Three and a half stars.

Marianne Simpson was educated at an exclusive ladies college, but when it came to getting a job she found that her uncle's circus closed all doors to her, so now she is one of the boxing belles in Farnham’s Fantastical Female Fayre. She is no stranger to gentlemen of the ton gawping at her in her immodest boxing attire (which her uncle isn't averse to dampening down to show off her curves), but she refuses to speak to St. John Powell, the Duke of Staunton, particularly when he mentions her ex, Baron Dominic Strickland who lied to her and staged a fake wedding just so that he could bed her.

But when Staunton buys up thousands of pounds of her uncle Barnabas's debt and offers her a choice between helping him and the circus facing ruin, Marianne has no choice.

Staunton has received word from Strickland, a former school friend, that his younger brother is not dead as previously believed, but is a prisoner in France and can be ransomed for £10,000 and a meeting with Marianne - he'll do anything to rescue his brother even if it means blackmailing a young woman.

Staunton and his two best friends go undercover with the circus as they trek through France on the way to the rendezvous, but as Napoleon escapes his prison on Elba passage becomes fraught with danger.

Romance, war, international intrigue, disguises, spies, and explosive secrets make this a captivating story, even if I did feel that Staunton became a bit of a pussycat at the end.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Quite a different book! She boxes for a circus. He is a very proper Duke. When the come together, the sparks fly! There are a lot of twists and turns and surprises! An enjoyable read!

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington for this ARC!

There are no specific spoilers in this review, but if you want a recommendation with no context: if you like Spencer’s style, Evie Dunmore’s feminist novels, and/or regency romances - give this a try!!!

Moving on…

First, Minerva Spencer can write a love scene.

Second, this was interesting, but maybe a little too involved. It was more historical than I expected - which isn’t bad! - but the ending felt rushed and out of place due to allllllll of the things that happened.

Third, the beginning was a little rough on representation of gender and body type - “women always X” and/or “women never look like Y.” I liked that the protagonist was muscular (she had my body type I think, based on the descriptions!) but the early descriptions feel very “Oh wow okay I guess I AM into muscular women. Who knew I could like such a gross, not womanly body type?” which felt… not great. She was also consistently called “mannish” and misgendered by random people which… felt very binaristic.

And it could have gone unsaid - the Duke could have just been like, “wow I love her” and not been so… surprised. Like yeah, muscles can be hot? There’s nothing wrong with being “mannish” and that sort of wins, so I ended up okay with it, but I was sketched out for a minute - if the point was to disrupt the beauty standard, I think we can go without extreme gender essentialism. At first (though it does improve!) it reads like the Duke overcomes her “mannish” appearance, but that this is still overall a negative look because man=man and woman=woman.

(and yes, I know this is a period novel but… it’s fiction and many of the things they say/do aren’t real. my dude could have just been into muscles without constant gender negotiation)

HOWEVER. After that slight irritant, I had a great time with this: hence the 4 star review. I also am reading early, so maybe it’ll come out of the final book.

I will definitely keep reading this series!!

Another great book by Minerva Spencer!! Marianne is female boxer in an all woman circus owned by her uncle. She’s known as the boxing baroness for claiming to be married to a baron. Soon though she catches the attention of a Duke, St. John who wants to use her to bring justice to that same baron. Minerva Spencer’s characters just jump out of the page and feel so real!! There’s also a great mystery and reveal in this book!! A must read!

Marianne is a female boxer who makes her living as an attraction in her uncle's circus. Years earlier, she had been taken advantage of by an aristocrat who pretended to marry her and then abandoned her. The scoundrel has now contacted St. John Powell, Duke of Staunton, telling him that Staunton's dead brother is actually alive and he will give the particulars to the duke only if he brings Marianne to him in France. The duke suspects espionage is involved and blackmails Marianne into helping him. Marianne, on the other hand , has no idea why her ex-lover wants to see her so badly. There are family secrets, spies, smuggling and and other dangers involved.
Having a heroine in Napoleonic times who boxed for a living was unique enough to attract me to the book. The plot, characters and setting added suspense to a type of story that's normally completely predictable. Aside from Marianne, several other female characters had depth and interesting personalities that seemed worthy of books of their own. .The story had romance, heat and was a very good read.

* I received a copy for review.*
This book had so much catnip. Enemies to lovers; Forced proximity; road trip; family secrets ; a traveling circus with female boxers; class difference; blackmail
Marianne is a fantastic heroine. She is smart, savvy, tough, and extremely self sufficient. She can also clean your clock. As a female pugilist, she dies not have time for nonsense. She’s already been tricked by one man and she will not let that happen again.
St John is known as the Flawless Duke. The ton lives for information about him but he only cares about trying to find his missing brother. He has s not prepared for Marianne.
These two just jump off the page. I adored that Marianne devises extra work for Sin and his friends. I love a caper and I’m a lot of ways this fits that bill.
This book is funny & sexy with some danger thrown in.

A steamy, historical novel that had its twists and turns throughout. I really enjoyed reading this for its interesting characters, intriguing historical background, and compelling love story.

This was amazing and I can’t wait for the next book in the series!!! YES, you heard that right. There will be additional books. But back to this gem.
I’ve read a lot of historical romance and I’ve even read some Minerva Spencer romances, but this was unlike anything I’ve read.

Marianne Simpson works as a female boxer in her uncle’s „Female Fayre“. She is used a lot of male attention but when the Duke of Staunton keeps appearing in the audience she finds herself confronted with a suitor who cannot be deterred. What he wants from her, is not what she would have guessed...

I loved the boxing aspect of this romance. The characters were well written and as mentioned earlier I will definitely be reading further books in this series. It gave „Greatest Showman“ and „Bridgerton“ vibes with all my favorite tropes and the writing reminded me so much of some of my favorite romances by Anne Gracie.
What I did not love but willingly accepted was the drama towards the end, but that’s just personal preference. Overall: a very entertaining book, very much worth a read!!

#netgalley #theboxingbaroness

Marianne is a boxer in her uncle's circus. The duke of Staunton needs her help to rescue his brother. Because this is a romance novel, of course they fall in love despite the challenges along the way.

The dialogue sparkles.... Every interaction of the 2 main characters sizzles.... Love both characters.... The side characters are funny and interesting too. They are all smart, witty and admirably honorable. The entire book is incredibly emotional and moving. I just got lost in the book..... Next to Infamous (another book by the same writer), this is one of my favorite books.. Totally enjoyed reading it.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

It’s always a pleasure to read a new book by Minerva Spencer and #TheBoxingBaroness is no exception. This is the first in a new series from Minerva Spencer that focuses on Regency-era women with unconventional (typically male) skills. As the title indicates, Marianne Simpson, the heroine, is a boxer. Her fellow members of Farnham’s Fantastical Female Fayre, owned by her uncle, include a sharpshooter, a knife thrower and a magician.

The hero, St. John Powell, Duke of Staunton, approaches Marianne to request her help in determining whether his brother, Ben, is still alive. It was thought that Ben was killed during the war, but Staunton has recently received a letter from a former friend, Dominic Strickland, stating that Ben is alive in France. In addition to demanding 10,000 pounds to arrange Ben’s return, Strickland demands that Staunton bring Marianne to him in France. Strickland is a thorough scoundrel who staged a phony marriage ceremony to Marianne (despite the fact he was previously married) and she wants nothing to do with him. Staunton doesn’t trust Strickland either but he is desperate to find out the truth about his brother. When he is unable to persuade Marianne to cooperate with him, Staunton blackmails her into assisting him and his friends.

Staunton and friends join the Farnham circus undercover as the troop travels to France. During the journey, the characters face many obstacles between each other and the world at large. Staunton and Marianne slowly drop their preconceived notions of each other as they grow closer and learn who the other person truly is. There are several surprises along the way to their HEA.

This is an entertaining look at a little-known aspect of Regency England with a wonderful cast of characters. Looking forward to reading future installments in this series!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #KensingtonBooks for the ARC!

This book started out very well, but I was not fond of the ending.
Spoiler alert:
The heroine is a female boxer who is performing in a 'Female Fayre'. The characters who work with her are very charming. The author is able to describe the 'Fayre' or circus in believable terms with females doing various entertaining acts. The heroine is the niece of the circus owner. She had been noticing a duke had come to her shows and he had sent her a few written messages that she destroyed because in the past, she had a negative relationship with an aristocrat and she doesn't want another bad relationship. The duke, our hero, is trying to contact her. His deceased brother is supposedly still alive, but he needs to pay a ransom for him and part of the ransom is to bring the heroine with him. He doesn't know why, except the person who sent him proof that his brother is alive and is asking for £10,000.00, was the aristocrat the heroine had the negative relationship with. So, he keeps trying to explain to her and she refuses to listen. The hero is forced to purchase her uncle's debts and blackmails her into going to help him get his brother back.
I really enjoyed this book up till then. It was funny and new, and was well written. It starts to go downhill after they meet up with the aristocrat who had sent the ransom letter. Apparently, the heroine's mother was the Queen of Sweden who had an extramarital affair with Napoleon, and he was her father. At this point, I just kept reading, but not enjoying it. Also, the hero is 12 years older than the heroine and she feels sorry for him because his wife and son were lost in childbirth 8 years before. By the time it came to explain her parents, I really thought, "Can anything else be shoved into this story?". I mean it is a good story, it just has too many plots lines. And in addition to her 2 friends are falling for his 2 friends.
Since it was well written, I do not want to give a bad score, but I did not feel it was a 5 star read. I give it 4 stars and a recommendation to read, but it is one thing after another.