Thank you for the advanced copy!

this was such a good book! it was my first by Manda Collins, and I don't think it will be my last. To start off, the plot was great. The book was fast-paced, and the plot moved along at a perfect speed. The story kicked off nearly right at the beginning of the story, and I couldn't put the book down once I started it. The romance was really well done, as were the friendships throughout the book. The murder mystery on top of this was great as well!!

the characters were great as well. I wasn't sure if I would like some of them after *that* introduction at the beginning in the train station, but I was pleasantly surprised by the dynamic that we ended with as the story went on! Poppy was a stellar female main character; she was strong, funny, and stubborn, yet also in touch with her emotions, and she wouldn't let anyone get in her way - I loved her! I also adored the dynamic between Joshua and Poppy; their banter was so fun to read, and they were adorable!

as for the tropes, you guessed it - I loved them too! fake relationships are one of my favourite tropes, so I was so excited to read this! I don't think I have anything negative to say about this book, to be honest (except for the fact that I didn't read it sooner)! I'd definitely recommend it!

I haven’t read the first two books in this series but they’re definitely moving up my TBR. This was a delightful book with just the right amount of mystery and intrigue. Poppy and Langham embark on a mission to be in a fake relationship as well as save her sister who has been accused of murdering her husband. So we have the drama of a society house party mixed with an investigation, plus a sweet couple falling in love! Both Poppy and Langham were well written characters and their enemies to friends to lovers story was a fun read.

This is book three of the ladies most scandalous series. Poppy and Joshua, the Duke of Langham, have met several times through friends. They didn't particularly like each other.
But when they meet on a train station platform both going to the same area, Poppy decides to let Langham help her out in getting home.
But first Poppy has to tell him the truth. Poppy had fled home and resumes life in London under a different name. She tells him she is now going back home to find out why her sister is being accused of murder, killing her husband.
Langham, office to help her find out what is going on with her sister if she would return the favor by entering into a fake betrothal. His grandmother is trying to play matchmaker and this would help him ward off all the debutantes.
The story has kidnapping, murder, secret societies and blackmail.
Little by little Poppy and Joshua fall in love.
The story brings in the main characters from books 1&2. It possibly sets up a book 4.
All in all I enjoyed this book.
5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I want to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Poppy has a lot of troubles at present: she’s been lying to her employers and friends about her identity for two years, her sister’s under arrest for the murder of her husband, and someone just stole her purse. When the stuffy and arrogant Duke of Langham steps in to offer her a way to get to her sisters side and help determine what really happened, Poppy begrudgingly accepts. All she has to do is agree to be his fake fiancé for a week at a house party. The two quickly come to understand that Poppy’s sister is in more trouble than they realized and that it’s going to be much harder to end their “engagement” then they originally supposed. But while the former is a problem they must solve, increasingly neither Poppy nor Langham is upset by the idea of being together permanently…

This series is so great. It’s a fairly close mystery/romance split and I loved both plots equally. Poppy’s backstory really worked—I think it’s actually quite hard to pull off an evil villain but Manda Collins nailed it in her stepfather who is absolutely The Worst. He’s not even the only terrible person in this book, and it’s extremely satisfying to see all the terrible people get their comeuppance but the end. In addition to the mystery, which has an almost comical occult element (based on real events from history!), the romance between Langham and Poppy is so believable. They are obviously attracted to each other physically, but their appreciation for each other comes out of their conversations, kindness, wit, and crime solving, not their looks. It’s a bit of slow burn as the result, but the pay off worked really well for me. I would have liked a little more time at the end of them together to really solidify their relationship, which is knocking this down from 5 stars to 4.5 (would not have minded one more intimate scene either…).

I genuinely have been loving this series and hope it continues!! Adrian next?!

This is a great addition to the Ladies Most Scandalous series! Picture a Victorian Era historical romance with a side of a murder mystery that may or may not involve a hedonistic cult. I liked both Poppy and Langham and appreciated the way they both had to take a step back and examine their first impressions of each other. I also found their relationships with their families fascinating. The ending felt a little rushed to me, but I still enjoyed the story overall.

NOTE: This is the 3rd book in the Ladies Most Scandalous series but can easily be read as a standalone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for an Advanced Reader Copy ebook.

If you like historical romance and you like mystery novels, this is a nice balance of both. Poppy is a strong leading lady and I'd say she could even border being a grump. But what I like most is that she can hold her own with the upper-class snooty people she encounters.
I like that Joshua doesn't just try to step in and fix her problems. He understands that some men aren't willing to openly discuss things with her but he finds a way to get the information for her.

Poppy was living under a different identity when she moved to London. It was to protect herself from her stepfather, who tried to marry her off to an odious man. What she never expected was that he'd force her sister to take her place. Now her sister is being accused of murdering her husband.

She's heading back to support her sister when she literally runs into the Duke of Langham. They aren't friends but he is friends with the men who married her former bosses. Sensing that something is wrong he vows to use his title to help her and her sister. But he has a small request of his own, pretend to be his fiance to protect him from the women his grandmother has lined up for him to meet.

The better to get to know each other the more the lines of fake and real get blurred for them. Langham would like to make the engagement real. But they still need to find the real killer and are surprised to find that it ties to Langham's great-grandfather. Will they be able to find the person responsible before they strike again?

Thank you so much to the author and Forever for this ARC to review.

Manda Collins’ third installment in her Ladies Most Scandalous series is an absolute delight! Collins weaves romance and mystery together to create a charming treat. Collins’ writing is well paced and easily pulls the reader into the story. Her characters and fun and interesting and the plot lines and tropes to this novel work perfectly hand in hand to create an interesting and engaging read. I have found each installment in this series to be so fun and charming and with each installment Collins becomes more and more in control of her writing and her story in a really lovely way!

This novel gave me all the cat nip I needed to quickly jump into this story and stay interested and invested in our characters. I loved that this fake engagement, murder mystery romance has a strong heroine at its center. She is independent and she decided to take her own life into her hands but now that her sister is in need she will work hard to clear her name. I love that this murder mystery is the perfect catalyst to bring our hero and heroine together and they must unravel secrets, learn to trust each other and work hand in hand to unveil the web of lies and secrets to get to the heart of the truth. Collins brilliantly sets this outside of the London society circles which helps to give our hero and heroine more freedom of movement. While working together, Collins is able to build the tension between them in perfect tandem around the mystery plot.

I would highly recommend this novel by Collins, as well as the others in this series. It can be read as a stand-alone but this series is really fun and each novel just gets better and better!

The heroine had fled her old life to escape a forced betrothal and began a new life as a secretary with a new name. However, when the heroine learned that her sister is accused of murder, she returns to her old life to help her sibling. Along the way she meets the hero, who asked for a favor in return to helping her. With a fake betrothal between the hero and the heroine, the couple learn more about each other and began to fall in love. With this burgeoning romantic relationship, the couple also deals with the accused sister's case, which brings with it trouble that may or may not a detriment to their happy ending.

This is the third book in the A LADY'S GUIDE series. It features a vicar's daughter and a duke that are both in need of each other in one way and another. Along with the mystery of the accused sibling's case, there are also some ladies who are in need of husbands, which the hero is using the fake betrothal with the heroine to guard against. I enjoyed the strong friendship circle that supported the main couple. I also enjoyed the sibling relationships that the main couple have in their lives. I even enjoyed the cameo appearances of a rapscallion canine companion that is the lovable pet of a senior character. I would have liked more details in certain areas of the story, in both the mystery and the romance. Overall, the nice flow and great story vibe of this Manda Collins book provided a wonderful reading experience.


** Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in the review are my own. **

If you’re looking for an enemies to friends to lovers with a fake engagement thrown in and a bit of a murder mystery, you’re gonna like this one!

I really enjoyed reading this one! Poppy is so smart, quick witted, and feisty. She was not putting up with any of Langham’s nonsense. And he was so kind to her that I was the one that was swooning.

If you have read the first two in this series, you will love this one. Or if you want to try out a historical romance that has some mystery to it, then give this a go!

Thanks to Forever Publishing for my gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Spinster’s Guide to Danger and Dukes by Manda Collins is book Three in the A Lady's Guide Series. This is the story of Poppy Delamare and Joshua Fielding, the Duke of Langham. Poppy ran off to escape her Step-father which has lead her to living as Flora Deaver, secretary to Lady Katherine Eversham. But now she has to return home to help her sister who needs her. Poppy's sister Violet has been accused of murder. While working her way to return to Little Kidding, she is robbed. But she runs into Joshua who offers her help in exchange for being his pretend betrothed. This starts their story. Enjoyed.

My thanks to Forever Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a stand alone romance/murder mystery following Poppy, a young woman estranged from her family, in a quest to clear her sister of murder charges. Her white knight is the Duke of Langham, Joshua, an acquaintance turned fake fiancee and fellow amateur crime solver.

This is the third in a series, and I did read the first, but have honestly no memory of plot or characters. My notes on the first book (bc I am reading log nerd 🤓) say it was a fun story but the pacing/story needed some edits. What do I know about editing a book? Literally nothing. But two years ago me was quite confident in this.

Poppy and Joshua face off against a house party contrived to get him married (hence the need for a fake fiancee) and various people hiding or lying about the murder of Poppy's ne'er-do-well bro in law. Hoo boy, there also a satanic sex cult, a cipher only the heroine can solve and caves. There's a character in 2 places at once 🙃 but maybe the final copy won't include this small blooper?

The book is pretty white and heteronormative, but there are some (one) *minor* characters who hales from the nebulous "West Indies" and anyone who is rude to servant is a bad guy/gal. I don't typically enjoy when characters are all good or all bad, but this is a pretty common feature in a lot of writing. While the book is a historical romance, it's not particularly heavy on the "history" part, although there is a secret society based on historical events. Most characters are quite modern in speech and behavior which makes it super accessible for folks trying out hist-rom.

The cover art is pretty and the story ends with an HEA for the good guys and consequences for the bad ones. A quick, easy dessert read.

#ASpinstersGuidetoDangerandDukes #NetGalley

Poppy Delamare is living and working in London under an alias. She does not want anyone to figure out who she is and why she is hiding. When she receives notice that her sister back home is being accused of murder, she has no choice but to run to her aid. At the train station, Poppy is robbed and then rescued by the one man she cannot stand, Joshua Fielding, The Duke of Langham. When the Duke suggests that maybe they could help each other, Poppy is backed into a corner. Could she really pull off being the Duke’s fiancé to gain his help with her sisters' case? There is only one way to find out, and that's to go along with his plan. What ensues next is a fabulous adventure for both Poppy and the Duke.

Manda Collins has opened up a whole new world for me with these witty historical romances. I was not a fan of historical romances, but thanks to Ms. Manda, I cannot get enough. I love the banter and the strong female characters. It was fun to read Poppy’s story as she has made some appearances in the first two books in the series. I also enjoyed the history part of the novel and how things were done back in the 1800’s. My thanks to Manda Collins and Forever Publishing for my copy, which I read and reviewed voluntarily. This is one series I would recommend picking up friends, you will not be disappointed.

Thank you to the publisher Read Forever and author Manda Collins for the gifted copy.  All opinions expressed are mine alone.

💭 𝘔𝘠 𝘛𝘏𝘖𝘜𝘎𝘏𝘛𝘚
First, I want to start by saying that I don't like commitment. There is plenty of fish in the sea and I want to taste every single one. By the way, I'm referring to books, get your mind out of the gutter. This story is part of a series but can be read as a standalone novel. This is great news for those of us that do not like to be committed to reading an entire series.

Secondly, I had so much fun reading this book and I devoured it quickly. It has love and mystery, and it is set in the Victorian era. Think fake relationship meets Bridgerton, secret societies, and solving a murder mystery. Sounds good, doesn't it?

The initial banter between Poppy and Langham is on point. Poppy is witty, strong-willed, and an independent heroine. You would assume Langham would be a high society snob but he was sweet, protective, and caring towards Poppy.

𝘖𝘝𝘌𝘙𝘈𝘓𝘓...
This mixed-genre story was a light and enjoyable read with a few spicy scenes.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲
🕯️Victorian era settings
🕯️Grumpy/Sunshine
🕯️Fake relationship
🕯️Banter
🕯️Family Drama
🕯️Secret Society

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 4.5/5 (CAWPILE 8.86/10)

Poppy’s sister has been accused of murder and Poppy is determined to prove her innocence. She runs into the Duke of Langham during her travels home. Turns out, he needs a fake fiancé. While insufferable, they also are good together. Hopefully they can solve both of their missions.

I haven’t read any of the other books in this series, but it was so fun! So many elements I love: whodunit, banter, whit, fake fiancé and tension!!

I thought I had guessed a few times who the murderer was but I was wrong. There were plenty of surprises and genuine moments.

Overall, just a purely enjoyable read. I will definitely be reading other books in the series soon!

Thanks to @netgalley @grandcentralpub and @readforeverpub for allowing me to read an early copy. The review expresses my own opinions.

I *love* a Victorian era romantic suspense AND fake dating?! Say no more!!! I swear, this series has gotten better with each book. That said, this one could definitely stand alone. Join Poppy & Langham as they hop a train, make a pact, solve multiple crimes, and unwittingly fall in love. Their relationship and everything about each of them was *chef’s kiss* perfection.

This is the third book in a series that I adore. The basic set up is that Poppy is pretending to be a secretary, named Flora, in order to escape a horrible the turtle. Unfortunately, her beloved sister is accused of murder. After interesting first meeting with Joshua Fielding, who is the duke of Langham, poppy, and Joshua agree to a fake patrol, though in order to help each other out. Joshua wishes to avoid all of the misses trying to marry him, whereas Poppy wants to solve the murder for her sister.

It is delightfully written, and both characters have you rooting for them throughout the book. The chemistry between both pops off the pages from the very beginning. With the mystery that is involved, the book gives off a feeling of a cozy mystery. It’s a very comforting read, and that it has two of my favorite things historical romance, combined with a cozy mystery. The plot makes sense and the book flows well. I am thinking forward to the next book written by Manda Collins.

This is such a fun series! Although this is book three in the Ladies Most Scandalous series, it can easily be read as standalone. I loved the first two books and this follow-up didn't disappoint.

Poppy and Langham met in a previous book with less than favorable first impressions. They are reacquainted here when they join forces to stop Poppy's sister from being convicted of murder while posing as a betrothed couple to help Langham out of a bind with his family.

This is a Victorian era historical romance with a strong mystery element involving a secret society and murder. I liked the country setting as it's something different from the usual London. It was a fast-paced read with banter plus fake engagement and enemies/friends to lovers tropes. Poppy was smart and independent. Langham was caring and supportive, with Poppy bringing out his protective side. I enjoyed their chemistry together and seeing their relationship deepen while working together to solve the murder. Hope to see more books in this series.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy of this book.

This was an entertaining, well-written historical romance. It was fun, steamy and kept me reading. I didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

Whoa - how have I not read Manda Collins before? This book is spectacular! I’ve seen the other titles from the series posted about on Bookstagram and pop up in various other places, but they didn’t really capture my attention (I’m not sure if it’s because it was regency romance or the combo of historical and mystery, but I enjoy both)? I totally loved this! Combining my favorite genres of romance with cozy mystery was perfection!

I definitely recommend this to everyone who enjoys romance, regency or otherwise (I only read the sun-genre occasionally), and especially those who enjoy cozy mystery, because the combo of the two, Manda Collins’ brilliant storytelling, and all the great character development and the solving of the crime while they fell in love? This is just brilliant! I adored Poppy and Lord Langham’s story and wish it was longer (and now I have to go back to read the rest of the series). They were a no-nonsense couple from page one and straight through all the struggles and discrimination and the mystery.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and this is my honest feedback.

Thanks to Forever Publishing and Netgalley for gifting me an early copy of this book to review!

My Rating: 4.5/5

My Thoughts: This is the third book in the Ladies Most Scandalous series. I believe that each book can be read individually but they are best read in order. I adored this book! I have been waiting to read Langham and Poppy’s story since I first heard that they’d get their own book! If you read the previous two books, you have already met Poppy and Langham. I loved their dynamic, the banter was amazing! Langham as a hero was great and he intrigued me a lot in the previous books. I absolutely adored Poppy! I think she has a heroine was very relatable and a breath of fresh air! The writing of course was great too, I expect that anytime I pick up a book by Manda Collins. I especially loved the mystery aspect of this book! I think that lovers of historical romance and mystery will love this book!