Astonishing! I was hooked!

Exciting tale of an Irish society bride who’d been left to languish by her husband only to be seduced by the Duke of Cleveland at a ball. They were discovered. No retribution for the Duke, but Cressida was disgraced. After harsh words with her husband Cressida fled on the next transport to Portugal and the Peninsula War. From there she followed the drum with a regular Irish soldier, O’Malley.
It was after the seige of Badajoz in Spain that her husband found her about to be ravaged by soldiers. So her unforgiving husband, Lieutenant Colonel Lord Greville Nightingale arrested his errant wife for treason. However, it was Major Lord Arthur Lascelles of the Peninsular Corps of Guides who shipped her home.
In England she’s persuaded to work for Lascelles, partly to bring her friend George Byron and her renegade father to account. (Oh yes, so much history here!)
Cressida travels to the highlands with her Greville, Byron and her sister-in-law. They’re to bring her back into society’s fold.
There’s a whole lot of escapades and skullduggery occurring throughout the tale. Who is the enemy and who’s not is complicated, smugglers included.
Bold in its outlook, Cressida’s story moved me from anguish to anger and back. Cressida is a woman used, powerless to stop the forces arraigned against her, even as she courageously, or outrageously fights on.
The side issue of the fate of the women in the baggage train, the camp followers, was brutal, yet they forged amongst themselves a spirit care and support, living in the moment. That was memorable.
I enjoyed the complexity of the novel and the gutsiness of the unfailing Cressida and her mysterious maid, Ines. A solid, breath holding read!

A Aria & Aries ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

This is not a book you can skim read. I almost had to take notes to keep up with the characters, secrets and revelations. I found the story compelling and the mysteries intriguing. The book definitely kept me on my toes but I read it in 48hrs! The history was so detailed and well written. The side characters and non traditional relationships were fantastic. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is because I'm still a little confused about Lord Liverpool? Leave a comment if you know who he is.

Big thanks to NetGalley, Aria & Aries, and Katy Moran for this early release copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book before publication date (Tomorrow!). I’ll admit this book was really slow to start and sometimes I just didn’t want to pick it up. However, I didn’t give up and lots of exciting plot points happened which made the book much more interesting.

The main character, Cressida, is married to a Lord, but they’re estranged after she travelled in war zones, helping the soldiers- not something a woman of high society should be doing. She was very cold towards him and it just seemed that it was going down the hate to lover trope- however as they are still married there was still some romance between them, in their own way. That was nice to read.

She wasn’t my favourite though.

The story is set in the regency era, and I did love how the author described the dresses and outfits and their fabrics. I could really envision them in my head.

I did enjoy the story, but some scenes I felt seemed really random and didn’t really affect the story- there were flashbacks but they weren’t clear so I got confused!

All of the characters seem very real, and this is probably due to the inclusion of real historical characters such as Lord Byron being featured. At one point I had to google the characters to see if this historical fiction was based on anything- it isn’t, but you wouldn’t believe that it isn’t.

Overall, once the story picks up it is a good romp, there’s adventure, and romance, and drama.

Usually historical fiction is my thing but this one fell short in places.

3/5 stars.

As a fan of historical romance, I am blown away by this story. I went into it without reading the synopsis, just going by the cover.

Here we have two imperfect protagonists who, due to life's events, loathe each other for the duration of their marriage and years later meet again, now each one at a crucial moment in history, all while she becomes a spy.

Away from the social conventions considered a woman of low morals, she will meet again with the person who was her husband to not only surf the good society but also to discover secrets to win the war.

A historical romance out of the ordinary, sure to give you a good time.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

#MyLadysSecrets #NetGalley

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Katy Moran for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for My Lady's Secrets coming out July 4, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I really wanted to love it. I love historical mysteries and romances. I feel like I missed something that tied it all together. It seemed like I was thrown into it and I didn’t know what was going on. It was a little hard to follow. I would check out other books by this author, but this one wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Aria & Aries an Netgalley for a copy of this book.
I tried SO hard to read this book, but unfortunately it was a DNF for me. I picked it up over and over and tried to power though but I just couldn't get into it. I was confused from page 1 about what was happening, who the characters were, their relationships and so on. The book sounded interesting and the cover was absolutely beautiful but unfortunately it just wasn't for me.

I honestly have no idea what this book was about.

From page one, we were thrown in a middle of a story and not in a good way. The plot was… honestly I don’t think there was one. The writing was totally confusing. I can’t even tell what genre it was supposed to be.

All I know is that I got caught by a pretty cover and I have to stop doing that.

My Lady’s Secrets is the perfect example of my reasoning not to DNF an ARC before 50%, because if I picked this one up as a casual reader, I would have. But the last 50% was SO GOOD. It makes me sad that this book suffers from needless obfuscation by the author in an effort to be clever. If she had just started telling us the story with clear delineations between the past and the present, told the backstory in chronological order, and didn’t try to be “literary” with needless compound prosy sentences that made everything hard to follow, this would have been a great book.

I think part of the problem is that the author didn’t have a clear vision of what she wanted this novel to be, so it tries to be too many things at once. Based on the last 50%, this is a second chance, slow burn historical romance between two English spies who were compromised during the infamous Siege of Badajoz in 1812, and who unwittingly discover and then infiltrate a network of free traders after returning home.

The first 50% is another novel entirely – a confusing jumble of disconnected hints about how a young woman who purposely committed adultery as an act of revenge against her philandering husband survived after leaving Britain in disgrace (by becoming a spy). She is later given an assignment by the War Office to identify the person who assassinated the English Prime Minister by her former handler.

Unfortunately, we’re given way too many characters to keep straight, and it was nearly impossible to determine how they are all related. Similarly, there are so many subplots going on I’m still not sure that I understand how they’re all connected, if at all. And the random role that Lord Byron (yes, that Byron!) plays in the whole thing, and how he knows the main characters, and why he owes them favors? No idea what any of that was about.

In the end, it really was Greville who was the true star of this novel, and who made the last half of the book worth reading. His devotion to Cressida helped tie much of the story together so that I actually felt satisfied at the end despite the trainwreck that came before.

Thank you Netgalley and Aria for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.

Set in 1812, London has been rocked by the assassination of Lord Perceval Spencer, Prime Minster of England. Riots follow, the Irish nation see a chance to benefit from this event by sowing discord and smuggle guns into England.
Cressida , Lady Nightingale is married to Lord Greville. In a fit of pique one evening, she betrayed her husband with another man, and fled the country to escape the disgrace of this act. She travelled to France and joined the British Army as a laundry woman, and spied for both England and France. She begins to realise she still loves her husband, and secretly returns home. She meets up with her father, Lord Rosmany who says he can help her, but betrays her and sells her back into captivity, where she is charged with treason.
We meet up with smugglers, gun runners, there are many deaths, truly a case of the glamorous world of high society collides with the dark and dangerous fringes of Georgian society.
The book deals with the aftermath of the Napoleonic war. I was impressed by the medical knowledge and details of treatment of wounds that were employed in these times.
I was especially impressed by the Romance and Sex, no bad sex awards here!!. They convey love, affection, tenderness, and real passion, plus, a wide variety of positions and partners, quite racy and steamy! I loved the character of Cressida and her obvious desire for her husband and her longing for excitement at a time when a woman had restrictions placed upon her expectations, such a waste of talent. I thought the descriptions of life in Georgian times was portrayed quite accurately. I also appreciated the useful addresses and websites to help further studies in this area.
I enjoyed this book and hope Lady Cressida makes a welcome return.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, Aria and Aries for my advanced copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review. I will post to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication. Five stars from me.

I love the Richard Sharpe universe and the movies starring Sean Bean, based on the novels by Bernard Cornwell. After reading several books and many movies, I feel like I have a good understanding of the Peninsular War fought by the English, Spanish, Portuguese and French in Spain and Portugal. Battles like Talavera, Salamanca, Badajoz, and Wellington (Arthur Wellesley), the 95th Rifles, etc. are fleshed out in exceptional detail.

HOWEVER, without this background, I wouldn't have a CLUE about much of what Cressida, Greville, Lascelles and other major characters experienced. Clearly the author is also a huge fan of Bernard Cornwell series since Greville was in the 95th Rifles, there's a character called O'Malley (after Daragh O'Malley?), there is discussion about the lives of camp followers and so on. However, the connective tissue is missing.

We need a decent education about what happened before diving into this convoluted tale. Events and locations are woven into conversations: "It wouldn't do to dwell on Badajoz" ... or "Anything could have happened to you, and it damn nearly did at Badajoz" but little else. In addition, personal details of what happened between Cressida and Greville are alluded to but rarely related in full detail.

At 352 pages, this book is bloated with descriptions and details, yet the main characters remain lightly fleshed out and difficult to relate to. Clearly the author is passionate about this historical period, but there is much telling and little showing. 3 stars.

This is not the easy reading Regency romance you might be expecting- but once you're into it - and if you like history- it's a good read. Cressida and Greville are both active in the war and secret politics that gripped England during this period (not often explored in Regency romances). There are a lot of characters (perhaps too many) including Lord Byron, who turns up at a house party. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Too complicated to explain but know that fans of historical fiction will appreciate the intricate plotting that surrounds Cressida and Greville.

When Cressida and Lord Greville parted ways, they swore never to meet again, following a short marriage filled with scandal and betrayal. Years later, Greville is a soldier in the Peninsular War and Cressida is following the drum as another man’s lover. When Cressida is caught behind enemy lines acting a spy by Greville, she offers him a deal. She will betray Lord Byron, the most famous man in England and Greville will see that she follows through. Having known Lord Byron since they were all teenagers together, they gather for a summer house party in the Scottish Highlands. It is there that Cressida is forced to confront her past as wonder whether she could have another chance with Greville.
Cressida was definitely a strong character and her job as spy has made her quite unique. I found myself quite intrigued as to how her character would progress. However, I did find myself at odds with the direction of the story made more challenging by trying to understand where all the characters fitted in. The historical background, particularly with Lord Byron made for an interesting read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

DNFed at 36%

This book was 100% not for me. It dumped you into this world and you're trying to catch up but the world building info dump felt too much. I guess the parts of him having to tame her also rubbed me the wrong way. Like I said, it was me.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Regency England.

When rebellious aristocrat Cressida and Lord Greville parted ways, they swore never to meet again. Their short marriage had already descended into bitter estrangement, destroyed by scandal and betrayal.

Years later, Greville is a soldier in the Peninsular War and Cressida is following the drum as another man's lover. Scorned by society, she has learned to survive as a spy - until the day she is caught behind enemy lines, by none other than Greville himself.

Threatened with paying the ultimate price, Cressida is offered a deal: she must entrap and betray the most famous man in England. And Greville, unforgiving, angry and still shockingly attractive, must ensure she complies.

Catapulted to the heights of fame, Lord Byron is just as chaotic, charming and ruthless as he was when he, Greville and Cressida were teenagers. As the three old friends gather for a summer house party in the Scottish Highlands, Cressida is forced to confront her past and ask herself a terrifying question: is it too late for she and Greville to fight for one another at last?"

A Regency house party with Lord Byron!?! Hell yes!

I wanted to like this but i just couldn’t get into it. But the story was paced kind of weird and i just couldn’t finish it. I really wanted to like this too so it was a bummer. I might try to reread it again later because i do like the premise. But idk i just couldn’t get into.

My Lady's Secrets by Katy Moran is a captivating story that immerses you completely, making you lose track of the world around you. This compelling tale immediately drew me in with its intricate historical details and well-developed characters. The vivid sense of time and place created by the author adds depth to the story, making it a truly engaging read.

DNF at 25% - I was really trying to get into this book but honestly I just couldn't bring myself to keep reading as I lost interest almost immediately.

There was no exposition at all - the olot just picked up immediately and bombarded you with multiple different characters without really explaining their relationships/significance to each other.

I'm sure the book is okay but this writing style simply isn't for me.

Sadly a DNF for me. The premise was so good and promising but the execution just didn't work for me. I think we needed more of a build up and explanation at the beginning, I couldn't find Greville likable and the writing got a bit confusing and hard to track.

This is a book I wanted to love but it fell a bit short for me. And although it is a good story it just didn't flow well for me and I found it a bit confusing with the number of characters and the comings and goings of them all.

I am not fussed that it isn't overly romantic but I just found it contained a lot of politics and was quite intense and complex which took away from my enjoyment of it.

Thank you NetGalley and Aria & Aries for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I an sad to say that I did not finish reading this book as I could not follow what was really going on. This is the first time that I have not completed a book and I did get just over half way through before I could not red anymore. This did not meet my expectations from the blurb. I cannot classify it as a romance book and although had a lot of historical facts they did not really meld to the story.
It is the story of Cressida and Grenville who are a separated married couple and through various shenanigans are being made to work together and so reassess their marriage and feelings.
I found the writing style very convoluted and this meant that I could not relate to either the story line nor the characters
Katy Moran has obviously done a lot of research for this book.
This may appeal to other readers as it could be classified as one that the reader likes or dislikes with no in betweens.