There seems to be no way these former lovers, Anne and Edward, can be reunited. Edward has inherited an estate that is going bankrupt and his only hope of saving it is to marry for money. Thanks to the Bachelor’s Bible he knows just the debutante to marry, Miss Martha Finch. The hitch is that he loves widowed, penniless, Anne Howard who returns his love but also refuses to marry him and cause his estate to fall to ruin. How can this lead to a Happily-Ever-After? Mia Marlowe shows her intelligent creativity to bring these two people their HEA. There are some twists and total surprises which are always my favorites. If this book seemed a bit slow to start it certainly picked up the pace later on. I look forward to the next book.

I did enjoy the overall storyline of the second chance romance between Lady Anne and Lord Edward. They did face some dire emotional hurdles. I just feel that the story was drawn out too much. Gratefully it really picked up towards the end. So much confusion and danger made all the waiting worth it. I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This is the second book in the House of Lovell series,; I did read the first book in the series, but I believe this one could be read as a standalone if you haven't read book 1 yet.

Edward Lovell, Earl of Chatham, is in dire need of funds after his father passes away and the coffers are found to be practically empty. While he feels that he should do his duty and marry the wealthy Martha Finch, he cannot help but feel deep regret that he once loved (and lost) her sponsor, Lady Anne Howard. But the fact remains that he has a duty, and he must forgo what his heart desires for what is best for his family and his name... right?

A fun second chance romance, and while the characters were likeable and the plot was interesting, I could have used more steam, especially given their history.

Though this is the second in the House of Lovell series from this author, it reads perfectly fine as a standalone. It’s a second chance romance featuring Anne, Lady Howard, and Edward Lovell, the Earl of Chatham (formerly Lord Bredon). Lovers when they were younger, Edward’s father packed him off on a Grand Tour to prevent him from marrying Anne, considered below him in station. He asked her to wait, but received word less than a month later that she’d married a baron.

Now widowed, Anne is acting as sponsor for Miss Finch, a young woman with an absolutely spectacular dowry, a fortune Edward’s estate is sorely in need of. The problem is, his heart is sorely in need of Anne.

There’s a rather intriguing suspense sub-plot which comes into the book way too late to really be properly explored, and up until then there’s nothing really out of the ordinary about this one. I’d have liked to hear more about Anne’s travels and in fact Edward never even learned of them or her alter-ego as a travel writer; nor did her desire for future travels ever factor into a conversation. In fact, they barely talked about anything except the past, and I closed the book with the sneaking suspicion that Edward had absolutely no idea who Anne was now.

There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the story, but it really didn’t grab me and there were parts where things felt distinctly uneven. Overall, I’m giving it three stars.

Excellent read except for one small detail. The unfolding of the story-line wasn't paced very well, which made the story drag a bit at numerous places and then BAM, things would get going. It would have been a 5 star read for me if not for these drastic ups and downs in the plot. I love the concept of a historical *black book* and I'm looking forward to continuing with this series!

Edward is a newly christened Earl with the expectations of bringing the estate back to it's former glory. For that to happen he needs a wife-and a wealthy one at that. Thanks to The Bachelor's Bible, he knows who he needs to woo. Convincing her sponsor is another thing altogether.

Lady Anne is the sponsor. She was left heartbroken when Edward's family deemed her not worthy enough, and he left. Now a widow, she is in charge of making sure unscrupulous suitors don't get past her. Yes she still has a pull on her heartstrings for Edward, but she has a job to do.

I usually love these second chance romances but this story never clicked for me. But was very slow to start and literally dragged. I almost dnf'd many times as it was painfully boring. I think the overall hurdle was the writing style. I had to reread passages to try and understand what was being said. I would've liked some more history of the former romance and I felt the mystery did nothing for the storyline. These are my opinions and you may see it differently.

The follow up to "The Singular, Mr.Sinclair" was better developed and the characters were more enjoyable in this story. Edward Lovell, must marry for money but coming across his only true (and penniless) love, complicates matters. Widow, Lady Ann Howard's, life changed for the worse when Edward left for his Grand Tour. Accepting him back into her life brings back hard memories but if she can learn to trust again, could a second chance at love make up for the past?
I definitely was more of a Lady Ann fan and felt Edward needed to make up for those years she spent in misery. Good book but a lot to keep track of in the end.

This book was slow in the beginning and then chock full of story at the end. I wish the author did not cram so much in at the end of the book and would have spread the intrigue throughout the entire story. It was also quite confusing with the main character being called by at least four different names.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

There seems to be no way these former lovers, Anne and Edward, can be reunited. He has an estate that is going bankrupt and his only hope of saving it is to marry for money. The hitch is that he loves widowed, penniless, Anne Howard who returns his love but also refuses to marry him and cause his estate to fall to ruin. How can this lead to a Happily-Ever-After? It takes a clever, intelligent author to bring about this HEA and this we have in Mia Marlowe. There are some twists and total surprises which are always my favorites. If this book seemed a bit slow to start it certainly picked up the pace later on. I look forward to the next book.

London - 1817

Lady Daly and other friends of Sir Erasmus Howard are attending the man’s funeral. They comment on how young the man’s wife is and to herself, the young widow is thankful that she is finally free.

At age 30, Edward Lowell, Earl of Chatham, only recently came into his title after his father’s death. Unfortunately, his father had not managed the estate's funds well, so Edward is in need of marrying a rich heiress.

Edward’s friend, Sinclair, Earl of Ware, is married to Edward’s sister, Caroline, who is expecting a baby. He has confided in them that he is finally going to look for a bride. To that end, he has a copy of “A Register of Ladies of Means", or "The Bachelor’s Bible". Miss Martha Finch, daughter of a wealthy baron, is his top pick as her dowry is 80,000 pounds. Her dowry would help his dwindling funds. He is also in need of an heir. Problem is she’s very young and a bit silly.

When Edward sees the lovely Anne, 28, Sir Erasmus Howard’s widow, he is sorry that the did not marry her himself. But he soon finds that she has been a widow for several years. When he learns that Anne is the sponsor for Miss Martha Finch, he’s quite surprised. Behind the scenes, Anne is Mrs. Hester Birdwhistle who writes anonymous articles. Edward is still drawn to Anne. But when he learns that her husband may have died of poisoning, he needs to investigate. Could Anne have killed her husband? Has Edward fallen in love with a murderer?

My goodness! This book offers treason, murder, lots of twists and turns, and many nail biting moments. The ending is very clever in how it wrapped up a big dilemma. I enjoyed the story and many of the characters that were very well-written.

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

Miss Anne Spillwell and he was Edward Lovell, Viscount Bredon were in love, but his father didn’t approve and sent Edward on his grand tour. A few years late Edward is the new Earl and he must to restore his family’s estate to its former grandeur by marring a wealthy wife. Thanks to The Bachelor’s Bible, he already has a particular lady in mind, but there’s one problem its Lady Ann Howard the only woman he’s ever loved. Once he sees Ann again he knows he must try to find a way to save his estate and have Anne in his life again to stay. Can Ann risk her heart again to Edward? Will he find a way to have Ann and find a solution to save his estates? An enchanting story of second love and romance for their HEA!!! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

Lord Bredon and the Bachelor’s Bible by Mia Marlowe is book Two in The House of Lovell Series. This is the story of Edward Lovell and Lady Anne Howard. I have read the previous book but feel you can make this a standalone book if you wish to do so.
Edward and Anne were once young and in Love. But his father talked him into taking the Grand Tour and if he felt the same way when he returned he would consider his blessing. Anne felt betrayed and alone but she was soon forced to marry. Of course Edward thought she had moved on and Ann felt hurt from his leaving. Now in the present day, Edward is in need of a rich wife which tanks to the Bachelor's Bible he knows it is Martha Finch who he needs to marry. But when he meets the Ms. Finch's sponsor / chaperone it is Anne. Anne is a widower now and sharing her inheritance with her mother in law makes things tight so she has taken a side job helping young ladies. Annej's job is showing to be a tough one as she is so popular and weeding out the bad bachelors. When she learns of Edwards interest is of course adds to her pain of betrayal and makes her cautious for Ms. Finch toward Edward. But now that Edward is around Anne more he is seeing her as the one he never stop wanting.

I like that Lord Bredon and the Bachelors Bible is a second chance romance told from a dual POV. The hero is smitten the moment he sees Anne again. Yet, it takes him a minute before he’s willing to risk the solvency of his earldom to make her his forever. I appreciated seeing the hero weigh all the costs of his responsibilities against being with the woman he loves, since often authors write insta-love with no thought for the practicalities that any reasonable person would consider.

It’s a good read that was engaging throughout.

I received an ARC of this book, from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Forget love? _____ 3.5 stars

It comes to light in this second of the series in the Lovell family, the reasons behind Teddy Bredon's continental tour, when he'd met Lawrence Sinclair.
Teddy is now an Earl, Edward Lovell, Lord Chatham.
Unfortunately, it seems the Lovell estate is in financial trouble. The way out is to find an heiress. That's where the Bachelor's sheet from Whites comes in handy. This is a handy "pamphlet entitled A Register of Ladies of Means, or The Bachelor’s Bible." It lists the current crop of debutante heiresses and their worth. To address his financial problems Edward has decided to pay court to Miss Martha Finch, daughter of a newly inducted baron. All he has to do is satisfy Miss Finch's sponsor.
Except that sponsor is Lady Anne Howard, who was the love of his life, and the reason he was sent away from England on that tour.
A further complication is that Edward has never stopped loving Anne. But stoically, Edward understands that he needs to do his duty towards those he's now responsible for--and love for Anne has no part in that.
There were a great many moments I liked in this book.
There was a lot happening, a likely marriage, the place of women and their financial problems in this historical time, a young woman who wants to seek her own happiness, treasonous plots, a nod to the treatment of Princess Charlotte Caroline by her estranged husband George IV. Add to this a mysterious death, and even a birth.
All of which made this a somewhat unusual read.
Despite all this or maybe because of all this, I didn't enjoy it as much as The Singular Mr. Sinclair.
Although Martha Finch and Reginald Dickey (the illegitimate, though acknowledged, son of the Duke of Hampton) actually grew on me.
Overall, a pleasant read.

A NetGalley ARC

Sometimes what you need is definitely not what you want. Such is the case for Lord Edward, Earl of Chatham who really had no choice but to marry for money. If not, since the recent death of his father, his estate will fall into ruin. So, he set his sights on one young lady with a large dowry, Miss Martha Finch. Once he had her in his sights, he made his move to be introduced when he ran into a lady and had to steady her. Well, it was not just anyone but Anne Howard the women he had once loved.
What will happen now? She had not waited for him and married while he was on his grand tour. They had loved each other or he though.
This was such an entertaining story, filled with some humor, suspense and hidden secrets that needed to come out, but were painful. These two truly were meant for each other but she had no money herself and that is what he needed! Take a journey to see how these two can possibly find their happy ever after!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for Goodreads. I receive this book for free in exchange of an honest review, you know the drill...

A second chance romance, this was an enjoyable story, though not my favorite by Mia Marlowe - a favorite author of mine.
I loved the characters, however, even the secondary ones - who wouldn't love Dickey and Martha ?
But some things seemed off for me, even if I can't pinpoint them precisely. The secrets, probably (she doesn't really know why he went away, he never told her but he should have, and they should have told each other the truth, it would have been simpler for everyone).
Maybe I felt too much the pressure that fell upon Edward : paying the bills and doing the right thing for others, even if not for himself. It felt too real for me, lol !

So, all in all, a good book, if not as good as I expected, but I'll happily read the next.

This is the 2nd book of the House of Lovell series but it can be read as a standalone. The book was hard to get into at first, it seemed to move very slow in the beginning and then all the action happened at the end. There was more than one plot to the story but the last one didn’t come about until the end of the story and that’s were everything started happening. It was a good book but there did not seem to be anything that stood out to me.

I enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting and the book kept me involved. 4 stars. I would like to read more books from this author.

The Bachelor's Bible compares to today's "little black book" except it lists the dowry value of each of the ton's eligible females. Lord Edward Lovell, now the Earl of Chatham, must marry someone who has a large dowry to help save his estate from ruin. Just as he decides who he will choose, his plans become complicated when he finds out the girl's sponsor/chaperone is none other than Lady Anne Howard, the woman he loved many years ago before he had left for his Grand Tour and who had broken his heart by marrying someone else after he'd left and not waited for him as he had asked her. She is now a widow with hardly any income and even though sparks fly between them, he tries to stay away from her because he really does need to marry someone with money. Easier said than done!!!!

I thought this was a delightful story to read and it pretty much kept my interest from start to end. There are quite a few twists and turns in the story and it was fun to see how everything was revealed.

I was given a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Lord Bredon and the Bachelor’s Bible is a charming second chance romance with likeable characters and a satisfying happily ever after. In the wake of his father’s death, Edward Lovell, Earl of Chatham, is in need of funds in order to save his estates. Edward is an honorable man who feels the weight of responsibility toward those who depend on him, which is why it’s easy to swallow his decision to marry for money. When he discovers a guide to the wealthiest debutantes of the season, it seems a sign. All Edward has to do is marry Martha Finch and his problems will be solved. It’s a practical decision and given his title and looks it shouldn’t be too difficult to secure the lady’s hand. There is just one problem: Martha’s sponsor is Lady Anne Howard, the woman Edward once loved and lost. Like Edward, Anne is a sympathetic protagonist. She has suffered heartbreaking loss and an unhappy marriage; widowhood is freedom and she isn’t looking to give that up.

The connection between Anne and Edward is positively electric and it’s clear they’re made for each other, which made it easy enough to root for their happily ever after. But Edward’s duty to his title and the financial strain that goes with it isn’t a simple obstacle to overcome. I enjoyed seeing the push-pull both feel between duty and desire. With Anne and Edward so often finding themselves at an impasse, the story did sometimes slow down, but I wasn’t overly bothered by this and read the book in one sitting. There was an interesting mystery thrown in near the end of the story and the bulk of the action in the book takes place in the last quarter. I do wish the intensity had been turned up on the suspense plotline and woven more through the book, but I did like the way multiple plotlines converged at the book’s climax. There was also an interesting reveal in the story (one I can’t reveal without spoiling the book), but nothing came of it, which was a pity because it would have been interesting to see Edward’s reaction.

Lord Bredon and the Bachelor’s Bible is the second book in Mia Marlowe’s House of Lovell series. You don’t have to have read The Singular Mr. Sinclair in order to follow along, so long as you don’t mind some minor spoilers. As a fan of the first book, I was delighted to revisit Caroline and Lawrence and I’m sure readers new to the Lovell family will enjoy their scenes as well. Overall I liked Lord Bredon and the Bachelor’s Bible quite a bit, but I will admit that two days after finishing the book neither the story nor the characters stand out in my mind. Still, it’s an enjoyable story to pass the hours with and I do hope Ms. Marlowe continues the House of Lovell series because I’d love to read Ben Lovell’s book.