I have been in love with this series since book one, so to read the final installment, I am over the moon. It was everything I hoped it would be. Althea was charming and real, and Jasper, with his dry humor and canny wit, was perfect. There was real depth to this story. First with Althea and her lingering "ennui" as she calls it, when in reality it is the result of a bad relationship, then Jasper and his conniving uncle and all that entails. The story was carefully crafted and thoroughly engaging. My only regret was there were no more Hartley's. They are such a fun bunch and I wanted to see more of them. That aside this book was brilliant and I know I will read this book as well as the rest of the series multiple times. Disclaimer: I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

a fun, enjoyable read with a solid premise.
thanks to netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I am smiling as I think back to this story; there are some absurdities but the author does them well enough to keep you reading... and smiling... and wondering how it can all come together. And it does come together for a happily ever after.

I have to say this book started off a bit much for me, a lot of inner dialogue had me reading slower than I usually do. As soon as we hit the 50 page mark I felt more excited, the chemistry between the two characters is what I love seeing in romance. They clearly are two very different people who are going through complications in their lives. But their commonality is their disinterest in snobbery which is a big part of their society’s class. You wouldn’t think it from how it started but the small bits of humor that come out from the characters had me laughing out loud like a crazy person. Giving no inclination to their small bits of dry humor thrown in it completely catches me off guard. The two characters have these small moments of intimacy that were perfectly placed and described nothing too dramatic for the book. Giving them a good amount of passion between them. Having them both come to terms for their feelings for each other and recognizing their faults. I found very endearing that it was mentioned and their need to work through some of their problems. I had a great time reading the book and the characters a perfect escape.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager publishing I received a ARC for an honest review !

Althea's story is finally here!! Page turner that leaves you with the warm and fuzzes. Free ARC from Net Galley for honest review.

This is the first book I've read by this author and overall I really enjoyed it! A new favorite author. I loved the chemistry between Thea and Jasper. I now want a man who brings me paper flowers! I also loved that he became her muse (a reversal of the stereotypical female muse/male artist). The sex scenes were really hot.

I did want more highwayman action - there was really only one scene with Jasper's shenanigans in that regard, and it didn't feel like as much of a focus as I was expecting. I wanted to see him in action more and really feel like this was something critical that he'd been forced to do.

The last 10% of the book lost me a little bit - the resolution and wrap-up felt rushed, with a ton of stuff happening, obstacles being quickly introduced and resolved. I just wasn't convinced by the ending - however the rest of the book was so enjoyable I would still recommend!

This was a really good book! I thought the story was compelling and enjoyed how it developed. The tense parts really made me tense and the happy parts made me happy, so that's cool. Developments were also a bit unexpected and I really enjoyed the highwayman aspect. There were twists and turns throughout that kept me on my toes. The MMC and FMC also had a good relationship and you could tell why they liked each other. The ending was both dramatic and cute, so that was a good note to end on.

A fun addition to the series, the outcome was not foregone and added to the tension Lorret was able to build.

Action packed from the beginning.
Thea is a writer with an imagination and starts sharing tales about a highwayman.
Jasper is a real highwayman trying to keep his family, friends, a small boy, and a dog cared for and safe.
Their interaction are stimulating with great character development.
Family dynamics add to the mixture of excitement and fun.
Recommend this book as entertaining read.

This Much Is True by Vivienne Lorret is an enchanting romance that drew me in from the very first page. The story revolves around the smart and spirited heroine, Gemma, who is determined to uncover the truth about her past. Alongside her is the dashing and enigmatic hero, who brings his own secrets and vulnerabilities to the table. What I loved most about this book is the chemistry between the characters—it’s palpable and keeps you hooked throughout.

Lorret's writing is witty and engaging, making the banter between Gemma and the hero both charming and delightful. The plot twists kept me on my toes, and I appreciated the balance between romance and the unraveling mystery. The historical setting added a rich, immersive backdrop to their love story.

Overall, this book is a heartwarming, beautifully written novel that leaves you rooting for Gemma and her happy ending. It’s a perfect blend of romance, humor, and intrigue that I thoroughly enjoyed.

If you enjoy historical romance with a touch of mystery, this book is definitely worth a read.

Unfortunately this one didn't work for me! In preparation of my review I read the other books in the series, and they didn't work for me either, so I think it's a personal thing. Althea was compelling but I wasn't sure that I believed her attraction to Jasper, and I found their chemistry not doing what I wanted it to be doing.

This was my favorite book out of the three in this series! I’ve forgotten how much I adore a forbidden love affair. It’s giving Romeo and Juliet, star crossed lovers. Althea has lost her spark or as she likes to call it “her tingle” has stopped appearing. Until she meets a highway man, aka Jasper, but he tries to put a stop to her storytelling. Jasper has too much to loose if his identity if found out. However, Althea and Jasper start to share sparks and their chemistry begins to flourish.
This book was so fun to read, I could not put it down. I can’t wait to read more books by Lorret!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced ebook copy, all options and thoughts are my own.

Ugh, I love this series so much. The family is so colorful, the personalities so vibrant, the love so tangible. I'm hoping that Truman gets a book!!

Quippy, clever sentences that always have me cracking up! I enjoy Vivienne Lorret's writing so much. I think she does an excellent job of blending humorous situations with clever protagonists that always make reading her books such a joy. This is the third in the Liars Club series (and potentially final?! What about Tristan?!) which has featured each of the three Hartley sisters. The Hartley family has been so much fun and I love the concept of a theater-obsessed family (or mostly obsessed) with so much love for each other. This novel features the youngest and final sister, playwright Althea.

Althea is probably my favorite of the Hartley sisters in terms of her internal monologues and ennui- she's so funny and it's no wonder she comes from this absurd (and lovely) family. Her melodrama is so endearing and something I enjoy in a protagonist's internal narration (very youngest child energy). At the start of the novel Thea is suffering from a lack of inspiration and this comes largely due to her ex-suitor, who belittled her own talents in an effort to boost his own ego. I've definitely read this type of character arc in books before, so it's not the most original, but I love the way that Thea deals with this problem throughout the novel. And her overcoming it is a big part of what makes me like her as a character.

Inspiration strikes when she meets and has a few chance encounters with a mysterious highwayman and a fellow member of the ton Jasper. Now Jasper is an intriguing character at the start, and he took me a little while to come around to. He's got a bit of a Robin Hood complex while also pretending to be a clumsy and useless oaf in the eyes of the ton. But this is all an act, even down to his fake stutter and spectacles. This was a really interesting dichotomy and I'm not sure I've read a character like this before (at least with this type of dual persona), so I appreciated that he was a surprise throughout. Also when we finally learn his motivations and reasonings behind this dual persona, he becomes an even more endearing character. I love a pining hero- and the fact that Jasper has been entranced by Thea for so long without doing anything was very swoon-worthy.

Lorret does a great job of creating obstacles that feel very insurmountable and also realistic. Throughout most of the book I'm wondering "how will they ever make this work?!" and that creates such nice tension and angst for our lovers. Sometimes in these types of books, the obstacles can be overdramatized and not in a good way. They're things I'm always rolling my eyes that the protagonists should get over, but this novel didn't feel like that at all. For Jasper and Thea there's some very real problems that are holding them back from being together throughout most of the novel. This created such a romantic story and good dramatic tension.

There are a couple of annoyances I had with the book which is what pushed it down to a 4 star for me, as opposed to a 5. One is that the MCs don't have enough scenes together towards the start and middle of the book. This was especially noticeable in the middle where I felt it was starting to drag with too many side-stories and additional characters from past books (who I love but also felt weirdly unnecessary). I don't mind scenes with other characters and building a plot beyond the romance, but this didn't really feel like that and was more of a drag than anything else. The other larger issue for me, is that the ending was more than a bit abrupt and I felt like we needed an epilogue (especially if this is the last in the series). While I really liked the resolution, I did feel like we needed a few more chapters to wind down and have some time in the happy ending and destruction of our villain.

I loved the characters, the villain plot, the sexy romance, and quirky dialogue of this book so much! But while the stakes were so very high, the resolution felt super rushed in the last chapter and for that I wish we'd get a bit more time in our happy ending with Thea and Jasper. An epilogue could have been a nice solution for this- especially to really say goodbye to the hilarious Hartleys. Regardless, I've enjoyed this series a bunch and would recommend it for anyone who loves fun, sexy regency romances that feature the most charming family. And for anyone who has a theater background! Honestly as an ex-theater kid there were so many things in this series that had me giggling purely due to the THEATRE of it all.

A new one in the series. Althea feels as if she does not fit in her family or society. She was doubting herself especially after her past relationship. Jasper does not fit in into society and lacks family. He has played a role for so long he feels that is whim he is. When they meet kindred spirits come together. Their story was one full of angst. They do work through it and end up with their happiness.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start by saying how much I really enjoyed most of this book and the character. Althea Hartley is stuck in writer's block and only seems to find inspiration whenever Jasper is around. What starts off as Althea making up a story that hits too close to the truth for Jasper leads them to being thrown together in a very sweet and fresh love story. I enjoyed Jasper's character and loved him to pieces. Pretending to be the Ton's simpleton for a noble reason, Jasper is guarded and mistrusting and reading him falling in love with Althea was amazing. There's also a nice new cast of characters that are endearing and made me hope we see them in the future or in their own books.

This is a story of two people who have been hurt and feel out of place in their lives that find home in each other and I loved seeing them fall in love.

There's only one reason why I didn't give this book 5 stars and it's an issue that I have had with Vivienne Lorret before with the first book in the series. Way too many things happened all at once within the last few pages that made the pacing and payoff come to a screeching halt. <spoiler>We spend the entire book with Jasper worried that his uncle will prove that he is incompetent and how impossible the situation is, just for it to be resolved by a character that was introduced 80% through the book within 2-3 sentences. All in the space of 2-4 pages her sister goes into labor and immediately has twins back stage at a play, Jasper is released from jail with all charges dropped, his uncle has been committed and Jasper is now in control of everything, Althea confesses to him that she's pregnant, the Ton accepts her play as fact without question, and everyone lived happily ever after.</spoiler> Since it's an ARC I'm hoping that some storylines are dropped or fleshed out more so it flows better with the rest of the book. There's also <spoiler> the throwaway of the playwright crushing her self-esteem so that he can steal her work that's suddenly thrown in there and 'resolved' within a paragraph</spoiler> that I didn't care for and was out of place.

I absolutely loved this book! Huge thanks to the author and publisher for allowing me to read and review the ARC—it’s always such a treat.

I dove into this as soon as I received it and, unfortunately, put off writing my review because of grad school commitments. But looking back, I remember really enjoying it. Both main characters were incredibly engaging, and I appreciated that they were both young and in early 20s. It was refreshing to see this, especially since there tends to be a bigger age gap in many historical romances.

What really stood out to me was how both characters dealt with real-life struggles, especially the challenges of surviving a relationship with a narcissist. The author handled their different approaches to this in a thoughtful and well-developed way. I can’t go into too much detail without spoiling things, but it was an emotional and nuanced exploration.

The book definitely picked up after the first quarter. The initial attraction between the characters felt a bit rushed, which is why I deducted a star. I didn’t really understand why Althea would be drawn to Jasper at the start, aside from the fact that they’re the leads. It would’ve been great to see a bit more development there, but I’m hopeful the author has time to refine this aspect before the final release.

Overall, I’d rank this as the second-best book in the series, just behind the first one. Vivienne Lorette’s writing keeps improving, and I’m already excited to see what’s next—could it be Miss Snow’s story?

Question for the author and publisher:
I’m curious about the title of this book. It feels a bit random, and I’m not sure how it fits with the series or the genre. Was there a specific reason behind it, or is it still being finalized? Just something I’ve been wondering!I

DNF at 34%

I've had one hit and one miss with this series, but I was hoping that the combination of a playwright heroine and highwayman hero would at least make the plot so bonkers that I could overlook any issues. Unfortunately, while I enjoy Althea and Jasper as characters, the repetitive plot and lack of romantic development beyond attraction is not keeping me engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Vivienne Lorret always delivers couples you cheer for without fail, and Althea and Jasper are no exceptions. Althea’s got writer’s block and when she starts writing about a noble Robin Hood, Jasper is alarmed, because that’s exactly what he is, a Viscount who robs from the rich. As the two become intertwined in each other’s lives, an attraction blooms, and they each must do what is necessary to do what’s right but also let their love flourish. Excellent regency romance to look forward to on pub day.

A lovely book about two souls beaten down by others. Jasper and Althea just worked together, emotionally, intellectually and with their desire for each other. He's a protector, but she's a tiger, his tiger. Written very well, with humor, steam and an emotional roller coaster along the way. The ending seemed a little unresolved, with the loose ends being tied hastily.

#netgalley #ThisMuchisTrue