It is quite fortunate that I also had a widget for this book. The copy of the audiobook I downloaded was quite corrupted. It skipped the end of more than half the chapters. At first I didn't realize and missed part of the plot. Thereafter, I had to switch to the ebook to catch everything I missed. Doing so was quite distracting and no doubt reduced my overall enjoyment of the book. I tried to write as fair and accurate a review as possible given these technical difficulties. I have pasted what I plan to post to my socials and have already posted to Goodreads and Storygraph below:

Thank you to Forever for the advanced reader copy and to Hachette Audio for the advanced listener copy. These opinions are my own.

This was a fun new historical romance with a mystery included. Charlotte's parents tell her of their plan to betroth her to Viscount Hawley. She is horrified at the idea because both of his last two wives ended up dead in mysterious circumstances just months after their marriage. So Charlotte sets off to establish her own independence and to prove Hawley's guilt. Along the way, she starts working with her brother's best friend and Hawley's younger brother, Matthew.

I adored this book more the further I read. It has such amazing characters and animals. The mystery kept me intrigued throughout. And it brought in a lot of other great elements. I was especially pleased by the attention to social class and the acknowledgement and fight against slavery. And there was an underlying current of feminism through Charlotte's behavior. I have always been fascinated by the coffeehouses of old as places where people from a variety of classes could interact, and this book made me want to visit the coffeehouse so badly.

And then there's Charlotte and Matthew. Their romance is so sweet as they get to know each other better. And both of them are such strong characters, rebelling against their places in society.

I appreciated that the audiobook included the acknowledgements and the historical note. That's something I always look for in historical fiction.

Lady Charlotte is the daughter of a duke being set up to marry the heir to a duke, but he’s got a reputation for being violent and may have actually murdered his previous wives. She’s looking to find proof of his guilt so that she can avoid marrying him. Meanwhile, that man’s younger brother and her own brother’s best friend Matthew is back in town and he’s hiding his own secrets. Charlotte isn’t sure whether or not to trust him, but we know that Matthew is trying his best to find proof of his brother’s crimes too. These two are definitely in each other’s way and skirting all sorts of danger, but they’ll shortly realize that they need to team up in order to accomplish their goals. This was an action-packed mystery type of story with two people who have had pre-existing crushes on each other and kisses only. We get a fun group of crime-fighting friends and cousins and a chatty parrot, if you’re into that sort of humor. The audiobook version was well-narrated and enjoyable.

I mean, this book was okay. It was silly, very silly in some parts. I like women who are strong, it just come toa point where it felt repetitive and I was bored. I was waiting for it to finish. It's not that I don't recommend, it was just okay.

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

Do not be fooled by the cover! The illustration would lead you to believe this book to be a lighthearted rom-com. There's humor and there's romance, but there is also considerable heft as the book covers issues such as forced marriage, indentured servitude, slavery, piracy, and female autonomy. There is also an adorably verbose parrot and hyperactive capuchin monkey who happen to be in love, and they are enhancements to the plot.

Lady Charlotte is about to become betrothed to Viscount Hawley who is rumored to have killed his previous two wives. Lady Charlotte wants nothing to do with this marriage. As she begins plotting to avoid the engagement, she encounters unlikely helpers in her twin brother and his best friend, Dr. Matthew Talbot, the viscount's brother. Their plotting uncovers secrets, mysteries, and mayhem all while Lady Charlotte and Matthew are falling in love.

It sounds like all these plot points would create a hot mess, BUT IT WORKS! Lady Charlotte is ahead of her time; fighting against societal expectations. While not taking itself too seriously, there is plenty of drama and intrigue. Violet Marsh has written a genre bending book that is hard to put down. The audio version of this book was particularly well done by narrator, Katy Sobey, who brought Lady Charlotte and the other characters (including the delightful parrot) to life.

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Hachette Audio for the opportunity to listed to this ALC in exchange for my unbiased review.

Lady Charlotte Always Gets Her Man written by Violet Marsh and narrated by Katy Sobey is a sceramingly good caper with a wry wit, significant helpings of intrigue and dastardly villains that only the most savvy of heroines can foil!

Lady Charlotte Lovett is informed by her mother that she is betrothed. This comes as a complete surprise as she has never so much as flashed a bit of ankle about at a social gathering, let alone walked out with a potential suitor. She quickly does a bunk and just as quickly realises she has made a very, very big mistake. However, would you not flee faster than a greased weasel if you found your intended was rumoursed to have made a habit of unaliving his spouses? No, me neither

A devilish love triangle, that is at one risky as all heck and challenging to the same degree! Does the tendancy to ensure someone "checks out of the mortal coil early" run in the family? Is it all just rumour? What to do!

Narrated with pure class by Katy Sobey, this audiobook was a delight to listen to. The voices were well defined, articulated clearly and with great humour

Violet Marsh has researched the era very well including the sensibilities and humour of the time, The writing is fluid and dances, dangling the answers and whipping them away again, a real treat!

Thank you to Netgalley, Hachette Audio, Forever, the author Violet Marsh and the narrator Katy Sobey for this brilliant ALC. My Review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

This looked like a fun historical mystery but it definitely felt rough. The writing was a little bit all over the place and just clumsy enough that it kept tripping me up. The author uses fairly modern phrasings in some places and then throws in random occurances of 'swounds' and 'ne'er.' To make it more historical-feeling I guess? It ends up just being awkward and weird though.

The plot keeps jumping from one thing to the next and none of the supposed stakes seem to really have any consequences. We find Charlotte running from a dress fitting after her mother informs her she's to marry a man Charlotte insists is a villain. Then she buys a stake in a coffeeshop in a rough part of town. Her mother just... doesn't notice she's gone?

The audiobook had a decent narrator although I wouldn't seek out more things she's narrated. Everything felt rushed and overly dramatic but I'm not sure how much was the narrator and how much was the story itself.

Overall if you can forgive weird awkward phrasing, clumsy writing, an odd mix of modern and ye olde style, and a plot that jumps all over the place, you might enjoy this one. It's not for me and I ended up not being able to finish it.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Forever, and Hachette Audio for providing an early copy for review.

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!