LOVED THIS SERIES! I love how Diana Quincy includes MENA culture in her books and shows that people of Arab descent absolutely existed in England during the regency era.

I really liked the Marquess Makes His Move. Another wonderful read. Book #3 is my favorite so far. Brandon is marvelous. Rose, another woman making her mark in a man's world. A talented Mapmaker that has to hide her identity. Roger is a cad, and what he's done to Rose is awful. An intriguing story with a wonderful ending. A great series.
#TheMarquessMakesHisMove #NetGalley

I give The Marquess Makes His Move 4 stars for its Romantic read.
I would recommend this book to Historical Romance Fans.

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING OMG I NEED MORE
It had a great plot with a unique storyline and amazing characters that had believable chemistry.
the book was also super fast paced with a very easy writing style that kept my attention the whole time, which is super important in a book

Diana Quincy's "The Duke Who Ravished Me" is one of my favorite historicals of all time so I went into "The Marquess Makes His Move" with VERY high expectations. I requested this book initially because of the heroine's occupation as I've found it difficult to track down historical romances where the main character is an artist in the past and was hoping to get close to that with Rose. While this book had many enjoyable twists and turns, I found that I struggled to get to the very end. I'm not a massive fan of lying as the main plot point. That being said, I'm very excited to read Quincy's other novels!

After Her Night With the Duke hit the top of my historical romance favorites list, I am always anticipating new Diana Quincy novels! This novel includes one of my favorite parts of historical romances - women in traditionally male roles who are turning their worlds upside down. It's so fun to see a woman mapmaker and learn more about the trade. Quincy also delivers a fantastic forbidden romance between the mapmaker and her footman. The tension, the build-up, and the release were just perfect! The Marquess Makes His Move is just full of everything readers love in a historical romance.

Overall Score: 3.5/5
The Marquess Makes His Move features an Arab hero who is somewhat shunned by the ton because of his familial history and a female heroine mapmaker who works under the cover of her husband's name. The couple meet when Alex, the Marquess of Brandon, poses as a footman to uncover nefarious ways he has been cheated out of land by a mapmaker. He is unaware that the famous mapmaker is actually the mistress of the house with whom he is developing feelings of lust and love.

Pros:
*Quick read: the narrative is full of short-sentence dialogue; little internal dialogue
*Fun secondary characters: I particularly enjoyed Owen who is paid by the Marquess in exchange for footman lessons
*HEA
*Quick pacing
*Nice representation of prejudice of the times
*Nice build to the love story

Cons:
*Lack of inner monologue and short dialogue sentences almost made the book feel shallow
*Hidden identity trope: those who enjoy the trope should enjoy this book. Personally, it's my least favorite trope. I prefer couples that communicate.
*I wish the couple had communicated better about Rose's fears of being too enthusiastic in intimacy. The issue was too easily resolved.
I would have loved one final scene between Rose and Roger in which he attempted to cause tension for Rose and Alex

I was provided an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. This did not impact this author's opinions in any way.

Thanks NetGalley for the chance to read such an interesting story. Rose is a mapmaker. She does beautiful work but her husband takes credit for it all. Alex the marquess gets hired as a footman to see why her husband drew a map that takes his water access away and gives it to the neighbor. Alex and Rose become very close and then they find out she is not really married to her husband. He has a wife and children at a village outside of London. He supports them with her money. Alex marries Rose to protect her and because he is falling in love with her. They work to get everything straightened out and have a peaceful life together.

I received this book as an ARC. The Marquess Makes His Move was my first ever read from Diana Quincy. I had no idea what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised. I really appreciated that this novel addresses different parts of society, I really enjoyed reading about a thriving Arab community. So often historical romances are very white, or prejudices are glossed over, so I appreciated the care that Diana Quincy took to show the prejudice and joy that Alex and his extended family experience. Even though this is the third book in this Clandestine Affair series, I never felt lost.

Alexander, the half Arab Marquess of Brandon, has been cheated out of land by London's preeminent mapmaker, R. Fleming. Does he confront the mapmaker or even the thieving neighbor? Of course not! Instead he goes undercover in the Fleming house as a footman to find evidence of the theft, of course! As a Marquess, he has the slightest idea of what he's doing, and he cannot keep his innate arrogance in check. But that's okay because the beautiful, natch, Rose Fleming, mistress of the house appreciates his candor. Unbeknownst to Alex, Rose is the real mapmaker. Rose is a lovely character. Although she's made herself smaller for her truly horrible husband's sake, she rediscovers her feistiness in the company of Alex. The real treasure of this book was Rose's transformation from lonely wife to a woman who stands up to not only her loathsome husband, but also Alex.

This was a sometimes silly but fun book with a ludicrous setup, but it was also unexpectedly touching with depths of emotion. Plus, of course, it also contains hot love scenes. It's definitely worth a read.

In Diana Quincy's latest regency outing, a woman keeps her mapmaking secret, leaving her husband as the face of the business. Rose is dissatisfied with her life, but all the sacrifices seem necessary to pursue her cartography dreams. To add to her messy life, Rose's new footman may be very attractive, but he doesn't seem to know much about how to do his job. And this, of course, is because Alex is none other than the reclusive Marquess of Brandon in disguise. Cheated by the mapmaker whom Alex believes to be Rose's husband, he's out for evidence that will satisfy his need for vengeance. Alex and Rose have easy banter uncharacteristic of their two stations (either real or fabricated), and they also bond on a deeper level over their shared Arab heritage, though Rose has been largely disconnected from that part of her life since her grandfather's passing. A shocking twist sends Rose's marriage up in flames, leaving space for a new spark between Rose and Alex.

I enjoyed the plot of this romance, which includes external drama and social pressures in addition to the love story. The pacing was a bit mixed for me, sometimes shifting into warp speed and other times meandering. While the romance was perfectly fine, I was more taken with Rose's journey to live a happy life both professionally and personally. Many exciting moments kept me curious and attentive. This is a fun read that historical romance readers will devour. Thanks to Avon for my copy to read and review!

Great cover art to entice the reader ! Liked the plot of this story and had good characterization.....would have liked a bit more detail and steam but overall an ok book .

In this third book of the "A Clandestine Affair" series we find Alex, the Marquess of Brandon posing and not very well as a footman. He has good reason for the charade. The map maker in whose home he is working has cheated him and his people and he means to find the evidence. Unfortunately for him, his investigation brings him in contact with the wife of his nemesis, Mrs. Rose Fleming. Therein lies the dilemma, a mutual attraction is developing, but how are they going to find their HEA when she is already married. The author comes up with a wonderfully unique solution to that quandary. But you must read the book to find out what it is.

Rose Fleming (map-maker extraordinaire) is attracted to her new footman, Alex (who is really the Marquess of Brandon). She is secretly making maps for well-known aristocrats saying it is really her husband doing so. He is secretly trying to get info on Mr Fleming that proves the map he made cheats Alex out of part of his lands. Can Alex still take revenge on him if it also affects Rose??

The author introduces many Arabic words and customs throughout since Alex’s mother was Arabian (I believe Palestinian). His father was of the British aristocracy. That brings up the fact that many people used to think poorly of anyone of mixed ancestry as well as those who were merchants/tradesmen. Alex felt he had to prove himself a worthy aristocrat.

Rose had a double-whammy against her… she was a woman in trade and in a “man’s” occupation. It would’ve been almost impossible to prove herself at all. Both Rose and Alex were kind and didn’t believe in treating others differently due to class differentiation.

Alex becomes Rose’s steamy support system. There could’ve been lots more scenes in my opinion. It was a very engaging book and I will definitely read the first 2 in the series.

When I was reading this book and reached the twist in the middle, I gasped aloud in such a way that my husband thought that something terrible had happened. To avoid any spoilers, I won’t reveal what exactly got that reaction from me—however, I will say that, up until that point, I thought I had foreseen where the plot was going, but Quincy got me!!!
I really enjoyed the opening premise of this book: Alex, a Marquess, disguises himself as a footman in order to find evidence that a mapmaker has cheated him out of his land. He begins to fall in love, however, with the mapmaker’s wife—who we know all along is actually the mapmaker in question, because she does the work for the business while her loathsome husband merely profits from it—and Alex and Rose quickly find themselves drawn closer and closer together. This premise did really interesting things in regard to class. At first, Rose thinks that Alex is below her on the socioeconomic scale and then it is revealed that, in fact, he is far above her in the social hierarchy. This allowed the book to elegantly cover a wide span of the Regency social spectrum in a way that was really refreshing to read, not to mention true to the period. This wide social scope recalled actual nineteenth-century novels in the best way.
This book also does such a good job of modulating plot and emotion. All of the characters’ reactions to what unfolds felt totally natural—I tend to get easily frustrated with main characters’ emotional reactions to plot events, especially when there are dramatic events and revelations, but I felt thoroughly satisfied here with how Quincy renders Rose and Alex’s emotional responses. I also loved the details of this book: Rose’s mapmaking, Alex’s realizations about what life is like for servants, and the way that Rose and Alex share the overlapping aspects of their heritage—all were beautifully done. I particularly enjoyed how their relationship allowed both of them, by the end, to balance the different aspects of their identities in true harmony: their pasts, their families, their work—it all came together for a super convincing and satisfying HEA. Alex and Rose have a real love story and, in particular, you really feel how much he gives to her, but not in a way that felt like it detracted from the strength of her character. Rather, I felt like Alex allows Rose to fully enjoy life and achieve what she wants not just logistically but emotionally…and that was gorgeous to see unfold on the page.

I enjoyed this so much! Such a unique plot. I couldn't put it down and highly recommend!

I received an ARC for my honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher.

Diana Quincy's Clandestine Affairs series is one of my favorite historicals out there, and The Marquess Makes His Move is a great addition. While I typically read romance for swoon-worthy relationship building and sexual tension, here I found myself glued to the plot: both Rose and Brandon have massive secrets, from each other and from themselves. I could not put the book down — it is a riot from start to finish.

Wow, this was a ride. This had plot twist after plot twist and had me on the edge of my seat.

Main premise: Alexander, the Marquess of Brandon had been cheated out of some area of his land due to an inaccurate commissioned map. So, he goes to the mapmaker's house, Mr Roger Fleming, and pretends to be his footman in order to find out who was behind the offense. Unbeknownst to him, the real mapmaker was Mrs Rose Fleming, the wife, and they begin to fall in love once truths start unraveling.

This has a great and engaging plot, and I couldn't believe some things that happened in here. Rest assured, I got a bit scared of the romance when we see that Rose is already a married woman, but don't worry. No cheating was involved.

The main representation was of course Alex/Brandon the hero himself, who is half-Arab from his mother's side, hailing from a family of Arab cotton merchants in Manchester. He and his family (his sister was the heroine of book 1, his cousin the heroine of book 2) faced a lot of prejudice and racism, him even more by members of the ton as he inherited the marquess title from his white British father, and I thought those subjects were explored well.

This was my first book by this author, and I found that the writing style was quite plain and had little nuance so that took a bit of getting used to.

Tropes: titled hero in disguise as a footman, heroine with an occupation as mapmaker/cartographer, marriage of convenience, [surprise pregnancy (near the end).

Diana Quincy behind another winner for me when it comes to this series. I wasn't all that bothered by the conceit of both halves of the main couple having secrets, especially in regards to their individual identities, and I was impressed by the way in which the book handled the issue of Rose seemingly already being married when her path crossed with Brandon's. The pacing of the story slowed down a little for me right around the 75% mark once the two of them decided to get hitched, but it was nice to see Brandon being put through his paces on a groveling front and even in spite of Rose's reluctance to forgive him for his omissions, the two of them don't spend very long struggling through their angst. All in all, another solid installment here (though I think #2 is still my top favorite in this series overall) and Quincy's become a must-follow for me in histrom.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Diana Quincy writes romance books that make the reader want to keep turning the page! The Marquess of Brandon is determined to discover who is trying to cheat him out of his land. Rose Fleming is carrying a secret she doesn't want anyone to know. She is London's most renowned mapmaker.

As the two come together to discover the mystery of who drew the map, romance abounds. Readers will enjoy this book.

I loved the first half of the book when Brandon goes undercover and thought it was hilarious and kept me engaged in the book. Once the big secret was revealed, the book dragged on a little because of Rose. She gets mad at Brandon for his deception but it’s not like she is being honest about everything so it seems a little hypocritical of her to be so angry at him. I loved how the author incorporated Brandon’s ancestry in the book and it was so much fun to read that part. I am definitely craving maamoul and sage-infused tea after reading about it in the book. This is book three in the “Clandestine Affairs” series but could be read as a standalone.

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

I have to admit, when I started this book and found out that our heroine is MARRIED to someone who isn’t the hero, a part of me was tempted to put it down. However, the way the book plays out, I ended up enjoying myself.

Mostly.

Basically, Brandon pretends to be a footman so that he can investigate Rose’s husband, who he suspects of some very shady dealings. What he doesn’t know is that there is far more going on behind the scenes than he realized!

I’m going to be honest and say this felt very slow at times and it took me a while to get through it. Some parts also felt a tad melodramatic (the big “confrontation” at the end had me rolling my eyes just a bit).

I was also frustrated with both Rose and Brandon. They had horrible communication. They even have sex for the first time while she still thinks he’s a footman and doesn’t even know who he really is! That pissed me off and I wish it had been addressed more later on. I would have liked Brandon more if he had refused to go “all the way” with her until he told her the truth.

Overall, though, I enjoyed Rose and Brandon’s story, even if the way all the issues were resolved was a bit confusing. I would explain this further, but it would be a major spoiler. If you know, you know. You know? 😜

This was definitely not a new favorite or anything, and I’m not as in love with this series as some other people are, but it was ok. I’m glad I read it and will probably continue on when the next book comes out.