In recent years, I find myself craving escapist romance books stuffed with fluffy, swoony, and dreamy moments. In Want of a Viscount is a fun, flirty, and sexy romance that had me smiling and happily immersed. I savored each page, each kiss, each romantically intimate moment between Rook and Nora. Lenora is a heroine after my own heart. Smart, vulnerable, and unconventional. She’s an inventor. Lenora’s enthusiasm for typewriters evoked fond memories of my own childhood—my first experience with my late father’s typewriter. The blooming romance between Rook and Nora right from their first meeting is a winner for me! Both Nora and Rook are selfless characters who deserve all the happiness. Additionally, Rook’s revelation near the end made me admire him more. There was some unpleasantness in the form of Lenora’s selfish mother and brother. Furthermore, Rook’s father’s misdeeds were disconcerting to read. But none of that dampened the romance for me.

I dearly hope Lawrence will get his own book.

I'm a little disappointed with past Stacee for taking so long to read this one.

I loved Nora and Johnny. They're both so smart and considered odd and I really enjoyed these two finding their way. Nora's family deserved to be kicked repeatedly and I'm a bit disappointed that she never stood up to them.

Plot wise, it was good. They're together most of the time and have several open conversations, which is always a favorite of mine. And let's not forget getting to see several of the Trewloves again.

Overall, I have really enjoyed this series and I can't wait to read what's next.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

This book is Heath at her best. I really enjoyed the main characters. Leonora is pretty unique as a historical romance heroine, very smart with the brain of an engineer-inventor and absolutely devoted to her family business, not for the money but for her passion in understanding how things work. She’s never really thought of herself as desirable or as a person with desires, until she meets Rook. And wow does Rook fall hard for her. He’s very much her defender but not in a toxic way, and he also realizes she doesn’t really need a defender. He’s enthralled with everything about her including her insatiable curiosity about mechanical things. And their chemistry is fantastic. I also really enjoyed all the characters from this series and the Sins For All Seasons series that play subtle roles in the story, though I do think this can be read as a standalone.

Lorraine Heath has been my go-to author for regency romance for as long as I can remember. How she continues to please and come up with new characters, I have no idea but I absolutely love it! I can't wait to read more!

In Want of a Viscount is the 3rd novel in The Chessmen Series, and like the other two books in the series, I adored this one as well.

Leonora is an American visiting England with her brother and mother to acquire investors for their family's factory back in the States. She is more intelligent than everyone and has decided not to get married. Leonora (rightfully) believes a husband would stifle her creative and inventive nature. Since she's never been kissed, she goes to Elysium for the kiss she assumes she'll never get otherwise.

And here comes my sweet baby Rook. John Castleton, the Viscount of Wyeth, is at Elysium to see his half-brother Aiden. His brother convinces Rook to help him by assisting a woman who has requested "just a kiss." He obliges and becomes obsessed with Leonora, like a good romance hero.

Thus begins a whirlwind romance during which Rook is impressed and intrigued by Leonora's inventive brain, which is thrilled by seeing how mechanical things work. The other men Leonora interacts with are bored and/or intimidated by how smart she is. When Rook accurately deduces that she's trying to figure out how a roulette wheel works, he tells the owner of the gaming salon they are at to let her dismantle one so she can understand how it works. Be still my heart.

I loved so much about this book, but I would just recommend that you read it.

Lorraine is one of my favorite historical romance authors. She was also one of my firsts too! I really enjoyed the characters, the story, and how they always find a way to HEA! The feels and journey are everything! I can’t wait for the next Lorraine book!

He just can’t keep his lips off of hers. And MMC who refuses to become his father and a FMC who wants to make her father proud. Very strong and independent FMC, while her mother and brother try to bring her spirits down she tries to fight back to make her father’s company succeed even if he left it to her brother. A great book I could not put down.

Such a good end to a fun trilogy! I love Lorraine and everything she writes. Her romances are deep and thoughtful.

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Lorraine Heath has written some of my favorite historical romances. She is literally prolific, and her talent at weaving together a wonderful story full of romance and intrigue is unmatched in my opinion. As much as it pains me to say this, I did not like this at all. It just lost me, and it could be that I haven't read any of the others in the series, so I wasn't attached to any of the characters. The heroine to me was just dull, I am sort of wore out on inventor heroines who are resourceful and intelligent. Bluestockings. Normally, I don't mind them, but lately it's just not my thing. I think me not liking this is just because of the type of books I had been reading at the time, and it was so similar that it didn't feel new or fresh, and left me feeling less than excited. Maybe if I read it again, then I would feel differently.

I'm in the minority on this so don't take my word for it.

As always, Lorraine Heath feels classic but fresh. In Want of A Viscount is well written, with characters that are likable but still believable. I’ve liked other books written by Heath more than this one, but overall I did really enjoy reading. 4/5.

I enjoyed this one, the instant chemistry between Leonora and Rook was so fun! It was refreshing to have such an enterprising heroine as well!

Leonora and Rook’s scandalous romance inspires a spark of adventure that sends them to each other. Great read for the beach and highly recommended.

Not our favorite Lorraine Heath. Love her and had a lot of expectations for this series but so far it hasn’t been as good as what we’ve seen from her in the past. Will obviously keep reading whatever she writes tho!

3.75 ⭐️/5
2.00 🌶️/5

One thing about a Lorraine Heath book is that there’s gonna be angst. The beginning started off light and seemingly low stakes but as the story progressed so did the angst. Rook’s father was awful and Leonora’s mom was the worst. I loved how out of everyone Rook was the one who wholly believed in Nora, and was just smitten by her. I absolutely loved the character of Rook’s mom and her story just broke my heart.

I grew a bit frustrated when it was obvious to everyone except Rook and Nora that Rook was in love with her. I loved the inclusion of Rook’s siblings out of wedlock in the storyline. Definitely felt the insecurity of Nora, the sweet summer child. There was a grand gesture but was it too little too late?

If you like historical romance, Lorraine Heath, dual POV, angst and interconnected standalones.

Thanks to @avonbooks for sending me an advance copy of In Want of a Viscount by Lorraine Heath, which is already out in the world! 😆

I’m getting to this one a tad late (it released in February), but it turned out to be my favorite of the series!

When I tell you this one had me giggling from chapter one? I was *in*. Rook has a hot (and hilarious) anonymous encounter with a woman at his brother’s club, only to discover that she helms a company the Chessmen are considering investing in.

The angst and the small moments where these characters feel so safe and seen were the absolute highlights for me.

While The Chessmen series can be read as a stand-alone, Lorraine Heath makes the most of the universe she has crafted: the characters and storylines of The Chessmen overlap and intersect with those in the Once Upon a Dukedom and Sins for All Seasons series in a way that feels like a love letter to longtime fans. Rook’s story, and in particular the epilogue, serves as a bookend those stories in the best way possible.

The romantic and fun next book in the Chessman series did not disappoint. Rook may be my favorite of the chessmen so far! Even though you dont have to read the rest of the series, I recommend doing so. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for letting me read and review this ARC.

Leonora is an American inventor. Rook is an English Lord looking to invest in her invention. The fireworks between the two is immediate and puts a monkey wrench in all their plans. This is the third installment of the Chessmen and also ties into the Truelove family as well so there are plenty of secondary characters you will recognize if you have read this author’s previous books. The story ended satisfactorily and I enjoyed reading about the characters from the previous book.

Thank you NetGalley for providing a eARC of this book!

Lorraine Heath never fails to create steamy scenes for her books. However, throughout the book, I felt like I wanted more scenes where they spent more time together rather than having those types of scenes. It felt as if they were starting on a basis of lust and felt difficult moving out if that.

I have not read any other books in The Chessmen series, but you don’t have to when reading this book. Although you can tell many characters from her other series show up. So I bet it’s fun to see them again. This one takes place between Viscount Wyeth, known as Rook to his friends, and an American Leonora Garrison. Her and her family have come to England looking for investors for the family business.

I loved that the story is quickly set and you dive right into their meeting. They are very sweet to each other and more tender than I was expecting. I also love that Nora is a smart character who knows what she wants and loves to invent and build things. It’s different from what you usually read in this genre and era. One thing that was infuriating was her mother and in some ways her brother. She might be one of the worst I ever read. I was embarrassed for Nora.

I thought the first half of this book was strong and sweet. The ending had some angst that changed the tone a bit. Don’t get me wrong, it is a happy ending but it didn’t feel as smooth as the start of the book. Despite the angst at the end it was still a sweet read and I hope we see them again in the background of other books.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sharing this book with me in exchange for my honest review.

While this wasn't necessarily my favorite in the Chessmen series overall, bonus points for Heath making her two leads so irrepressibly into each other that they couldn't have a single basic interaction without thinking about how soon they could tear each other's clothes off. This also felt refreshingly softer in terms of its overall plot — while there IS a wrench thrown into the plot when Nora and Rook are caught in a compromising position and effectively forced to marry, the biggest question really becomes about when they'll realize they're not just doing it for duty's sake but because they truly love each other. Starchy <spoiler>secretly virgin</spoiler> hero who wants to do anything to put a smile on his love interest's face is just always going to be catnip to me, and Rook is down BAD for Nora along those lines. (Beyond the overall story, do we think the Inspector is going to kick off a new Heath series? I have my theories!)

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this edition from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.