do is convince Matt, her brother and guardian to allow her to go. Her mother, however, puts a wrench in the works and demands that Augusta has at least one season before they even consider it. Augusta doesn’t figure that is a problem – “From what she had seen at the country assemblies, most men would rather talk about themselves. She would simply let them.” How wrong she is! Because she doesn’t interrupt them and just listens to them without comment, they think she adores them and the proposals come pouring in!

Lord Phineas Carter-Wood is a world traveler and scholar. He is also the apparent heir to his brother’s title. He doesn’t want to be, but his brother doesn’t seem to be able to sire anything but girls. Because of that, Phinn’s brother is wanting Phinn to marry and start his nursery. Phinn understands that the title needs to continue, but he doesn’t want to be the one to provide that continuation. However, he gives in and attends a few balls, soirees, and musicales with his sister-in-law in order to look over the crop of ladies on the marriage market. Imagine his surprise when he meets one that doesn’t bore him and actually carries on an intelligent conversation with him. How intriguing!

Augusta manages to create a stir (read that as mini-scandal) in the ton and is allowed to travel – chaperoned of course – to Paris. It is her plan to then head on to Padua to enter the university. Phinn doesn’t want to lose her and manages to attach himself to their traveling party. He wants to use the trip across Europe to convince her to marry him, but she is one stubborn wench!

This was a really fun read. It is filled with humor, danger, and a wonderful slow-burn romance. Try it, you’ll like it!

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"I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher."

This was a very sweet story about a lovely romance between incredibly intelligent Augusta Vivienne, and second son and world traveller Lord Phineas Carter Woods.

This book is absolutely ram packed with characters, this is unsurprising, as this is the 6th book in Ella Quinn’s worthington series, and also features characters from her marriage game series which is 8/9 books long. This makes for a slightly confusing start if you are not familiar with everyone, but this works fine as a standalone.

The action opens in 1818, where Augusta is tackling her guardian and brother Matt, Earl of Worthington, his wife Grace and her mother with her desire to go to university in Padua, rather than marry this season.

Augusta is a polymath, incredibly talented at languages, of which she speaks many, including Old French, German, French, Punjabi, Nahautl, Portuguese, Latin, Greek etc etc etc. She was a calm, collected and highly competent character, who didn’t throw tantrums to get her way, but used planning and strategy to get what she wanted. She is also naive when it comes to men and relationships. She starts the season, and treats the men she meets with polite disinterest, which results in her being besieged with unwanted suitors.

Phineas has arrived back in England from Mexico where he has been studying the pre Spanish population. He has been asked by his brother to marry to beget an heir, as his brother and wife have no sons. Phineas is not keen, but he agrees to see if anyone catches his fancy, while plotting to escape to Europe for a few moths as soon as he can get away.

He meets Augusta, and there is an instant connection, Phineas is prepared to humour her, but is blown away by her erudition, particularly her facility with languages, including ancient Mexican Nahateul, they bond over her knowledge, and become good friends, Phineas is soon infatuated and determined to marry her, but is not sure how to ensure she can go to university and deliver his brothers heir. Augusta feels different with Phin, compared to the other men she meets, but it takes her a very long time to see her feelings clearly.

Augusta is able to negotiate a trip to Paris with her family, and she intends to continue on to Padua by September to try and go to university. Phin decides to join her on her travels, and unbeknownst to her, works with her travelling companion Hector, to join them in France. the trip is an eventful one, they pick up a dog and a cat, sail on barges, are abducted and visit many countries!

They enjoy their trip to Europe, but Augusta is pestered by unwanted suitors, so they find themselves engaged, initially to protect her, and Phin and Augusta realise they are in love. Eventually Augusta is almost abducted by a young Comte, and they marry quickly to protect her and to get their HEA.

I enjoyed their relationship very much, and reading about a clever heroine, even though she was so clever it was a little unbelievable. I did find the length of time it took for this to come about a little too long for me. The detail about the places they went was great, especially their travel arrangements, but it just went on a little too much.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions my own.

Believe In Me is a fantastic historical romance by Ella Quinn. Ms. Quinn has once again delivered a well-written book and a smooth read. The characters are outstanding, you can't help but love them. Augusta wants only one thing, to attend Padua and further her studies. Phineas is under pressure to find a wife and produce an heir. Phineas and Augusta's story takes you on a voyage that's filled with drama, humor, action and spice. I enjoyed reading Believe In Me and look forward to my next book by Ella Quinn. Believe In Me is book 6 of The Worthingtons Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This really didn’t do it for me. It was very slow and I didn’t feel it was very believable but I did like the aspect of the heroine wanting to get an education.

Never was a book so aptly named as this. The entire book was about Phinn and his growing belief in Augusta, a woman far too intelligent for her time. While Phinn did have his moment of surprise at her brain, he grew to love her for it far more than for her beauty. Augusta, on the other hand, seemed to treasure his friendship until she finally woke up and discovered how handsome he was. It was quite the role reversal.

While I liked the characters, I found Augusta to be a bit too self-involved and Phinn too solicitous of her. It was wonderful that he supported her so completely, but she gave him nothing in return. The conflicts that kept them apart were genuine, but also could have been solved far more easily than the book allowed.

This lack of real conflict for them made for a slow plot with no real climax. I am still not quite sure where the major scenes we're, although I have some guesses.
But, if you don't want a lot of drama and you just enjoy experiencing a couple falling gently in love, this is a great book. The best part of their relationship is that it is genuine. It develops over months rather than days or weeks and is based on mutual respect, shared interests, and attraction. That's the way relationships should be and rarely how they are portrayed in romance.

If you have read other books with this family, I have no doubt that you will enjoy spending time with them again in this book. They are a wonderful, loving group. However, as someone new to the family, I had a difficult time keeping up with names and connections. The fact that I was reading an ebook made it more difficult to flip back to try to figure out who was who. Eventually, I just gave up and decided it wasn't that important.

There are wonderful details and historical facts laced throughout the book. Augusta's and Phinn's keen intelligence allow for this information to be easily inserted into the narrative.

Overall, this book wasn't for me, but it has its own merits depending on what you like in a romance novel.

I enjoyed this well-written story and the travel descriptions. How tedious it must have been.
As intelligent as they are, Augusta and Phinn needed a bit too much time to realize they complement each other wonderfully: Phinn's interest in architecture and Augusta's desire to study in Italy.
There's a bit of a surprise (or not) for the characters and reader towards the end.

Believe in Me is another in the charming, laughable and enjoyable Worthington series. It is Lady Augusta’s time to shine and shine she does. This young lady is smart, well-read, well-educated and knows what she wants. August has several struggles keeping her from following her heart. One of the biggest hurdles is her mother. Yet, on the other hand, she has the rest of the family and friends who see her worth and support her, some in a kind of devious way. Another hurdle with which she struggles is the time period in which she lives. Women do not attend university. They are supposed to marry and bear heirs. Which brings to mind the final hurdle, she does not want to fall in love, marry or have babies until she completes university.

Wait, her truly final hurdle – Lord Phineas. He is handsome, intelligent, interesting and enjoyable with which to spend time. Their friendship forms is a natural, somewhat slow moving way adding to its believable nature. Phineas knows numerous men have asked her brother for her hand and been turned down immediately. He sees exactly why all of her admirers want to marry her, but he believes he knows her best.

Their journeys, romantic and geographical, are sweet and well-written. You will laugh at some of the predicaments in which they find themselves. Ella Quinn is an engaging author who includes characters from previous books in the series. Having read them in sequence, you begin to feel like you know these families and you do. We have watched the families grow together and grow up. You could read this as a stand alone, but I believe it would be better to read in sequence. Take several of them on vacation and just enjoy.

❤️❤️❤️❤️
💋💋
This is one to really make you think of how far society has progressed in the last 100 years or so .
It’s astonishing really that women still were not allowed to have a University education , and that social strictures were so tight , All because women were believed to be less able to learn or weaker .
Ella has written a really great book , the descriptions are excellent and so vivid , from the coaches to the countryside, to the castles and yachts and restaurants, all so wonderful you can really see it all in your head whilst reading .
It’s a lovely romantic tale of a woman who wants not everything, just her own choices, her own life and to achieve a university degree , falling in love is not one of her options , that doesn't mean she can stop it happening .
Loved the book
I received an advance copy of this book and chose to submit a review

Believe In Me, is a historical romance that I would re-read. What I enjoyed most was all the country's that they traveled to. Augusta is so lucky. I was glad when she realized that she'll get to see and do more with Phinn by her side.

I tend to enjoy Ms. Quinn's books and while I did enjoy to the point I kind of wish we cut out all the travelling, but that is just my opinion and let me explain why. So we have Lady Augusta who rather go to the university and travel than marry which is kind of unheard of in that era and I say more power to her, unfortunately Augusta has to convince her brother and mother but while she does that she still has to have her season. She meet Lord Phineas Carter-Wood who needs and heir but he is not really looking forward to getting married but he meet Augusta and she would be the one he is interested in and the one who could change his outlook on marriage since she is smart. Then here we have all the travelling and if Augusta would just think she would realize that Phineas is just the one who would understand her and give her her dream. So yes I enjoyed but could have avoided many pages.

I have read many of Ms Quinns books over the years and real enjoyed them, but this is the first of this series I have read. I found it hard to get past the first couple of chapters as she bought all the past characters into the story and I found it hard to keep track. This is great for those who have read past books in the series. Once I got into it, I enjoyed the story of a self assured man who wasn’t afraid of a strong intelligent woman. I enjoyed their interaction and the fact that they left England where you got a sense of what it was like to travel in a different time but felt that the story dragged on too long. There was a nice bit of action that could have come a lot earlier in the book. There was a sex scene but this reviewer skipped it as always and it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book. I received this book as an ARC.

Believe in Me is a beautiful book on perseverance, endurance and honest to goodness the belief in oneself to do and excel in what we desire and believe we are capable of achieving. There is a beautiful love story about 2 people who care deeply for each other but dont want to hinder the other's goals and dreams and duties. A Must read!!!

Even the Worthington least likely to wed may find her perfect match . . .

Marriage has worked out quite nicely for her older sisters, yet Lady Augusta Vivers is certain it would end her studies in languages and geography, and stop her from travelling.

Phineas has studied architecture all over the world, yet Augusta is his most intriguing discovery yet. How can he resist a woman who loves maps and far-off lands? But her longing for all things foreign hinders any hope of courtship. When he learns her cousins have offered a trip to Europe, he secretly arranges to join their party.

The last thing Phineas expected to find was the love of his life. He is much more interested in his travels than some giggly young lady making her come out.

Augusta wants only to go to university. She knows if she marries that wish will come to an abrupt end.
This is the tale of two very intelligent and equally unlikely people who discover along a very bumpy way that love and ones other wants can both be had at the same time.

I enjoyed yet another Ella Quinn, Worthington family story. I have read all of this series including six full length novels and two novellas.
Although not as comical as most of this series there is still some humor and the expected requisite animals involved in this the sixth book in this ever engaging series.
I gave Phineas and Augusta's story 4.65 of 5.0 stars for storyline and characterization. I do recommend reading these books in order to get the whole scope of the family but all of these books can be read as a standalone. The only drawback is the interconnecting character stories.
I received a complimentary digital ARC of this book to read. This in no way affected my opinion of this title which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

This book was fun. It was also INCREDIBLY slow burn. While a slow burn can be nice, this took a bit too long for my tastes. That said, I absolutely LOVED the main character and how the characters fell in love for each others brains before their bodies.

Ella Quinn has become one of my favorite authors. Ms. Quinn delivers again with Augusta and Phinn's story. Augusta has major odds to overcome and Phinn is very supporting of her and her intelligence. This book has everything you are looking for in a romance.

Believe in Me by Ella Quinn was a bit like the curate's egg as far as I'm concerned. Parts of it were good - but only parts. I particularly liked Augusta and Phinn; I thought they were both strongly drawn. But there was just no plot. The whole book turned on an increasingly irritating reluctance to communicate meaningfully. I was bewildered by Augusta's extended family and in the end gave up trying to sort them out. The pace of the plot picked up in the last quarter of the book and I became quite involved - until the ridiculous episode at Trieste. But I did like the ending. So, all in all, patchy.

Lady Augusta just wants to go to university in Italy. She's not ready to wed. Enter Phineas Carter-Wood, world traveler. He also does not want a wife holding him back from the things he wants to do. It is a shock to himself when he falls in love with Augusta and is determined to have her as his wife.

I liked this book fine. It is well written, and a fun story.

The negative is that it is part of a series, so the author is constantly replaying the other characters back stories and it kind of annoyed me. I get that she wrote books starring all these characters, but I feel like it takes away from the story a bit.

Overall, I did enjoy the story.

3/5 stars.

**I received a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.**

Believe In Me by Ella Quinn 5 Stars

After the last full length novel, I did not have high expectations. But I was surprised; I loved this book. I've always liked Augusta when she was a minor characters in the other books, but in this one, she shines. Her one goal is to go to university and she is not letting anything or anybody stand in her way. To please her mom, she is attending parties during the Season and she meets Phinn. Her intelligence is intoxicating to Phinn, the world traveler and student of architecture. Neither of them want to fall in love, because it will get in the way of their goals, But each makes the journey to HEA. Along the way, we have a kind of travelogue of sorts, a inept villain, and bureaucratic barriers. I hope the next one in the series will be as great as this one.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for this ARC.

I received a complimentary ARC via NetGalley. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lady Augusta Vivers is thirsty for knowledge, rather than marriage as most ladies her age are, and wants to go to university instead. She just has to convince her brother Matt, the Earl of Worthington, to agree. In the meantime, she must go through with her come out season to please her mother.

Lord Phineas Carter-Wood travels the world studying architecture and only plans to be in London for a month, just long enough to plan his next trip and to appease his brother, a marquis with four daughters and a growing concern over his lack of an heir. He is determined not to settle down and marry, but meeting the intelligent and multilingual Augusta has him rethinking a bit.

Each is interested in and drawn to the other, but both are leery of jeopardizing their European travel plans. Given their connection and shared interests, it's too bad neither is looking for marriage. But soon Phinn begins to really see the toll the lack of an heir is taking on his brother and sister-in-law and decides he really should marry and he doesn't want to miss out on his chance with a woman he'd be happy with. He just has to convince Augusta. But when she refuses him and leaves for Paris with her cousins, Phinn decides he must follow and try to convince her that he's the right man for her.

Rant and maybe spoilers begin here: The book began to drag on a bit for me towards the middle with the main characters just spending more time together without much really happening other than their travels. Augusta frustrated me in not being more honest with Phinn up front; if anyone would've supported her studies, it would've been him. They could've made up a plan together quite easily with more communication and less single mindedness. There were many scenes that served more as a bit of filler, albeit well-written and very well-researched filler, but didn't really do much to advance the plot. I began to get a bit frustrated with how often Augusta's superior intelligence is mentioned, because if she'd employed a bit more of that intelligence she would've realized Phinn did indeed love her. It was just hard to bleive that someone so intelligent could be so naive and unobservant. The apparent obsession gentlemen everywhere had with meeting her got a bit old too, although this device did at least serve to bring her and Phinn together more.

Really the whole thing just got a bit tedious and almost repetitive in her arguments against Phinn, then when she does start to notice him as a man, the first thing was that he has all his teeth. Honestly. I liked Augusta at first but the more time I spent with her the more she annoyed me. Overall, this was an extremely well-written and thoroughly researched book and the travel aspect was great, but the overall pacing and plot itself just fell a bit short for me.

I have read several novels by Ms. Quinn and her Worthington's saga and have enjoyed them. She does not disappoint in this next novel.
Lady Augusta Vivers is very intelligent and knows several languages. She wants to study more and could not be happier when she is accepted to a university in Italy. Now, to get everyone else on board with her plans even. She agrees to a season, even though she does not want one. She tries to discourage men, but instead receives several proposals. This was definitely not her plan! Augusta strikes up a friendship with Lord Phineas Carter-Wood, whom is being pressured to marry and produce a son, since his brother and wife have so far been unable to do so. Phinn thinks Augusta is another woman being put in his path. Boy, was he ever wrong! Augusta and Phinn discuss his travels and languages. Phinn believes Augusta has a better knack at it than him, which is unusual thinking in this time period. Phinn believes she is the perfect woman to marry him. But, Augusta has rejected so many and is still determined to go to the university. Phinn will have to get creative as he joins Augusta on her travels through Europe. Both fall in love with each other but keep in hidden. How they can they prove to each other that there love is true?