This was a great read! I love Nora’s drive and ambition, and I’m glad she had a good relationship with her father. Rook was very sweet, and it was great to watch both of their walls come down and see them let each other in. There was a teeeeny bit of a “not like other girls” vibe in the way Rook talked about Nora, but towards the end when you get to see the duchess’s investment group you get to see how badass the author’s other female characters are too.

There was an HR I read, and I can’t remember the name of it for the life of me, but the FMC’s mother was a horrible monster and the FMC straight up tackled her. Which is now my metric for all wretched parents. I wish someone would have tackled Nora’s mother. But I’m pretty happy with the way the epilogue dealt with her.

A big thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed reading “ In want of a Viscount” by Lorraine Heath, the third book in her newest series : The Chessmen: Masters of Seduction.
An uptight repressed hero with lots of responsibilities weighting on him.
Rook is trying to right the wrongs of his libertine father.
An American heroine with a passion for machines.
Leonora is on a mission to save her family business by getting investors for the writing machine she's invented.
A meet cute at a private ladies club and a passionate kiss starts the friendship, the slow-burn love, the sizzling chemistry that develops between Rook and Leonora throughout this book.
Lorraine Heath is at her best. I recommend this book and the entire series.

✨In Want of a Sexually Charged Foot Massage in the Middle of a Ballroom✨

In Want of a Viscount was a classicly charming, effortlessly well-written Lorraine Heath novel, and my favorite in the Chessmen Series. (The Duchess Hunt is obviously tied, but it remains in another trilogy.) It was a softer romance than I was expecting, but that was exactly what I wanted.

I was a bit scared about the “torn between duty and desire” portion of the summary—I think I’m just very selfish and am always surprised (and annoyed) that duty is even an option. However! I liked it here, full stop. I only wish someone would’ve really let her mother have it, but I thought she got what she deserved by the end.

I’m truly at a loss for how to write this next part of the review without spoiling the book, because the spoilers could also be a huge selling point?? So I think I’ll hold off until after pub day, as I had such a fun time being like “IS this what I think it is????” for about ninety percent of the book. It may not be a *huge* thing for others, but for me it was my Roman Empire.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some of my favorite things about the book:

✨I LOVE me a hero who has repressed his *urges* for so long because his father was a rutting bastard. A real “the line ends with me!” type of guy. There’s just something so satisfying about watching them slowly come undone around the heroine. Especially when his friends and family tease him about it and he’s like “ME???? MOI??? In LUST? Couldn’t be.” And they all just laugh right in his face and he pouts about it like a little kid.

✨We also got the classic “oh so you’re NOT a prostitute???” trope—one of the best and most delicious if I do say so myself. See: Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas and Seducing a Stranger by Kerrigan Byrne for further scientific research.

✨A signature Lorraine Heath “Her delicate toes, oh Christ!” foot worship moment was found in the middle of a ballroom!!! And I was found slayed. My kingdom for a thinly-veiled, sexually-charged foot massage with intense eye contact that made innocent bystanders very uncomfortable.

✨Stripped of everything, the book is really about two incredibly lonely people finding love, one stolen kiss at a time. I just love a lonely character because the moment they realize they’re not alone anymore is clinically proven to be good for my health.

✨And of course—[redacted]—because Lorraine wrote this for me. The end was perfectly dramatic, that’s all I’ll say.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5



Thanks so much to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

I love this author and this series. It has been a delight to read these books!! I thought this book was fabulous and I cannot wait to read this book again. I would recommend to others.

Most every Lorraine Heath book for me is a 5 star read. This was a great read, but I am just used to getting sucked in and consumed with her work and this was just a good read for me. I was missing the usual extra amazement that I get from her and no other histrorical romance author.

The third in the Chessman series, Heath has created a strong story that fits well within the world. Rook and Nora meet under unusual circumstances...at a brothel...for women...but she isn't the normal clientele and he isn't an employee.

I enjoyed the story, there were a few spicy scenes I really enjoyed. I loved the gradual falling in lust with one another. Rook feels so much responsibility and I just wanted to shake him, but in a super loving way...wink wink. A great addition to the series, I loved seeing characters from the other books appearing and finding out where they are in the world now.

Beware, a tough one to pick up and read if you haven't read the previous stories but still good.

Interesting book that actually deals with a woman who is interested in making and producing mechanical things. Definitely not an option that woman of her time were allowed to do. It looks into her trouble with being able to run a company, develop new items when all her mother wants her to do is marry a wealthy man who will support the whole family for the rest of their lives after her father has died….

Lorraine Heath has done it again! This book is swoony, sexy, complete a hero who is fiercely in awe of the heroine and is completely and utterly obsessed with her right from the get-go.

Rook is a pretty uptight, repressed guy, and and that's on purpose to distinguish himself from his absolute whore of a father (how repressed, believe me, I was surprised but deeply excited to find out), to the point where his horse is named a "Well-mannered", and he has regularly-scheduled freak-out sessions about how Leonora brings the *animal* out in him. He's adorable. Meanwhile, Leonora is vibing around (mostly) unaware of this because she's on a mission to save her family business, now headed by her useless brother, by getting investors for the typewriter she's invented all while getting zero credit for neither the invention nor her attempts to raise capital.

A super repressed hero does have his benefits, namely, Lorraine went all in on that repression and made some relatively innocuous moments WILDLY sexy. For example, Rook loves to kiss and has multiple rendezvous with Leonora where they just kiss, and I really appreciated that after reading a string of HR heroes who bend the heroine over within a couple chapters (no judgement, obviously). But the greatest moment that will forever live rent-free in my head is when Leonora lies about having a pebble in her foot, and Rook knows it's just an excuse to escape her mother AND YET he makes her sit, takes off her shoe and hands it to her so she can "check for pebbles" all while he is CARESSING her foot and quite frankly, that was the HOTTEST thing I've read in a long time.

I loved reading about Leonora's passion for machines and her really impressive engineering skills. She's not just a businesswoman, but also an inventor. And on a romance level, it was lovely to read Rook understanding what makes Leonora tick so early on and embrace it. He invites her to disassemble a roulette wheel at his club so she can understand its inner workings. He arranges for a private tour of Big Ben (and not just so he can make out with her on the clock tower).

There is a third-act breakup in this book; it's nothing super dramatic but it's a case of two people who are amazing together, but one of them feels that their goals are fundamentally incompatible with the other's lifestyle and that, for me, really hit on an emotional level.

One last note: for those of you who complain about rakes in historical romances never facing the consequences of their actions... well, the rake in question didn't in this book either, but his son sure as hell did and handled it with great dignity.

The sex:

Okay first, the line "a couple can fuck without actually fucking" was uttered and I literally started applauding there. Bravo. Well done. Obviously, Lord Repression knows how to bring it, though not in a freaky way, but definitely in a thorough way.

And the sex itself is SO well-written— erotic, worshipful... it's a way for Leonora and Rook to escape the real world and lose themselves in one another (the word "feral" is employed a few times :D ).

Overall:

I adored this book; the romance between Rook and Leonora and their gorgeous chemistry was a joy to read, and the investor subplot as well as Rook's family situation kept me engaged throughout the book. I'd recommend this to literally any historical romance reader looking for a relatively simple, but well-executed love story.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

I am a HUGE Lorraine Heath fan and have been so excited for this book! She’s a master at bringing in her recurring characters from previous books.

Rook is the heir to The Earl of Elverton. You may remember him by his title (Viscount Wyeth) from Duchess in his Bed that follows the story of his illegitimate brother Aiden Trewlove. (They are full brothers with heavy family resemblance because the countess gave birth to Aiden prior to her marriage, as well as two other sons that we don’t know what happened to…yet) LH drops a little Easter egg at the end of Aiden’s book about Viscount Wyeth and his friends being great investors which brings us to The Chessmen.

Rook’s father is a disgusting excuse for a man and has sired so many illegitimate children from so many different women and then dumped them all off at baby farms. Rook is the only legitimate son but has like a bazillion bastard siblings roaming the streets of London. Due to his reprehensible sire, he lives his life above reproach, he is scandal free and a perfect gentleman, he never wants to be compared to the monster his father is…until one night he goes to see his brother Aiden at his club to tell him their father is knocking on deaths door. Aiden owns a private ladies club and is short staffed and asks Rook if he could go give an American spinster a kiss….

Leonora Garrison is an American heiress who is visiting England with her family to get investors for her writing machine (it’s a prototype for a typewriter) so she can save her father’s company. Her mother is the absolute worst and her brother is nice but a bit clueless. She sneaks out for a bit of mischief and shares a passionate kiss with Rook.

A few days later, the Duke of Kingsland and Pettypeace (my favorites) host a dinner for all the chessmen and the Garrison family to discuss their company. Leonora’s mother is obsessed with marrying her off to a titled gent so she can get in to Mrs. Astor’s ballroom in New York. When Rook stroll in and sees Leonora he is thrilled because he can’t stop thinking about their kiss.

They start secretly seeing each other. Neither of them want to marry. She wants to run her father’s business, he doesn’t want to continue his fathers legacy. There is a lot of buildup and this book doesn’t start to get really interesting until about 75% in when we learn something about Rook’s past and how truly horrid his father was.

Things get pretty passionate with Nora and Rook and all of the sudden they are fucking in a greenhouse at the Trewlove hotel in the middle of a party and are caught by his brother Aiden, her brother and her tacky mother! It’s a scandal and they must marry!

Elverton dies and Rook becomes the Earl. He puts out a notice in the paper that if you are an illegitimate child of Elverton then he will financially compensate you. He meets 30 something brothers and sisters. There is a silly third act breakup because romance reasons and then they live happily ever after! We also learn a small surprise about Rook at the end.

This wasn’t my favorite LH book, it was the secondary characters and the plot line continuation of Rook’s family that I know from previous books that kept me interested to be honest. If I read this as a standalone I’m not sure if I’d like it as much. It was kind of a slow burn and I had to hang in there because I suspected something interesting would happen, and it did, it did take some patience. Something about these characters just didn’t click for me. Usually her books have characters with insane chemistry and it’s emotionally gut wrenching to read and this book didn’t have that for me. I really did enjoy the read, it just wasn’t my favorite. I can’t wait to read what comes next! Even if a set of characters aren’t my favorite, I love being immersed in her world. Thank you NetGalley and Avon for an advanced copy!

Another 5-star read from the author of THE CHESSMAN series.
Lenora is in search of investors for her company, while her horrible mother and ineffective brother are in search of a husband for her.
Rook never wants to wed because of his father's horrible reputation. But the lovely Lenora is like no one he's never met before and he can't resist her.
Through a series of steps, the two are thrown together clandestinely. I hate spoilers so I won't give the road they take to their own HEAs away, but suffice it to say, this was another pageturner from Heath,
Thanks Netgalley for a sneak peek. Well worth the read.

Another pretty wonderful installment from Heath, the characters were great. I only wish that a bit less time was spent detailing (ad nauseam) the kidding between the two characters. It was very “insta-love” ish or at least Insta-lust, and a LOT of the word count is spent on detailing the intimate interactions, like a lot. It left me w the feeling that there wasn’t much plot or character development time compared to the sheer lengthy descriptions of the kissing, the thinking about kissing, the dreaming about kissing, the remembering of the kissing, the longing for the next kissing. It was just a lot of filler. This could just be a matter of preference though, I’m more of a fan of a slow burn, so romances where the physical intimacy aspects start so early in the book just never are my favorite. I far, FAR prefer the Chessman book w Kingsland (slow burn & longing!) to the more recent 3 chessmen books.

I love Lorraine Heath’s books, and the Four Chessmen has been one of my favorite series of hers. This was not my top Chessmen installment, however it was still an enjoyable read.

Rook is a very honorable MMC, though somewhat lacking in personality beyond the trauma of being the son of bad, bad guy. Leonora is a tall FMC (yay for tall girl rep) with an engineer’s mind. The “never been kissed” setup is a great hook, but there is little angst and drama until the end of the story. It’s a slow burn.

This was my first Lorraine Heath book, and I know now why she’s so popular. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was a tale of an American girl in England looking for investors to help save her late father’s business. She is the brains and effort behind it all now, but her brother owns it. Nora is such a caring lady and so smart. She is an engineer at heart, and she loves to see and know how things work. Because of this, she is considered odd by most people. When she goes to an exclusive lady’s club and asks for a kiss, she gets way more than she bargained for.
Rook, the hero, is fighting demons of his father who was the biggest and grossest libertine I have read about. He spread his seed far and wide and had numerous (and I mean numerous) offspring. Rook does all he can to respectable, kind, and generous. He has resigned himself to be a bachelor and let his title pass to a different family branch. Then Nora comes in!
I loved the scenes between these two. Despite him wanting to fight his desire for Nora, he can’t help but find ways to share passionate kisses with her. His care and concern for her is always present. Their little side trips for her adventure and knowledge were sweet. I found I wanted this story to keep going because it was so fun and engaging. I will certainly continue to read more of her work!

This is an honest review in exchange for an ARC.

Another good book by lorraine heath i got this book a a early read this is my opinion from netgalley.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, The man she meets gives her a kiss but not more an then later he finds out that shes married. Lorraine knows how to deliver crazy plot line books with emotional stories. This was a good read, i enjoyed it.