*I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This book didn't work for me.

The writing isn't good and the relationship was odd. This felt way longer than it is and wasn't engaging. I was not interested in the romance aspect or how the plot played out.

I recommend reading the two previous books in the series. There are interacting characters from those books in this one.
Felton Lance, Viscount Gantry, is a Lieutenant for the Department of War and Colonies. He always drops everything and disappears for weeks or months at a time when he gets a white note. Saved by the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner, while spying in the West Indies, he marries her and brings her back to England. His job comes first and he continues to leave his daughters from his first marriage and Cecilia, his new wife. She is an exceptional painter, but hides her paintings from Felton, because she doesn't trust him. He does not understand her as well as his father when it comes to her art and it creates friction and jealousy between them. After a year of marriage, Cecilia has had enough and disappears while Felton is on another mission looking for a traitor. When he returns and no wife, he realizes he has messed up. It is going to take everything he knows and does not know to get her back. Sometimes it is still confusing to distinguish dialog from thoughts in this series, but I've enjoyed these unique characters.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

This is the third in this series and it was just as fun as the first two! I love a good romp with romance and humor sprinkled in. This book did not disappoint me at all. Just what I needed for a rainy day read

I enjoyed the third and final book in this series. Cecelia and Felton marry to help each other out, Cecelia's saftey and Gantry being a widower with two young daughters. Cecelia ends up running away, feeling like they shouldn't have married, and one day, Felton stumbles across a painting of hers, and ends up finding her. They both have to make a decision.

I hate that this is the last book in the series, because I have enjoyed this series. The secondary characters were very supportive in this book, as well as gave such great advice to both characters individually. I enjoyed the style of the author with these regency stories and I can't wait to read the next book by the author.

I received a copy of the book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review of my own thoughts and opinions.

A Duke, the Spy, an Artist, and a Lie by Vanessa Riley is the third and reportedly final book in her Rogues and Remarkable Women series.

Cecilia Thomas is a beautiful island princess who finds herself hastily married to an English gentleman. Felton finds his wife to be intriguing and intelligent, sadly his family doesn’t agree. How will this married couple come to terms with the difficult situation they’re in?

Vanessa Riley weaves another web of intrigue. The well-developed, likable characters find themselves embroiled in an engaging plot with interesting twists. Ms. Riley reveals the story through the alternating viewpoints of the primary characters. This method works well due to the usage of appropriate chapter headers. The author once again features interracial relationships and multicultural themes. A Duke, the Spy, an Artist, and a Lie rates 4 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to all readers of romance, especially multicultural/historical romance.

My thanks to Kensington Books, Zebra, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. However, the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine and mine alone.

A Duke, the Spy, An Artist, and a Lie is the third book in Vanessa Riley’s -Rogues & Remarkable Women series- and is the only book of the series I have read. I likely would have enjoyed this story MUCH more had I read books one and two in the series. As it stands I was unable to connect with the characters, I was not drawn into the plot, and by the end of the book I was just anxious for it to be over. The different POV from the MC caused the story to feel jumbled and as if I was reading a story that was being placed on fast-forward leaving the characters as shallow shells instead of well-developed.

I am sorry but this book and I just did not get along 😕

Lush historical with intrigue, humor, and lots of action and steamy scenes. I love the unique look into a familiar time frame in historical romance.

I had a really hard time with this one. The story seemed to drag, the conflict was weirdly manufactured and interminable, and the heroine had little redeeming qualities. Not for me.

Vanessa Riley is back with more Rogues and Remarkable Women!



In The Duke, The Spy, an Artist and a Lie we are back on the shores or England and Jamaica as we travel through the ups and downs of Lord Gantry and Cecilia Thomas’ relationship.



These two meet while Gantry is on a spy mission in Jamaica. A chance encounter brings them together and they decide to take a chance on each other and marry after their first encounter. But this is not a love match, but one of convenience and attraction. Cecilia’s gets the adventure she craves and Gantry gets a a new wife…



Now we flip to their wedded unbliss! Gantry, a typical man has no clue that Cecilia is miserable as he galavants around in service to the crown, while she is stuck in a home where her sister-in-law rules and she is mistreated due to her ethnicity.



At a breaking point she decides to leave… now fool Gantry begins his search to bring home the wife he never bothered to know while he had her…



Wow- this was a hard pill to swallow. I’m not a fan of the marriage in trouble trope- it stresses me out too much! But I held on and made it to the HEA in this tale. Was it easy? No! But like any relationship where choices were made in haste, communication is lacking and there is great amounts of time spent separated, it’s not going to be an easy fix. I was glad I stuck this out and was happy at the revelations made in the journey to reconciliation!

A Duke, the Spy, an Artist, and a Lie by Vanessa Riley is scheduled to release April 6th, 2022.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Zebra, Kensington Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#ADuketheSpyanArtistandaLie #VanessaRiley #Netgalley #pinkcowlandreads

Cecilia is an heiress; painter and she marries sexy military lieutenant Viscount Gantry to keep her safe and from danger and he is a spy. Viscount Gantry disappears often whenever a white note arrives and he’s gone away for months at a time and dedicate to his work which always comes first with him. Cecilia is always left alone in Gantry’s mansion to take care of his daughters from a previous marriage. She and Gantry father has a rather nice relationship and Gantry seems too jealous of their relationship. Growing tired of her situation Cecilia leaves while Gantry is away on a mission. Gantry returns to his mansion and there no Cecilia; he then realizes that he should’ve spent more time with her. Cecilia is very resourceful and she continues to outwit Gantry as he searches for her.
It was nice to get updates on the Widow’s Grace. I so loved how Cecilia continued to outwit Gantry.

I received an ARC via NetGalley and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

I must admit I had high hopes for Vanessa Riley’s latest novel in the Regency series, Rogues and Remarkable Women. I loved the first in this series, A Duke , the Lady and a Baby. It was a five star read. Like the second in the series, this third title, left me uninvolved. I just did not relate. Maybe because the chemistry between the major characters, Jamaican heiress Cecilia Thomas and lieutenant Lord Gantry wasn’t doing much for me. The Ah! Ha! factor is just not shining through. Others obviously enjoyed it. But then reading responses, like how you take your coffee, is such a personal thing.

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley

while the title intrigued me, the book was quite slow paced for a while. it bored me for the first half, but the story really picked up towards the end. i did love the characters though, and the characters were what made me keep reading, even when i was bored. 3 stars because of the beginning boring me

I enjoyed the historical context and explanations but the plot itself fell a little short and I had a problem keeping up with the dialogue.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really liked Felton in this book but didn’t like how he treated Cecilia by constantly leaving her without any faith and trust and then hoping she would forgive him by feeding her treats. The whole cycle just felt toxic. But I liked Cecelia even less because rather than attempt to talk to Felton about this, she trusts his father and shares her problems with him. I really wanted to like this book as I had enjoyed the previous book from this series. I liked The Widow’s Grace and the previous books in this series but this book didn’t work for me. The hero and heroine just frustrated me throughout the whole book. My favorite part of the book was Moo Moo.

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

I received this book courtesy of the publisher Zebra Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This is the third book in a very promising series by author Vanessa Riley. I am a true fan of her work and thoroughly enjoy reading her novels. Having read the two books prior to this one in the series I was ecstatic to receive this book. Sadly, after multiple attempts I failed to connect with the characters. The storyline started off very promising, but it didn’t keep me engaged. I will continue to support this author as I genuinely enjoy her style of writing and her stories. Perhaps I’ll revisit this one in the future with a different result. I do recommend this book as well as others by this author. I’m sure there are readers that will be able to embrace the characters and fall in love with the story.
#ADuketheSpyanArtistandaLie #NetGalley.

I received a copy of this title from the publisher; all opinions are my own. 3.25 stars rounded down to 3. This I the third book in the series and can be read as a stand alone but the first book features the elder sister of Cecilia, the heroine of this one.

I'm not going to rehash the plot, but instead explain what worked and didn't for me. I liked both Tramel and Cecilia, but didn't feel like I got enough to fully believe in their love. I found Cecilia's relationship with her father in law to be difficult to understand in the context of this story too. What I appreciate about all of Ms. Riley's books are the diversity she brings to the period while maintaining historical accuracy and the notes she includes at the end of each title. There is an interesting setup for a future book that I'll be curious to see how the situation is handled. Overall I did enjoy this book and the writing is engaging.

With a series of flashbacks we learn that Felton Lance, Lord Gentry, who is the heir of a duke and a spy under Lord Liverpool meets Miss Cecilia Thomas, the daughter of a wealthy man in Demerara, in the Caribbean. He was on a mission and she saved his life literally by flirting with him. So he asks for her hand in marriage and she says yes. At the beginning everything goes well, there’s a lot of passion, Cecilia gets along with his daughters from a previous marriage, but soon enough Felton has to go away on missions which take months for him to solve. Cecilia, an incredibly talented painter, feels more and more rejected by his jealous sister and doesn’t feel respected by the servants. Also being a blackamoor makes her stand out so life is anything but easy for her. Eventually she leaves him and the drama is served.

This is my least favorite book of the series. There was something quite right about the writing, the style was great as usual in Vanessa Riley but sometimes I got the feeling that she repeats many of the conversations like if the two main characters were caught in a loop every so often. I did find many of the conversations interesting because of the subjects that are explained in the novel, things like being a woman, being different, cultural shocks, slaverism, family, loyalties and morality. Still, their personal conversations, when the subject was their relationship, they felt frustrating, and they were indeed frustrating for the characters, but they never talk properly, even at the end when Cilia wants to confess something he shuts her with his kisses, twice. I felt passion but not chemistry, so the passion felt momentaneous instead of progressive. And the love triangle was, I mean, what was the point? I don’t want to spoil who the third party is but, it felt a bit embarrassing, like he were grooming or manipulating her with good intentions somehow. I didn’t see the point of adding that to the plot. We have spies, we have adventures, we have freeing slaves from plantations, the drama with her little sister… we had more than enough for a great story.

Finally I must say that despite everything I enjoyed the book because it’s Vanessa Riley, it’s her beautiful writing and her characters from previous books, which I loved so much, have important roles in the second half of this book. It just lacks in comparison with the other two, that’s all.

A spy pursues his estranged wife, desperate to make amends, while she searches for her sister who has been enslaved in Jamaica.

All Regency romances stretch the historical truth, embellishing the "Marriage Mart" into a ton where Dukes are plentiful and "love matches" abound. Riley allows Black characters to into that world--not only through the romanticized history of marriage in the peerage but also in the historical realities for people of color in Regency England: the tens of thousands of free Black people as well as the free and enslaved people Black people in colonized Jamaica. Riley's romances are more history-laden than most historical romances, and her writing style is more literary, so be prepared for a slower but richer read. I highly recommend all three of Riley's Rogues and Remarkable Women books to fans of Regency Romance novels and to fans of the Netflix series "Bridgerton."

For adventurous heiress Cecilia Charity Thomas, marrying charming military lieutenant Viscount Gantry to save him from danger and herself from mercenary suitors was a painful mistake. Instead of a passionate life together, she's stranded at his chilly mansion with his unaccepting family. Worse, she finds he is actually a spy dedicated to duty over wedlock and secrets over trust. So when she hears her sister has been driven to her death, Cecilia is determined to expose the powerful man responsible. Assisted by The Widow's Grace, she flees to Covent Garden with a new identity. Gantry has put everything aside to hunt down the traitor who nearly killed him. It’s only when Cecilia leaves that he realizes his real duty should have been to her. As she continually outwits him through London's most perilous streets, Gantry realizes his wife is a resourceful, courageous woman he longs to truly know.
This is the third book in the series & could be read on its own although some questions from the earlier books are answered. Another well written book with strong characters but I never felt I really got to know them. There was much I really enjoyed about the book but I didn't love it. I didn't like Cecilia, I preferred Fenton but that was only later in the book. So I wasn’t particularly invested in them finding their HEA plus I didn't feel much chemistry between them. So I'm a bit on the fence about it & have reflected on my feelings for a while before writing my review, my leat favourite book in the series.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

This is the story of Celia and Feltron, two people who met in interesting circumstances, set on to marry with the promise of a life full of adventure. The book captures their great fight of giving each other another chance, after their estrangement.

Celia is a not a simple woman. She is a wealthy brown woman from the colonies, a very gifted artist, who calms her stress caused by noise with long walks and her art.
Feltron is not a simple man. He is an active spy when he meets Celia, torn between her and his duty from the very beginning. But then, all through the book his spy skills don't gift the pages as he retires and looses his helpful connections.

This book is so, so complex- which makes it hard for me to review it.
I didn't felt connected to the characters and it didn't keep me fully engaged. I believe this is because there are so many active moments, the chapters are pretty short in order to let the scenes succeed. I believe, with so many things happening, this could very well be turned into a movie.

Felton father, Tramel's involvement, and his big part in their relationship was not my favorite things. And I didn't like that so much of the book is not about their happy moments together but how much their lack of communication, his absence, his lack of protection, hurt her. But then how can she emerge to be such a powerhouse?! She is a truly strong woman.

There are also a lot of things to like about this book. Celia is an incredible woman, and Felton loves her beautifully. He is always flattering her, appreciating her body in all its beauty. He comes for her, over and over until he succeeds. Their way with foo, how it is written, is a work of art. This and also the details of colors and paintings and the complex Jacaranda flowers, this things are woven so skillfully into the book.

I think the author wanted to make a lot of this love story. It may, at times, feel too much, it is more about all the important tropes she wanted to picture than their love story. Which we, readers of romance, want above all else. What this book left me with is this world of a woman from Demerara in Regency times, her condition that I didn't know about before to this extend. For this, I appreciate this book greatly.

It may not be the romance you would think it is, but it's a valuable book nevertheless.

I received a copy of this in exchange for my honest view on it.