I read this book in a little over a day. It's cute, I love books where there are star-crossed lovers, who feel they have been wronged but can't stop loving each other. A non-aristocratic Heiress and a Viscount who happens to be heir to a dukedom. His family rejected her 4 years ago and he didn't stand up for her back then. All that changes when they meet up again to help the Viscount's (Val) cousin find his missing fiance - a theatre star, with a massive following of male idols.

I have to say, that I am purchasing book 1 to read the story of Lady Kate and next year, book 3.

If you love regency historicals with strong female leads and happy endings - where love triumphs. This is the book for you.

My one little complaint, is that I thought Caro was sometimes just too much. Too assertive, too domineering etc etc.... but, you still come to root for her and love that she got her happy ending.

Thank you Netgalley

An Heiress’s Guide To Deception and Desire

My Rating: 5/5⭐️’s

Thank you NetGalley and Forever Publishing for giving me this eARC! I was so happy to receive it because I read the first book in this series and loveddd it!

I’m a huge lover of historical romance because it’s so much fun and easy to read. This book was great because it had a mixture of mystery and romance (two of my favorite genres). The mystery itself I thought was great, and I wasn’t exactly expecting the reveal! I also lovedd the romance between the main characters. (Second-chance romance is one of my fav tropes). I thought they worked so well together.

This book is also very outspoken about violence against women, and the heroine is apart of a crime column who writes about crimes against women. I thought it was great to see in a book that was set in a time that women had little independence in their lives.

Overall this book was a great reading experience and I recommend reading this when it is published on November 16th! Lovers of historical romance or those just getting into the genre will enjoy this book.

An amazing follow-up novel for Manda Collins! I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but the chemistry between Caro + Val was SO good. Their verbal sparring and their journey to trusting one another was delightful to watch.

And while this whole book was a treat, I am BEYOND excited for the third book in this series! The preview of the next protagonists in this book was divine.

I recommend reading these books in succession, and definitely check out this second installment when it releases in November 2022!

4.5 all the feels stars!
After finishing Kate and Andrew's book and feeling all of Val and Caro's tension, I knew I had to pick this one up immediately. I love that this book had a little bit of mystery but a whole lot of feeling. Val and Caro are thrown together once again trying to solve a crime. One of her friends has gone missing and his cousin is involved as well. The two of them must work together to figure out what really happened.
Val and Caro are like two fireworks when they meet, you can feel the tension rolling off them in waves. They have a past and even though they say they have moved on, neither of them can do that. Especially when they are still in love with one another. Watching them work together and become more and more attached just made my heart swell. Val knew what he had to do to keep Caro this time, and no one and nothing was going to stop him. I just adored the two of them.
Thank you to GCP, Forever, Netgalley and Manda Collins for an early copy!

I voluntarily received an eARC of "A Heiress's Guide to Deception and Desire" by Manda Collins via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A second chance romance mixed with mystery solving!

Miss Caroline Hardcastle is not only an heiress to her fathers canned food company but also a part of a female writing duo that runs a crime column. After having her heart broken by her first love she has concentrated on her work and running feminist organizations. However, when one of her closests friends are kidnapped her first love is right there to help solve the mystery. Lord Valentine Thorn once let his family get in the way of his happiness but now that he's seen Caroline again all he can hope for is forgiveness... But perhaps a marriage of convenience may speed this along?

This romance is what I would call a pallette cleanser. It is definitely sweet and the mystery isn't too over complicated. Though it is a bit slow moving once it gets going it has some really nice enjoyable scenes.

I wish there had been a bit more grovelling on the heroes end and maybe more interludes of just them reconnecting that weren't about the mystery.

Overall this was an enjoyable read. Low steam and low angst!

3.5 rounded up to 4!

Manda Collins is back at it in the second installment of her Lady’s Guide series. Similar to the first book, An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire is the perfect cross between historical fiction and romance and suspense. The disappearance of a famous actress, stalkers, affairs add a level of intrigue that will keep the readers hooked. This story follows heiress Caroline Hardcastle as she tries to find her friend who disappeared alongside her ex-fiance Val, who also happens to be a Viscount. Fall into the world of high society England with fancy balls, elaborate outfits, and feminists ahead of their time in this absolutely charming novel. Perfect for fans of Evie Dunmore’s A League of Extraordinary Women series and the Bridgerton franchise.

An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire is a brilliant sequel to A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Murder! It’s equal parts cozy mystery and second-chance romance. Historical mystery/adventure and romance used to be my jam - Lauren Willig’s Pink Carnation series was my bible - but in recent years they fell to the wayside. This series has definitely brought them back in my favor!

This time we are following Kate and Caro as they search for their missing friend, with the help of Kate’s husband Eversham and their friend (and Caro’s secret former betrothed) Val. As always, these ladies are clever and witty and manage to solve the whole crime on their own with just a little help from the men. Kate, Caro, and their pal Flora (who I CAN. NOT. WAIT to see in the next book!) are the original badass boss bitches, who know how to get things done without their husbands’ help.

This book was.... boring. Which is unexpected for a mystery but there you go. I wasn't interested in the characters, who all seemed rather shallow and prone to misunderstandings, or the plot, which was a bit thin, or the love story, which was annoying more than anything. If the characters would have just talked to each other there wouldn't have been a plot I suppose. The writing was decent at least but failed to draw me in.

DNF

*Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing an e-arc for review.

I was so thankful that I was immediately able to read this right after finishing A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem because I NEEDED it. That book was entertaining and fun and an all around joy to read. I expected something similar from this one but adding a second chance romance, and I got it. An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire was fun, thoughtful, and a freaking delight to read. Seriously, you need to pick up both of these books and enjoy them.

Loves:
-Valentine goes through a lot of development in this book and he is the sweetest. I mean his life has completely changed in the last year and honestly I felt for him the entire book. He was juggling so much. His feelings and actions towards Cora the entire time was great and I really enjoyed his arc throughout the book. Also, Val’s relationship with Andrew is my favorite thing.
-The plot kept me moving along through the book when the relationship between Valentine and Cora was dragging. The mystery in this book, I felt, was better than the first book. It was a little more believable, the rationality was better plotted out, and the characters along the way withheld so much more information that made the whole thing better.
-Cora annoyed me a little at times, but her internal dialogue was what sold me on her. The way that she cares about her father and her tenuous relationship with Valentine was sweet. I loved the way she stood up for herself and was on the brasher side of things the entire way through. So lovely!

Meh:
-I wanted more from the relationship between Cora and Valentine. I wish there had been more to their backstory and that the pining had been a heavier theme. I wanted some softer moments that caused more internal conflict than what was given. Like, I still enjoyed the ride of their relationship, but I wanted some more. (and maybe a couple of more stolen kisses/touches/more earlier in the book;)).
-I also wanted more from all relationships with Cora. I wish there was more around her and Effie and Kate. I wanted to see interaction between her and her father. Her mom and her had moments, but just some more depth of Cora through those relationships would have really sealed the deal for me.

Long Story Short:
I found this book to be such a fun time to read and definitely recommend that you pick it up. It’s a lovely combination between mystery and romance, plus adding the historical element to the mix also brings it up a notch. For those who love Evie Dunmore’s A League of Extraordinary Women these books would be absolutely perfect for you. The levels of modern feminism just feels so good in a historical romance. I cannot wait to read the rest of the books that Manda Collins puts out! I will definitely be waiting in great anticipation!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While this was a cute premise and I enjoyed the concept, ultimately this book wasn't for me. I couldn't seem to get into it. I found the characters could have been a bit more captivating.

An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire by @mandacollinsauthor is the follow up to A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem. Phew…that’s a lot of words! Scroll way down my page for the earlier review of the first book.

Caro is a canned food heiress (aren’t we all?). She’s rich, pretty, smart, and independent, but as a commoner she’s pretty much society trash (again aren’t we all?). She was secretly engaged to Val (the son of a Duke) but the engagement ended when she overheard the Duke pissing all over her canned tuna heritage while Val did nothing to defend her. Not cool, Val, not cool at all- you’d better respect that tin canned money.

A few years later Val and Caro meet again when Caro’s actress friend Effie goes missing. Effie is engaged to Val’s cousin and the two former lovebirds are sucked into solving the case of the missing actress. Caro’s best friend Kate and her police detective husband also help and by “help” I mean they are totally useless, particularly the police officer. Thanks for nothing “detective”…more like defective. Boom mic drop.

Anyway- Caro is super bitter towards Val at first but slowly starts to trust him again. Their relationship is a fairly chaste slow burn. I needed more yearning and burning from these two. I would say this book is more of a crime solving mystery than a smutty romance. I needed less amateur detective work on the streets and more undercover poking around in the sheets. But I’m a perv. Overall a pretty good read is you like your crime solving with a side of light romance.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I read this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t often read historical books, but every now and then I get into the mood to read them and end up obsessing over them.

I was so happy with the mystery in this book. I loved the background of Val and Caro. I love that in order to try to find her friend, Caro will have to work with Val again.

Val and Caro were once engaged, but after Val couldn’t support Caro like she needed, she ended the engagement.

This book was just a pleasant read. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to read more!

An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire is book two in the series and can be read as a standalone. I have not read the first book and this one is easy enough to follow along. Caroline Hardcastle is the unconventional daughter of a rich businessman and the coauthor of a crime column in the newspaper. Way ahead of her time, Caroline is smart funny and in a love hate relationship with her ex-fiancé, Lord Valentine Thorn. Val lost Caro when he refused to defend her to his brother for being common born. When Caro’s friend who just so happens to be Val’s cousin’s fiancé and famous actress goes missing, Caro and Val take up the mystery of the disappearance. Equal parts second chance romance and historical mystery, the story is interesting and fast paced with a sweet HEA that will have this reader looking for anything written by this author. The bickering flirtation is fun, the protagonist are strong, and the mystery compelling for a must read for historical romance fans.

Manda Collins has written a brilliantly classic tale of romance in Victorian England with the added twist of a crime solvers tale led primarily by 2 female leads. Lady Kathleen and Caroline "Caro" Hardcastle write a column for the local paper and take the lead on an investigation when their friend, and actress and lower class lady Effie Warrington goes missing. They fear a kidnapping after Lady Kate's Scotland Yard investigator husband finds her coach has been stolen and robbed. Effie's courter, Mr Thorn the nephew of A Duke has also been injured in the kidnapping and later also kidnapped. Lord Valentine "Val" Wrackham ends up assisting on the case and after a series of events finds himself falling for his previous love Caro.

Read this adventurous, amusing, fun, romantic story to find out the ins and outs of the romances amongst the classes, fin.out who solves the kidnappings and why and who the kidnapper is. It's a wild ride but one worth taking!!

A well written, great story with phenomenal characters! I will be reading all of Ms. Collins works and the Victorian period is not one of my favorites if that tells you anything!!

I have received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I have never read anything by this author before and the book was a nice surprise. However, I have yet to find a book that can be a romance and a mystery with both working. I've seen it done marvelously by Sabrina Jeffries in her latest series but the mystery unfolds in several books. And I've also enjoyed Penny Reid's contemporary series with Cletus and Jen (solving for pie :) ) but there the romance had its own book before. Manda Collins tried to mix the two genres and, in my opinion, that led to the book coming short on both. Personally, I wish the focus was on the romance as the characters had great chemistry and the dialogues between them were wonderfully witty. I also wish there was a lot more steam than the one wedding night scene but I'm not deducting stars for that, it's just my personal preference and I may not be Mrs Collins' target audience. It's also a highly anachronistic tale so if you are a stickler for historical accuracy in comportment and language, this book might annoy you. It doesn't bother me. All in all a nice read, I would say it was a 3.5 for me but I'll round it up.

Thank you Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was so excited to start reading this book and get the story of what had happened to bring the present animosity between Caro and Val that we got a glimpse at in A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem, and I was not at all let down.

An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire is centered around Miss Caroline Hardcastle trying to find one of her friends after she has been kidnapped in broad daylight. But Caro finds out that her friend was engaged to be married with none other but Frank Thorn, the cousin of Lord Valentine Thorn, the new viscount Wrackham and her old betrothed. Both Caro and Val are obliged to turn their backs to their past feelings in order to work together and find clues for the mysterious disappearance in which they found themselves reconnected. At the same time, Caro is trying to assure her parents that she doesn’t need to marry while Val takes the opportunity of their closeness to show that he has changed.

This book was such an amazing read, it had the right amount of romance and mystery once again and the addition of new characters was a great too. I liked how we got to see the previous couple, Kate and Andrew accompanying our new protagonists in this new adventure. And I loved to see the development that Caro and Val’s relationship went through, they were so adorable, and I liked how they got something so good out of their past.

I cannot wait for the next title in the series since the author reveled the name of the couple that is going to be centered around!

This was a fun book to read! Equal parts mystery and romance, it has a very engaging cast of characters. The familiar tropes of second chances and enemies-to-lovers have fresh twists to them as the main couple has matured and recognized their past mistakes. A kidnapping has brought Caro and Val back together four years after she called off their secret engagement. Val's cousin Francis has been attacked and his actress fiancee' Effie abducted. Effie is a member of Caro's literary salon and has become a good friend. Past hurts have to be put aside while Val and Caro search for Effie.

This was a cute regency romance that, while relying on tropes common in the genre, still felt overall fresh and engaging. I liked the story and the romance elements.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

4/5 stars

Caro and Val were such a sweet love story! They were childhood lovers and a little friends to enemies storyline. More misunderstanding/immature reason than real enemies.

Caro was spunky and opinionated. I really enjoy when the MC can just own her personality and doesn’t back down. She was witty and fun.

Val had the pressure of the dukedom on him but learned what was important. It was nice to see Val learn from his previous mistakes and fix them. He didn’t make the same mistake over and over again. And made a point of apologizing over the previous mistake.

I enjoyed that their love story was happening while trying to solve a case. The author did a good job making sure not to take away from their love story. Overall I enjoyed it and had no idea who had stolen their friend!

I enjoyed this a lot more than the first book in the series. Val and Caro's relationship was handled better (no insta-love) and they were more interesting characters, but I wanted more from them as a couple. It seemed light on the romance, heavy on the mystery for a book marketed as a romance; however, trying to determine what happened to Effie Warrington held my interest, even if it wasn't the cleverest of plots. A solid read that I think fans of historical mysteries and romances alike will enjoy. Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.