Vivienne Lorret's "The Wrong Marquess" is a four-star triumph in my book. Elodie Parrish, our wallflower heroine with dreams of the lord next door, stumbles into a hilariously tangled web when she encounters the grumpy and overprotective Lord Hullworth. Lorret's fast-paced and lighthearted narrative, paired with the quirky dynamics between Ellie and Brandon, makes this a thoroughly entertaining read. Brandon, the pining hero who never wanted to be a sought-after bachelor, and Ellie, with her endearing quirks, create a delightful romantic tension that kept me eagerly turning the pages. The adventurous journey of these two characters, set against the backdrop of London's matchmaking madness, had me both laughing and sighing in equal measure. The emotional depth and Lorret's signature humor make "The Wrong Marquess" a charming addition to the Mating Habits of Scoundrels series and a must-read.

Vivienne Lorett has done it again! The Wrong Marquess is a five star romance regency romp! Elinor Parrish has her life all mapped out ever since she was 7 years old and her neighbor, George, sat with her at her father's grave side. He assures her that as a marquess, and her friend, he will always be there for her and in the natural order of things they will wed. However, at five and twenty - with spinsterhood closing in on her - George has not come around to make good on his promise. Hope springs eternal and Elinor and her aunts just know the next time George flitters by will be the day he goes on bended knee.

In the meantime, Elinor encounters no less than three proposals in one day at the one picnic George promised he’d attend! Mortified to have interrupted these couples, she rushes to get back to her aunts and keep them from pilfering recipes from the hostess’s kitchens. Sneaking through the hedges, she barrels into the solid chest of this season’s elusive bachelor, the Marquess of Hullworth . Every dew eyed debutant and moth3r has him in their sights. Naturally, he thinks she accidentally stumbled into him on purpose like so many others have done. He thinks she's an opportunist. She thinks him rude beyond measure. Delish!

I reviewed this book for All About Romance. The full review can be found at this link: https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/the-wrong-marquess-by-vivienne-lorret/

I enjoyed the premise of the story, and the chemistry of the characters captured my attention from the beginning. The hero and heroine have an interesting route to their happily ever after. All in all, it’s a historical romance that makes me happy.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔💔
Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋💋
Intimate Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (though 2 are fairly close together)
Humor: Yes!
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
I think this one would be okay to pick up alone. The heroines of this series are working on a book, The Marriage Habits of the Native Aristocrats, and there is some minor character overlap but nothing that would hinder your enjoyment of the series.

Basic plot:
Ellie has made a childhood bargain to marry her friend and neighbor. So Ellie is just waiting, and waiting….and waiting for the perfect proposal when she runs into the wrong marquess.

Give this a try if you want:
- Their relationship starts with animosity, then grows to friends and finally…
- Protective, sweet, romantic hero
- Marquess hero
- Heroine suffers from anxiety, and it’s handled beautifully from the hero
- Hero loves first (and is basically obsessed with this heroine, though he doesn’t exactly realize what’s happening to him at first)
- Letters/notes written to each other (a small but lovely part)
- Late Georgian time period (1828)
- Mix between London and country setting
- Slow burn with low to medium steam (3 scenes, though 2 are close together and all are late in the book)
- Focus on the relationship (no villain/mystery to solve)

Ages:
- Heroine is 25, hero is 34

My thoughts:
I have been putting off writing this review purely because I highlighted half the book. IT. WAS. PERFECTION! And I kept going back and listening to more parts I had highlighted. And then I checked quotes in the ebook version and started reading parts over again. Oh, how much I loved this story.

So many romances I read, I don’t find them particularly romantic but this one just oozes it. And I ate it up.

Ellie is such a wonderful heroine. She’s sweet and funny and cares deeply for her family. She lost her father at a young age and nightmares and anxiety haunt her. She struggles with new things and has found solace in embroidering to keep her mind and hands busy. But she was also so funny and bubbly and makes friends easy. She was just such a bright character and I loved her so, so much.

Brandon has been hurt in love before and it makes him distrustful of other’s motives – especially young debutantes that are trying to get their hands on his title. Because of this, he is very much a judgmental, assuming jerk in the beginning of this book. And as he meets Ellie, it leads to a bit of enemies to lovers feel as Ellie befriends Brandon’s sister and they are constantly pushed together.

But it doesn’t take long for him to see how beautiful and true Ellie actually is, how wrong he was, and their relationship evolves into friendship and more – and I loved watching this fall. It allowed some wonderful banter, attraction growth, and character depth to form. I found him sheltering her, crooning to her, nuzzling her, growling gently against her lips...He compares her to fluffy little cakes with pink icing and he wants to gobble her up. He makes her blush and fantasizing about her cheeks. This man is ALL IN!

Just so much sweetness in this book. I loved how the hero fell first and how careful and caring he was with Ellie. You get a lot of time in his perspective and he is always thinking about her, how much he wants her but also how to help her, keep her, cherish her. I adore Brandon so, so much. He is such a wonderful hero! He does make some hurtful assumptions in this story, but I loved how he reflected on that and made things right. He takes the time to show he was wrong. He’s just perfection.

LOVED! What a bubbly, delightful heroine. I enjoyed seeing a new friendship blossom alongside a romance, as well. This series could be read out of order, but I am glad to have kept pace.

I really enjoyed Ellie and Brandon's story. It was fun watching Ellie realize that what she thought she always wanted, wasn't what was right for her in the end.

I'm a fan of historical romance, Vivienne Lorret, and the Mating Habits of Scoundrels series, but this wasn't my favorite book in the series. I found both Elodie and Brandon likable and I loved Ellie's eccentric aunts and their recipe stealing, but the story was lacking the excitement and humor of the other books in the series so far. I still enjoyed reading this and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I think this was the first book that I read by Vivienne Lorret and I really enjoyed it. It was very sweet and fun to read, I would recommend it.

Vivienne Lorrrett is slowly becoming an autobuy author. I have been diving into her backlist and it is just so good. She is an underrated historical romance author.

I really liked this! Ellie was quirky and had me smiling at all her ailments and her certainty that everything was a calamity in the making. Her fear came from a real place though. And watching Brandon get her over those fears was soooo sweet. This was a really good book.

This is a cute enemies-to-lovers with the same charm of most of Lorret's books. There isn't anything ground-breaking, but I really enjoyed the characters and how they come to care for each other. There are several moments of levity and a definite sweetness to the story.

Although part of a series, this can be a stand-alone. The side characters are very charming, and I do look forward to reading about them!

Awaiting the much anticipated betrothal to her childhood friend and Marquess next door, George, Elodie path keeps crossing with the arrogant Brandon Strewick, the marquess of Hullworth also publicly known as “London’s Most Elusive Bachelor”, who is convinced she has designs on him. Thus embarks us in an adventure filled with witty banter, heated gazes and stolen kisses.

Page after page, the chemistry between our two leading characters Elodie and Brandon are unmatched and absolutely entertaining to say the least. Alongside that was a great assembly of supporting characters that really helped carry the story and push the leads closer together.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed this read, it was quite repetitive and drawn out. Moreso, I wish Elodie was a bit more braver when it came to her fears and relationship with George. I won’t further indulge into that as it would spoil the series, but you’ll completely understand when you pick up this novel.

The Wrong Marquess (The Mating Habits of Scoundrels #3). By Vivienne Lorret. 2021. Avon (ARC eBook).

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading Lorret’s books, and The Wrong Marquess is no exception. The opening flashback to Ellie’s childhood is beautifully written and sets up what could be a childhood-friends-to-lovers theme between Elodie Parrish and George, Marquess of Nethersole, and carried through in the first two books of the series. So when Brandon Stredwick, Marquess of Hullworth, who also hold the title of “London’s Most Elusive Bachelor” enters the picture, Ellie believes herself to be the least-likely candidate for stealing his heart.

Ellie and Brandon are splendid together. His patience and desire to help her overcome her anxieties are swoon-worthy. And the secondary characters like Ellie’s aunts and Brandon’s aunt and sister were also very likeable. Overall, highly recommended for a sweet romantic read.

I really liked Ellie from the previous books as she seemed the most sensible despite her fears and anxieties about pretty much everything. It was played to somewhat comedic effect in the first two books but in her book, it is revealed that she had a very traumatic time with the death of her father when she was young and developed these phobias that really do prevent her from fully living her life. She has decided that the only person she will ever wed is her neighbor George, because he makes her feel safe, even though he is an annoying little boy who becomes an immature, selfish man. They have an agreement to become engaged one day but George is sowing his wild oats while Ellie waits at home with her elderly aunts.

Ellie literally bumps into Brandon, nicknamed the Most Eligible Bachelor in London, and he just figures she is another debutante after him. They slowly get to know each other as Ellie becomes friends with Brandon’s sister, even though he doesn’t trust that either and figures she’s pretending friendship. However, he spoons begins to trust her and you finally get to see that Brandon is a pretty great guy.

What kept this from 5 stars was really George and how Ellie still clung to him even after everything she learned about him. I know she had fears but I felt that she was working on them enough that the drawn out ending wasn’t necessary.

I loved the idea of The Wrong Marquess, unfortunately I never felt like the plot grabbed me. I tried to read it a couple of times but it kept falling flat. I enjoy Vivienne Lorret's writing and I think I just read this one at the wrong time.

This was my first Vivienne Lorret novel and I really enjoyed the first half or so. I liked the dislike to love dynamic going on between Brandon and Ellie and that she originally had her heart set on someone else.

However, in the second half I started zoning out for some reason and Ellie just started to annoy me. Her relationship with Brandon was progressing, yet she wouldn’t tell George to f*ck off even though she knew how much of an ass he was.

**thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review**

This was even better than the previous two books in the series and I loved it so much! The Wrong Marquess is the third book in The Mating Habits of Scoundrels series and it follows Ellie who has been in love with her childhood friend George for almost half of her life and she really needs a proposal from him before the season ends. She had lost her father when she was young and it left a deep impression on her, which has led to her having many fears(or what we'd now call anxiety) and so she finds George a safe and reliable option even if he never takes her or his responsibilities seriously.

On the other hand, we have Brandon who became the Marquess of Hullworth unexpectedly after a series of tragedies. And he is escorting his sister, Meg during the season while avoiding marriage-minded debutantes and their mothers. His previous love had cruelly left him and married another as she didn't see much hope for his future, so he doesn't have much trust left in the concept of love or women.
But, when an unexpected meeting with Ellie has them at odds with each other at first, they discover the simmering attraction between them! With Ellie set on making George marry her, will Brandon be able to change her mind before it's too late?

I loved the slow development of the relationship between Ellie and Brandon! The attraction between them was palpable from the get-go, but they start off with a few love-hate interactions while being snippy with each other and then gradually evolve into friends and lovers! The sexual tension between them had me fanning myself and I've always loved Vivienne Lorret's writing when it comes to the steamy scenes!

I think Brandon is my favorite among the heroes in this series! He might look a little gruff at first, but he has a marshmallow heart and he's so patient and caring when it comes to Ellie! He's willing to work to change Ellie's mind when it comes to her choice of marriage partner and he's brave enough to take a chance even though he's been hurt before! He also helps her overcome her fears and teaches her to trust herself and others!

Ellie might not be as brave as Jane or her other friends, but she is very loyal to those she cares about and is always there for them when they need her! Her aunts were so amusing and I loved their hilarious antics! There is also Meg, Brandon's sister who is very lively and quirky! The relationship between the two siblings was so sweet and heart-warming. Brandon is always there to protect her while being a tad bit overbearing at times and they bicker with each other just like typical brothers and sisters.

And George - ugh, I totally ended up hating him. In the beginning, he was a little flighty and funny, but seeing the way he treated Ellie and how dismissive he was of her, I just wanted Ellie to throw him away. After, the revelations about Prue and her scandal, I was even more annoyed! It took Ellie longer than I'd have liked to completely break off from George, and though I understood her fears and reasoning, it wasn't nice to hurt Brandon that way. But, I did love the character development that she underwent and how she handled everything in the end.

The next book is Prue's I suppose, and I wasn't too impressed with her or her actions in this one, but Vivienne Lorret has always been good at making me fall for her characters so I'm looking forward to her story and subsequent growth! And I hope Meg also ends up getting a book later as I absolutely loved her in this one!

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

In this book, the author explains how to love and live. The title is so appropriate. The heroine, Elodie, was 7 years old when her father died. He had been sick for a long time. Her neighbor is an orphaned boy who is a few years older than her. The day of her fathers funeral her and George discuss the act of dying and decide to listen to see if her father will take another breath since his casket had not been buried yet. George sits on a branch above the plot, while the grave diggers are taking a break and not aware that there are children around. George falls as the branch breaks and Ellie runs to him and he can't breath. When he gets a breath, they become close friends, but Ellie still has irrational fears. George tells her not to worry, because they will be married. Eighteen years later, she is still waiting. She is at a garden party and she accidentally overhears multiple marriage proposals. She bumps into the hero, who accuses her of trying to compromise him. She tells him the truth, but he doesn't believe it. And so begins a path to opening hearts, trusting in one's self, and learning to take risks in life and love.
This story was a good read, and it had a satisfying ending. There were some chapters that could have been omitted and the story would have still been continuous. I enjoyed all of the characters and they were very supporting in the story. I appreciate how the author determines what the main problems were, but still had multiple story lines tying into the main one. I would give this story 4.5 stars since there were some unnecessary paragraphs, but definitely support reading it. It was not a waste of time, nor money.

Rogue or Marquess? Elodie Parrish has to choose. But why are both options for her to consider? In fact, why would she even think of going after a rogue? Or is the rogue going after her? Whatever the case, Elodie needs to marry. She is facing spinsterhood. Friends with other debutantes, two of who recently married, and this leaves Elodie as The Mating Habits of Scoundrels trilogy draws to a close.

Elodie has a chance. Doesn't she? After all, George, Marquess of Nethersole, lives right next door and Elodie has been waiting for him for years. She is rather certain that this is the Season when he will finally propose. Why then, is she constantly running into Brandon, Marques of Hullworth, who besides being a rogue, feels that Elodie has her sights set on him?

Elodie must consider whatever feelings she has for George, especially as these run ins with Brandon just might be the start of something entirely different. A growing attraction neither of them is prepared to admit, yet find it impossible to resist? What an enjoyable story, rich with great characters, including a reedemable rogue.

Although The Wrong Marquess is the third book in a series, it could do well as a standalone, as the story focuses on Elodie and Brandon. However, since I thoroughly love continuity, I did read and enjoy the first two books in this trilogy, Lord Holt Takes a Bride and My Kind of Earl, both of which I highly recommend.

Many thanks to Avon and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.