A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal is one of my favourite Regency romances of the year. There is brilliantly-written slow-burn romance, espionage, kidnapping, and subterfuges, a cruel step-mother (as they are usually found in a Disney movie), an all-female squad of well-trained spies, and lots of spice.

The protagonists of the novel are Millicent “Millie” Whittenburg and Major General Beaufort Drake, both considered outcasts from the ton of London. Millie has been entrapped by her step-mother in a betrothal with a man old enough to be her grandfather, but all she wants is to have the freedom to train as a spy with the Duchess of Dorset and take down the band of criminals kidnapping and selling young women all across Europe. The only way out of her engagement is to cause a scandal and what better than to be found in a compromising position with Major Drake? He is a war hero who still bears the scars, both physical and mental, of two years of imprisonment and torture in Afghanistan. Now working as a spy for the prime minister, he has sworn off women for good after he returned from war to his first love married his brother. And while Millie may think that she will be released from any engagement and let go in shame, Major Drake has every intention of being honourable and marrying her. And during a week-long party at his country estate to celebrate the wedding, they will have to face not only their trust and feelings for each other, but also a few dangers and enemies.

I had so much fun reading A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal. The romance is very well-developed. The characters are intriguing and entertaining and there are also a few twists that I didn’t expect. This is the second book in The Queen’s Deadly Damsels series and I am looking forward to reading more.

This was a cute story and I really liked both characters . I don’t always enjoy the mystery aspects in historical romance but it does work quite well in this series . Looking forward to the next book

Evil stepmother, controlling and brutish love interest, and a secret society of women working for the queen to stop crimes. Overall, it is not the most original plotline but maybe that's why it was also so easy and quick to read. The predictability made it more fun than anything else and when a book is labelled a romance, you know the main character's decision on whether she should pursue her heart at the risk of losing her freedom to throw knives at disgusting men is never actually a risk.

The book follows a woman called Millie who, instead of marrying a man much older than her with 'superior' ideals of the woman's place in society, plots to ruin her image and escape to the country where she can continue her training as a spy. To do this, she has to tarnish her already questionable reputation by kissing a man with a scarred past who clearly refuses to ever marry. Obviously, he doesn't really stick to this out of supposed honour and pretty quickly he gets over it. Predictable, but. like, I guess hot? To be honest, I can see how the love interest could be appealing but he wasn't really for me mainly because when reading from the perspective of him at the beginning I thought he was a tad creepy. That being said, once he gets to know her, he loves her beyond her body and we find out about his past and why he can't trust women. Spoiler- he changes for our protagonist.

Besides the romantic element, there's also a relatively action laced plot where they are investigating these missing women which, once again, ends with Millie throwing her knives and, just when you think the love interest is going to come save her... Millie uses her fighting skills and all is well. How no one investigated these dead bodies or think there are probably more bad people behind this whole women trafficking plot I don't know. This also all happens over the course of, I think, a week. So the romance is very quick and also the climax to the action is relatively underwhelming.

Despite everything, I did still enjoy the book. I know this review is mostly negative, but I would still recommend it to people who read regency romance because it had so many classic tropes and I loved the setting. It was also quick, easy, and still had an engaging plotline. I know this is the second book and, though I don't think my understanding of this book was impeded in any way, maybe by reading the first one I would know more background to this secret society of women which I would have been more interested in. Overall, it took me out of a reading slump so I'm grateful.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC of this book and the chance to write a review on it!

Millicent Whittenburg is working undercover for the Queen. What's standing between her and her mission is her impending marriage to an old man that her horrible stepmother arranged. Desperate to escape from this arrangement, Millicent is willing to ruin herself and vanish from society.
All she has to do is to seduce the only man that will never marry her but things don't go according to her plan.
Major General Beaufort Drake, a PI for the Prime Minister, sworn off marriage after coming back from war to discover that his fiancee has married his brother. After Millicent lures him in a kiss that turns out to be a public scandal, he surprisingly offers to marry her.


A Lady's Lesson in Scandal is brilliant, I have never read a Historical Romance where the FMC is a secret agent and she's not the classic beauty.
The plot was original and well developed and I adored the main characters.
I found Millicent refreshing, bold, brave and I loved her determination.
Drake is a scarred man with a big crush for our FMC, he is totally obsessed with her and I loved it.

The author did a wonderful job with this book.

I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3,80 stars but rounded to 4!

It was described as historical romance with a bit of mistery/detective parts.
Both of the MCs are trying to find out, who is killing some of the young woman. They both have the same goal, just only work for two different 'bosses' - Millie for the Queen, Drake for the Prime Minister.
Millie just wants to work her investigation in peace, not to be a wife. She had a brilliant idea - let herself get ruined by a man, so then no other Lord would like to marry her. Sounds perfect, am I right? Well... It didn't went according to her plan...Now she is forced into just another engagement.

First of all, i didn't know that this book is the second one (ups) but it wasn't hard for me to read, so i don't think it is nessesary to read first one before the second!

I really liked both the General Beaufort Drake and Miss Millie, their banter and their relationship growing. One of my fav tropes is forced proximity so it sounded like the perfect read for me.
It was such a nice read, now i think i will check the first one out to see what did i miss!












Thank you NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book!

All opinions are my own.
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Loved it and reminds us there is always hope. One door closes and another opens. True love prevails and always will.

Holy Smokes! I have third degree burns from the STEAM! This series gets better and better.

It was hard to put aside the compelling chemistry between General Beaufort Drake and Miss Millie which made this a very quick read. McGuire continues putting together sexy, scarred war heroes (my fave!) and strong lady spies (with ninja skillz!) for tender, page-turning romanctic adventures.

Again, the challenge is to overcome their tragic pasts, learn to trust each other and take down a sex trafficking ring one villain at a time. Same plot, different couple, just as entertaining and even more open-door scintillating as the first book. I love this series and McGuire's skill at writing flirty banter, characters you become invested in, spy mystery and love scenes is top notch.

Ahh this was very cute. Like a comfy warm bath. Millie is a great heroine, and Beau is a perfect pairing for her. I like the modern, fresh feel with tropes of women being just as competent as men.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It's a great continuation of the series, and I love the strong FMC. A spy working for the Queen, Millie kisses a stranger at a party to get out of a loathsome marriage arrangement. What she doesn't realize is that she kissed Major General Drake, an honorable man and private investigator who feels it is his duty to marry Millie since they were caught in a compromised position.

Major General Drake, aka Beau, and Millie have a great romance. The banter and witty conversations are fantastic, and they have a grumpy/sunshine dynamic that I enjoyed. Beau is a scarred and brooding hero, and Millie challenges him perfectly. Their love story is steamy and sexy, and their adventures together are filled with mystery and intrigue as they work together on a secret mission both have been assigned to.

There are some heavier issues in the plot, including abuse and trafficking, and though the trafficking issue is part of the overarching plot, the physical abuse Millie suffers was surprising and a bit tough to read. I would recommend checking out the content warnings, even though the lighter and romantic parts balance out the darker elements well.

Special thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

I think I overall did enjoy this but it just missed something. I don’t know if it was the confusion on which year it was meant to be in as it was not historically correct and it seems like one of the shows where they try to make a historical show more modern but this just didn’t fit. It seemed rushed and the enemies part just wasn’t realllyyy enemies just sexual tension. I did like the side plot part but overall this just fell flat to me. Also how many times can a guy get a hard on in one book…

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book in exchange of my honest review

Bugger! Bugger! I really, REALLY loved this book and now I'm finished and I don't know what to do with my life.

Okay so we remember how much I enjoyed The Secret Life of a Lady right? Well I loved A Lady's Lesson in Scandal even more. I literally hung onto every word and when I turned the final page I didn't want to let these characters go. I still don't. Millie and Beau have filled a hole in my heart, that I didn't know I had. Their heat, their love for each other, and their banter! Oh gosh! Love!

Let's back track a little... Lady Millicent wants her freedom. Instead her wicked step-mother Patricia has her doomed her to a life with a boring old Lord. However, she has a plan to secure her freedom and continue her work as an investigator with the help of the Duchess of Dorset. All she needs is someone to dishonour her so she can walk away. However, Major General Beaufort Drake has other ideas... and none of them involve letting this vixen out of his life!

This second book is even better than the first. We meet Millie in The Secret Life of a Lady and at the end I was really hoping the next book was about her adventure to a HEA and I'm so glad it was. She's fiery and not willing to back down to get what she wants... especially when it involves being an investigator for the Queen!

The action and adventure that makes up the mystery portion is simply superb!!!!! When the big reveal happens I didn't see it coming. I literally gasped out loud because the author had definitely pulled one over me!

This series very much highlights the trials and tribulations of women in the regency era. They had very little choice in what they did and I applaud the author for creating strong female heroines and wonderful male characters that let them have their choice and be the people they were meant to be. Not something that historically happened, so I am glad to see it at least fictionally.

If you like your regency romances with heat and adventure, you need to be reading this series. It perfectly combines the spicy aspect of Bridgerton-esque stories with a mystery that will leave you racing across the fields with Millie trying to catch a killer!!! I can't wait for the next one!!

Another Victorian romantic suspense novel from Darcy McGuire. This follow-up to The Secret Life of a Lady has another feisty young woman in training with Lady Philippa to serve Queen Victoria herself. In essence our FMC Millie is learning how to be a spy.

Millie is under the thumb of her evil stepmother (yes, really). She’s estranged from her (weak) father and is trying to avoid an arranged marriage. She manages to get out of that by ruining herself with Drake, the Earl of Tetly who is also spying, but for the (unnamed) Prime Minister. That ruination results in a betrothal between Drake and Millie and a weekend house party to celebrate their nuptials. Improbably, Lady Philippa uses this as an opportunity to flush out the villains of the flesh trade. A bit too violent for something that’s essentially comical and the mix between light and shade doesn’t always work. Millie being whipped by her stepmother to too awful to be glib about, as are the effects of Drake’s treatment during the Afghan Wars.

Language is fun, a combination of the starchy formality of the time, and plenty of profanity from the 21st century. As for Millie and Drake, there’s plenty of chemistry 🌶🌶 and pining and internal monologue as they learn to trust each other. It’s a bit repetitive, light-hearted and ridiculous but a jolly read nonetheless.

If you enjoyed the first book, lots of characters reappear including Killian and Hannah. Thank you NetGalley, Darcy McGuire and Boldwood Books for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

This is one of those post-Bridgerton novels where plot is paramount and anachronistic dialog and historical inaccuracies abound. Somehow, only Sarah MacLean (whose Hell's Belles series this series palely imitates) manages to pull off the "Victorian lady spy" genere with the right balance of historical detail and modern sensibility. The tone of this book is also uneven, about 60% genteel historical novel and 40% jarring melodrama, with mustache-twirling villains who only operate at full blast, surprisingly bloody violence, and a grim sex-trafficking subplot (because apparently there aren't enough prostitutes in 1840s France??). I found myself generally more frustrated than enthralled for most of the book.

***Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC***

Ever since I finished The Secret Life of a Lady back in May I've been really looking forward to reading the second instalment and I'm so glad that I've now done so.

While a little repetitive in places, A Lady's Lesson in Scandal is so entertaining that - if I hadn't forced myself to take my time with this - I would have finished it in a day. Super easy to read and get into and follows on from the first perfectly.

If you want a spicy, entertaining read that is well paced, then this would be a good choice for you!

If I had one word to describe it, I would use "rushed". I love regency romances because there is a build-up, a romance to the story. This book did not have that quality at all. The story has so much potential. It felt like all the right plot points were present but the execution did not live up the expectation.

This was an enjoyable romance with a point to make. The second in a series, the story picks up on some indefatigable women who spy on behalf of the Queen and take no prisoners when they find their villain. The romantic male lead is a tough, ruthless, slightly embittered character who has no interest in marriage yet finds film self captivated by the feisty female lead. As the story reaches its climax and the both decide to devote themselves to each other their relationship has to be based firmly on equality rather than a woman being controlled by a husband. I would have liked to see more action rather than contemplation of the state of the relationship, one thing did not ring true. The female lead submits herself to a severe whipping as a punishment from her stepmother. Someone who is otherwise intelligent and at times aggressive, this seemed unlikely and unnecessary. If you are put off by a lot of swearing, this book will not be for you. This however did not prevent me from enjoying this book.

I enjoyed this Victorian romance. And it improved upon some of the things that frustrated me in the first installment.

Having met both of the main characters in the first book, I couldn’t have begun to tell you how they would work as the leads in this one. But I was proven wrong, and I like them even more than the original main couple.

Under no circumstances would Millie ever be considered a wallflower, but I like that she doesn’t even pretend to be for the comfort of society. Beau took me a little longer to warm up to, but he has perfectly valid reasons for acting the way he does.

A few more pieces have been added to the puzzle that is the overarching mystery of this series, but I do feel that this plot point is still almost too secondary to the romance. But I can get behind this pairing. Millie and Beau have excellent chemistry and their tension is written so well.

Whereas in the first book, I felt that some big conversations never managed to happen between our leads. I think that more was resolved in this one and I appreciate that.

A fast, enjoyable read (I finished it in an afternoon) for anyone looking for a spicy historical romance that gives you more than just bodice ripping.

Random note- I enjoyed the Viking/valkyrie motif woven throughout and wish it had been worked in more.

A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Darcy McGuire is the second book in a series called The Queen’s Deadly Damsels. The novel’s premise is that the Queen has asked some strong women to find out who is responsible for trapping young women in coffins and leaving them to die. It is in the second novel that the women discover that there are many women, not just a couple.

Millicent Whittenburg is in training and has been on the front line of the investigation. However she is constantly besieged by Major General Beaufort Drake after trying to get him to ruin her so she can focus on her investigation. Not only does Drake offer for her, he is also investigating the same situation. Drake however is hired by the Prime Minister.

Millicent and Drake are HOT together and share some of the same scars. Their determination and strength make them a force of nature. The house party put on and prepared by her step mother is something!

A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Darcy McGuire was a good read.

A Lady's Lesson in Scandal by Darcy McGuire is the second book in the "The Queen's Deadly Damsels" series.

Set in Regency England, the novel follows the adventures of Millicent Whittenburg, a spy in training for the Queen.

Lady Phillipa has very recently started training Millie, to be part of her secret cadre of undercover agents, all working on the orders from the Queen herself. Millie is just hours away from being forced to marry a man the same age as her father - all instigated by her power hungry, horrible step-mother Patricia.

Together with Lady Phillipa, a plan is put in place, but it doesn't seem like it'll go as expected..

Major General Beaufort Drake is way more decent than they expected.

A Lady's Lesson in Scandal is another fab story and I'm guessing there'll be at least one more instalment to come. Highly recommended.

I loved the first book and I the 2nd is just as amazing.

Strong female characters who you really root for. The charm history time mixed with the feminine kick makes the perfect combo