Notorious by Minerva Spencer

Drusillia is trying to get through the season with her best friend Lady Eva due Drusilla’s views that woman don’t need marriage suitable men avoid them, that is until Eva’s brother notorious rake Gabriel crosses Dru’s path who has been her secret crush for the last five years. A scoundrel outrageous behaviour cause Gabriel to rescue/ console her and ultimately he proposes to save her reputation. He ends up liking her but outsiders are trying to destroy their marriage.

Ok read.

Notorious by Minerva Spencer, book 1 in the Rebels of the Ton series..is the story of Drusilla Clare and her opinions about love, marriage and men. One man in particular drives her mad but she can’t stop thinking about him. When Gabriel, her best friends brother, helps her a scoundrel, Dru in indebted to him. They will get married and make a life together, to save her good name. Easy enough, right? But there are secrets, money issues, family disputes and all kinds of social scandals. This was a good read. I enjoyed this story, and the characters. I was rooting for Drusilla and Gabriel to have a happy ending. I love a period read and this one didn’t disappoint. I want to thank the author and Netgalley for my copy, for an honest review. It was my pleasure reading & reviewing this book. This was a 3 star read for me. I am looking forward to reading the second book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thank you netgalley for the book in exchange for a review.
I liked the cover it was pretty and pink, and a nice premise.
But that’s about as far as it goes.
I couldn’t get into this and just wasn’t for me, I wanted to like it was a no here.

Loved the strong female characters. The romance seemed believable and I really liked the history built into the love match. Will continue with series.

I think the actual writing of this book was very good! However, the characters and the storyline just weren't doing it for me. It felt a bit rushed, and I wasn't very invested in the romance (or the male main character). I think this particular book just wasn't for me, but I'd be interested in reading other stories from this author!

Let's take a little trip back in time and enjoy some norms that prevailed at that time.
A great historical story that will instantly transport you to the ballroom and you will enjoy some unusual meetings and agreements...

Minerva Spencer is a talented author but I couldn't connect to the main characters and did not finish.

Historical romances aren't usually on my go-to list of books, so when I was given the opportunity to read it as an ARC, I gave it a try. The story itself was interesting, but at times it tended to drag. I had to force myself to keep at it. I'm glad I did.

Drusilla Clare is just trying to get through the Season. Every night, Dru and her best friend, Lady Eva, are chaperoned together for yet another ball. Dru has strong feelings and opinions about why women shouldn't marry, her beliefs keep suitors away from her; she likes it that way. That is until Eva's brother, the notorious rake, Gabriel Marlington crosses Dru's path. He's the only man she's ever had feelings for, but she's kept that a secret for the last five years. He can barely stand her, she's headstrong, opinionated, and very intelligent.

When a scoundrel takes inappropriate behavior to Dru's person, Gabriel rescues her from him. But everyone has seen him consoling her, so to save her reputation; he proposes marriage to keep her standing in society.

What Gabriel never expected was to enjoy her wit, her sarcasm, and her barbs. Their passion is completely unexpected. Gabriel wants to spend as much time as possible around his new wife because he's fallen in love with her.

But outside forces are working against them and the newlyweds will need to rely on and trust each other to save their future together.

It was fine. Nothing spectacular or memorable. It's one of those books that it's nice to have when you're in a waiting room and don't have anything else to look at, then you finish it, and you move onto the next thing.

I kept trying to read this book several times. I would start at the beginning each time but it wasn't interesting enough to keep my attention. I really wanted to like it! It has all the themes I enjoy, but this may be a book that is better listening to rather than sitting down to read. The main character seems a little shrewish and this genre might be exhausted from the same types of story.

Ended up not liking the heroine at all, and did not pick any chemistry between her and the hero from the start, which then made for a tedious, almost 'forced' story for me

I started reading the book, but was not drawn in & decided not to continue reading. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book, but it unfortunately just didn't work for me to continue with it.

Drusilla and her friend Eva are content with being wallflowers during dances and social gatherings in Regency England. Unfortunately for Drusilla, she has to see Eva's attractive, irritating half brother Gabriel frequently. When Drusilla is found with Gabriel in a compromising position, they are forced to marry in order to keep their reputations. Once they are married, Drusilla and Gabriel seem to misunderstand each other and do not communicate well. When life becomes complicated and even a little dangerous, they will have to decide between staying distant or coming together.

I enjoyed some aspects of this book, and there were others that were too much for me. I always enjoy a good Regency, as long as it is clean. The graphic sex in this book bothered me and I skimmed over it since I prefer the bedroom door to stay closed. The racism towards Gabriel was bothersome, and unfortunately reflected that time period. The story was frustrating at times because the characters didn't communicate well and always assumed the worst rather than just ask questions. That being said, the events at the beginning and the end of the book were exciting and I would have preferred more of the story to be as eventful.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. A positive review was not required, and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I adored Drusilla and Gabriel's story! Stories that include forced marriages always intrigue me. They are married relatively early and then the H/H have to find a way to their HEA while being married. Spencer did not disappoint with this one. I loved every bit of it!

All right, finished the book. This is an ordinary love hate drama with a pinch of sophistication. Drusilla is a straight face complicated woman attracted to her Best friend’s annoying brother Gabriel!! (not very out of the box plot. )
Drusilla normally pretends that she hates Gabriel ,just to hide her feelings but finally her manifestation works, due to some evil plot by lord Visel , they both had to marry. That’s it. Then the story continues with this couple surviving the obstacles, which were coming in their way, misunderstandings, complicated feelings etc.
It is a hot historical romance story, you can read it during weekend with some coffee and cake in a cozy environment.The spicy romantic moments will make you keep reading this book.

Really enjoyed it - definitely worth a read if you’re craving a Bridgerton type fix. Loved the characters and setting and look forward to reading more by the author

I can't stop reading historical romance books and this one did not disappoint. I love the push and pull of the main characters and how they navigate around their relationship. This was a fun read, and I'm looking forward to reading the others in this series.

This was a fun historical fiction read by Minerva Spencer. If you like Bridgerton you will like this story.

I enjoyed this one!

This is not my usual type of Regency/Victorian romances I read, but I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

I did feel at times that the MC Drusilla could be quite obnoxious, but I really loved Gabriel, and I absolutely LOVED the side characters, so I’m hoping I will love the sequels even more than this one.

Overall a very cute romance read with a little bit of spice and a bit of drama to shake things up.

Even though the characters of Druscilla and Gabriel intrigued me, I didn’t like them at all throughout the book. I especially didn’t like Druscilla’s character because even though she claimed to love Gabriel for such a long time, she was most cruel and hurtful towards him. If you love someone so much, the last thing you would want to do is be deliberately hurtful to them and that’s what she did to him most of the time under the guise of freezing up and getting awkward. It completely put me off her character.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review*