Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central pub for this earc

Another adorable book in this series. I really enjoyed how Joshua and Poppy spent time becoming friends first without even realizing before anything happened between them. They actually saw each other for who they really were and fell in love with true versions of each other.

Langham’a family was for a change actually really nice and fun. I had so much getting to know them and hopefully we’ll see them again

The mystery was good as well. Really enjoyed how all the pieces fell into place.

Overall really enjoyable continuation to the series. Keep them coming

This is a fun and fancy read from fans of Bridgerton who like a little mystery in their stories as well!

After a dismal first meeting, Joshua and Poppy embark on a mutually beneficial agreement. Being the Duke of Langham, he will wield his power to help clear Poppy's sister, Violet's, name in the murder of her husband. Poppy, in return, is in agreement for a fake betrothal to keep the pouncing dowager off of his back for a bit. Things start to heat up as each of them attempt to keep their end of the bargain. Part historical romance and part murder mystery, this book has a little bit for everyone!

This was a super fun and quick read. I enjoy the historical aspect, especially ones with a strong female lead who don't lean into society's expectations. I also enjoy the male lead who supports that. The banter between Langham and Poppy I found endearing - like he knew who she was and appreciated her all the more for it. Add in a good fake dating trope and I'm sold! The murder mystery part was always present but never overwhelmed the story, I felt like there really was a good balance of both. Although evenly paced throughout, the story definitely picked up even more at the end as both issues came to a head, and I really found myself not wanting to put it down!

While this is technically the third book in the Ladies Most Scandalous book series, it can certainly be read as a standalone. There are references to A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem made in the book, but easily explained and understandable. I myself have not read the first two, so although I may have missed catching on to things mentioned, it never detracted from the story.

Thank you to Forever Pub and NetGalley for my gifted copies in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This whole series is super fun and this was no exception! I really enjoyed these characters individually, especially Poppy. I loved her fierce protectiveness of her sister and her independent nature. I did find the reason behind the fake engagement to be a bit unbelievable but beyond that I really liked the dynamic between Poppy and Langham. Out of all the couples in this series, these two were definitely my favorite and I found the timeline of them falling in love the most believable. I did find that it took me a while to get into, but I still had a good time and would definitely read more of this series if it is ever continued.

This was a great change of pace from the first two books, taking the main characters out of London and into the country. I also found the female main character of this book to be my favorite of the series. A hilarious, installment that also stands alone!

Poppy and the Duke of Langham both need assistance. Poppy is trying to save her sister, who has been accused of murder and the Duke needs his grandmother to stop trying to find him a wife. Poppy agrees to pretend to be his for a week while he uses his connections to clear her sister’s name.

This was a good fake engagement regency story. I enjoyed Poppy and thought she was a tough cookie, willing to fight for her family and help her sister. And I loved how the Duke was protective of Poppy - he had no qualms sticking up for her to his family.

The third book in the Ladies Most Scandalous Series did not disappoint. I was completely hooked from the moment I opened the book until I finished it. I am by no means a lover of mysteries but I loved the mystery aspect of this historical romance- it kept the story interesting without it being overly saccharine.
The chemistry between the Duke of Langham and Poppy was perfect and full of witty banter which Manda Collins does so well. I am always a fan of the fake-dating/engaged trope and this was done really well without being over the top.
My favorite aspect of Manda Collin's writing is always the balance between the love story and the rest of the plot and this is yet another example of a romance that also has an interesting sub-plot.

A Spinster's Guide to Danger and Dukes is the third book in Manda Collin's A Lady's Guide series. Poppy Delamare fled home at a young age to escape a horrible marriage and has not looked back. When her sister is accused of murder, Poppy speeds home to prove her innocence. When she comes across the Duke of Langham, she must set aside her dislike of him as the two enter a mutually beneficial fake betrothal. This book was filled with mystery, romance, and history. I devoured every page as I always do with Manda Collins' stories. Highly recommend!

Thank you so much to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for giving me to the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Having not read the first two, this one did feel like a standalone. I wasn’t lost or confused or missing references (I don’t think!) - overall though, just not my favorite book. I do think in the time of Bridgerton this would land really well as a movie. There’s romance, fake dating, murder mysteries and scheming.

This was such a fun one! It's a blend of enemies to lovers/ fake dating romance, mystery, murder, and a secret society for added fun.

I do not know how I have gone so long not having read a Manda Collins novel. She writes the perfect mix of mystery and historical romance. I found myself instantly drawn into the story and continually paused it, not because I was not interested but because I did not want it to end.

I loved Langham's character and how protective he was towards Poppy. How he wished to do whatever was within his power to assist a woman that up until this point (according to the previous novels) was more of an antagonistic force towards him. I also loved the juxtaposition of Poppy's strength of character/determination in light of a situation where she really had little power or ability to assist her sister. She needed to lean into Langham's offered assistance and use her powers of deduction within the confines of the situation. Langham's appreciation of her skills and intelligence made me love his character even more.

The only (tiny) issue I had while reading, was that in the end it seemed like we reached the climax and resolution of the story rather quickly and with what felt like little pause between. Perhaps I had just been savoring the level of drama that had been unfolding up until that point that I felt like it was resolved rather quickly and wanted a bit more between the catching of the culprit and the last chapter which worked like an epilogue of sorts. Chapter 25 ends with Poppy and Langham leave the cave and chapter 26 starts with it being one month later. It just felt almost like a chapter was missing in a way. Which is to say that I was enjoying the story so much that I wanted more.

I enjoyed the previous books by the author and was looking foreword to read this new and third story in the series.
And I loved it. The characters and their banter and interactions made for a perfect story full of humor, sarcasm and more than once, love at its best. She is probably my favorite female character that I have read in a historical romance in such a long time and he is just as perfect for her as one would wish to see them.
The fats paced story kept me entertained and the romance parts filled my heart with so much joy. Loved it and i think it goes in my top 5 favorite books of the year.

🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪/5

Do you like murder mysteries, romance and historical fiction? These are three of my absolute favorite things, and this book did not disappoint at all!!

This story was chaotic, mysterious, steamy, romantic, and slightly hilarious. I loved Poppy from the first moment we met her! She’s so practical, realistic, protective of her sister, confident and entirely too smart for her own good. Joshua is compassionate, a big softy at heart, slightly entitled, but enthusiastic and encouraging when it comes to pursuing Poppy and helping her out by his outlandish “fake engagement” plan.

The pacing of this story was fantastic. It was fast paced in some parts and slow in others, but it never once felt rushed or boring. The conversations and interactions between the characters were real, intriguing, intimate, and relatable even though it’s set centuries before now. And the language and writing was refreshing and fun, and not too taxing or hard to understand in any way. The natural progression of the romance was genuine and when it came time for them to fight for that HEA together it never seemed out of left field or not sincere. It was as natural as breathing and utterly perfect.

Do yourself a favor and read read read read read this book!

Read this if you like:
❤️‍🔥Fake dating/engagement
❤️‍🔥Banter
❤️‍🔥Strong, independent FMC
❤️‍🔥Compassionate Earl MMC
❤️‍🔥Mutual respect
❤️‍🔥Spiceeeee
❤️‍🔥Murder
❤️‍🔥Interesting side characters
❤️‍🔥Real connections and conversations
❤️‍🔥Past traumas
❤️‍🔥Secret societies

Poppy Delamare has been living under a fake identity in London for the last few years in order to escape an arranged marriage. She has been hiding as the secretary of her two friends Lady Katherine Bascomb and Miss Caroline Hardcastle (now Lady Wrackham). When her sister is accused of murder in the countryside, Poppy flees London and on her way out of the city, runs into the Duke of Langham. Their previous meeting left Poppy with a bad first impression of the Duke. When he subsequently offers to help her with her sister if she agrees to a fake engagement with him so that he can avoid his matchmaking grandma's plans, Poppy finds herself agreeing against her better judgement. Can they figure out the true culprit of the murder before they start to catch feelings for each other?

I really enjoyed this 3rd book in the series! As with the others, the focus is split between the romance and the mystery so it's not necessarily your traditional Historical Romance but I think the balance is done really well! I love fake engagements/forced proximity so this book really worked well for me and I thought the progression of their relationship was actually quite lovely. Their banter is really excellent

Poppy as a character is one of my absolutely favorites of the series! All the women in this series are strong but there's just something about Poppy that I loved - she is smart and sharp tongued, and also handles the upper class women around Langham with so much skill and strength. I also loved just how gone Langham was for Poppy. Just like the other MMC's in this series, he unabashedly believes in Poppy's competence which we LOVE to see.

I did think that the mystery was wrapped up very quickly at the end and could have been just a little bit longer but that's the only slight criticism I had.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Spinster’s Guide To Danger and Dukes by Manda Collins is an utter delight! Come for the mystery, stay for the romance. There’s a delicious fake engagement between frenemies Miss Poppy Delemere and Joshua Fielding, Duke of Langham. Intrigue in spades! The banter is spot on! The players come to life right off the pages and there is quite a cast of characters!

I could not put it down! It is, without a doubt, the best in this series. I may have said that about every book in this series but this one hits all the marks!

This is the first book I’ve read by Manda Collins and it was such a delight! I can’t wait to go back and read the other two books in the series. It’s a historical romcom laced with mystery, colorful characters and a fast paced story line.

Poppy Delamere has been living under the false name and identity of Flora Deavers for two years in London after her con man stepfather plots to marry her off to a sleezy associate of his so she does what any lady with sense would do. She runs away! Two years later she reads in the paper that her younger sister Violet is charged with murdering her husband, the cad she ran away from. Poppy is on her way to the town of Little Kidding to prove her sister’s innocence when she runs into her nemesis, The Duke of Langham. He is headed to his estate for his grandmothers birthday house party and his estate just so happens to be in the same town as Poppy’s family. He proposes an an arrangement, she pose as fiancée in order to ward off ladies intent on snagging a Duke, and he will assist her in clearing her sister’s name. It’s not long before this fake engagement has them both yearning for each other in truth. They stumble upon more crazy schemes than they could have imagined and fall in love along the way. It’s a super cute romance! Absolutely recommend!!

Fake engagement + Mystery = happy reading!

A Spinster's Guide to Danger and Dukes is by far my favorite of the series. Secret identity, enemies to lovers, fake engagement, a gruesome murder, and the discovery of a resurrected secret society, what's not to love. I was consumed from the beginning by Poppy and Langham's relationship and watching them slowly realize they caught feelings. The details of the murder and secret society were salacious enough to keep me engrossed with out making it hard to sleep (I'm a wimp, I can't do scary at all). The twists and turns were perfection and kept me guessing. This is a fantastic historical romance with a bit of mystery thrown in, definitely recommend.

I was unaware that this book was part of a series with overlapping characters and knowing that... it really seems like it was trying to be similar to the “League of Extraordinary Women” series (one of my absolute favorites), but it just didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

I have not read the first 2 books, but I don’t think it’s necessary. I assume it would just add a bit to the world-building if I had read the others previously.

This was 2 parts murder mystery, 1 part romance, in my opinion. The romance was really not the primary genre, and what romance there was just wasn’t believable to me. The Duke and FMC, Poppy, basically met, became fake engaged, and then fell in love in the span of a couple of days. It happened too quickly, and so I wasn’t truly sold on it.

And the murder mystery itself was a bit bizarre. I wasn’t really finding myself invested in any of the storyline. It could be because the first 55-60% of the book was too slow for my liking or that the writing felt just a bit too “classic” and flowery for me.

Overall, it was fine, just nothing to write home about. I've read other historical romances with a side of mystery that I've enjoyed more.

I recently realized one of my all time favorite trope is fake dating/relationship. So when a deal was made between Poppy and Langham to pretend to be engaged I was ready!

It had been a while since I’ve read the first two books in this series, but I got caught up right away. I do think it is better to read the series in order.

We met Poppy as Flora Deaver who is hiding her identity because her awful stepfather was going to force her into a bad marriage.

Langham is a Casanova according to the tabloids which caused Poppy and him to butt heads. But he is there for her when she needs help and they end up having quite the satisfying slow burn.

This series isn’t just a romance series. It’s a mystery and whodunnit. I found myself super engaged in wanting to figure out the culprit.

As a fan of this series, I was delighted to receive an eARC of this third installment in the series. Poppy (or as we knew her, Flora) and Joshua’s love story was truly unexpected and entirely delightful. Poppy is called home the day of Caro’s wedding because her sister is accused of the murder of her horrid husband.

Bad luck is abound when all her money is stolen from her at the train station but lucky Joshua, the Duke of Langham comes to her rescue.

They come to an agreement that they will fake their engagement 1. So Joshua can use his ties to help Poppy’s sister and 2. So Poppy can save Joshua from entertaining the women his grandmother is hosting.

This fake fiancé plot leads to so many twists and turns - including uncovering a cult. I highly recommend this book as a part of the series or even a stand alone romantic mystery.

I read the 1st book in this series, somehow missed the second, and this is the third. It was not at all necessary to have read the earlier books, though I enjoyed the one I *did* read.

In keeping with the rest of the series, "A Spinster's Guide to Danger and Dukes" centers a strong, intelligent woman and surrounds her with a nice supporting cast and a surprisingly modern love interest. This book begins with our heroine discovering that her sister has been accused of murder, and rushing to her sister's aide. Conveniently, along the way she runs into a duke that she has met a couple of times before (this was apparently in the book that I didn't read!). He agrees to help her with her sister and she agrees to help him with his grandmother, who is trying to make a match for him. This, of course, leads to my very favorite trope... the fake relationship. Whoop!

The pacing was nicely done, though I could have used another chapter at the resolution of the murder mystery. The mystery was interesting enough, The spice level was satisfactory. I enjoyed it, and look forward to reading more from this author.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and ARC of this book.
#ASpinstersGuidetoDangerandDukes