What Happens in Piccadilly is supposedly a ‘historical’ romance which takes place in 1800s England. The premise, which initially drew me in —as I’m a sucker for hidden identities which unfold for both the reader and the storybook character at the same time— was hard to focus on when there were so many inconsistencies with language for the time period, and behavior of the characters for the time period. The word ‘suss’ was used in this book, a word that wasn’t in existence until the 1930s. There were also other red flag behaviors that I found completely unlikely for the time period that really took me outside of the world the author was trying to build (namely: as Callie was a stranger at the time, it was odd of her to go up to the children and speak freely and plainly with them).
There were also too many different storylines for other characters that took over the book that I didn’t know who to focus my attention on, and frankly, stopped caring about any of the characters because the development of the ‘main’ characters Calliope and Win, stopped a few chapters into the book. Calliope, an orphaned woman who had a lot of luck in her life that helped her become a governess for the upperclass, was a snob. It is hard to get behind and support a leading character who thinks other people who work are beneath you. I also did not understand how Win and Calliope fell in love; it was lust at first sight. And then there were the storylines in the viewpoint of Effie, and later the viewpoint of Averston— obviously these two are going to have two separate books for their characters’ stories, however I feel strongly that this book had too much time spent in their heads and not enough time spent in the reprehensible Callie and dull Win.

I received an ARC from the author and publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Calliope (the female MC) is a governess with a ‘troubled’ past (i.e.: she’s an orphan and knows nothing of her parents). She’s hired to be the Governess of 3 unruly children of an Earl’s household, and of course she’s a-amazing at it and a saint with kids.

Winn (the male MC) is said Earl and employer. For a nice change, he’s not a rake or philanderer or whatnot. He’s quite nice and cute, actually. Pretty enjoyable.

Lord Wynn Hamilton, the Earl of Montgomery recently received guardianship of his nieces and nephew. With his butler running off with the governess and his silver, he is desperate for help with his uncontrollable charges.

Calliope St. James was trained at the Darrow School - the best school for teaching governesses, so naturally she is one of the best governesses available. But when Lord Wynn pieces together things about Miss St. James' past that not even she knows, will he be able to keep her safe when others are trying to keep secrets buried?

This is a quick paced read about three children hell-bent on driving their uncle crazy, a smart and beautiful governess who quickly catches the eye of her employer, a handsome earl, and a mystery that if figured out could lead to death. This is the first book I have read in Ms. Bowlin's Hellion Club series and I did not feel like I was missing out by not having read others. I recommend this to those looking for a historical romance read and I cannot wait to read more in the series.

This book was given to me an an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.

I love Chasity Bowlin stories. They encompass real life experiences with love makes this such a small and loyalty. This one is no different and I loved every word written.

An independent, intelligent, practical, pretty governess named Callie goes to work for an earl named Winn. He is a bachelor who has become responsible for his brother’s orphaned children. Callie brings order to his chaotic home. When Callie is threatened, he protects her. A great happily ever after book! I received an ARC from NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for my honest review.

This was my first book by this author and I received it as an arc for review.

I adored this book! It’s the third in the series and while there were some secondary character storylines I missed it didn’t infringe on my understanding of the book at all.

Winn needs a governess. His brother has left three children for him to care for and he loves them, but has no clue how to deal with them.

Calliope is a highly trained governess and makes a connection with the children right away and also with their uncle. She herself is an orphan that never had a family so understands what these children are dealing with.

Everything is respectable until Winn realizes that Calliope may be more than an orphaned girl who was rescued from a work house to be a governess.

The unveiling of her identity leads to danger as some don’t want her known. Winn and Calliope, along with friends and family, need to uncover the mystery and keep Calliope safe.

The characters were amazing. I loved the personalities that shown in the three children and how Winn struggled with three orphans in his bachelor home. The relationship between Calliope and Winn is more of a slow burn and I loved the little moments. The danger and mystery added to the excitement. Overall a great book!

The love of the two main characters in this novel is brought about by the children. Needing a governess for his brother's siblings, Winn, the Earl of Montgomery, hires Callie, who enters to chaos in his home. Callie has a firm, but gentle hand with the children, though she does not know of family. She was found as a baby and has the hurt of abandonment. Winn lives a respectable life, not that of a rake, and is shocked when Callie challenges him and respects her for it. Callie understands what the children need and helps Winn to realize the children need love and guidance. When Winn sees something that could hurt Callie, he knows he must warn and protect her. However, there are those who betray Winn and Callie is put in danger as well as anyone associated with her. Some will do anything to keep secrets buried and destroy those who possess a threat to them. Winn and Callie need to get on the offensive, if they want to stay alive.
I received this novel from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was an entertaining story - plot wise, it was interesting with good characters. I liked Calliope, she was great which is a recurring theme with this series that I notice - strong, intelligent women. The romance didn’t seem to have a lot of substance initially but then you got to know the characters better as the story went on. It was nice to see both Calliope and Win grow throughout the series. I thought the children were great too, each with distinctive personalities who grew to live both Callie and Win. The villain of the story is a suitably terrible person but I enjoyed seeing 4 of the characters work together to win that fight, so to speak.

About 2 of those 4 characters, I read the first two books as well and thought their story was intriguing but now after reading this one I can definitely say I can’t wait to see what continues to develop between Effie and Highcliff.

There are certainly some conversations and beliefs that the characters have that aren’t completely true to the Regency time period. I understand what Chasity Bowlin was going for and I liked the characters and it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.

Overall, if you like Regency romances, this is a good read and I’ll certainly be reading the rest of the series.