How to Fall for a Scoundrel is the second book in the Her Majesty’s Rebels series by Kate Bateman. It was an excellent continuation of the series, and I look forward to reading Daisy’s book, the last of the three friends needing her story to be told.

The Rules of a Gentleman’s Scoundrel set forth at the beginning of the book is woven throughout. They are a listing of eight rules that a scoundrel must live by. Harry and his uncle Hugo take the list to heart, as does Ellie and her friends, Tess and Daisy, whom she works with. The items are referred to often and sometimes in jest.

This book puts Ellie and Harry in the spotlight, who have incredible chemistry and great respect for each other. They communicate well, and there are some laugh-out-loud moments and some steamy ones. Harry helps Ellie to come out of her shell and not be a wallflower, and she lends him credibility within society, or does she?

The characters and the storyline have a depth to them, and we get to know them as their layers are pulled back. The story has a good flow, and it’s told at a nice pace with a lot of intrigue and cases to be solved. Several stories are conveyed with many twists and turns and woven together nicely. There is a lovely closure with the epilogue as loose ends are tied together and a surprisingly presented happily ever after.

How to Fall for a Scoundrel is a historical romance set in Regency England in the early 1800s. There are social events and crimes to solve as we’re immersed in London society.

I gave the book 4.5 stars but rounded to 5 here and on other sites.

The review is posted on NovelsAlive.

Another excellent read from Kate Bateman - I’ve become such a huge fan of her books in the last couple of years, and I’m always anxiously awaiting all of her new releases.

This latest, second in the Her Majesty’s Rebels series, is another exciting tale of bravery, deception and female empowerment in the regency era. Ellie and her two best girlfriends run King and Co., an investigation firm to rival the Bow Street Runners - they take on cases to help when others can’t, especially if it’s to help women. They have a gentleman supposedly running the company (Charles King), but he’s only an imaginary figurehead… when a client insists on meeting the man, a newcomer to town figures out the secret and steps in for the prize of the money from the job.

The new gentleman seems to be a con artist with a very fake name and great sleight of hand, but Ellie figures out how they can use his tricks to their advantage in the latest task and mystery - while also trying to unmask his identity.

I enjoyed the extra air of mystery to this story - a really great read! I think this could be my very favourite of Bateman’s, and I’ve loved them all so much, so that’s truly saying a lot. A huge recommendation from me!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, and this is my honest feedback.

How to Fall for a Scoundrel (Her Majesty’s Rebels #2) by Kate Bateman is a phenomenal addition to this series and my new favorite of the series! I story I didn’t want to end.

This is a unique, entertaining, historical romance that is full of intrigue, mystery, adventures, engaging banter, humor, steam, wit, electric chemistry and a heartwarming romance that made my heart and soul sing with happiness as I swooned hard for these two fabulous characters as they come together. 

This is “Ellie” Miss Eleanor Jane Law and “Harry” “Henri Bonheur, Comte de Carabas or (Henry James Charles Brooke, the twelfth Earl of Cobham’s) journey and what a journey it is!!

I fell in love with this charming, adorable couple and their playfulness, flirtations, engaging banter as well as their instantaneous electric chemistry from the moment they meet! I swooned hard for Harry, the dashing rogue and scoundrel. I was in awe of Ellie with her brains, cleverness and tenacity as well as her sharp wit and even sharper tongue.

But it was the moments when these two were together solving cases for the King & Company and falling for each other that I will remember. I fell in love with this couple. I was giddy! I laughed! I swooned! I wanted this story to never end! This can be read as a standalone but I urge you to read this series. You will be so glad you did.

“After all, there’s no telling when you might fall for a scoundrel of your own.”

I received an early copy and this is my honest review.

How to Fall for a Scoundrel is book two in the Her Majesty’s Rebels series by Kate Bateman.
I loved book one Second Duke's the Charm and the second title in this charming series did not disappoint either.
This book was so incredibly lovely!!! I adored every second of it, and finished it in almost one day with a huge, happy grin on my face all the way through.
The characters are fun. The mystery was engaging. And the storytelling was entertaining.
I had the best time reading it.

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Wallflower and secret investigator Eleanor Law meets her match in the mysterious Henry/Harry and they form a working partnership that snowballs fast into a spicy romance-adventure. This was a one day read for me! That's how much I was into these characters and the plot lines (though at times they were a little too over-the-top and made no sense (i.e. hiding 20-year-old medical records in a chimney in the Tower of London - what?).

Bateman is a master of the flirty banter and sexual tension. She skips right to the good parts and doesn't waste time on secondary characters, boring side plots or making her characters whine about/rehash the past ad nauseum. I wish we would've gotten some more chapters from Harry's point of view. I loved his overall vibe and found him to be not so scoundrelly, more of a con-artist/spy. Eleanor is a bluestocking trying to compete in a man's line of work. I feel you sister, right on.

Another solid spicy read from Bateman who doesn't disappoint. Curl up with this book on a rainy day and you won't need a blanket to be warm all over!

Goodness I loved how Kate Bateman started this novel off with their meet cute involving a clandestine kiss under the mistletoe! (Insert swoony romance sigh here!) From the moment we meet Harry (No-Name/Henri/Enrico) his confidence and ease drew me in. There was just something about his and Ellie's banter and their instant chemistry which had me completely enraptured with the story.

I really loved seeing Tess and Daisy again, especially with how well they work as supporting characters within Ellie's story. How they managed to make sure to keep Harry and Ellie together nearly every step of their (multiple) investigations. I especially loved seeing the fortune teller's fortunes coming true for Tess and now Ellie. I am so looking forward to Daisy's meeting a highwayman! (Please make him Scottish!) Seeing Ellie assert herself and discover joy/pleasure skirting the lines of propriety (not overtly breaking them mind you) made me love her character even more.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am a very hero-centric reader. And I LOVED Harry No-Name very much. And the only downside (a teeny tiny one) is that the majority of the novel is told from Ellie's POV. I understand for the sake of his identity that we only got glimpses of his POV. But I would have loved so much about him and I wanted his perspective so much more than what we got. It was the only tiny issue I had with this novel.

Brilliant detective Eleanor becomes entangled with charming con man Harry, who’s impersonating her fictional boss. Forced to work together, they navigate a dangerous investigation and an undeniable attraction, all while confronting the secrets and lies that bind them.

Funny and irresistible, this book includes a twisty mystery along with a heartwarming romance. Eleanor and Harry are strong and fascinating characters on their own, but together, they’re combustible. I can’t wait for the next book in the series!

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

This is a fun book. Ellie and Harry are quite the pair who balance each other out. This is a quick humorous read that I recommend.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

New to me author though I've seen her work through the years. Overall enjoyed the book, though a few scenes seemed a bit trite and could see the ending coming. Will definitely look for more by this author.

How to Fall for a Scoundrel by Kate Bateman is a delightful historical romance that combines mystery, wit, and sizzling chemistry. The story follows Eleanor Law, a sharp-witted investigator for the fictional Charles King, who finds herself reluctantly teaming up with the charming and mysterious “Henri Bonheur” (or Harry) to solve a case involving a stolen Napoleonic artifact. The banter between Harry and Ellie is fantastic, and their romance is full of tension and fun twists. I loved how Ellie, though a wallflower, is fiercely intelligent and unapologetically herself, which makes her a perfect match for the confident and enigmatic Harry. The mystery element adds depth to the plot, and the subplots keep the story engaging. Overall, this is a thoroughly enjoyable read that fans of secret identities, strong female leads, and well-crafted love stories will appreciate. I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series!

HOW TO FALL FOR A SCOUNDREL is a delightful blend of romance, detective work, and falling for the wrong guy. Or maybe it's the right one? Eleanor Law, a beautiful, smart, sexy woman, solves cases secretly with her agency, King & Co. Ellie meets a persuasive, dishonorable, dangerously handsome man at a ball room soiree. Harry smoothly lies that he's the head of her agency in order to accept an offer from a man to find a valuable artifact. Harry offers to aid her in her quest to find it. Ellie scoffs at his audacity, but it might just turn the tables in her favor.

Harry is a thief who has a big heart. Ellie is right to be wary of him, but her heart tells her he is desirable under all that brashness and arrogance. Harry walks on the wild side, skirting the law. However, while working closely on cases, they flirt, bicker and sparks of desire rage between them. Ellie's developed feelings for the devilish rogue, to her dismay. Will they acknowledge their love for one another or won't they?

You will fall in love with Ms. Bateman's new novel, HOW TO FALL FOR A SCOUNDREL. It's got a ravishing romance, a plethora of prickly cases to puzzle out, a cache of charismatic characters, and much more! Ellie is so practical and Harry is a free spirit with hidden facets. As the old saying goes, opposites attract. Elllie and Harry fit together just like a glove. With a perfect plot and an incredible cast of characters, you won't be able to put this book down. Speed walk your way to this fun, fast-paced, flirty story!

Book #2 in the Her Majesty’s Rebels series gives Ellie a chance to meet her match, thief and scoundrel Harry. Harry is a man of many names, and he has traveled all over stealing and cheating at cards, but he wants to turn over a new leaf. Harry offered to help Ellie and King & Co. Find a valuable book. But the two of them find is love.

I thought this book seemed a little bit rushed. I would have liked a little more conflict between Ellie and Harry. They were some fun scenes, including One in the Tower of London. I just didn’t feel the spark as much in this book.

Thanks to St. Martin's Publishing Group/Macmillan Publisher, the author, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

The more Kate Bateman I read, the more I fall in love with her stories. Let me tell you, she KNOWS how to begin a book; our hero and heroine meet unexpectedly underneath a sprig of mistletoe and by page three, they have already locked lips. If you enjoy your books with a bit of mystery, a secret identity, thieving, sexual tension to the max, and a hero and heroine that are equally matched, may I offer up this little book to you?

The second book in Her Majesty’s Rebels series, HTFFAS can be read as a standalone, although characters do overlap. I fell hard for Henri aka Harry aka…? the moment he was written into the page. He’s confident, mysterious, and so sure of what he wants which is 100% attractive in a hero. And of course, he only has eyes for wallflower Ellie who is a bad ass “investigator” for fictional employer Charles King (Charlie’s Angels anyone?), who until now has done her best work blending in. Now Harry and Ellie team up to locate a stolen artifact of Napoleon’s, using disguises, wit, and Harry’s con artist tricks which brings them closer together than perhaps they were expecting.

The chemistry between Harry and Ellie was page-turning and I absolutely loved the mystery aspect. Not knowing Harry’s true identity until close to fifty percent of the novel kept me flipping pages just waiting to discover his reasons for wanting to meet Eleanor. I also loved that there were multiple subplots—the initial mystery leads to even more work for His Majesty’s Rebels and more identity uncovering. I always feel like I learn something when reading Bateman and I learned about treasure binding, card tricks, heterochromia, and more, giving the book such a fresh and fun outlook. And oh the spice is so good. If a writer can couple fun, mystery, and sexual tension that builds to the best steamy scenes, then they’ll have me coming back for more again and again. I can’t wait for the next book in this series, and know Daisy will be a romp for sure. I received an early copy. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Steam: 🪭🪭🪭
Number of times Charles King is mentioned: 2️⃣2️⃣

I really wanted to love this because Bateman is a favorite author of mine for fun, romp-ey historical romance. And for the most part, I had fun with it. But I’ve read Charlie’s Angels inspired historical romance before and it REALLY leaned into the bonkers aspects to make it fun and ridiculous in the best way. And this didn’t quite hit that mark for me. Everything was very surface level and it *felt* very surface level. And not in the fun way.

Still love Bateman, but this one was a miss for me!

4.5/5 stars
2/5 spice

Loved this one! It was such a fun read with great characters and a little bit of intrigue. The chemistry between Harry and Ellie was amazing. Although Ellie was the typical wallflower, down playing her beauty for her work, she didn't shy away but wore her intelligence as a badge of honor. I loved that she wasn't a blushing innocent and actually enjoyed exploring her sexuality.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I highly recommend this book for fans of secret identity, intelligent women, and a bit of mystery solving.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

A thief and a private investigator team up to solve a theft, and the vibes are basically a case-of-the-week tv episode (think Charlie’s Angels, Remington Steele, White Collar, etc) playing historical dress-up. The plot is as straightforward as it gets—they search for a macguffin, they get a clue, they get another clue, they solve the case. No twisty characters or KJ Charles-level plotting here. I was all set to breeze through it and enjoy myself regardless, and then a bad case of instalove reared its head, along with ye olde hardcore gender essentialism, the kind that bums me out and turns me off.

(For example, a memorable scene where Harry has to dress like a dandy for an undercover recon, and the author takes great pains to assure us that, “On any other man, the ensemble would have looked ridiculous, almost feminine, but on him the flamboyant clothes only served to accentuate his intense masculinity.”)

Sigh. That’s on me for reading outside my lane, but my hope for a quick, fun read with heists and spies didn’t pan out.

Delightful. I absolutely loved this book and its characters. Harry keeps Eleanor on her toes and is so charming that the reader has to fall in love with him. His way of sneaking into her life and that of the other members of King & Co. makes me laugh. Throughout the book I wondered what his end game was though I was pretty sure I had it figured out. I didn't. That's what I loved about this book.

This book shows Ellie (Eleanor), Tess, and Daisy solving private investigations in a fun and intelligent way. When in slides a mystery man who drives Ellie crazy as he waggles his way into their private investigation company as the mysterious King.

Daisy and Tess see the benefit of his pretending and also the heat between Harry and Ellie so they do a little matchmaking of their own but throwing them together at various times on various cases.

This book was a humorous love story about two unlikely people who have more in common then they will admit. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the third book of the series.

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Eleanor “Ellie” Law and her group of close friends have been solving crimes under the name Charles King for years, so when the mysterious Harry identifies himself as King to a potential client, they must find a way to work with him. Together Ellie and Harry begin solving crimes throughout the city relying heavily on Harry’s knowledge as proclaimed thief and con artist. As they spend time together the attraction grows and turns to love, though Harry’s past makes things complicated and become a task they too must solve together.

This book was like a breath of fresh air for me. The book is relatively short and so easy to read so it felt like I was flying through the story. I loved both Ellie and Harry from the start. I greatly appreciated that the book let the book let the reader in on Harry secret rather than dance around it until Ellie figures things out. The steamy scenes were wonderfully steamy and I really felt the connection between the two. As always Kate’s stories, the book was just so well thought out and didn’t feel like it was bogged down with random side plots or anything that didn’t move the main story forward. I really enjoyed the previous book in the series and am looking forward to seeing where the series goes with Daisy’s story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded to 4. This is a fun, sexy, quick romance that's mostly surface (no need to look for deep meanings here!). Ellie is one of three young women who make up a private investigation firm. (They pretend to be working for a man, Charles King. [Yes, it's a Charlie's Angels riff, which, okay?].) One night at a ball, Ellie is approached by the handsomest man she's ever met, who announces that he's a reformed thief who's now going to work for her (and her firm). But he has his own motives for working closely with the three: he wants to see just how good they are at their jobs... for ~reasons~.

There are several cons, heists, thefts, and other investigatory hijinks, meaning that the book is a rollicking read. Ellie and Harry are hot for each other from the jump. As long as you're not looking for anything (literally ANYTHING) very deep, you'll have a ton of fun.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

Here we are back in the good old Regency Era, suffering once again from the hypocrisy, stifling morality, crippling rules, conventions and constraints of it and the Victorian age. The good news is that this is another Kate Bateman special so you know we’ll be in for a good time.

We learned in Second Duke’s the Charm, Book 1 in Bateman’s fantastic Her Majesty’s Rebels series, that Ellie, Daisy and Tess are perfectly capable of successfully running their London private investigation firm King & Co. without the help of a man. Unfortunately, however, not all potential clients (men!) think a “little woman” can be a businessperson. They often ask to meet with the “real boss” before they hire the firm. So there is certainly more business to be had – if Ellie, Daisy and Tess want to give up some control. Which they don’t.

Things get a little complicated, though when a stranger (side note: dimples . . . why do the best ones always have dimples?) catches Ellie under the mistletoe at a Christmas ball and kisses her. Whoa, did not expect the jolt of something like faint lightning that crackled through her. Handsome, clever, self-assured, a little rogue-ish and a lot irritating. Playfully refusing to identify himself except finally as Henri Bonheur, Comte de Carabas. Okay, then. Enough. This kiss was pretty wow but Ellie doesn’t expect or intend to see him again. So moving on . . . .

Except . . . a potential client approaches Ellie at the ball and insists he needs to meet with “Mr. King” and who conveniently pops up except Dimpled Henri, who says why yes, he is the mysterious Mr. King and promptly accepts the case.

That should be enough to have you hooked already. It was for me. If you’ve ever read anything by Kate Bateman before you know how much fun the rest of this book is going to be. Serious, studious Eleanor Law facing off against “Harry.” They do want the business and Harry is talented and clever. But who is this guy really? What does he want? What is he after? Well, after that kiss someone he is after is Ellie. And after that kiss – and being constantly exposed to those dimples – Ellie has a few wants of her own.

Sinfully silly, sexy, steamy, swoony. Ellie and Harry work well together, and also kind of “fit” together, but there’s a lot of head-butting going on, as well as some real danger and uncertainty about who is causing all this trouble. Truly delightful.

Thanks to St. Martin's Publishing Group for providing an advance copy of How to Fall for a Scoundrel via NetGalley, and for introducing me to the 8 Rules of a Gentleman Scoundrel. If Kate Bateman writes it I will read it, and I can’t wait for book three in this wonderful and wonderfully satisfying series. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.