“Good grief, this garden is like Piccadilly Circus!”

Never Fall for Your Fiancée may have been charming, but Never Rescue a Rogue was perfection! I absolutely loved how determined, independent, and resourceful Diana was. Diana and Giles had a ton of chemistry in the previous book, so it was fantastic to see their interactions, angst, and certain embarrassing situations unfold. This book was definitely a slow burn, but between the humor, and the fantastic secondary characters (#TeamDalton), the story went by quickly. I also loved how this story introduced new plot points and direction for where the third book will go. Definitely looking forward to reading Vee’s story next!

Pals, I am here once again (v-happily) with my review of Virginia Heath’s historical romance Never Rescue a Rogue. Book 2 in her Merriwell sisters series, featuring the headstrong, grammar forward, and independent Diana and the not-at-all-who-he-seems rogue, turned Duke, Giles Sinclair.

As always a huge thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advance copy, thoughts below are my own.

I started this book with zero expectations, having never (gasp incoming) read a Virginia Heath story, and wow was I pleasantly surprised. This slow-burn, friends to lovers historical was so sweet and featured some completely swoon (sorry Diana) inducing moments for me.

The depth of chemistry and connection Giles and Diana have is wonderful to read. And friends we have HUGE boy-falls-first energy and actions throughout, that were chef’s kiss perfect for me. I knew the moment when she reached for his hand under the table, to offer her physical support that these two were going to really beat the sh*t out of my heart.

I LOVED THE ROMANCE, OF COURSE, BUT I LOVED SO MUCH OF THE STORY THAT UNDERPINS THESE TWO FINALLY FIGURING OUT THEIR FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER. THE ADVENTURE, WIT, AND SUSPENSE WILL APPEAL TO FANS OF TESSA DARE’S WEEK TO BE WICKED AND AMANDA QUICK’S RAVISHED.

The found family, and roasting you is my love language, so deeply appealed to me. Especially in watching how Giles not only connected and cared for Diana but also Dalton, who my lord really just stole so many scenes. BUT friends, I think what really stood out for me is how the declaration of love unfolded.

So often in hist-roms we have the love-bomb coming after the smushing / aligning of body parts, and its 99% of the time the declaration of the FMC. So to not only have Giles openly, vulnerably and repeatedly give her the words that just cracked my heart open, was a refreshing change of scenery.

However, friends if you are looking for a book with high steam or many sex scenes I would encourage you to not expect that here. While there are many moments of intimacy (hand holding, face touching, kisses) there is one culminating bedroom scene that while I found poetic and not overly descriptive, may have folks feeling a little let down. Especially after reading 80% of the way through the book to finally get to this point.

For me though, it didn’t detract or hinder my ability to enjoy the crap out of this funny, heartfelt, exciting and deeply romantic trip to Shropshire. And we can ALL agree its going to be Venus and Galahad for the next book right (insert padme anakin meme)?

Grab your copy of Never Rescue a Rogue wherever you get your books when it lands in store and online November 2, 2022.

Author Virginia Heath has written another delightful romance in the Merriwell sisters universe. This book centers around Diana Merriwell, the independent, cynical, and hilarious sister. Her best friend is Giles Sinclair, whose father has just died, plunging him into the role of Duke. When questions arise about the legitimacy of his birth, he asks his best friend, Diana, to help him uncover the truth. Along the way, their friendship quickly transitions into something deeper and steamier.

This was such a fun book to read! Not only was it good to revisit old characters, but the chemistry between Diana and Giles was believable and enjoyable. I look forward to reading the next book in Heath's series! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Going into this book, I wanted to love it. Just the title alone had me. I love the dashing regency rogues who fall in love with the prim and proper ladies. However, Diana is not that. She is a gossip columnist who also goes after the bad guy stories.

So, I wanted to love this book, but I just could not get there. The beginning was slow for me and I think not having read the previous book hindered me.

I do love the chemistry between Giles and Diana. I love how Diana is strong and independent but she is willing to bend to make room for Giles.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is turning out to be a very entertaining series! The entire cast of characters is so integral and makes the plot more interesting and exciting. The chemistry and tension between Diana and Giles was definitely present in the first book and continues on for their story. I love getting a deeper look in Diana and Giles characters and true passions. I thought the plot was also very creative relating to succession and lineage. The only difficulty I had was that the story seemed so long. There were so many subplots going that were delved into with such detail and everything dragged. Maybe it was just because I wanted to get to the ending, but it seemed a tad drawn out. Despite that I do love this series and will continue to read more!

This excellent slow burn romance between Giles Sinclair, the heir and then Duke of Harpenden, and Diana Merriwell is full of teasing banter and mysterious twists and turns.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and found all the characters to be well developed. I haven’t yet read the first book in the series, but based on my reading it isn’t required.
Diana is a great heroine. I love her development and relationship with her sisters.
Giles is the perfect counter to Diana’s ambition and stubbornness. He always tries to protect her from harm while still being supportive.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun read! Adventure, secrets, regency hijinks, and a slow burn romance. Diana is a fiercely independent and very smart character with layers, secrets, and pressures she feels. Her history informs her desire to remain unwed forever and causes her to resist simmering feelings. I enjoyed learning about her job and seeing the family dynamics play out on the page. Her relationship with Giles could be considered enemies to lovers, but I feel like "enemies" is loosely defined here - perhaps frenemies to lovers is more like it? He, too, has layers and a complex family history that informs his public persona - that of a rouge and playboy intent on spending all his father's money in the most frivolous of ways.

I also really appreciated that this storyline didn't fall into some common traps to keep the tension moving. Namely, there is an absence of fake issues created by a lack of communication. The slow burn makes sense, the characters are honest with each other, and even the side characters are well developed. A fun read end to end, would recommend. I have to go read the first in the series now.

Giles and Diana are such a perfect couple! You could feel the chemistry between these two off the pages!
Giles and DIana are both keeping secrets from those they love. Diana is secretly The Sentinel and Giles is trying hard to keep his status as a bastard child a secret. These two already feel attracted to one another, but when they figure out they can help each other, the sparks begin flying.
Diana and Giles are such a lovable couple. They tend to find themselves in some kind of trouble constantly (which usually ends up being either spicy or funny so I'm not mad about it!)

This slow-burn, enemies to lovers Regency romance is fun, steamy, and full of adventure!

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

The banter, the escapades, the mystery, oh my!

Real talk.. I haven’t read a historical romance in a hot minute. It was super cute! I loved the dialogue between Diana and Giles and how witty and funny it was. I think that the time period was loosely played.. sometimes they were able to kiss in front of someone (not married, what a scandal!) and sometimes it was all about propriety, which threw me off a bit. I think as well the ending was all the loose ends wrapped up quickly vs. the beginning dragging a bit.

All in all, I had fun with this one! I enjoyed the characters quite a bit and would read more from this author. The storyline and the mystery were very well done.

**I received an ARC from netgalley for an honest review**

🐝🐝🐝/5 for the hornet’s best
🌶/5

Diana is a newspaper-woman, a rare thing for a woman in the 19th Century and she stays single in part to hold onto this. She does not want to relinquish the control of her life, to become a ‘powerless chattel.’ And after disastrous incidents with depraved men, she is simply not interested in marrying one.
Giles is the heir to a dukedom, a family friend and is also committed to staying single. Because of his Dirty Secret, he knows he cannot expose any woman, a potential mate, to it.
This is a mellow frenemies tale: Giles and Diana trade insults throughout but is their relationship really one of disdain … or of attraction? Both are hiding something: she, her work at the newspaper, even from her family, and he, The Dirty Secret. Giles hides his real self from his father by making himself look like a society fribble. But he can’t wait to inherit the estates to help all those tenants his father has impoverished. After they unravel some of each other’s secrets they begin to work through the tangle that is The Dirty Secret with clues leading them as far away as Wales. Giles is a charming and appealing hero. He really cares for Diana, wanting to protect her while also not wanting to change her. Diana is appealing. She is tight lipped and tends to be abrasive to keep people at bay, to keep men, her family and society from realizing who she really is. Giles sees through this and loves all of what she is.
The is the second in the Merriwell Sisters series and it is fun to have a small glimpse at Minerva and Hugh from the first book. It can be read as a standalone though readers will probably want to read Book One anyway. The characters are engaging and the repartee makes for laughter. I would recommend this book to my patrons.
I received this ARC is exchange for my honest review.

So I finally bit the bullet and started watching Bridgerton on Netflix which got me in the mood for historical romance. Luckily, St. Martin's Press indulged me by accepting my NetGalley request. I want to start with that I found this to be an extremely light, but entertaining read. It gave me a nice break from the plot-heavy books I've been reading. Warning, some mild spoilers.

I will say while the romance wasn't bad, I was actually enjoying the plot a lot more. The romance was just the sprinkles on top to me. I enjoyed seeing Diana and Giles run around trying to find clues. I wanted to know the Duke's secret past probably more than Giles did. I loved that the author kept dangling this mystery carrot in front of me. Not in a suspenseful thriller way but in a way that piqued my curiosity. I actually thought the ending was a bit disappointing with how quickly it wrapped up. I wish there could have been a trial. It would have made the book longer, but totally worth it.

The romance was good. Could have been better. I like the banter between Diana and Giles. I do wish their love grew more naturally instead of everyone saying they were destined to be together and them suddenly realizing it. It was an overused trope that the author relied on a bit too much. Otherwise, having Diana and Giles work together to solve this mystery was great in that I loved seeing them work together and balance each other out.

Overall, if you're looking for a light fluffy read, this is for you. I wouldn't give it a go if you were looking for a more heavy-duty romance or plot. I simply enjoyed it for what it was which was a breather before going back to my epic fantasy pile.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Diana and Giles was first introduced to us in the first book of the Merriwell Sisters series, where they instantly began their verbal sparring. You could sense a tension building from their few interactions then.

This 2nd book was a slow burn romance where somewhat enemies become lovers. Diana and Giles are constantly bickering but you can sense the deeper connection that both yearn to have with each other. The reason for Diana's need for independence and her general mistrust in those around her is revealed in a heart wrenching way. Giles, the new Duke of Harpenden, has a "dirty secret" regarding the circumstances of his birth that could potentially jeopardize his future. With the help of Dalton, Giles' butler-cum-valet, and Vee, Diana's younger sister, Giles and Diana team up to uncover the details of Giles' past. While on their investigation, the attraction between these two gets tougher and tougher to ignore.

While I really enjoyed the story itself, my 4.0 rating is because I did not like the few parts during the middle where the story strayed a bit from the main plot. However, after that the book's pace speeds up and leaves you wanting more! With all the unexpected twists and turns, this was definitely a very entertaining read!

4.5/5 stars

I have been so excited to read Diana and Giles' story since they began bantering with each other in Never Fall for your Fiancée. This book exceeded my expectations and I'm so happy that Diana and Giles got such a perfect story true to them. This book would be perfect for anyone who loves enemies to friends to lovers, a slow burn and a strong female heroin!

Diana is an investigative journalist and takes it upon herself to help Giles find out the truth about his parentage to help save his dukedom and to protect all the people who depend on him. I enjoyed the mystery and adventure of this book and loved how strong, intelligent and determined Diana was. Giles was of course a delight and I loved seeing his softer side, especially towards Diana. This book was a great addition to The Merriwell Sisters series and I can't wait to see what comes next for Vee, especially after we got some hints towards who her love interest will be!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks for the ARC St. Martin's Press + NetGalley - This was disgustingly cute.

Any readers who liked the first in this series will love this, but it's also a good option for people who haven't tried historical romance before, or regulars who don't know Virginia Heath. It's kind of an enemies-to-lovers type situation, but not quite enemies, sort of frenemies? Either way the tension was 10/10 and the eventual declaration had me down bad for Giles.

The mystery plot was cute too, but this is definitely primarily a romance - in the best way!

After finishing the first book of the series, Never Fall for Your Fiancé, I was excited to continue and read what will happen to Giles and Diana. Enemies to lovers ALWAYS will be my jam so when I saw the beginnings of that in the first book I couldn’t wait to read how Diana’s and Giles’ story will unfold. In truth I was more interested when they were on the page than the main couple in the first book.

Never Rescue a Rogue starts about 12 months after the first book ended. Diana and Giles have settled to a “cordial” co-existence that outwardly consists of bickering and bantering but it’s all a mask for what’s really going on- their fighting their mutual attraction for each other. Diana and Giles both have serious childhood traumas and daddy issues that they have to deal with. Especially for Giles, whose skeletons in his closet are coming out to haunt him while Diana just cannot trust anyone especially men due to her father’s betrayal and abandonment.

Giles and Diana get thrown together to solve the mystery surrounding Gile’s birth mother which will have huge consequences concerning his birth right and his title. The story is a good mix of humor, mystery and romance. It’s definitely a slow burn and at times the mystery at hand seems to take center stage rather than the romance.

I definitely enjoyed this book better than the first. As I said before, enemies to lover is really my favorite trope so the premise of this story was just more enjoyable. Diana and Giles are both likable. Diana is the capable, smart heroine that we all love to read. She is suspicious by nature and just not trusting due to her trauma with her father so I definitely sympathize with her on some of her choices later on. Giles on the other hand wants everyone to believe he’s a nonchalant rogue, but truly he’s a kind hearted soul who wanted to annoy his father. I do like how throughout the story, both Giles and Diana were able to see through each other’s fronts and can sense that there is more beneath the surface. As mentioned this is a slow burn so expect a lot of back and forth introspection on how they feel for each other but not letting the other party know.

The mystery was well paced and it did keep you guessing. The supporting characters were also a delight, shoutout to Dalton the impertinent butler with the best lines and Vee! who I really didn’t like in the first book. She’s definitely matured and was such a joy this time around.

My only complaint is that the ending had so much going on. It felt rushed where revelation after revelation kept happening til the last page. Probably an epilogue would have helped here. Since so much excitement was going on up to the end it would have been nice to see the couple in a calmer setting enjoying each other. All in all a very enjoyable second installment to a series. It was also great to see the characters from the first book show up. I will definitely be waiting to continue the series.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the advance digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Never Rescue a Rogue, out November 8, 2022, follows the second Merriwell sister, Diana, as she helps Giles Sinclair uncover the mystery of who his parents really are. Meanwhile, Diana is doing her best to juggle her secret life as the foremost investigative reporter in London. Their worlds collide in more ways than one when Giles inherits the dukedom from his father, with the threat of his parentage being revealed. It is up to Diana to help Giles find out who he really is.

While the first book in the series was, in my opinion, only ok, this book was much better for a variety of reasons. The characters were much more fleshed out in this novel I felt like I got to know them beyond the superficial, which was one of the main issues I had in the first book. Also, the character development was flawless honestly. The growth between the sisters and the relationships between characters was what was missing in the first novel and is explored here much more in depth.

The romance between Giles and Diana was believable and they were open and honest with one another. Giles never tried to stifle Diana and make her fit in with regency society and Diana never really believed that Giles wasn't a respectable, generous person. They saw through each other's pretentions to who they were as people and never tried to change the other or themselves. The accepted each other unconditionally. I really love that in my romances. I also loved the banter between the characters as they developed from frenemies to lovers.

Additionally, actual vibe of this story seemed to flow more and was less choppy. Other reviews stated that this book was more action adventure than a comedy of errors. I agree with that. As a result, I felt the story was less confusing and better paced and I enjoyed it more because of that. As with the first book, this book is also well written. However, I will say that while it was better paced than the first novel, I still felt like it was a little slow in the beginning.

Overall, I really liked this book and found it entertaining and enjoyable. It's the perfect light read if you're looking for adventure, action, and romance with a dose of a strong female main character.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If you're tired of the run of the mill romance, give Never Rescue a Rouge a try, you will not be disappointed!

In this charming adventure-romance, independent journalist, Diana and so-called rouge, Giles are surprised when friendship blooms into love as they face threats from outside forces seeking to destroy Giles.

This was such an enjoyable book! Health was able to develop strong characters that were such a pleasure to get to know. Unusually, the plot was such that there was an equal balance between Diana and Giles' blooming relationship and the danger they both face from Diana's investigative journalism and Giles vile family members who are challenging his legitimacy
to inherit his father's duke-dom.

A must read, hitting highs in adventure, romance and witty repartee! My thanks to St. Martin's Press for the ARC for an honest review!

"Neither I nor your sister would have settled for anything less than men who love us for what we are. I cannot tell you how liberating and empowering that heady feeling is. To share your life with someone who understands you. Who shares all your hopes and your dreams and strives for them beside you. Who is there through thick and thin, no matter what, just because you are you."

Reading these two give into their feelings was such an unexpected treat. Giles and Diana are adamant that they are not meant to be despite Diana's family playing matchmakers constantly and the attraction they try to deny. Giles has too much on his plate when the secret around his legitimacy as Duke is coming into question. Everything is at risk of crumbling, but Diana-Goddess of the Hunt and Hunter of Truth is determined to save him.

This book took a hot minute for me to get into, but once they were together, working on finding a way of saving Giles, I was so engaged and excited to see how they went about solving Giles' dilemma. Their bickering was EXCELLENT. The nicknames? FANTASTIC. THE LONGING STARES AND UNDENIABLE ATTRACTION?! Swooooon. The connection between Giles and Diana gave me a lot of the same energy as Kate and Anthony from S2 of Bridgerton. WHICH IS HIGH PRAISE.

I love how headstrong Heath wrote Diana. After having been through her share of trauma with her dad, her trust in men is abysmal, and rightfully so. She is a woman dedicated to her work, her independence and her family. Watching Giles crack through the hard exterior and bury himself so deeply into her heart made me love him. He knew exactly who Diana was and didn't dare challenge her independence even if it frustrated him. They are a perfect example of two wholes who complimented each other. He was truly the fly in her ointment.

This was my first Virginia Heath book and I will definitely be reading through this series as I loved the Merriwell sister.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Virginia Heath for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

↠ 4 stars

If you like slowburns, enemies to lovers, strong independent females, and charming rogues mixed with a little mystery and adventure then you'll love this book.

In the 1st Meriwell sister's story, I struggled to connect to the ridiculousness of the schemes Hugh created and found that I kept reading for the interaction between Diana and Giles. So I was very excited to read that Never Rescue a Rogue was their love story.

Everyone can see that Diana and Giles are great together, except for Diana and Giles! Until one night when they let down their guard and share a very languid and spicy kiss that makes them think differently, and made me not able to put this book down.

The story is fun, the romance was strong even if it was slow (I generally prefer something spicery), but the banter ....the banter really made this book. Diana and Giles's dialogue was so humorous and heartwarming that I fell more in love with both of them as the story progressed.

I also really enjoyed the character development of the 3rd Meriwell sister and how her relationship with Diana grew and shifted so much in this book vs. the last book, and now am looking forward to her story.

A very big thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Never Rescue a Rogue is so much fun, and the main characters, Giles and Diana, are lovable from the moment they appear on the page. I haven’t read many historical romances, but this book was a great introduction to the genre!

Diana is smart, witty, and the only one Giles trusts to help him solve a high-stakes mystery. The pacing was a little slow, but I was still excited to see how the mystery unfolded.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC!