Lorraine Heath, man. I love when authors bring back previous characters, and this book was full of references to all three of her most recent series. And yet, despite all of that, my favorite parts of this book were truly the blooming romance between Rook and Nora. I will always have a weak spot for “different” and “quirky” women who just want to do science and not talk to people, and Nora was great at that. Was new ground tread here? No. This was a historical romance, and had all the historical romance bits you’d imagine from someone who has been writing historical romances about as long as I’ve been alive. And it was delightful. The only reason it’s not a full 5 stars is because there was a little too much internal dialogue from Rook that I ended up skimming. But Nora? She was great from start to finish. 4.5 stars rounded down.

I'm always in the mood for a new book by Lorraine Heath. In Want of a Viscount is the third book in The Chessman series and if you haven't read the first two books, this is your sign to go pick them up as soon as you can.

Our fmc is Leonora Garrison, an American who has come to England in search of investors to keep her family business in America afloat. When she decides to visit an exclusive ladies club and dares to kiss a stranger, she is tempted to consider something more.

Viscount Wyeth AKA Rook, stops at his brother's club, Elysium, and is wrangled into doing him a favor. Said favor is to visit a private room and fulfill a lady's request. This turns out to be the room Lenora is in and includes giving her a kiss. This is actually the complete opposite of who Rook truly is. Based on his father's past behavior, Rook has done everything in his power to not follow in his footsteps as a womanizer but he can't help himself from providing Lenora with the requested kiss.

When Lenora and Rook separate that evening, they believe they will never see each other again, even though they can't stop thinking about their encounter. When fate brings them both face to face, they are torn between desire and duty. Lenora wants an investor, not a lover and with her family relying heavily on her to save the business, she has to figure out what is most important.

I do want to say here that I really didn't like Lenora's mother. Heath made her a very unlikable character - it's not even the fact that she was relying on Lenora to save them all, it was the way she spoke to Lenora, engaged with people around her, and just her overall personality. Her brother wasn't that great either but definitely not as bad as her mother.

Overall, this was a great installment to the series. I loved getting Rook's story and seeing him matched up with Lenora was perfect. If you have an opportunity to read this book (and the series) definitely do so.

CW: Death of a parent (off-page); infidelity (not main couple); sexism; bullying

Oh my god, this book made me so giddy! It’s so swoon-worthy and romantic, and I am absolutely obsessed with Rook and Leonora. I’ve been lukewarm on the Chessmen series – the previous two books have been missing that special something that makes Lorraine Heath’s books magical. But this book, this book had all the emotions and everything I’ve been wanting from the Chessmen series, and I’m just sad we had to wait until the last one to get it!

While the romance is built off insta-lust, the connection between Rook and Leonora goes so much deeper than that. Sure, they have the hots for each other (and boy, do they have the HOTS for each other), but Rook also loves her for her brain and passion for her work. Oh my god, these two together – they melted my heart. He encourages her and builds her up in the best ways possible. I DIED at the surprise that he gave her around midway through as it brought Leonora so much joy, and it showed how well he knew her and what he would do to make her happy. I seriously was mush at how he encouraged her love of engineering and how much joy it brought him to see her happy. She can be herself around him and know he’ll accept her as she is.

Despite the instant attraction, the romantic relationship still felt like a slow burner as they spent time getting to know each other on a deeper level in between stealing hidden kisses at balls and secret trysts. It’s so clear that they love each other, but they’re both hesitant to voice those feelings. But when they do, oh my god, I swooned. The declarations of love in this book were *chefs kiss* and all the feelings and emotions that went along with it are why I love Lorraine Heath’s books. She’s so good at making your heart feel all the things.

I was SHOCKED that I didn’t make the connection that John Castleton, aka Rook, aka the Viscount of Wyeth, was the brother of Aiden Trewlove. As a massive fan of the Sins For All Seasons series, I was kicking myself for not realizing that when I read the blurb as we met Viscount Wyeth in The Duchess In His Bed. I was so excited when I realized that this book was deeply intertwined with the Trewloves, and I loved all the cameo appearances. If you’re a fan of Lorraine Heath’s most recent two series, you’ll really appreciate seeing so many key players again (I know I was screaming with joy every time one showed up). You don’t have to have read Heath’s Sins for All Seasons or Once Upon a Dukedom series to enjoy this book, but it does bring something extra special to those readers who have read it.

My heart melted for Rook! He’s been the one Chessmen we’ve known the least about, but I was so excited to get his story once I realized who he was. Rook is so upstanding and tries to avoid any hint of scandal, as his father is literally the world’s WORST man and the biggest libertine I’ve ever seen. He’s very careful with his emotions and romances as he never wants to be like his father. But of course, when he meets Leonora, that becomes a challenge, yet he still tries so hard to keep his heart (and lust) in check. What I love about him is how much he cares for Leonora. Unlike other men who mock her for her passions, he encourages them. All he wants to do is see a smile on her face, and I just love that. I also really appreciated seeing his relationship with Aiden – they definitely have that brotherly bond despite not being raised together.

Leonora was so not what I expected when I first met her, and I love that! I don’t know why, but I expected her to be more of a shy wallflower as she goes to the Elysium ladies club to get her first kiss, but she’s so not that. She’s outspoken and goes after what she wants. I loved her passion for her family’s business and the writing machine she created with her father. I melted when hearing what drove her to make the writing machine succeed, as her love for her father shone through. She’s willing to do anything to get the investors she needs to fulfill her father’s legacy, even if her mother and brother do not believe in it or her (her mother is truly the WORST). If you like a woman in STEM, I feel like you’ll love Leonora as she’s very much an engineer, as she loves taking things apart to figure out how to put them back together again and coming up with new machines that make everyday tasks easier. As a woman, she’s definitely looked down upon for her talents, but that’s why I loved how much Rook encouraged them! He was one of the few people in her life who encouraged her interests and made her feel seen.

The plot of this isn’t groundbreaking, and sure, it was a little predictable, but what makes this book so good is the romance and the emotions! Something about this story and these characters just clicked for me. The connection between Leonora and Rook was apparent from their first meeting, and watching that connection grow and develop was magical. I was swept up in the emotions and the romance and couldn’t get enough of these two! Truly, I feel like I’m obsessed with them. I was missing that emotional connection in The Counterfeit Scoundrel and The Notorious Mr. Knightly, but this delivered it in spades.

I’m so glad the Chessmen: Masters of Seduction series ends on a high note! I already can tell this will be another Lorraine Heath book that I know I will be revisiting in the future. It’s so romantic, swoonworthy, and sweet, and I could easily see this joining The Duchess Hunt as a new comfort read.

Thank you to Avon/Netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts, ideas, and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is a fabulously entertaining story. I love the fact that Leonora is such an empowered woman for this time period.
Her brother owns a company that their father started. Leonora is the inventor for the company. They are in England from America to find investors for the company and her new invention, a typewriter.
She meets Rook at a women's club when he is asked to do a favor by the owner and cater to her wish to be kissed.
I loved the relationship between Leonora and Rook. They both had their own wishes and desires for life. Her mother and brother were a bit hard to take at times.
I loved the fact that characters from another series appeared in this book.
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Leonora travels to England seeking investors and finds unexpected pleasure in a daring kiss with a handsome stranger. Viscount Wyeth, known as Rook, normally resists his rakish instincts to maintain respectability. They’re caught between passion and duty—but can love triumph in the end?

I loved the characters in this emotional and heartwarming novel. There’s plenty of steam and sensual tension.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This is an absolutely touching and beautiful story of Leonora and Rook. I adored both the characters in the book. They both were trying to do their best shaped by their own pasts. I loved Rook and Nora’s relationship especially adored how Rook all the qualities of Nora that she tried to suppress because of her mother or society’s expectations. I also loved how Rook is a genuinely good guy and is trying his best to undo the damage his horrible and disgusting father had done in his lifetime. An utterly enthralling and sexy romance that kept me reading it into the early hours of morning.

This is book three in the Chessmen: Masters of Seduction but could be read as a standalone. I loved this series so would highly recommend it and if you are curious about when we first met Rook, read The Duchess in his bed which is the story of Aiden, his illegitimate older brother.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4 Stars ⭐️

This book had an interesting setup. I enjoyed the bluestocking older heroine, and a hero who is trying to avoid making the same mistakes as his father. The characters are portrayed as being repressed but they fall in insta-lust with each other. The Americans in the story were portrayed as uncouth, fickle, and rude which was unnecessary.

Thank you to the publisher for providing the ARC.

Such a fabulous novel, I absolutely loved the story. One of my favorite Tropes in historical romances is when an American woman goes England, either as a dollar princess, or as in the heroine's case for financial investors. I loved the banter and the romance was superb.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an eARC of this book via NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, Avon. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Publishing: February 20, 2024
Series: The Chessmen: Masters of Seduction #3
Pages: 384

This was one truly enjoyable book by author, Lorraine Heath. Although I have not read the first two in this series, however this was one of two books that I have ever read where the hero in the story was a virgin…so to call the Chessmen “Masters of Seduction” is a bit odd because he was pursued but was seduced by the heroine in my opinion.

Miss Lenora “Nora” Garrison, a bluestocking American comes to England with her family in search of investors in her writing machine in order to continue her father’s business and keep her family flowing with income. She does not want to marry, however ventures out to an exclusive ladies’ club in search of a kiss. Viscount “Rook” Wyeth desires to live a life free of scandal and being labeled a “rogue”. He lets his father hold the title and the consequences of his actions and vows never to become him…in other words be the most upstanding gentleman of the ton. When one of his many half siblings asks a favor, he obliges by giving Nora the kiss that desires. Unfortunately, with that one kiss he finds himself smitten by the beautiful woman and eventually discovers that she is one of the Americans seeking the Chessmen as investors.

All the characters in the story were likeable characters except for the Lenora’s mother who was just rude and selfish individual who only cared about how she could elevate herself in society at the expense of her daughter. I admired Lenora’s determination to continue her father’s business although not being abled to inherit it as the daughter. She is a bluestocking through and through because she wants to fight for her own ambitions more than just marrying and undertaking all that goes along with the title. I also loved Rook’s admirable attempts to not become like his father but gets caught in a scandalous act by the despicable social climbing mother.

Although the story contains tropes of a bluestocking heroine, secret identity, and spinster. I was surprised by the trope of a virgin hero…yes the hero was a virgin and well kept until his scandalous act with the heroine. This is a well-written story by Ms. Heath. The plot and transition of the story was very good, and I enjoyed the development of both characters throughout the story. The characters endure issues of loyalty, trust, pain, and ability to love. This is one of my favorite reads thus far in this year of 2024 and highly recommend this book for those who love a good historical romance to comfy up to reading. Will have to read the first two in this series.

When you need to curl up with a good romance novel, grab the Chessmen series. You won't be disappointed.

American Leonora Garrison has come to England in desperate search of investors to keep her family business afloat but instead finds surprising pleasure when she visits an exclusive ladies’ club and dares to kiss a stranger, who leaves her yearning for more.

With a libertine for a father, Viscount Wyeth, more commonly known as Rook, vowed to live his life above reproach, with nary a hint of disgrace. Until one night, he takes a mysterious beauty into his arms, a lady who tempts him to cast his sterling reputation aside in favor of more wicked pursuits.

When fate reunites the couple, they are torn between desire and duty. Leonora may want the viscount, but she needs a stakeholder not a lover. When caught in a compromising situation that places everything they hold dear at risk, they must determine how best to win. However, in this scandalous game, nothing except love takes all.

Recommended for all fans of romance and historical romance. #InWantofaViscount #NetGalley #SaltMarshAuthorSeries

I really enjoyed this story! I absolutely loved that the character's from Lorraine Heath's Sins for All Seasons series were in this one. I highly highly suggest reading that series before jumping into this book because the main character in this one is part of that other series and you learn a lot about his background from that one. I loved that Nora was an inventor and loved taking things apart and putting them back together. I really enjoyed that Rook was actually a virgin because we really don't get a lot of MMC's that are virgins. Lorraine Heath has become an auto-read author for me, and I'm so glad that I read this book right after finishing the Sins for All Seasons series. Definitely recommend this one to all the Lorraine Heath fans!

Leonora is an American inventor in England with her family seeking investors in her writing machine, although her crass overbearing mother is seeking a titled husband for Leonora. She sneaks off to a ladies’ club and asks for a kiss. The club owner seems to be short-staffed in the gentlemen escort department and asks his own titled brother, Rook, to see to the kissing. Rook and Leonora don’t exchange names, but do exchange a kiss, leaving Leonora passed out from absinthe and Rook wondering what he did wrong. And of course, they cross paths later when Rook turns out to be a potential investor in the company. They flirt, they dance, they can’t seem to stay away from each other. And Rook is the only man (aside from her father) who has ever appreciated Leonora’s curiosity for machinery. However, Rook is not interested in marriage and basically a very controlled man who denies himself lustful indulgences due to his own father’s scandalous behavior. These two are fairly slow to realize they’re perfect for each other, but it’s a fun read along the way.

This was pretty good though it did drag in parts and I don’t love the trope of them getting caught by her horrid mother when they were about to have sex for the first time. I did like
The 2 characters and I liked Leonora’s ambitions and I like Rook’s desire to right his father’s wrongs but I’m also a little tired of histrom heroes with toxic parents and this series is really full of them.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this ARC. 3.75 stars

In Want of a Viscount is the third book in the Chessmen Series by Lorraine Heath.

I really enjoyed the first book in that series and thought the second one was okay.

This book follows Rook and Leonora, an American who came to England to sell her invention of a typewriter while her mother actually has plans to marry her off to a man with money and a title.

Rook and Leonora met when she goes to a club to get her first kiss. They meet again as Rook is a potential investor for her invention and their romance grows from there.

I did enjoy this book, but the romance didn't really move along for most of the book and then felt rushed toward the end.

With an odious libertine for a father, Johnny Castleton, Viscount Wyeth (more commonly known as Rook), vowed to live his life above reproach. While visiting his brother's exclusive ladies’ club, Rook meets a mysterious stranger, in want of a kiss. American Leonora Garrison is in England searching for investors to keep her family business afloat, but instead she finds temptation in Rook's arms.

This is the third and final book in the Chessmen series, but most of Lorraine Heath's books exist in the same universe and this book has ties to the Once Upon a Dukedom and Sin For All Seasons series. Rook's brother Aiden Trewlove (from The Duchess in His Bed) features into this story and their history features into the plot.

Rook is the only legitimate son of the Earl of Elverton, a womanizing creep who didn't care for anything but his own pleasure. The earl sired countless children and Rook, instead, decided to live free from that disgrace and create a sterling reputation. When Rook is asked to kiss a stranger at the Elysium Club, it turns his world upside down. Leonora "Nora" Garrison is the brains (and soul) behind her family's business. While she is busy trying to recruit investors, her pushy mother means to marry her off to a lord and gain entry into New York society.

I loved this story and really appreciated how Rook and Nora were fleshed out. As a daughter, she did not inherit the business at her father's passing, but she is the one with the drive and creative energy. She is fighting for a future that is more than just marriage. Rook has a lot family trauma, but he is a good person who seeks to make things right and help others. This was my favorite of the series.

Tropes: Bluestocking, Spinster, Working Heroine, Mistaken Identity, Hero Falls First, Virgin Hero

Steam: 4

I. Love. Lorraine. Heath.
Hands down one of my favorite historical authors. Leonora, a bluestocking, and Rook, a viscount steering clear of relationships in an attempt to break the cycle of his father. These two had great chemistry.
I was also so happy to see some Trewloves again. Any throwback to previous Heath works is always a bonus.

John Castleton, Viscount, better known as Rook, Was the only legitimate son to Earl of Elverton as that man was a mean womanizing bastard who didn't care for anything that was not his pleasure. Rookhope on the other hand was smart, strong, loyal, kind, and cared what happened to himself and others. He would not let his baser needs rule him.

His father has numerous illegitimate children that he is hoping to find once the Earl passes. While the Earl is currently alive, he has suffered an apoplectic fit that had left him unable to move or speak. The Countess has been taking care of him, while tormenting him with her exploits. Some maybe true while others are not.

While he does know his brothers that were placed with Ettie Trewlove, who loved them as if they were her own. Aiden runs two businesses, one a hotel another a club for women's pleasures. Here is where Took meets, as a favor for Aiden, a very different woman. She Is strong, independent, smart, shy, but innocent. She asks only for a kiss.

Leonora (Nora) Garrison, her brother Sam and mother are her to find investors. After their father fell ill and had trouble communicating. Leonora designed a machine that would type out his request. Since his passing that has been what has kept her going. Sam and their mother want a husband for her. Sam wants to follow his dream but doesn't want to disappoint Nora. Their mother wants status and to flaunt it.

Nora in an attempt to have A memory to be her own secret goes to a club for women only and asks for a kiss. She drinks three glasses of courage, absinthe or better known as the tree fairy. What she doesn't expect is what happens with the kiss.

So what is a Lord to do who is trying to live with the bounds of a strict code to undo the damage his father has done, when he is presented with a spitfire of a woman that wants no names?

What does a lady with an idea to support her family do when she crosses paths with a man that understands her?

Why they create a scandal, of course!

Join in as Rook unconventionally courts Nora only to realize he truly wants what she brings to his life. While Nora wants to feel how the otherwise of life with a man can be, since she knows she would not make a good wife but excellent businesswoman

Lord John Castleton , Viscount Wyeth and his mother are waiting for the clock to tick down. His father, who is beloved by no one, is on his way to his eternal reward. No one who knows the man suspects it will be anything other than the hell he deserves. Wyeth, known to his close friends as Rook, has always strived to disassociate himself from his father's disreputable behavior by living a life above reproach.
Miss Lenora Garrison happens to be in London on a search for investors. She is visiting the city with her younger brother and mother and has a desire to find business minded people interested in a product she helped her very dear father create before he died. Her mother, on the other hand, is on a decided husband hunt for her daughter.
As a respected member of a well-known group of successful investors known as the Chessmen, Rook is on their list of people to meet.
But before that planned meeting, while having a little bit of time on her hands and wanting a lot of adventure, Lenora goes to a lady's club of some naughty reknown. A club where a lady can have anything she wants, all she has to do is ask. Being a twenty seven year old spinster, Lenora decides she needs a kiss, and boy, does she receive what she wants in the club.
That not so simple kiss leads to a series of events that takes these two characters down a path of heated attraction that neither expected.
The plot is really interesting as Lenora is not your typical romantic heroine. She is probably today what would qualify as a mechanical engineer, or at least someone who has those interests and skills. Most men of her day consider her odd. Rook is not one of these men, and finds her to be fascinating.
The characters are colorful and well developed, and some are tied to the previous books in this series, although this is a stand-alone novel. They are so well written that this reader could actually feel how Lenora's mother was detested by those around her.
I highly recommend this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have read the others in the series and would suggest each as well.

There was an interesting premise for this book about Leonora, an American woman who had engineered what would have been the first typewriter. She and her family have come to England to find investors to produce her invention. She meets Rook, a viscount who has conducted his whole life to not behave as his despicable father had. They meet up and are immediately attracted to each other. The novel then proceeds very slowly as they meet and converse about her goals to produce the typewriter and her interest in engineering. Then they’ll kiss or go further. Rinse and repeat. The plot doesn’t advance much until over 3/4 through the book. It just got repetitious. I don’t mind sex scenes, but it got boring and predictable. There were possibilities for more of a story here dealing with the culture clash between an American and British lord or the idea of a woman who was an engineering savant.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

"Lorraine Heath has truly outdone herself with this book. Rook's story is a tour de force, packed with power and emotion, while Leonora emerges as a truly unforgettable character who defies societal norms with her strength and independence. The slow-burning romance and deepening friendship between them add layers of complexity to an already rich narrative.

One of the most thrilling aspects is the way Heath brings together characters from her previous works, weaving their stories seamlessly into this one. The result is a tapestry of pain, trust, loyalty, and love that captivates from the very first page.

With a perfect score of 10/10, this book is a must-add to everyone's TBR list for 2024. It promises to be an unforgettable read that will linger in the hearts and minds of readers long after they've turned the final page."