When we first read of Lady Maryann Beresford, I thought she is rather a bit of a ditzy young lady. What daughter of a duke would take off to travel alone in the era after Napoleon's first defeat even if it is to end up in Vienna to visit her sister. Lady Mary planned on following the travels of one William Beckford. Fortunately, his journal also contains some good travel advice to lessen her being taken advantage of in her journey. Her actions and her general nature has totally exasperated her brother, Devere. Due to a fractured leg, he is unable to go after her, but an university acquaintance, Stephen Stanhope is to attend the Congress of Vienna. Having sisters of his own, Stephen agrees to follow and meet up with the wayward Mary. Stephen is as straight laced as Lady Mary is unrestricted. As the tale unfolds we find that Mary is kind, intelligent, and actually quite logical in most circumstances. As luck would have, traveling over the Alps she meets a fellow Brit, an older retired governess, Miss Willets. From here her luck runs out, or does it. An early snow storm, attitude sickness, and the disappearance of Miss Willets allows Stephen to catch up to Lady Mary. Then the fun really begins. Although the bad guys are pretty evident, the reader really doesn't know what they will do next. It moves the story along quite nicely. And of course, there is that question, What have they done with Miss Willets?

❤️A Romance full of Adventure - Mystery - Danger - Intrigue - and of course, Passion!❤️‍🔥

Lady Mary's Dangerous Encounter is the first book in The Beresford Adventures by author Cheryl Bolen - an author who knows how to combine all the aspects of a story that I love, creating an utterly captivating book! I thoroughly enjoyed this story, Bolen’s world building and setting are vividly relayed, taking the reader “into” the world she creates right alongside her fun characters. The combination of tropes including romantic adventure and falling for a friends sibling go together very well.


What starts as a favor for a friend turns into a tantalizing romance full of twists and turns and sprinkled liberally with wonderful angst and budding desire, the love between Lord Stephen Stanhope and Lady Mary Beresford makes for a fun book! Will these two survive their journey through the Alps or will their stop at the quaint chateau lead to more than the disappearance of Mary’s traveling companion? Why are people acting like Mary’s missing companion never even existed?

I think you will find this story to be entertaining and a great introduction to the Beresford Adventures series, I know I am looking forward to the next book!

Overall Ratings 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 3 Flames 🔥🔥🔥

📚Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from Dragonblade Publishing via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, comments, and interpretations of the story are my own and bias free. I did not receive any money in exchange for this review. Thank you to the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to review. 🦄

this checked off everything I look for in a book. Was not disappointed. Really enjoyed this book. I will read more from this author. Must read. Historical fiction oh yeah. Love me some of this book.

This book was over the top but not in a good way. I had a hard time liking Lady Mary. She was childish and not very realistic as a character. The fact that she didn't bring her ladies maid with her was a red flag that this book did not stick to the time period.

It was a good book. The author makes the characters come to life. It was a good and fast read.



Thank you Netgalley for giving me an ARC

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

For Lady Mary Beresford she want's more than the typical life for a debutante. She dreams of travelling, and imperiously sets off for Vienna, alone, to witness the Congress take place for herself. Realising what his sister has done, her brother, Henry, the Earl of Devere, asks his friend Stephen to find Mary, and protect her until she arrives in Vienna, and stays with her sister. But it's hard going to travel across the Alps, and when the group are snowed in together, mystery appears. For Mary is adamant she had been travelling with a companion, who's disappeared, and no one else believes her, apart from Stephen. As they search for the truth, the danger ramps up, and it's clear they may be risking it all, not least their hearts.

This book was one that was a little bit of an impulse request on NG, but one I found myself enjoying a lot. The main characters were a little tough to start off with, but once we were into the story properly, and understood what made them tick, I was fully invested. I was also pleasantly surprised by the mysterious aspect too. Sometimes books are wholly about the romance, and there's nothing wrong with that, but the plot line here really improved on it all. Stephen and Mary were a fantastic couple, and though there were some miscommunication issues at first, I loved how they ended up together, and solved the mystery of the missing governess. I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series, and hope we see the couple again.

Another one I award my best "Mystery loves Romance, and she might like him back!" This story has both and is a winner. It is a quiet nod to The Lady Vanishes so you can't go wrong. Our heroine, Lady Sophia, is off to Vienna. Along the way, she meets a nice older lady and they strike up a friendship. All great. Lord Stephen is also on the way to Vienna and has been asked to find/look after Lady Sophia. He can't seem to catch up for a while, but when he does... Sophia's friend has disappeared and no one remembers her at all. Loved this story!!!

All the ingredients of a a good historical romance and adventure. Setting and plot are a bit more unusual and a hero/heroine who are unconventional.

Stephen, son of a Duke, is on his way to the conferences in Vienna. A friend asks him to keep an eye on his sister, Mary, as she also travels to Vienna to see her sister. At his friends' request, Stephen catches up to Mary and pretends he was not following her. Meanwhile, an elderly woman that had been traveling with Mary disappears and no one seems to know anything about her, but Mary. Mary refuses to allow anyone to stop her from searching for an answer to the mysterious disappearance. Wonderful!
Thank you Cheryl Bolen, Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest feedback.

Mystery, Suspense, and Romance

Lady Mary’s traveling companion disappeared, and everyone is conspiring to say that this companion was just a figment of her imagination. There is only one man who believes her, but he has a secret. What happened to lady Mary’s traveling companion? What is Stephen’s secret, and will he be able to help Mary discover the truth?

When lady Mary goes on her adventure, she has no idea that she will lose her heart, nor does she understand the deadly peril that awaits her. Deception, murder, and secrets will keep you on the edge of your seat. I enjoyed this story and would recommend it to those who like historical romance with adventure, mystery, and intrigue. Once the mystery began, it kept me turning pages until the very end.

Cheryl Bolen is my go to for regency romance that’s clever, sexy, and engaging. Lady Mary’s Dangerous Encounter’s Mary is addictively quirky, and the hero is your kind hearted yet hot lord. As the two traipse through a murder mystery and find love in the process, the reader follows along on their fun adventure.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this.

I found this a very enjoyable read, and not what I was expecting, for a book that takes place in one main location.

Slight mystery and not an overly romanticised story made this a fun read.

Well, I loved the premise and how fun the prologue is. I genuinely am interested in the shenanigans of this Lady Mary. However, as I continue reading, I realized how annoying Mary as a character is. She thinks that being annoying and causing problems to other people are her personality traits and she's definitely proud of it. It's such a shame since I kinda like Stephen a little bit, but it's just that they have no chemistry at all.

Lady Mary is an impetuous woman, one who decides to visit her sister, unaccompanied, in Vienna. Lord Stephen is asked by her brother to make sure that no harm befalls her on her journey. When he finally catches up to her, they are trapped by a snowstorm in a hostel with other travelers. Lady Mary is troubled by the disappearance of the woman that she meets while traveling, and enlists the aid of Lord Stephen to help her unravel the mystery. Their close association develops into romance while investigating the strange goings-on and odd characters stranded with them.
I did not enjoy this story as much as other novels by Ms. Bolen. I did not feel that the characters of Lady Mary or Lord Stephen were sympathetic enough to care what happens to them. Mary's penchant for embellishing the truth and haring off unescorted to the Continent made her seem flighty, at best. She is outraged when she discovers that Lord Stephen followed her at the behest of her brother, which should not have ruffled her feathers to the point that she attempts to cut off ties with him. And Lord Stephen could do much better, in my opinion.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Mary lives for adventure, and takes the opportunity to go off to Vienna when her brother is bedridden-knowing he won't be able to stop her. He enlists Stephen, an old school chum whom he knows is heading to Vienna himself for a political conference, to trackdown Mary before she gets herself into trouble. When Stephen finally catches up with her in a mountain inn, he finds she is already embroiled in a mystery regarding her missing traveling companion-whom no one else remembers seeing. She is certain something horrible has happened to her friend and knows she's not crazy-she convinces Stephen to help her find out what happened to the woman. At first Stephen goes along to humor her, thinking she is making the story up. But when it appears that Mary herself is in danger, he realizes there is more to her story, and risks his life and reputation to protect her., falling for her in the process.

Lady Mary's Dangerous Encounter is the first book in The Beresford Adventures by Cheryl Bolen, an author whose books never fail to tick all the boxes of everything that makes a book a wonderful read. This one is no exception. It has romance, intrigue, danger and excitement

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Lady Mary's journey abroad. Cheryl puts a lot of time into researching everything that she wants to write about in her stories and it shows. She doesn't just tell you that Mary crosses the Alps and then gets snowed in, she tells you how she crosses the Alps. She sets the scenes perfectly and I can't explain sufficiently enough how much that makes me enjoy her stories. From start to finish Mary's story captivated me. I couldn't fathom what could have happened to the elderly woman. Who would want to take her, why would they try to make out she never existed? Why did somebody want Mary dead? So many questions and I honestly never had any idea who was behind it all.

The adventure of the story was fabulous, then you add in the budding romance between Mary and Lord Stephen Stanhope with their perfect kisses. You have the will they or won't they have a future together, put it all together and there you have it, the perfect book. I loved it and am very much looking forward to the next in the series.

It all started as a favor for a friend... its leads to danger, mystery, adventure and love. A tantalizing storyline which held my interest from page one. The characters were wonderful and the whodunnit was well done. There are twist and turns which make it even more interesting... a complete package! I recommend this read.

I was gifted this book as an ARC and this is my voluntary and honest review.

A fun mystery historical romance with a loving main character. When I first started the book I thought it would focus mainly on the romance and I had no idea about the mystery part. But in the end I enjoyed the mystery slightly more than the romance. I thought that the characters fell in love a bit too fast, but I can also understand it after everything they went through. I am excited to read Mary’s brother book when it releases.
4,25⭐️

Lady Mary departs London to visit her sister in Vienna without a chaperone, or maid, or an escort! All because she wants an adventure! She decides to travel through the Alps in December, and meets another lady also traveling to Vienna. When they stop at a Chateau overnight and Mary's new traveling companion disappears, no one else will admit the lady every existed.
Lord Stephan Stanhope has followed Lady Mary from London at her brother's request as he also on his way to Vienna. Lord Stephan meets up with Mary at the Chateau where her traveling companion disappears.
Cheryl Bolen has written an amazing story that is unique, yet contains everything for a wonderful romance story!
This is a fabulous new series! I can't wait to read the next book! I highly recommend!

This was certainly unexpectedly exciting for a book that takes place mostly in one location! The missing lady who was traveling with the same group as Lady Mary was a great idea and made for a fascinating mystery when nobody could recall her being with the group in the first place. Having a "modern day knight" come to her rescue was the romance we needed. Adored this book! #netgalley #ladymarysdangerousencounter