Lady Charlotte Always Gets Her Man is a good book for those who are looking to sink their teeth into a historical mystery romance.

This is a tough review for me to write. For whatever reason, I just didn't connect with this book. I didn't really enjoy the story, and I didn't connect with the characters. Now, I firmly believe that every story has its readers, and not every story is for every reader. And that philosophy applies to this situation. I am going to quickly go over what makes this book great and its qualities that might draw in certain bookworms. Just because I didn't enjoy this book doesn't mean others won't fall in love with Lady Charlotte's story.

This book is perfect for those readers who are looking for a historical romance that has a mystery twist in it. Lady Charlotte sets out to find proof that Viscount Hawley, her finance, is a wife killer. She is desperately trying to find a way out of her engagement because she knows that she will be killed if she marries this man. As she investigates Hawley, she ends up joining forces with Dr Matthew, who is the Viscount's brother. Matthew has his own secrets that he is trying to keep, but he realizes that his brother is a menace that needs to be stopped. Matthew is also attracted to Charlotte but knows that he shouldn't have these lusty feelings for his best friend's sister. The mystery and romance blended together fairly nicely. Both were interesting and are sure to draw readers in. The story moves at a great pace, and a few well-placed twists and turns will keep readers entertained. The characters are diverse and complex. They add a nice amount of depth and charm to the story. Charlotte and Matthew are good MCs and complement each other nicely. The chemistry and sparks are there.

Overall, this is a good book with a solid plot and characters that are sure to entertain you.

An opposites attract, older brother's best friend, dual POV, forbidden Regency romance between two people choosing to exist outside the confines of aristocratic society. Lady Charlotte is forced against her will into a betrothal with a cruel Viscount and finds herself falling for his outcast brother. I loved the cast of characters in this book, including a parrot and a monkey. There's also great disability rep in the form of Charlotte's brother who has a club foot and uses a mobility aid. Great on audio and highly recommended for fans of authors like Amalie Howard, Cat Sebastian or Erica Ridley. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio and digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

If you like bonkers historical romance setups, you'll like this one: Lady Charlotte is unofficially betrothed to a duke's heir. In the first chapter, we learn that there are rumors that he caused the death of his first two wives. Honestly, these historical romance rumors are starting to frustrate us: why do women keep marrying a guy who's possibly killed two women in 4 years? Just because he's a nobleman doesn't mean he won't face major consequences. But wait, dear reader: Charlotte decides to investigate her almost-betrothed to discover proof of his crimes. What's more, her brother and her brothers' BFF, Matthew (who also happens to be her fiance's brother), are also investigating. So this isn't just an early excuse to get Charlotte to marry someone else, while leaving other women to be preyed upon. Instead, it's the basis of the plot of the book.

We did really enjoy the over-the-top-ness of so much that happens in the book. Matthew is not only a duke's son; he's a physician/surgeon, an explorer, a naturalist, an abolitionist, a cat burglar, and (basically) a spy. He's got fighting moves, sparkling intellect, and really knows how to kiss. The book does verge on the silly at times (a capuchin monkey falls in requited love with a parrot, for example), and we'd have loved a little more spice. Check your preferences in historical romance before you jump in.

3.5 stars rounded to 4. This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

Overview: Lady Charlotte is horrified that she will be betrothed (against her will) to Lord Hawley (whose first two wives died in suspicious “accidents”). She concocts a plan to achieve financial independence by investing in the expansion of the Black Sheep, a local coffeehouse. When Charlotte spots Dr Matthew Talbot, Lord Hawley’s younger brother, at the Black Sheep, she realizes that he may be her best shot at finding out the truth about her future fiancée …before it’s too late…

Matthew is a shy (and socially awkward) surgeon/author/world-traveler who has long admired his best friend’s twin sister, Lady Charlotte, and is alarmed to find out that she will be betrothed to his older brother. But Matthew has a huge secret of his own… will he be able to out his brother as the villain that he is without exposing himself?

Thoughts: This book gave me similar vibes as Tessa Dare’s books (which I love), except with less spice and more intrigue. Charlotte as a main character was awesome - I absolutely adore books with a smart and assertive female lead. I thought that Matthew’s storyline was more interesting than the main mystery, which didn’t end up being much of a mystery after all. My minor complaints are that the villain ended up being very one-dimensional and the romance took a while to heat up (it felt like there were many pages of Matthew and Charlotte just checking each other out surreptitiously) - but it definitely warmed up by the end! I liked the world that Marsh created as well as the supporting characters - overall a fun first book of the series!

Take home message: This dual POV romance is an action-packed adventure filled with intrigue, humor, and a main couple that will make you swoon! Perfect for fans of the “brother’s best friend” trope, closed-door historical romances, and foul-mouthed parrots.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for this digital ARC!

I tried but I really couldn’t get into this book. I picked it up three times and got to about 22% and I’m calling it quits. The main character and the story just didn’t grab my attention.

a fun, historical romance with an edge of mystery. the issue is that we knew the mystery right away. we did find out about Matthew’s secret part way through the book, and that was a surprise, but I felt like I knew the whole plot by a few chapters in. this book is not steamy (other than a few kiss scenes) and the chemistry between the main characters was nice.

Charlotte is desperate to get out of a betrothal that might just cost her her LIFE. Her betrothed is looking for his THIRD wife after the accidental deaths of his first two spouses. Charlotte believes that the accidents weren't accidental at ALL. Thankfully, his brother Matthew, who has been secretly pining for Charlotte for YEARS, is willing to help her figure out who's good, who's bad, and who will make it out alive! And in the process, they just might fall in love!

I thought this plot was very inventive! The characters were quite colorful. The pages were full of laugh-out-loud lines. But I struggled with the writing to the point that it was hard for me to sink into the story. The author used a lot of language that's outdated or, quite frankly, too grandiose. Perhaps she was attempting to make the story feel more authentic and based on the Georgian time period, but, for this present-day lady, it was too cumbersome to enjoy.

I'd like to thank Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Lady Charlotte Always Gets Her Man is a romantic mystery with a strong female lead. Charlotte is intelligent, gutsy and NOT afraid to go after what she wants, Matthew. He's smart, exploratory and has been pining for her since his youth. He's kept his desires hidden as its his best friends twin sister. He's got secret that will open Charlottes eyes to his true heroism.

This story is a lot of fun, from its talking parrot who falls for the monkey to these star-crossed lovers. The cast of characters also add elements of intrigue when they gather together at the Black Sheep. Here's hoping their is a sequel as the possibilities for another love story was teased in this book.

Thank you, Forever

Format -E ARC (NetGalley)

Rating- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Spice- 💋

Series- N/A

Troupes- Brothers best friend, forced proximity, he falls first, cinnamon roll hero

Representation-

CW- mentions murder and torture

I really wanted to love this book, it had all my favorite things and I think if I could have read it at a different time my mood reader brain would have liked it more.

So things I liked, Charlotte in a dynamic character she’s wit smart and ready to take her own life in hand to get away from her parents. This historical setting to vibrant and very detailed and both in the coffee shop and about town. I enjoyed the secondary characters and the animal sidekicks very useful for comedic relief as we hunted down a murderer.

Things I struggled with, Mathew, he had a lot of hero qualities but he fell a little flat for me he’s some kind of secret agent trained in espionage and hand to hand combat but he is still freezing at taunts from his murderer brother? The extended explanation and details, this book was a little long for me for what it was and I think cutting some of the extra detail out would have helped to the pacing and not allow the reader to get a little bored.

This is a new author to me and I would defiantly read her again this one just wasn’t the knock out I was hoping for!

Thank you Violet March, Forever Pup and Netgalley for the advanced copy my opinions are my own.

Lady Charlotte Lovett is the perfect debutante and the ton loves her. She is all things demure, pleasing, and beautiful. And . . . she hates every minute of the pretense she must endure until she can make arrangements to escape her gilded prison. She’s not the only one who suffers from her parents and the ton's expectations – her twin brother Alexander, who was born with a club foot, is ridiculed and looked down upon.

For Lady Charlotte things come to a head when she and her mother are at the modiste and her mother casually tells her the gown for which she is being fitted is to be her gown for her betrothal ball. Charlotte is shocked because she didn’t even know they were negotiating a marriage contract for her. When she asks if her mother would at least tell her the name of her groom-to-be, she’s horrified to learn she’s to be betrothed to William Talbot, Viscount Hawley, heir to the Duke of Lansberry. Charlotte is sure Hawley is responsible for the deaths of his previous two wives – and many other vile things as well. She will NOT marry him so she has only a few weeks to find proof of his vile deeds.

Matthew Talbot is the youngest brother of William Talbot and he is nothing like the rest of his vile family. Matthew chose to study medicine and is a nature lover – and he’s also had a bit of tender feelings for Lady Charlotte Lovett for many years. He knows nothing can come of it because he’s just a third son – but – daydreams are nice. Then he discovers she’s to be betrothed to his older brother and he knows he cannot let that happen.

A LOT is going on in the story and there are plenty of characters and possibilities should the author choose to make a series. I liked Lady Charlotte and I liked Matthew along with all of the supporting characters – including the parrot and monkey. Matthew was a bit over-the-top – in my opinion – he was a surgeon and a physician – and a professor – and a swashbuckling seafarer – and – well, you name it. I also thought the author played a bit loose with the Georgian period, etc. However, I did enjoy the story and I’m glad to have read it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lady Charlotte’s parents want her to marry for prestige, so it doesn’t matter to them that the previous two wives of the Viscount Hawley died under suspicious circumstances. Determined to get out the betrothal, Lady Charlotte starts a dangerous investigation into the viscount.

Overall, Lady Charlotte Always Gets Her Man is a fun story, although the title is a bit off-putting since there is only one man she goes after - Hawley’s younger brother, Matthew. Charlotte is self-sufficient and sharp. She knows she needs to break from her parents and finds a way to do so. She speaks her mind and is a bit naive, but is willing to learn from others and her own mistakes. Matthew is an introvert partially because of the torment from his older brothers and father. He was lucky he found a father-figure in Mr. Stewart and discovered purpose in his own life. I love historical romances with progressive women and their forward-thinking men.

Lady Charlotte Always Gets Her Man is an HEA romance, but the romance often is secondary to the plot of stopping Hawley. The story focuses on Charlotte gaining her independence and escaping her betrothal. There is also a subplot featuring Matthew and his secret life. It serves to show Matthew’s true nature and also allows him to realize Charlotte isn’t the high-society lady he believes her to be.

The romance between Charlotte and Matthew is slow-burn and sweet. The pair are friends from youth, as Matthew is her twin brother Alexander’s best friend. While they admired one another, they didn’t think about a romance until they recently met again at the Black Sheep. Whereas Matthew thinks his station is too lowly for Charlotte (it is), she presses forward and pursues Matthew. It’s very chase and sweet and does not dominate the book.

In the end, Lady Charlotte does get her man, and I hope the author gives us more titles set in the saucy Black Sheep coffee house.

My Rating: B

What a delightful regency romp!

Marsh has created some of the most interesting and ‘contemporary minded’ regency characters in Charlotte and Matthew, with a fun coffee house setting, an action-packed scheme to take down a notorious criminal, and swooning forbidden slow-burning tension.

Charlotte is essentially betrothed to Lord Hawley, despite the mysterious circumstances that led to his previous two wives early deaths. She bucks against societal norms by secretly investing a portion of her late aunt’s inheritance into a local coffee house co-owned by her distant cousins. She is attempting to secure her own financial freedom while covertly investigating Hawley’s possible criminal ties in attempts to avoid the execution of the marriage contract. Unbeknownst to Charlotte, her brother, Alexander, and his best friend, Matthew (and Hawley’s estranged younger brother) are also conducting their own secret investigations to protect Charlotte from the marriage as well. Eventually their plans collide, and they must work together in order to successfully carry out their secret plans. The forced proximity of the mission ignites a friendship and then forbidden romance between Charlotte and Matthew. Matthew is a third-born son and has spent his adulthood training as a surgeon, studying the floral/fauna of the colonies, and illegally rescuing indentured servants/human trafficking victims. Can the two of them outwit Hawley and buck the traditions of societal expectations to reach for a happily every after??

I loved these characters, and the ‘found family’ vibes from the Black Sheep coffee house! There is a hilarious parrot, high-stakes schemes, fun banter, and intelligent conversations around the injustices of the period including slavery, indentured servitude, and the treatment of women as property. Charlotte and Matthew’s romance had many roadblocks, including some egregious family trauma, but they were easy to root for and their chemistry was fire! This romance is low-steam, but includes several on-page (mostly clothed) trysts!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever publishing for my e-arc. I will be featuring this book on my IG feed next week!

Lady Charlotte Always Gets Her Man is a standalone that has all the makings for the beginning of a series. This was a new to me author and I enjoyed the twists and turns of this mid-18th century HR. I haven’t read many set in the 1700s but liked the historical tidbits that was available throughout. It was interesting the differences in the style of dress and weapons from this time period to Regency.

I really enjoyed this overall and while I don’t want to mention any spoilers, the secret life that the MMC has is interesting and there’s a great author’s note at the end. It did start a bit of a slow start but the pace picked up in the second half. Both MC are lovable with the MMC having a more transformative journey. Matthew had been harshly bullied by his older brothers and treated as an outcast most of his life. And while he’s made his own life by becoming a doctor and studying and publishing for natural science he has to stand up against his oldest brother and also decide he’s worthy of love and happiness. The FMC is strong and once she trusts Matthew is steadfast in her feelings for him. They had both known each other in childhood but the heroine didn’t really know the hero and hadn’t seen him in several years so she was hesitant at first because he’s the brother to the villain. A lot of side characters are introduced that could have had a story worth telling from their past or future romance stories.

There are no encounters, open door or fade to black. There are several kisses, a few fantasized thoughts, and the words to a bawdy ditty.

An advance ecopy of this book was provided by Forever publishing via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A cute brothers best friend romance with a villainous fiance , highwayman and lot of intrigue

Looking forward to more from this series ( I’m just assuming it’s a series based on the ending )

A sweet love story and interesting side characters and a villain to catch but the book felt way too long at times. I think this one may be the first book in a series and I would definitely read more about these characters

This book had me hooked right from the beginning. I not only wanted to follow along with the developing romance between Charlotte and Matthew's romance, but also with Charlotte's bid for independence and the investigation into Hawley. I was actually less interested in Matthew's "secret life" - given the way he thought of it (prior to us knowing what was going on) I was expecting it to be something along the line of espionage. Given who Charlotte's cousins were and that she had gone into business with them I would have thought he would know she would have been proud to be associated with him. I'm still a little foggy on exactly how she ended up getting shot without it seeming completely obvious as to what she was doing. She also seemed to recover from that injury pretty quickly - and didn't her mother wonder where she was all night? I liked that Charlotte hadn't grown up being in love with Matthew and that came to see him as the man he was through his studies and interests. It gave me confidence that theirs was the type of relationship that would last. The investigation into Hawley ended up being a little more interesting than the resolution (which I thought came about a little too easily). That being said, I did absolutely love Charlotte's confrontation with Hawley at the masked ball - it was perfection and he definitely had it coming. And of course I can't wait to find out what Alexander did with Percy and a certain gold-plated helmet.

This was a cute historical romance. Not only did I enjoy Charlotte and Matthew as a couple, but I was also rooting for Banshee and Pan. The villain aka Matthews's brother is pretty stereotypical Villian. Who is rumored to be behind more than a few bodies, including those of his last two wives so it's no wonder once she found out she was betrothed to him Charlotte impulsively ran away. Apparently, Matthew is not only an adorable cinnamon roll but has some hidden depths that were surprising and made me love him all the more. I enjoyed seeing Charlotte get what she wanted and loved her relationship with her brother.

I thought this took some fun turns, some surprising, and kept me entertained throughout the story.

This book was nice - it wasn't great but it wasn't terrible either. The plot was interesting, and found myself drawn in to the story but I felt the characters were a little wishy-washy. Charlotte herself was the source of much frustration, although I did come to like her in the end.

Overall I think this is a good book to read when you want romance with very little spice, and a bit of a thriller plot.

3.5 stars rounded to 4

A woman who wants out of her imminent engagement with a villain and a man with a goal to find proof of the same villain’s crimes. The heroine is smart and insightful while the hero is not only a brilliant doctor, naturalist but also a justice seeker. The parrot and the monkey adds some comedic element to the story whereas friends provide support for their plans. It definitely is wonderful when a plan comes together and they find their HEA. The end of the story hints at the next one in series! Lovely read and can’t wait for the next in series!

The good: Mystery storyline was well done, especially with the added conflict of the attraction between Charlotte and Matthew while trying to solve the same thing.

The bad: Very little romance. It took a back seat, and when it did hit, I was cringing through all of it. The flow of the writing was not good - big, inconsistent jumps between chapters were disorienting.

The ugly: Vocabulary was trying too hard, like a caricature of a period piece. And the book felt like it was getting longer and longer. With only a few chapters left, I felt ready to set it aside forever.

This quote from the book sums it up best: "The whole episode felt like a farce."

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.