I tried to get in to this one, but it just wasn’t for me. I had to DNF at 20%. If in the future I give this one a shot I will update my review.

Alice is finally a widow after 18 years with a cold, mean, abusive husband. Married young to a man who wanted to marry his mistress, not her, she was basically raped for all these years making her unwilling to marry again and scared when she meets James. Now she is being blackmailed by a man who wants her to find a Lord to marry his daughter, Lucy. He has letters her husband wrote to his mistress over the years with intimate details of their life. Alice will be humiliated and ruined. She finally confides in her nephew, Gerald, asking for help. Gerald thinks his former commanding officer will know people who can investigate and find the blackmailer. James now out of the military, is a widower with three young girls. The story is actually very low-key and meanders along. It shifts between Alice and James, and Lucy and Gerald. Cute little girls, and kittens, and a heat level of 0 to 1. Pleasant. I thought the narrator, Christine Rendel was excellent. Her voices for each character were distinct (nothing shrill), and the switch to the male voices felt natural. I recommend listening to this book.

Alice is thrilled to be alone. She doesn’t have much money, but she’d rather that then what she had when her husband was alive. Alice’s deceased husband was an ass (hereafter referred to as The Ass). He belittled and denigrated Alice at every turn, especially in public. He wasn’t a kind man at all and when he died, he left most of his wealth to his mistress.

Alice is happy, despite her financial situation, until she receives a visit from a Mr. Bamber. He is in possession of letters that The Ass wrote to his mistress. In these letters The Ass wrote horrible things, even about their time in bed together - about Alice that are most embarrassing. Bamber states he will release these letters to the public if Alice doesn’t do what he wants – which is to have Alice bring out his daughter. Not wanting the letters to get out, Alice agrees.

Alice and Lucy soon start making the rounds of balls and routs to introduce Lucy to society. Lucy is introduced as Alice’s goddaughter so this put’s Alice’s nephew’s guard up since he’s never heard of Lucy. While Gerald is looking into Lucy, Gerald’s commanding office when he was in the Army, James, has set his sights on Alice. Of course after the marriage she had, Alice has no desire to marry again, ever.

This was my second time reading this story and it was a good one. I liked Alice so very much and my heart went out to her. After 18 years with The Ass she was done with marriage for good. James really had his work cut out for him in trying to woo her. He was a father to three girls, and I loved how much he cared for them. They really came first for him and that was obvious to the reader. I thought that Alice and James made a great couple though I felt their romance was on the slim side. He saw her and decided she was The One and it moved quickly from there. I did enjoy reading about their time together, but it was fast.

Lucy and Gerald were also perfect for each other. I felt there was even less of a romance between these two. They argued constantly and then they were kissing and getting engaged. Granted, Lucy thought it was a fake engagement, but only Gerald knew it was real.

Despite my issues with the romances the overall setting and tone and writing in the book kept my attention and I enjoyed the story. I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Widowed Alice is living a quiet life in London, after death relieves her of her awful husband. But when a man barges into her house one day to blackmail her with salacious letters written by her late husband, she has no choice but to agree to his terms: find a titled match for his daughter, or he’ll publish them and ruin Alice. The daughter in question is 18-year-old Lucy, who stubbornly refuses to marry, especially not to a lord. And definitely not to Alice’s charming nephew, Gerald.

I loved that this story features a double romance and that the primary focus is on the older couple. Finally, a historical romance that's not centered around a girl fresh out of her teen years.

Fun! I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-21 from my title feedback view!

I'd never read anything by Anne Gracie before, but I'll definitely be reading more of her books in the future after finishing THE SCOUNDREL'S DAUGHTER. This was an excellent start to a new series -- I can't wait to read more.

When I was a teenager, I “met” Georgette Heyer for the first time. Bath Tangle was my introduction to her Regency world via a battered, coffee-stained copy housed at shoe-level in my library’s ‘H’ section. Serena and Rotherham’s banter and Heyer’s madcap plot was the perfect entry to the world of Heyer (I’ll never forget the line: “You may set the county alight, if you choose, but ride rough-shod over me you will not!”). In months I checked off the rest of her Regencies. Gray-eyed hero after gray-eyed hero made my acquaintance; so too did Heyer’s remarkably clever, daring heroines. Two of her main leads are the strong-willed younger woman and the independent spinster, equally fan favorites. In Anne Gracie’s latest Regency and series opener, The Scoundrel’s Daughter, these two types of heroines are brought together in a romantic tale, one filled to the brim with its own madcap escapades.

Alice, the newly widowed Lady Charlton, has blessedly escaped her husband’s cruel neglect. With only a few of his debts left to pay, Alice looks forward to a life free of the ton, free of gossip, and free—finally—of any connection to her husband. Everything is going according to plan until a sinister man arrives on her doorstep. The man reveals her husband’s scandalous letters, which if published, would destroy Alice’s chance at a peaceful life. The destruction of these letters requires, according to the unsavory guest, a small favor: to launch his unknown, untitled, and tactless daughter into the critical sphere of the ton. And if this isn’t enough, to guarantee she marries a lord by the end of the season! What can Alice do, but accept?

Lucy Bamber, daughter of the unsavory guest, has a problem, and this problem is more than a rude gentleman almost crushing her and her goose, Ghislaine, in his horse race (although that features high on the list). Her real problem begins and ends with the existence of titled gentlemen. In every school and home her father placed her throughout her formative years, it was the lords, the wealthy, and the society darlings who taunted and tortured her. Lucy wants no part of the ton, and she resolves to do everything in her power to foil Alice’s mission.

For Alice, her future plans of peace and quiet change when she meets a kindhearted, gray-eyed soldier with three precocious daughters. Maybe all men aren’t villains after all? For Lucy, her plan shifts when she discovers her father’s horrible blackmail scheme…and that the rude, almost-goose-murdering gentleman is none other than Alice’s nephew. With schemes for romance and vengeance running amok, it will take these newly united heroines every ounce of ingenuity, humor, and courage they possess to create their own happy endings.

The Scoundrel’s Daughter captured this reader with its author’s wit, characters’ charm, and heartfelt look at love and the different forms it takes. There is love that begins as healing friendship but develops into passion (Alice and Lord Tarrant), and passionate distrust that evolves into a trusting partnership (Lucy and Lord Thornton). Above it all, there is the realistic, sweet love between friends and family, which is shown through Alice and Lucy’s relationship and Lord Tarrant’s tenderness toward his children. My favorite couple was Lucy and Lord Thornton. Their verbal sparring and constant one-upmanship is a style of romance I love to read. However, Alice and Lord Tarrant’s journey is a beautiful counterpoint not to be missed.

The Scoundrel’s Daughter is not a traditional Regency in the mode of Jane Austen; the characters spoke with modern language and 21st-century cultural sensibilities. Sex became a major plot point for one of the heroines toward the 75% mark. The plot brought up the question of whether or not a character should choose to be a mistress, and this was handled a shade too lighthearted for me. The romance trope of a sexy, experienced, physically imposing male bedding a woman out of honor (?) to teach her about her body made me—a young woman and supporter of the #MeToo movement—look askance. This particular plot point reminded me that book heroes can get away with things that set off red warning lights in daily life, solely because we know the hero means well and cannot, by definition, be an exploiter or abuser.

On a different note, with two very distinct but equally lovable heroines, two swoon-worthy heroes, and more adventures (and misadventures) than I can count, The Scoundrel’s Daughter is a charming addition to the Regency genre. This novel combines the dashing style of Georgette Heyer with Anne Gracie’s skilled pen for love and comedy.

4 out of 5 Stars

Anne Gracie does it again!!
I’ve read and loved every book she’s written and this one doesn’t disappoint.
A new series! I can’t wait for more!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Alice, Lady Charlton, is free of her husband, but a scoundrel is blackmailing her with letters that could ruin her. To keep silent, Alice must find a noble husband for his daughter Lucy. For her part, Lucy wants nothing to do with the plan. Alice enlists her nephew Gerald to help find the letters, and Gerald enlists his former commanding officer Lord Tarrant to help him. Lord Tarrant is interested in Alice and Gerald is interested in Lucy, but both women aren't currently interested in marriage.

Lucy tries to be as obnoxious as possible in the beginning, not believing that Alice would genuinely help her; her experience with the nobility so far is only being mocked for her station in life, which she couldn't help. Alice is mocked relentlessly by her sister-in-law and has no interest in getting married again when her last one had been loveless and demeaning. They become allies of a sort quickly, and the two heroes of the story have to overcome their negative views. Gerald is obnoxious right back to Lucy, and their sniping and comments back and forth become something of a courtship. James and Alice, on the other hand, are friends first. He's taken with her quiet grace and kindness, especially to the daughters he picks up from the boarding school their grandparents sent them to. I enjoyed their storyline the best and found their love to be more compelling and realistic. Gerald and Lucy clashed too much before they came to an agreement, which suddenly morphed into realized love.

This is a romance, however, and love wins in the end. Lucy is appreciated for who she is and the skills she brings to the table, and Alice gets a loving husband and a family that appreciates her. James is gentle and patient with Alice once he understands her fears, and Gerald is able to listen to the truth even when he didn't realize he wasn't listening in the beginning. It's an earned happily ever after, and one that was fun to read.

This was such a good book! I didn't know what to expect going in and was pleasantly surprised. I loved most of the characters, especially Alice and Lucy. I definitely recommend it for historical romance fans.

Alice Paton, the widowed Countess of Charlton, is finally free of her vile husband and after a year and a half, she has finally paid off his debts and is looking forward to a quiet life, one that does not include remarrying, one husband was more than enough! But when Octavius Bramber calls and produces letters her late husband wrote to his mistress about Alice, letters that will make her a laughingstock if they are made public, which is exactly what he is threatening to do if she doesn’t agree to his terms and sponsor his daughter Lucy for the season and marry her off to a titled man!

Alice agrees under distress, and it is soon clear that Lucy Bramber is no happier about the arrangement than Alice is, but Lucy is not aware of the blackmail. Since her mother died she has been shipped from one school to another and when those options were exhausted, her father sent her to live with women who he coerced into taking her in. She thinks Alice is just another one of her father’s “women” and treats her accordingly, making it clear what she thinks of the nobility and will not marry a titled man. But they both soon realize how wrong they were about the other and a true friendship blooms. Alice assumes Lucy’s father just wants her to be happy and that a titled man isn’t necessary, so she asks her young nephew Gerald, Viscount Thornton to introduce Lucy to eligible men. He agrees, but after meeting Lucy, he realizes he knows her and that she cost him a race, a fact she denies, repeatedly and hilariously.

Gerald then proceeds to fulfill his promise to Alice, but the men he introduces to Lucy leave much to be desired. And these two start to dance around each other. When Gerald learns that Alice is being blackmailed, he asks James, Baron Tarrant, his former army commander to help track down Lucy’s father, who has not been seen since leaving Lucy with Alice. Like Alice, James is widowed, but unlike her, he loved his wife and has three young daughters, whom he hasn’t seen in years – one he has never seen. But now that the war is over and he is back in England after inheriting his brother’s title, he is ready to settle down with his girls, he too has no desire to remarry – until he meets Alice and soon he will do anything to win her heart and slay her dragons.

This was such a great read – I would give it 10 stars if I could. Normally, I am not a fan of multiple primary romances, but this was done perfectly – I felt that both couples were represented and neither romance felt rushed. This book was well-written, perfectly paced, had great characters, secrets, a bit of intrigue, mild love scenes, witty banter, laugh-out-loud moments, absolutely wonderful characters, great secondary characters, and two HEAs! I really loved this book and I cannot wait for the next installment!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*

This was a slow start for me, but I kept telling myself to stick with it and see how it all wrapped up in the end.

The Scoundrel’s Daughter is really two romances in one. I’m not really sure which is meant to be the main one either. There is Lady Alice, a widow who is being blackmailed by a very bad man and is being forced to bring his daughter out in style and obtain her a rich, titled husband. And then there is Lucy, who is the young woman being taken under Alice’s wing. Each of them has their own shitty pasts because of the shitty men in their lives. Alice’s husband dies leaving her destitute and in debt after forcing her to live in an emotionally abusive marriage. Lucy’s father has moved her from school to school, house to house, all with the intent of using her to better his own financial situation over the years. She really has no friends and a pretty bleak outlook on love, marriage, and companionship.

Despite all of that backstory between the two main characters, this romance really was low angst. Like it kept plodding along and I kept expecting a whole lot more drama. Alice catches the eye of her nephew’s former commander, James, and they really were sweet together. Lucy and Gerald, Alice’s nephew, butt heads over and over because Lucy has no desire to wed a Lord, but their interactions were kind of funny, especially when she kept pushing him away and actively trying to avoid him at first. Each of these romances was lovely and I liked that this author gave readers an older, more experienced couple along with a younger, in the throes of first love match-up.

Despite the slow start I enjoyed A Scoundrel’s Daughter and feel like it was a solid start to a new series. I look forward to what comes next.

Anne Gracie’s excellent new romance, The Scoundrel’s Daughter, accomplishes the tricky task of telling two love stories within one book. Gracie carves out space in both romances to demonstrate how both women’s personalities blossom because of the love and respect they’re shown from the new men in their lives and because of their friendship with one another. This only makes The Scoundrel’s Daughter’s balancing act all the more impressive: Within these two love stories, Gracie paints a beautiful portrait of two women becoming fuller, happier versions of themselves.

Full Review: https://bookpage.com/reviews/26627-anne-gracie-scoundrels-daughter-romance#.YSguP45KhUA

4.5 Stars - Top Pick

I absolutely loved this book. When you get two romances for the price of one why would you complain? I loved Alice. She is very strong and resilient. I like that the author decided to use an older (over 35 years old) heroine in an historical. I’m so use to a younger female lead that it is refreshing to get a more mature and experience character who still has to find themselves.

Alice is dealt a really rough in life. She had to stay in an abusive marriage for many years. When her husband finally dies, she thinks she will finally be free to live her life but he left her a trail of debt of misfortune. Alice tries to clean up the mess while living in the house that her aunt left her. The problem is that she is being blackmailed by a scoundrel to help play matchmaker to his reluctant daughter.

Alice has the perfect match, her sweet kind nephew, Gerald. He agrees to help Alice out as he tracks down the black mailer who seeks to ruin Alice’s reputation. He just doesn’t anticipate falling for the stubborn daughter, Lucy in the process.

Lucy has been through it all with her father and his latest stunt leaves her fuming. She likes Alice enough but she doesn’t want to spend a season in London looking for a suitable gentleman to marry. She resists every step of the way with Gerald but she finds it hard to resist his charm.

In the meantime, Alice is introduced to Gerald’s friend, James. The two have an interesting kinship as the story unfolds. Alice is so guarded after her last marriage that James has to work to win her over but he doesn’t mind. I really love them together.

What didn’t work for me? Lucy and Gerald took up too much space for me. I connected with Alice from the beginning and I wanted her to have a separate story if that makes sense. I got closure but it wasn’t the same for me. The story moves a bit slow at first but I think it is to build up the suspense and get a feel for the characters.

I haven’t read a historical in so long after burning myself out on them. However, there are just some authors that I want to read no matter what and Ms. Gracie is one of them. Fans of Regency historical will love this. I highly recommend reading her other works as well.

~ Samantha

Overflowing with the wit, humor, passion, feel-good romance, and fully-dimensional characters for which Anne Gracie is known, The Scoundrel's Daughter launches Gracie's new series with a story that kept me fully entertained from start to finish.

Anne Gracie has a talent for creating characters that leap from the page and make me forget that they are actually fictional. I become attached to them, invested in their happiness. I feel their frustration, their pain, and their joy. Alice, the main female protagonist of this story is one such character. My heart hurt for all she had been through in her first marriage but I was so proud of her for the life she built following her husband's death. To open her heart again took tremendous courage. And she didn't only open it to James but also to Lucy, a young woman she had every reason to both dislike and distrust. Lucy is another character to whom life has not been kind. I really enjoyed the evolution of her character and loved the relationship that developed between these two women.

James won my heart from the moment he went to fetch his daughters. And those girls. Oh my gosh, they had me cheering, crying, and snort laughing from the get-go. Little Debo, in particular, commanded every scene she was in. I can't be the only one who would love to see her as the heroine of her own story someday. It would have been easy to let the girls overshadow the romance aspect of the story but Gracie excels at giving them just enough time without allowing that to happen. While I loved seeing both Alice and Lucy bond with the girls, it was the adult relationship that formed between James and Alice, the care, patience, and passion he gave her when all she had ever known was pain and humiliation, that made my heart so happy.

And then there was the secondary romance between Lucy and Gerald, Alice's nephew (the only member of her late husband's family who treats her well). Where the relationship between James and Alice was emotional and heart-tugging, Lucy and Gerald's was the polar opposite. It was obvious from their first hilariously exasperating encounter that these two were going to set off enough sparks to start a forest fire. Theirs is an enemies to lovers relationship with all the snappy dialog and sizzling chemistry that entails. I loved it!

Then there's the society villain, a woman who deserves a royal set-down if ever there was one. And how deliciously fun it was to watch it delivered!

I've read The Scoundrel's Daughter twice and I'm already looking forward to visiting these characters again. Like many of Gracie's titles, it's a book destined for my comfort reads shelf.

*ARC received for fair and unbiased review

always know when I dive into an Anne Gracie romance that I'm going to get a delightful, funny, touching story and The Scoundrel's Daughter is no different. What is different with this novel, however, is that we get two romances instead of just one. Longtime readers of Gracie will recall her earlier romances like The Perfect Rakuten featured both primary and secondary romances. I'd argue that here we have two equally strong romances. I found the unfolding of Lady Charlton's relationship with Lord Tarrant, especially given the unhappiness of Alice's (Lady Charlton's) previous marriage poignant and sweet. And the enemies to lovers track of Lady Charlton's nephew by marriage, Gerald, and her protégé, Lucy is fun and ultimately satisfying. I'm a sucker for a well done plot moppet and in Lord Tarrant's young daughters there are three who are funny and heartbreaking by turns. I thoroughly enjoyed this start to a new series from Gracie and I think fans of Loretta Chase, Tessa Dare and Mary Balogh will too.

This one had a slow start for me but I love Anne Gracie's books so I stuck it out and I'm really glad I did! I loved how the relationship built for Alice and James. Alice was convinced she would never marry again and James did everything he could to gain her trust and help her to realize he is a very different man from her first husband.

While I appreciated how Gerald and Lucy fit into the story, their relationship really felt secondary and slightly out of sync as one minute they were butting heads and the next they were betrothed. It was a clear storyline but felt very different and honestly took me away from Alice and James who I really was more interested in.

In the end, I thought this was a solid kickoff to a new series. I will definitely pick up the next book in the series when it's available.

4.5 STARS

This is the tale of two women: Alice, Lady Charlton, now a Dowager although in her thirties, because an odious husband died leaving her in near penury, and eighteen year old Lucy Bamber whose con artist, criminal father dragged her around the country leaving a trail of debts and ill feelings. Alice was relived to be out from under a despicable man of the ton who treated her so poorly. Now Alice is being threatened by Lucy’s father who is blackmailing her with extremely damaging letters that her reprobate husband wrote to his mistress. Alice’s task is to find a titled husband for Lucy or else ruin and shame will come upon her.

Alice agrees as she has no choice but when the reluctant Lucy arrives sullen and morose, Alice has quite the challenge and very little time to turn Lucy into a desirable young woman. Lucy had enough dealings with lords to know how they treat women of all ages and groups whether poor or rich. She is none to pleased at the predicament but comes to realize that she and Alice are both caught up in a situation not of their own making. Alice’s kindness and genuine care win Lucy over to helping rather than hindering the situation.

Alice has one family member from her husband’s side she likes; her nephew, Gerald, whom she explains the situation to, asking for his help both finding the letters and Lucy’s introduction to high society. Gerald looks to his former commander, James, Lord Tarrant who has resigned his commission to care for his young daughters. He had been widowed four years earlier and left their care to his late wife’s parents. James is quickly taken with Alice despite her initial less than cordial treatment of him. Alice has determined never to marry again after eighteen years of misery and neglect, but James’ treatment causes her to feel very tempted in ways that are new and unsettling. Lucy rebuffs the obvious choice of Gerald who becomes more intrigued and determined to win her over.

Alice and Lucy have similar challenges to evade the nastiness caused by what the scheming father has wrought. Each leads the men who help them on a merry chase in this enjoyable Regency tale which is a good mix of romance, humor, and the vagaries of life in the upper crust of English society. This story is the first in the Brides of Bellaire Gardens series.

This delightfully romantic and entertaining book has it ALL! Wonderful characters, wit, laugh-worthy humor, a despicable, shrewish harpy who definitely gets her comeuppance, TWO swoon-worthy romances, three adorable little girls, and it is all set a very realistic and well-described Regency London. I can hardly wait to see what the other books in the series bring.

Widowed Lady Alice Thornton, dowager Countess of Charlton, had a hard childhood and was then thrust into an abusive marriage to a man who didn’t want to marry her. She suffered for eighteen long years before her wretch of a husband finally kicked-the-bucket while in his mistress’s bed. However, more shame and strife were to come. Her husband left nice bequests for his mistress and his baseborn son, but all he left her was debts. If it weren’t for her wonderful grandmother having left her a home, she wouldn’t even have a place to live. Finally, she is almost through paying off his debts and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Until … a blackmailer, Octavius Bamber, appears and makes demands – demands Alice must accommodate. She has no choice.

Lucy Bamber has been left to fend for herself almost her entire life. Her father is a scoundrel of the first order – a con man, a blackmailer, a card sharp, you name it and it applies to him. He arrives at wherever she is staying, whisks her off to someplace new, and then leaves her – to make her own way. Then, he does it again – and again – and again. She never knows where he is or even how to contact him. This last caper he has pulled is beyond the pale though. He has blackmailed a beautiful, kind, caring woman into sponsoring Lucy for a London Season. She MUST marry a lord of some sort, or he will execute his threat with the blackmail. Lucy hates the aristocracy – with good reason – and has no intention of marrying anyone with a title. She was resentful of Alice and thought she was just another in the long line of women with whom her father left her – until she learned the truth – and learned what a lovely, lovely person Alice was.

Gerald Paton, Viscount Thornton, is Alice’s nephew. His father inherited Alice’s husband’s earldom. His entire family is a scurvy lot – except for Gerald himself. His mother, Almeria, has always hated Alice and takes great delight in belittling and treating her with disdain. Gerald, on the other hand, loves his aunt Alice and will do all in his power to help her when she asks. Can Gerald track down the blackmailer and steal the letters from him? He’ll do his best, but he’s sure he’ll need help and he knows just who to ask.

Lord Tarrant has been a widower for the last four years. His marriage was a loving and happy one that produced three wonderful little girls. Tarrant hasn’t seen those little girls in over four years – he’s never even met the youngest one because his wife died while giving birth. Now that he’s sold his commission and inherited a title, it is his intention to collect his children and make a home with them. He’ll never marry again, but he can provide plenty of love for his girls. He fully believes that until he sees the most elegant, beautiful woman across a ballroom. Oh! It turns out she is the aunt of his friend Gerald – who served in the wars with him.

I absolutely adored these characters. I loved watching Alice loosen up and come to realize that Lord Tarrant wasn’t at all like her now-deceased husband. Can she come to trust? Lucy and Gerald dance around each other – neither liking nor trusting the other – yet they are strangely attracted. Can they overcome that distrust?

I hope you’ll love this book as much as I did. It has some of the best put-downs I’ve ever read. If you want to learn how to handle a verbal bully, just pay attention to Alice and Almeria. The girls are delightful and you’ll love getting to know them. I can hardly wait for the next book!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Another great romance by Anne Gracie! There’s actually two romance stories in this book-and they work so well together, both stories get equal time and attention. This book is very sweet and a true old school romance!! Definitely a must read!!