I started this book 3X because I had trouble getting into it.
I liked the heroine, Cassandra. She is an unofficial bow street runner. She is strong minded, determined and intelligent.
George is the son of the Duke of Ardmore. I found him Intelligent but wishy washy. I felt he had no backbone.
I thought the relationship between them grew at a snail's pace.
I really like Theresa Romain's books but this one just wasn't for me.

A fun adventure with a little romance thrown in.

I have not read any of the other books in this series, but was able to jump right in without any confusion over characters and previous events.

I loved that Cass is an investigator, smart, tough, and with a caring heart. She has been hired by George to solve the mystery of who might be targeting men who were part of a pact. They all put money into a pot and the last man alive would claim it all. Of course now there are mysterious deaths and injuries happening to those gentlemen, including George's Godfather and Father.

The mystery was well done and I liked how all is revealed in the end.

Lady Notorious is part of Theresa Romain's Royal Rewards series and features characters introduced in previous books (specifically Lady Rogue). Here, George, Lord Northbrook, has engaged the services of Bow Street Runners Charles and Cass Benton to find out who is behind the killings involving the tontine. The tontine being an investment fund started by prominent younger sons and who ever lives the longest will get the full fund. Sadly, both George's father and godfather are part of the group and when unexplained deaths of other members were uncovered he started to worry for the both of them. Enter Cass Benton who now has to solve the mystery and save the day. But these two, are definite soul mates but coming from different classes in society their relationship could never go beyond the now. But first they need to solve the who, since the next victim seems to be George's father.

I do love the plot of this book and the evolving relationship of George and Cass. It feels little bit slow paced but it does add to the time element of how the romance develops in a believable.manner. It's a page turner, with suspense, mystery and a great romance. Looking forward to the next book!

Well written for sure and definitely engaging but I did find myself wishing the hero had been of stronger character. I so prefer heroes to always be alpha. Other than that, it's a charming yet fast-paced story and a bit quirky too.

I received a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Lady notorious was an enjoyable read. Cass is an unofficial bow street runner working her brothers cases. When she is hiring along side her brother to solve a case of murder by the hero to a dukedom, things get fun. The relationship between the leads was fun. The hero wasn't as fleshed out as I would have like but overall it was a good book. 3.5 stars.

Theresa Romain has the wonderful capacity to sustain a delightfully funny, rompish feel to her romances while underlying them with seriousness. Her latest, Lady Notorious, 4th in the Royal Rewards series and one of her strongest novels yet, exhibits this balance. It’s heartfelt romance, adorable hero, loveable heroine, compelling suspense plot, thematically underlined with the idea that love coupled with purpose make for contented lives. Romain brings together her cross-class heir-to-a-dukedom hero, George Godwin, Lord Northbrook, and Bow-Street-Runner heroine, Cassandra Benton, via the mystery surrounding George’s father’s, Lord Armore’s, involvement in a “tontine”, a monetary agreement whereby a set amount increases on interest and is “won” by the last person left living. But many of the tontine’s members are dying under mysterious circumstances. George fears for his father’s and godfather’s lives and sets Cassandra Benton the task of helping him both protect and discover who’s threatening them. Cassandra joins the Ardmore household disguised as a notorious cousin, hence, how the “notorious” made it to the eponymous “lady”.

Romain’s George is adorably droll and humble. He’s a bit of a bumbler, but his heart is always in the right place and he recognizes Casssandra’s worth from the moment he meets her. He is, endearingly prone to blurting awkward phrases, his tongue moving faster than his sense. When the novel opens, he and Cassandra are at his godfather’s household, where Cass and her twin brother, Bow Street Runner Charles, are investigating the tontine nasty’s potential victims. It is obvious that George is attracted to Cass for her intelligence and frightening adeptness: “She was the most damnably capable person he’d ever met … She was so capable that she made chivalry seem like self-indulgence.” George, though big and handsome, isn’t of the uber-masculine, great at weaponry alpha-male-dom, au contraire, he’s a reader, “the gothic novels he sometimes enjoyed,” and artist, carrying on a variety of “dark room” experiments, working to capturing images (what we recognize as nascent photography).

In contrast to Cass’s frightening competence, George feels helpless before his family’s dysfunction: “He couldn’t make the duchess discard her laudanum bottle, just as he couldn’t keep the duke away from cards. He was powerless in the face of their compulsions.” His mother is an opium addict and his father, a gambler. While he can’t heal them of their “compulsions,” he hopes that, at the very least, with the marvelous Cassandra as investigator, he can keep them safe.

Cass arrives at Ardmore House, even disguised, aware of her inferior status. But, she comes to realize that status doesn’t protect you from heartache: “As a guest under the Ardmore roof, Cass had quickly seen that not even the privileged and titled were spared from ordinary human heartaches. The duchess was ill, the duke was lonely, the dogs were afraid, the servants were weary … ” How does Romain bring George and Cass together, beyond mutual attraction? They’re compatible, Romain seems to say, because they care. They care about justice, about keeping people safe, about doing good in the world. As attracted as they are to each other, as compatible in conversation and opinion, they also work well together. I thought this made them sexy as heck and likeable as a hero and heroine can be. George and Cass were humble and had a good dose of being able to laugh at themselves. They could also laugh together and that only added to their adorable sexiness.

Cass comes to George with a deep sense of what she’s learned her entire orphaned life, no matter how wonderful George may be, no matter how much he doesn’t see class lines, she is bound by work, the need to survive in a world that’s done very little to ensure she does: “She wanted to take him to bed because she liked him. His words, his laughter, his curiosity. The gentle way he treated her and the burning way he looked at her. She liked it all. But liking something, wanting something, had never been reason enough for Cassandra Benton to pursue it.” I loved this reversal of stereotypical male-female notions of who’s the emotional one. George is all the feelz (hence, his love of gothic novels!) while Cass is all the withholding of them.

George wants Cassandra to recognise her worth and he goes about showing her by putting himself in the background – with humour and by giving her a wide berth of choice. I adored how he made sure to accompany her on an investigative mission: ” ‘Would you like company?’ ‘I can go on my own.’ ‘I never doubted it. You’re the investigator, and you don’t need my presence. But I’m very handsome and you might like having me around to look at.’ ” Isn’t that a hoot? George’s poke at his self-importance is wonderfully rendered by endowing himself with the “pretty face” attributed to women. Cassandra is the smart, capable, and action-driven one, the one who gets things done. As George notes, watching her in investigative action: “Cass was splendid, with her pockets and her weapons and her matter-of-fact ways.” Her pockets, ladies, her pockets!

No matter how loving, sexy, unassuming, and considerate a lover, Cass has a journey to allowing herself to need another person. She wears her “capabilities” like armour, but in the face of George, his care, respect, and desire to be with her for herself alone, it’s too much for a spinster to bear, too uncertain, too alien, too frightening to give up necessary autonomy for free partnership. Cass struggles with what comes easily to George: “He had got used to leaning on her, to having her lean right back. They held each other up, and if she was gone, he felt he would topple again into wasted days and half-hearted hopes.” Like George, Cass loves easily and like Cass, George finds his worth in loving others. Romain doesn’t do heart-rending betrayal for Cass and George, only a running-away from giving up the familiar: “And in the end? There was a reason, a purpose to it all. Life itself. And the truth, and knowing it, and seeing wrongs righted.” When George and Cass win their HEA, it is to a life of love, laughter, hearty desire, and purpose. The epilogue is perfect. With Miss Austen, we say Lady Notorious is proof “there is no charm equal to tenderness of heart,” Emma.

Theresa Romain’s Lady Notorious is published by Zebra Books (Kensington Publishing). It was released on February 26th and may be found at your preferred vendors. I am grateful to Zebra Books for an e-ARC, via Netgalley.

This book was unique in that we have an Alpha heroine and a Beta Hero. I did enjoy the fact that Cass was so intelligent and capable as a detective but George, Lord Northbrook was just a bit too Beta for my taste. He seemed to be so set on his camera obscura experiments to the ignoring of the task he hired Cass to do. He even took his experiments along on their trip to the seaside. Still the romance was fun with Cass playing the seductress. The mystery was solved (although it was a bit obvious). I do recommend this book for that twist of Alpha and Beta, it is well done.

Ever had one of those books that you liked the story and the characters but did not really have a hard time putting it down and coming back to it later?

This plot had a good "whodunnit" theme to add to the mutual attraction of the main couple who were having a hard time being professional even when it seemed ludicrous but there were some humorous moments to be enjoyed. Still not that addicting motivation the true 5 Star novels have ...

That is where this book was with me, the story, the main couple, the plot were all good, but there was that "something" that makes books addicting and you wonder what is going to happen next anytime you are not reading it. That is what was missing but I did love the story and the ending so at the end of the day I have a book I enjoyed but was easy to put down and pick it back up later so 4 Stars it is.

This is my first book by Theresa Romain. It won't be the last.
A little different from other historical romance reads - the plot includes a spy woman. Intrigue and of course romance!
Fast paced at times, another times It was predictable.
Still the chemistry between leads is good. Storyline is very interesting because of the twist!
psss.......... I won't say how it ends!
Highly recommended book!

Usually I enjoy Ms. Romain's books, but the third book, Lady Rogue, wasn't my favorite and neither is this book. It's been a year since I read the previous book and I don't remember the characters mentioned in the book so it was hard to figure out who was who. I did like Cass and George and the slow burn of their romance, but the mystery that were trying to solve just dragged on and on. I would have liked to see more background for both Cass and George as well. Then, all of a sudden, after talking with her twin brother Charles, all the pieces click into place and she knows who the murderer is. It was all so rushed after dragging for so long.

The secondary romance between Charles and his informant was too quick. She's helping him with his cases while he recovers from a broken leg and within a few weeks, he's proposing to her. There were not enough scenes of these two together to really solidify the romance for me.

I'll certainly read the next book by Ms. Romain and I hope she spends more time on character development of the H and h before introducing any secondary plots.

I liked reading a book where the heroine is a smart woman that is independent in a time when women were dependent on the men in their lives. Cassandra had to struggle to make something of herself. She is working with George, Lord Northbrook. As they work together to stop a plot to kill his father, they become friends and slowly evolve into lovers. I liked George and how he looked beyond class to see the woman.

This was a great HEA.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you!

Lady Notorious is the fourth in Theresa Romain’s Royal Rewards series, although we’ve moved on from the initial premise of the first two books which concerned the hunt for several chests full of gold sovereigns which were stolen from the Royal Mint. Lady Notorious picks up a plot-thread from the previous book, Lady Rogue, and re-introduces readers to the Benton twins, Charles – a Bow Street Runner – and his twin sister, Cassandra, who is a sort of ‘unofficial’ Runner, openly working alongside him.

The plot in Lady Rogue was kick-started when the Duke of Ardmore was set to sell a forged painting as part payment of gambling debts owed to a notorious London crime lord. As Lady Notorious opens, we learn the duke is still deeply in debt – thanks to his addiction to the gaming tables – and his heir George, Lord Northbrook, is able to do little more than watch as his father continues to reduce the once affluent dukedom to a pile of debt. Debt that will be George’s when he eventually inherits the title.

George is prompted to hire the Bentons – brother and sister – after he discovers the existence of something called a tontine, a kind of wager, placed decades earlier by ten gentleman including his father. Part investment scheme and part wager, the funds (and interest) are left untouched until all but one of the group is dead – and the last man standing receives the full amount of the fortune. The tontine has existed for almost forty years at this point, and while a couple of its members died some years ago, George becomes concerned for his father’s safety when he learns that three of the other ‘investors’ have died under mysterious circumstances within the last year.

As he lives under his father’s roof, George is well placed to protect the duke, so he arranges for Cass and Charles to be taken into the household of his godfather, Lord Deverell, another member of the tontine. When the book opens, Cass is part way through another late-night vigil when the house is plunged into uproar. Lady Deverell starts screaming and once the rest of the household is roused, Charles is discovered to have broken his leg (most likely falling out of the lady’s bedroom window!), and Lord Deverell is found sprawled on the sofa in his study, passed out from drink and with a serious knife wound to his leg.

It seems the threat to the lives of the remaining members of the tontine is very real, and George is determined to get to the bottom of it. With Charles out of action, the bulk of the investigation is going to fall to Cass – which is par for the course really, as she normally does all the work anyway – but installing her as a servant in one household or other is clearly not going to help much. So George suggests instead that she pose as a distant relative; a notorious cousin newly arrived from the Continent who will be best placed to hear all the gossip, the secrets women don’t talk about in front of men which might have some relevance to the case. And if that cousin is fashionable and a bit fast, all the better, as she’s bound to be at the centre of a swirl of gossip herself.

This set-up will, of course, allow George and Cass to spend time together and explore the attraction that’s been simmering between them from the start, and their interactions and witty exchanges are some of the highlights of the book. The plot concerning the possible threat to the members of the tontine is fairly thinly stretched, but my biggest issue with the novel as a whole was the concept of Cass as an unofficial investigator/thief-taker. I give a big thumbs-up to Ms. Romain for writing about non-aristocratic characters, but Cass being openly accepted in her role by everyone she works with, including the magistrate, was difficult to swallow given that the story is set in 1819 and even a lower-class female would have had limited options. (And of course, Cass isn’t really lower-class; her grandmother was a gentleman’s daughter who married beneath her, this making it just about acceptable for her to eventually find her HEA with a duke’s heir.) I liked her intelligence and resourcefulness and the exploration of the difficulties of her relationship with Charles is really well done, but I had to ignore the implausibility of her ‘profession’ for most of the book, which did put a bit of a damper on things.

On the positive side, however, is George, who is a simply lovely hero. He’s charming, possessed of a dry sense of humour and doesn’t take himself too seriously, but he’s also a kind, conscientious man who wants to take care of those he loves but doesn’t quite know how. He lived the dissipated life of many a ducal heir until his mother’s near death from a laudanum overdose pulled him up short, and even though he soon came to the realisation that nothing he could do was going to make any difference to either of his parents’ addictions, he still feels guilty about that. He attempts to fill his time experimenting with his collection of camera obscurae and trying to fix images using sunlight and chemicals – an unusual hobby to be sure, and one that turned out to have no bearing on the mystery plot, which made me wonder why the author chose to include it.

Lady Notorious is a difficult book to rate because I have such mixed feelings about it. I liked the central characters (especially George!) and their interactions, but ultimately, didn’t feel there was a strong connection between them – and I found it difficult to get past the idea of the heroine as an investigator at this period in time. The writing is excellent as always and the familial relationships – George’s with his parents and Cass’ with Charles – are well done, but the mystery is lacklustre and while I wasn’t bored, I wasn’t completely invested either. I’m going with a cautious recommendation – the good things about the book are good, but its weaknesses mean I can’t give it a whole-hearted endorsement.

Grade: B-/3.5 stars

Love expands your awareness of your surroundings, your sense of self, and how you see others. Love also gives you a oneness and a connection that makes you feel part of something far larger than yourself. Theresa Romain’s characters in Lady Notorious experience just this sort of emotion and expansiveness within themselves. It gives them the ability to see their close relatives with an open, enquiring mind and to also examine their own feelings with clear-sighted honesty.

Both Cass and Northbrook show such growth in their personalities over the course of the book. They become self-confident and develop a deep sense of self-worth. In respecting and trusting themselves, they learn to respect and trust each other, and the more they do this to each other, the more their individual personalities blossom.

Such probing delicacy in her characterization in Lady Notorious has made me a big fan of Romain’s storytelling, and I cannot wait to dive into her backlist.

https://frolic.media/the-heart-of-a-story-lady-notorious/

George uses humor and wit to cloak his insecurities. Cass is accustomed to working hard and taking care of herself. They are working together on a case that they cannot seem to solve. They do however begin to get to know each other very well. The author weaves a tale of intrigue as the two characters slowly fall in love. The solve the mystery as their love for each other unfolds.

I haven't read any books by Theresa Romain since at least 2014 (I distinctly remember reading Season for Surrender during New Year's Eve in San Francisco), but I love ladies in orange dresses on covers (*cough*Fool Me Twice*cough*) so I decided to grab this one.

First, this is the fourth book in a series. I guess that Cass and George appeared in one of the other books (maybe the third?), because the beginning of the book definitely assumed that I was already familiar with them. I wasn't, so I had a little trouble trying to sort out who everyone was, and what the tontine was, and how these characters fit together. Usually I like being dropped in media res, but the first chapter was a bit confusing.

Nevertheless, I pressed on. I liked George, but I wish he had done more. I ended up really liking Cass (even though I can recognize that her job and her HEA were anachronistic, being less "history as it was" and more "history as Romain wishes it was"), but I felt that both the mystery plot and the romance plot could have been much tighter. Cass and George just helplessly flop around, unable to make any progress in their investigation, until Cass has a sudden epiphany and the murderer is outed. Likewise, I felt like the romance plot spent a lot of time idling in neutral gear, and I wish it had been a little more active.

Our wait for the next installment of Theresa Romain's Royal Rewards series is over. Book 4, Lady Notorious, hit bookshelves, real and on-line, today, 2-26-19. I found Lady Notorious to be a pleasing combination of mystery and romance. It's a hard line to walk and Ms Romain has done it beautifully.

Cassandra Benton is a female Bow Street Runner, unofficially. We all know women are too delicate to do more than embroider pillowcases. *snort*. Cass has a twin brother, Charles, who's a pleasant man-child. He's full of I'll think of something and I'll figure it out later. Cass has been his investigative partner, without extra pay, for years now, pulling most of the weight. If left up to Charles they would most likely be out on their ears. While working a case Charles manages to break his leg, sidelining him for most of the book. He's super interesting and you'll get a kick out his character.

George Godwin, Lord Northbrook, is the Marquess heir of the Duke of Ardmore. The Duke is one of the founding members of a very profitable tontine, a combination of wager and financial arrangement. The deal is winner take all, with all being the last man standing. There were a few deaths through the years but lately there has been an uptick in expirations. George hires the Benton's to protect his godfather while he looks after his father. After Charles' accident a plan is worked up for Cass to pretend to be the notorious cousin recently returned from the continent, a trap is set, attacks are made, mysteries are unraveled and love blossoms.

One sticking point is upon their first meeting George had a brain fart and said Cass was plain. He didn't mean it that way and apologized but Cass is still a little hurt. While they're attracted to each other, Cass is prickly and George is a bumbling, tongue-tied professor type. These two have got to learn to speak up. I truly enjoyed this romping tale and hope you do too. Happy reading.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#RoyalRewards #LadyNotorious @Netgalley @TheresaRomain @KesingtonPublishing

The story of a female investigator and a lord worried about whether someone is trying to kill his father is engaging and fast-paced. Cassandra Benton is a heroine who takes care of business amid a dangerous world, helping her twin brother at Bow Street, even stepping in while he is injured. George, Lord Northbrook, is an upright hero intent on saving his father. Neither is thinking about falling in love and when they do, despite their very different backgrounds, the story becomes all the sweeter. Theresa Romain is able to juggle the demands of a compelling mystery with a love story that touches the heart. This is a worthy addition to her series, Royal Rewards. I read it in one sitting. (I received an advance copy on NetGalley. Opinions are mine.)

3.5 stars
Book #4 in The Royal Rewards series, Lady Notorious can be read without knowledge of the previous books, although H and h meet (or "collide", because H makes a rude comment about h) in book #3.
Cassandra Benton has worked with her twin brother for Bow Street. The twins are hired by George, Lord Northbrook, to investigate a possible plot to murder his father, the Duke of Ardmore. Many years ago, George's father took part in a wager made with other 9 gentlemen, which would give a fortune to the last survivor. Some of the men who made the wage died in suspicious circunstances, so George is afraid that the same may happen to his father.
I'd loved so much Book #3 that it may have spoiled me, because I didn't like Book #4 very much. I guess I didn't get interested in Cassandra (perhaps because she sounded younger to me in Book #3) or George (I found him too insecure). The investigation was the reason why I finished the book after all.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Murder and mischief!

An historical romance with a difference. Cassandra Benton is an unlikely and rather marvelous lead. Feisty, caring and a realist, she works for Bow Street with her brother.
Someone is trying to kill Lord Northbrook's father, the Duke of Ardmore. Lord George employs Cass and her twin brother Charles to find the culprit. That chase is well and truly a twisted warren that whelms up from his father's past and a tontine that has been growing steadily over the years. The novel explains to some degree what this particular tontine is,
"Part an investment scheme, part a wager, it had been organized forty years before when ten younger sons of the aristocracy had each contributed an equal amount to a certain fund. The interest and principal were left to grow together over the years, untouched, as time reaped the lives of the contributors. When only one survivor of the investment group remained, he would receive the full amount of the fortune."
It's now forty years on and some members of the group seem to have died under questionable circumstances." The background for George's concern is well and truly set, if only his father would consider things more seriously.
I have to admit our first introduction to George and Cass in the cupboard is unexpected. I was a startled as Cass was.
I really enjoyed Cass. Her intelligence, her directness and her empathy engage you.
Cass becomes George's notorious cousin when the focus needs Cass to be able to move amongst the ton.
The chase is on and the resolution is unexpected.
The secondary characters are strong. I particularly liked Cass and Charles's colorful informant Janey Trewes, "a sometime prostitute and frequent pickpocket."
I was surprised but not upset by the theme of girl from wrong side of the traps meets lord as unlikely as that might be given the times. A strong injection of fresh blood makes for an interesting dilemma but not here it seems.
A strong cast and intriguing storyline makes this Romain offering a winner!

A NetGalley ARC

Cassandra (Cass) Benton is hiding in the shadows of Deverall Place at 1:00 am. Hired as a housemaid, her real job is to shadow Lord Deverell until he goes to bed at night. Her twin brother, Charles, works as a footman in the same household. Both of them work for Bow Street but have been hired by George, Lord Northbrook, son and heir to the Duke of Ardmore.

Around 40 years ago, the younger sons of 10 aristocrats placed a secret wager called a tontine and now after careful investing, is worth 100,000 pounds. The one survivor of the group receives all the money. Some have now died of natural causes, however in recent years, some of the investors have died under mysterious circumstances, thus necessitating Lord Northbrook’s investigation. His godfather, Lord Deverell, is one of the survivors and he worries that if someone is killing them off, he wants to protect his godfather. But when someone manages to sneak into the house and stabs the man but not killing him, George feels he needs to step up the protection. Thus, he hatches a scheme to have Cass move into the house pretending to be his cousin and assume the name of Mrs. Bendetti and mix with the ton hoping to ferret out the killer. The ton seems to accept this clever woman - a red head with an Italian name. Huh?

By that time, I had a headache trying to piece all of this together while asking myself why authors must write Regency novels with heroines as spies. Please. This trope has been done to death. I really like the author and have read many of her novels but I do not think I can digest another Regency spy novel. Please get back to writing a “real” Regency romance.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.