Thank you to HarperCollins, publisher and Sophie Jordan for allowing me to have an ARC and give feedback on The Scoundrel Falls Hard.

First, this book is a bit of a departure from most historical romances. I kept waiting for Killen Fox to be revealed as the long lost Duke's brother or some such thing, but he wasn't. He was in fact, a true scoundrel who spent his life as a con man and thief. When his latest scam catches up with him, he is saved from a lynch mob by the village smithy, a woman named Gwen Cully.

Without spoiling the storyline, Gwen makes herself responsible for him. He isn't at all sure he likes her methods, but he can't deny the sizzling physical attraction between them. When she proposes a short-term platonic marriage, he reluctantly agrees, although being platonic is the farthest thing from his mind. Only after several twists and misunderstandings do they get their HEA.

The prose is witty and full of double entendres. Killen is a thoroughly likeable scoundrel and Gwen is a strong, independent woman. The requisite villain, Meyer, a caricature of the male chauvinist, finally gets his comeuppance.

I really, really liked this book because of the off beat premise (only one nobleman and he was peripheral to the story) and the author's creation of an anti-heroine. Gwen worked in a male-dominated career, she owned her own business and was physically tall and strong. No simpering miss here. Killen, despite his past, was not beyond redemption. The story is unexpected, sweet and with enough spice to keep it interesting. 4.5 stars.

Not your average heroine. The setup for this story is a decent chunk of this book— so don’t rush it expecting to get past the impetus point to get to the normal cadence. The strong, unusual heroine (for a Regency-type novel) is someone you can root for who does not follow the mob mentality, a blacksmith trying to prove herself to get her customers back after nursing family members causes custom to drift off. Not my favorite of Jordan’s work but delightful in how it stands out from the crowd!

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

Love Sophia Jordan books and this series has been so engaging. I had to so much traveling this past week am looking forward to compiling the read this rainy weekend.

full review coming up soon.

Sophie Jordan is always a hit author for me - it is unbelievably rare for me to read anything of hers and not spin with post 5-star read bliss and this was no exception.

I love love loved reading a historical romance not about nobles, but about working class people. A woman who is a blacksmith?? I love. The chemistry was too much- I was anticipating every kiss and every touch. As usual, Sophie Jordan did not skimp on the steammmmm!!

Highly recommend - so fun, so sweet, and so hot. Thank you to Sophie Jordan and Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Loved it! It was a nice historical romance which blurred the lines of typical historical tropes.

Gwen Cully saves a charlatan from an angry mob by professing her love. Now they are engaged, and he needs to stick around to protect her reputation.

A lot of historical tropes in this one: marriage of convenience, only one bed, small town. I liked how the heroine was not the standard bird-boned, tiny thing. She was tall and portrayed as more real. I identified with her feelings of being out of place in a small town because she had a traditionally male job. The hero's journey was very believable, I really got the sense he was ready to leave dishonesty behind him. I see a lot of dislike for this book in the series, but it might be my favorite overall. It was the first book in a very long time where I didn't find the third act break up ridiculous.

What a great love story! Gwen and Kellan were brought together by fate. Their love story is unconventional and sweet. I enjoyed how the grew to know each other. I really liked that it was a story that had redemption qualities for Kellan. I would recommend it.

Another great book from Sophie Jordan! I love a marriage of convenience book, and a sort of enemies to lovers. I would have appreciated more heartfelt connection but the story was still sexy and hot, and I am a fan of Sophie’s writing!

A strong independent woman has quite the unexpected guest in this incredible novel by Sophie Jordan. Gwen has been left to work her father’s smithy after his death. She’s not your stereotypical female lead. She’s strong, independent, and knows what she wants out of life. That is until Kellan Fox drops in out of nowhere. The swindler is being accosted by the towns people and Gwen only knows she has to save him before it gets out of hand. Or is he saving her? The Scoundrel Falls Hard is a wonderful romance novel that will leave you wanting to never leave the characters. The author does an amazing job of allowing you into the feelings of both characters and keeps you wanting more. I have to say I fell in love with these two and read the whole book in a night!

I absolutely loved "The Scoundrel Falls Hard" and ended up devouring it in a day. Gwen is a strong independent woman after my own heart, and a skilled blacksmith. Kellan respects her boundaries and does his best to care for her without compromising her independence. The sex scenes are hot. Plus this book has my absolute favorite trope: There Was Only One Bed.

This book tells the story of Gwen, who used to be the town's blacksmith and recently had to settle for being a blacksmith, and Kellan, the fake ducal heir trying to outrun his father's mistakes and his compliance with them. I did enjoy this book, but it seemed to be over very quickly. I think its a good edition to the series and it definitely served to set up the next book in the series, which I am excited to read.

3.5 stars.
I love Sophie Jordan. I did read an advance "uncorrected e-proof" copy of this book and I think maybe some of my complaints have to do with that. Like there was at least one scene that felt like maybe Sophie had it somewhere else chronologically in the book and then moved it to a different point and it hadn't yet been corrected for seamlessness yet.
That being said I enjoyed this book. It had some quintessential tropes - marriage of convenience, scoundrel reforms, only one bed. Gwen Cully, a blacksmith, saves Kellen Fox's life and the result is the two have to be married in three weeks. Neither had ever thought or wanted to get married, but they agree to the arrangement for a year. They will pretend to be a real couple in love and Kellen will help Gwen get her business back on its feet.
I really liked the MMC and his immediate attraction to Gwen. I liked that Gwen, the FMC, was a blacksmith who was big and tall and described as a Viking queen. I did want her to exhibit a little more confidence and courage at shirking convention, she is a female blacksmith after all. I also wanted her to give into Kellen sooner than she did. I wanted her to be like "Well I'm never getting married after this so f*<% it, let me see what this is all about." When they do finally get together though, it is *chef's kiss*. I loved the reunion scene. It had everything I want in a reunion - a dramatic entrance, public declarations of love, an immediate wedding. The epilogue a year later was satisfying, but Gwen again exhibits some insecurity when she tells Kellen she won't hold him back if he still wants to leave. Gurl, the man tells you he loves you and y'all do it on the daily. He ain't leaving today. Revel in your power.
Anyway, it's enjoyable. Would recommend to Sophie Jordan fans, and fans of an unconventional heroine.

Sophie Jordan is usually an auto buy for me, but I am a couple of books behind in reading her latest releases. This was a quick, very sexy read, but it wasn't a favorite for me. First of all, I am so tired of historicals mentioning marriage or marriage of convenience in the back cover blurb and then the couple not getting married until the end of the book! Feels like I'm being lied to. I also felt like the timing of this whole book was off. The first 34% of the book takes place all in one day. The middle of the book seems to drag, but then when the conflict occurs in the end of the book, it's over and done in the blink of an eye, with no work on either person's part. This book did not stand out to me among Sophie's other works, but, like I said, it was quick and sexy, so if that's what you're looking for, go for it!

Okay, so I love Sophie Jordan and I love this series. The second book is on my list of favorite romance novels. I loved Gwen’s character in both of the previous books. I was excited to see more about her.

I don’t want to spoil this book for anyone, so I will keep this review pretty superficial. As I said, we know Gwen from the previous books—she’s the village blacksmith, not usually a job for a woman, but she inherited the forge from her father and uncle. Previously, we learned she took care of her uncle during his illness, while running the business. She’s this tall, blond Amazon who wears trousers. So she isn’t the typical romance heroine. That got me interested. We know she gets married, since it is mentioned in the epilogue of the previous book. So who is the lucky guy? Kellan Fox is a scoundrel alright. He’s also just what Gwen needs in her predictable boring life. Good thing she owns a forge, because sparks will fly!

I definitely liked this book. The characters are interesting. The premise is a good one. You have to suspend some disbelief in places, and there are times you’re wondering why the characters did what they did, since there were easier ways to accomplish the same means, but it’s fiction, so it works. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Kellan at first (seriously, I love Gwen, so I wanted her to have a good counterpart). In the beginning, I was wary; by about halfway, I was proudly #TeamKellan. Oh, he is a scoundrel and he’s jaded and itching to be free for his next nefarious scheme. I love his name—“fox” insinuates he’s sly and cunning, and it’s perfect for him!

Overall, a fun read! My favorite in the series is the second book, The Rake Gets Ravished (I suggest you grab that one before you read this one), but this comes in a strong runner up as favorite book in the series. I can’t wait to see more from SJ!

Low-stress read, classic middle-of-the-road historical romance. Bonus stars for having a BLACKSMITH heroine! And yeah, she's described at nearly 6' of muscle, which is awesome. Negative stars for the hero being a bit pushier than I was comfortable with.

The Scoundrel Falls Hard is the third book in The Duke Hunt series, although it could be read as a standalone. I was glad to see that Gwen -- the village’s female blacksmith who we had met in previous books in the series --would be getting her own HEA. I also love that this series is a change up in the historical romance genre in that it features commoners and not the standard fare of dukes and earls.

The opening premise of a fake relationship to save the mmc from an angry village of people wanting to hang him for his con man misdeeds hooked me immediately. The chemistry between to two main characters was electric and all I’ve come to expect in a Sophie Jordan book. My one complaint is that it dragged a bit in the middle and there was some repetition of conversations between Gwen and Kellen in a will they/won’t they pursue a physical and real relationship.

Overall, another great installment by Sophie Jordan. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, presumably between the Duke and his housekeeper whose interactions we got a preview of in this book.

The following is a review of The Scoundrel Falls Hard by Sophie Jordan. I received this DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Gwen Cully is a female blacksmith in a time when this should have been remarkable. But, burdened with maintaining her family’s business after her father’s death, the last thing Gwen needs is the fugitive currently hiding in her smithy. And with the rival blacksmith shop across town stealing all of her business, the optics of harboring a criminal imposter aren’t good.

Kellan Fox is a lifelong rogue and deceiver. He spent his life adopting and abandoning mantles of other people’s lives like clothes. However, the novel’s start finds him in his stickiest situation yet. Will Gwen be able to rescue this renowned scoundrel without destroying her livelihood in the process?

One of the first things I enjoyed about this book was that the heroine was tall. Since body diversity is one of the areas in which the romance genre often falls short, I was excited to read a heroine who represented me. But unfortunately, I felt like her Amazonian confidence faded throughout the book, and I often forgot that she was nearly six feet tall. In addition to that, she never really seems to discover her beauty and strength. Unfortunately, these features remain in the background where I hoped they would give her confidence and power instead.

The character arc for Gwen wasn’t what I’d hoped for an independent woman running her own business. Someone who never wanted children and purported not to care what others thought of her should have spent the entire book toiling in the smithy instead of spending the bulk of her page time drinking tea and attending church. There was a lot of telling and not quite enough showing.

Another problem I had with the book was the pacing. The external plot moved excruciatingly slow. And there just wasn’t as much suspense as I’m used to in historical romance. While parts of the book reminded me of the romance novels of my young adult life, I hoped for more excitement, female autonomy, and deviations from the status quo. For example, I expected a female blacksmith to be far more fierce and fearsome than the simpering Gwen Cully.

The TLDR of the Scoundrel Falls Hard review
Overall, I think this book just wasn’t written for me. However, if you enjoy vintage romance with a dose of spice, this book could be exactly what you’re looking for.

This book was a quick read, which I appreciated, but I just didn't find myself relating to or falling in love with any of the characters.

Gwen Gully is a third-generation blacksmith to oversee her family’s forge. Her business is slowly dwindling because a new blacksmith moved into her village. Gwen intervenes to save a fugitive from her community’s angry wrath. She soon finds herself tied to the handsome swindler. Gwen suggests a marriage of convenience for a year. However, she finds it difficult to stick to their original arrangement. Can Gwen save her floundering business? Or will she be forced to accept her rival’s distasteful proposition?
Kellan Fox is a con artist. He reluctantly assists his father in the man’s latest scheme, only to be caught by the townspeople. Kellan’s savior arrives in the guise of a tall and striking female blacksmith. When she saves him from the noose, he agrees to a marriage of convenience. However, Kellan finds that he cannot keep his hands off Gwen. Will Kellan turn a new leaf? Will he choose domesticity over his former life? Can Kellan help Gwen save her blacksmith business?
Gwen is such an admirable woman. She is a woman comfortable working in a male-dominated profession. Gwen knows she is just as capable as a man, despite the public’s outdated and chauvinistic views on a woman’s place. I love how Gwen refuses to let people’s opinions bother or sway her. She has accepted her differences from other women. Gwen acknowledges her strengths and her weaknesses. What I admire the most about Gwen is her selflessness. She willingly risks her livelihood and reputation for a stranger.
Kellan is such a swoon-worthy, redeemable bad boy. The fraudulent lifestyle is the only one he has ever known. I like how Kellan has his own code of conduct. He may be a swindler and thief, but there are certain people he deems off limits. Also, Kellan often gives his ill-gotten gains to the needy. What I adore the most about Kellan is his protectiveness towards Gwen. He hates when others bully or mistreat her because of her height and profession.
THE SCOUNDREL FALLS HARD is the third book in Sophie Jordan’s historical romance series, THE DUKE HUNT. The story can easily stand alone. There is no on-going plot. I like that Imogen, the heroine from book one, THE DUKE GOES DOWN, does make a couple appearances. I do have a few little nitpicks. I feel that the break in at Gwen’s forge went unresolved. My other nitpick is that Silas and Mercy, the couple from book two, THE RAKE GETS RAVISHED, never appear in the book. They are my favorite couple.
THE SCOUNDREL FALLS HARD is an enjoyable tale of two lonely souls forced into close proximity, only to learn to trust and love each other. I have this suspicion that the next book will be about the new duke and his housekeeper. I cannot wait to see if my assumption is correct!

This was a great addition to the series! I was hoping Gwen would get her own story and it did not disappoint. I love that Gwen stayed true to herself as a strong independent woman who is ahead of her time and that Kellan respected her and everything she has done for him. I admit, in the beginning I did not love how they initially meet, but it does lead to a cute love story that left me smiling from ear to ear.

ALSO, it has the one bed trope. Is there really anything better?

This is a great addition to the Duke Hunt series and can be read as a stand alone. It was refreshing to have two main characters be commoners, and who doesn’t love a redeemed scoundrel as a protagonist?

Gwen finds a runaway rogue hiding in her blacksmith forge. Gwen protects Kellen from the village mob’s anger. The solution? Marriage. This story is about the three weeks leading to Gwen and Kellen’s wedding day.

I loved reading how Kellen’s perspective on life changes, how Gwen learns to depend on someone else, and how they grow together. It was sweet and had a couple of spicy parts. One spicy part was a little more spicy than I’m used to, but it wasn’t off putting.

I only wished their adventure outside the village was a little longer. I also felt it was wrapped up pretty quickly at the end. I guess it’s always good to be wanting more and not less! I really enjoyed this book and felt it had an original storyline. I loved the characters and it was overall a fun read with a happily ever after. A win for me.