Unfortunately, when i read this in 2017 I reviewed books only sporadically. But I did love the book and enjoy any books by Tracy Anne Warren. Though we did not buy this ourselves our sister library got it in ebook format.

4.5 stars

Loved it! Smart, fun, and sexy! A definite must-read!

Once again, I was lured in by a pretty cover. I didn’t even read the blurb! Plus I’ve had such luck lately trying new historical romance authors that I thought I’d give this a go. The great thing about this story is that I had no trouble jumping right in even though this is book 3 in the series. This was a fun take on the classic trope of the heroine disguising as a man and meeting the hero under those conditions.

Rosamund is disguising as Ross Carrow and helping her brother in their family law practice. Her brother stutters under especially stressful situations and never had to appear in court because their father was always in charge of that. After his death, Rosamund steps up for a short time to finish off their current case load and be the one in the courtroom representing their clients. Good thing she always had an interest in the law and a very sharp mind. In her first case, she defeats the unbeatable Lord Byron and catches his interest. He quickly figures out Ross is actually a woman and a lot sexy shenanigans ensue.

I really liked Rosamund’s character. I love smart heroines and she has a quick mind and a witty tongue. She is killer in the courtroom but also never backs down from the otherwise intimidating Lawrence. Even if she’s enamored with him and his good looks. But at the same time, she is also strong enough to make a decision to get involved with him knowing there could be no future for them. They come from such different classes and a fairy tale ending isn’t in her cards. But she still chooses to take what she can get with the man she wants.

Lawrence on the other hand was not as spectacular for me. He’s more of a beta hero, which I’m ok with, and he is pretty hot. But there wasn’t anything that was jumping off the page and captivating my attention about his character. I thought he was even a bit inconsiderate and selfish at times, just taking whatever he wanted only to be redeemed in the end by a grand gesture.

Another thing I liked was the fact that it shows the lack of choices for women in those times. While Rosamund loves practicing law and is really good at it, she’ll never be able to fulfill that part of her life and this taste she got is more than she could hope for. It was hard for me to understand how there was a resignation that it was just something she could never have, and she would be happy with other things in her life. That speaks of the great strength of those women who wanted more for themselves but often society put a stop to their dreams.

While this was a fun read, I’m not sure I’ll be rushing to get the next one (or back one) based on this read. But I can be persuaded again by a pretty cover

I love this series. Why? Well, the Byrons are just fun. They go against society, the don’t give a care about their reputations or the opinion of the Ton and, when they fall in love, they fall hard. It sometimes takes a swift kick for them to acknowledge their feelings and see the mistakes they made and are making but then it’s even more interesting because the groveling starts.

There was no better match for the staunchly Lord Lawrence than Rosamund Carrow … even if he thinks she’s a man. He is bested by her in the courtroom and holds her own in any conversation. But, there is something about Ross Carrow that has him second guessing his own sexuality. He doesn’t understand why he has thoughts about how sweet his ass is or how kissable his lips look until one chance remark puts all the pieces together. Then, the game is on.

Rosamund is enjoying her time as Ross Carrow. She is enjoying the freedom of a man while being a woman. She is seeing things that she never thought that she would. She is practicing law and loving every bit of it. When she defeats Lord Lawrence, she opens a door that may never be able to be closed. He’s intriguing, he’s gorgeous, he’s more than what the Ton make him out to be. He’s out of her league. When he finds out about the ruse, she’s mortified, yet relieved. Then, she’s in his arms and all thoughts about consequences are swept away. She knows it can’t last and knows that her heart will break, but she also knows that she doesn’t want it to stop. When she sees the notification in the paper, she has no choice but to walk away. No matter how much it shatters her.

Family and friends gather around both of them as the battle their feelings. Then unexpected surprises send them both reeling. She’s made her decision, he’s made his. Now, the groveling begins.

Tracy Anne Warren is such a wonderful writer of Historical Romances. She’s articulate, she’s knowledgeable and she makes you feel like you are back in that era. I sometimes wonder if it’s wonderful research or if she’s from that time. She has a way of transporting you back to a time when love was love and romance was romance … when mistresses were acceptable … when being a virgin was the norm and not the exception. A simpler time that held growing anticipation instead of instant gratification. I can’t say enough good about this author and her writing styles. And, I absolutely loved Bedchamber Games.

This series was unmemorable for me TBH. I read the first book, The Bedding Proposal and I even rated it a 4/5, but for the life me, I just can’t remember the plot! I guess, this calls for a re-read! I also put the second book, Happily Bedded Bliss, on hold and I’m not really sure that I will even pick it up, but I am tempted to because of THIS book!

Let’s just say that I am a fan of cross-dressing ladies! And this book has it in spades! This also features a love between the classes and I absolutely LOVE that!

Rosamund Carrow masquerades as a man so that she can be a barrister and assist her brother after their father’s death. On her very first case, she soundly defeats Lord Lawrence Byron and he is intrigued. Of course, there were a few scenes where Lawrence finds himself falling for his new friend “Ross,” until he discovers that Ross is in fact, female! These two start a very steamy affair, all the while she was still masquerading as a man (there are quite a few close calls).

Bedchamber Games also turned into another tearjerker for me. To be honest, I haven’t really been brought to tears since I read The Hunter by Kerrigan Byrne a couple of years ago. So yes, I am really, really happy about this.

The Negs

This book does remind me a little bit of one of my favorite books written by Tracy Anne Warren, My Fair Mistress (my re-read review) in a sense that this is a very steamy assignation in the hero’s townhouse View Spoiler » That was written ten years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday! Well, I have read it multiple times, though so I may be the unicorn in this.

Another negative is that the last 1/4 of the book was just boring. Also, for Rosamund to be written a very strong heroine turn around and turn out to be weak. Although I get why she acted the way she did in the end. But STILL!

The end felt too rushed and sort of like a cop-out. Ack! I was rooting for Lawrence and Ros to get their HEA BUT their reconciliation was basically a PAGE! A PAGE!!!

And lastly, this series does have crappy titles. The titles don’t make me pick a book up! I mean, if this wasn’t Tracy Anne Warren, I won’t be picking it up!

My Recommendations

Despite pointing the negatives in Bedchamber Games, I absolutely loved it. The first 3/4 of the book is so strong that it totally overshadows my negatives. (I know, I’m weird) I also loved that we have a heroine who did something very unusual for the time period.

Bedchamber Games is a MUST read. Grab a copy and read it in one sitting!

This final book in the Rakes of Cavendish Square trilogy features Lord Lawrence Byron, the twin brother of Lord Leo whose story was told in the first instalment, The Bedding Proposal. I enjoyed both that and the previous book (Happily Bedded Bliss) enough to want to read this final one, even though it uses one of my least favourite tropes – a woman passing herself off as a man. It’s testament to the author’s ability to tell an entertaining story and craft strong characters that I was able to set aside that dislike and enjoy the developing relationship between the two protagonists, which is well-paced and imbued with a slow-burning sexual tension that really draws the reader in.

Rosamund Carrow and her brother, Bertram, were both extensively tutored in law by their father, a renowned barrister. Even though the profession is closed to her purely because of her gender, Rosamund showed a great aptitude for the subject and regularly assisted her father in his preparations and research, but his sudden death leaves behind a lot of unfinished, untried – and unpaid – cases. The obvious solution would be for Bertram to complete the work and make the necessary court appearances, but he suffers from a speech impediment which becomes worse whenever he gets nervous, and it quickly becomes apparent that he isn’t going to be able to take on his father’s role. Nervously, Rosamund agrees to Bertram’s suggestion that she should pose as their cousin, Ross Carrow; that way, she can assist Bertram in court and as soon as the cases are cleared, she can return to being herself again and quietly disappear.

On their first day in court, Rosamund and Bertram find themselves pitted against none other than Lord Lawrence Byron, a man with a formidable reputation for winning his lawsuits and a keen legal mind. He’s also the handsomest man Rosamund has ever seen, with a rakish reputation to go along with his abundance of good looks and charm. The case – brought by a young widow against her late husband’s family – is a tricky one, Bertram’s nerves prove his undoing and he’s forced to ask Rosamund to take over as lead counsel. Still unable to believe that nobody has noticed the deception she is practicing, she nonetheless rises to the challenge and, incredibly, wins the case.

Lawrence is gracious in defeat, acknowledging that “Mr. Carrow’s” persuasive arguments carried the day, and, finding himself rather well disposed towards the young lawyer, invites “him” to dinner at his club.

Over the next few weeks, as Rosamund continues to represent her late father’s remaining clients in court, she also gets to spend more time with Lawrence, who has taken her under his wing. Lawrence is amused at the gaucheness of this slight young man who can’t hold his drink and doesn’t quite seem comfortable in his own skin, but he can’t help admiring his quickness of mind and his ability to construct a strong legal argument. The problem is that for the first time in his life, Lawrence finds himself distracted by the speaking eyes, plump lips and nicely rounded bottom of a member of his own sex – and is unnerved by it.

Luckily for poor, confused Lawrence, a random comment made by his brother very quickly brings everything into focus with startling clarity; all those things about “Ross Carrow” that didn’t add up before do so now, and Lawrence is determined to unmask “him” as a fraud. But then he decides against it; Miss Carrow is obviously talented and clever and even though her sex precludes her from entering the profession legitimately, he believes she deserves to be able to continue to do something she so clearly loves. And besides, Lawrence has appreciated her friendship and wants it to continue – while also adding other things to the mix. Things like kissing and… more than kissing.

During the weeks of their acquaintance, Rosamund has found it more and more difficult to deny the strength of the attraction she feels towards Lawrence, but she knows that even if he met her as a woman, a twenty-eight year old spinster is unlikely to have attracted his notice. So when she realises he has seen through her disguise, the last thing she expects is for him to tell her that he wants to take her to bed – and also that she should continue her work. She is wary, but when Lawrence makes it clear that there are no strings attached, and that he doesn’t expect her to go to bed with him for any reason other than that she wants to, Rosamund decides to take what Lawrence is offering; a chance to experience pleasure and passion with a deeply sensual and devastatingly attractive man.

The story is a simple one, and because the author takes care to emphasise Rosamund’s misgivings about her disguise and how careful she is to maintain her male persona, it helped me to achieve the necessary suspension of disbelief required to accept not only that she could pass as a man, but that she could pass as a man working in as complex a profession as the law. She’s a well-defined character, a strong, intelligent woman who has the ability to be and to do more than the constraints of the time will permit, but who recognises that she’s playing a dangerous game. I particularly enjoyed watching her growing confidence as “Ross”, and seeing how much her work means to her; and, importantly, that Lawrence is able to recognise both those things, too, and to appreciate her all the more for it. Lawrence is less strongly characterised, however; while his being the son of a duke who actually has a profession makes him a bit different from so many of the other titled heroes who abound in historical romance, he’s otherwise a little stereotypical. That’s not to say he’s dull or unattractive – he’s not – just that he isn’t as fully fleshed-out as Rosamund.

While the central relationship develops at a good pace and the romance is tender and sensual, there are other aspects of the story which I found problematic and which caused me to lower my final grade. Throughout the book, Lawrence is paying court to the daughter of an influential judge whom he hopes will help him to advance in his career; which didn’t worry me because the supposed-to-marry-one-while-in-love-with-another thing isn’t uncommon in historical romance. The problem is that this is the sole element of conflict throughout the entire novel, and it’s weak, because ultimately, Lawrence hasn’t made any promises or offers and can change his mind if he wants to. The fact that he allows his ambition to blind him to what he really wants isn’t his finest hour, but if he hadn’t done that, there would have been no conflict at all in the story. Our lovers undergo a separation and are miserable for a bit, but after that, things are wrapped up quickly and easily – rather too quickly and easily, really – and I was left thinking “oh – was that it?” and also with a few unanswered questions.

Bedchamber Games is an entertaining read and I certainly don’t regret the hours I spent reading it, but it’s the weakest of the trilogy and brings it to a rather lacklustre close. So I’m giving this one a qualified recommendation, because the romance is well done, I liked the author’s exploration of what it meant to be a woman and therefore unable to enter a profession – and there aren’t enough sexy barristers in historical romance.

Grade: B-

Bedchamber Games is the third installment of The Rakes of Cavendish Square, and while this book can certainly be read as a stand alone, I think reading the first book of this series made me enjoy this one all the more. Book one is about Lawrence’s twin brother Leo and Leo’s wife, Thalia; I loved getting to see them again in this book and can’t imagine why anyone would want to miss out on their story.
I do love a story where the heroine starts masquerading as a man, and as odd as it is to say this, Rosamund and Lawrence had a sort of chemistry from the get-go. Granted it stems from Rosamund winning against Lawrence in court, but still. Sparks! Because no one ever bests Lawrence. Seeing their friendship grow while Lawrence thought she was a man was downright hilarious. There were so many times when I was certain he’d figured out Rosamund’s secret, but she did a good job keeping her disguise. And the fact that he kept plying ‘the young man’ with liquor...there were so many moments that had me chuckling throughout this story. But on the more serious side, I love that it was Rosamund’s mind that Lawrence first was drawn to. And their love affair, while bittersweet because they both knew it couldn’t last, was seriously steamy.
I loved the secondary characters in this story, particularly the brothers of both the main characters. Rosamund and Bertram had a wonderful relationship, and I do love that Bertram was looking out for his sister while still giving her the freedom he knew she needed to make her own decisions. I also love, as Leo doesn’t hesitate to remind his brother, that the Byron’s are a rogue family. I get the feeling they enjoy being entertainment for the ton. I do feel that this story had a more modern bent to it, but I can see this because both Rosamund and Lawrence were practicing law, and I can imagine they’re both often reflecting on politics.
Bedchamber Games was a fun, steamy story, and if you’re a fan of historical romance, it’s not to be missed!

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar

Bedchamber Games, starts with Rosamund Carrow and her brother Bertram arriving to a gathering of lawyers and barristers at the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, where Rosamund will make friend and socialize to be able to start working as a barrister; the only difference is that all will be done under the disguise of her looking like a man, Ross Carrow. After their father died, it felt on Bertram’s shoulders to take up the cases their father had pending, the problem was that even though Bertram was a good lawyer, he had a nervous stutter, and couldn’t talk that much at court. Rosamund, who has study law under her father and helped him prepare his cases had all the knowledge and qualities need to practice law, except that she is a woman and it is not allow for them to practice it. The Carrow sibling arranged for cousin Ross to start helping Bertram with the cases, and for that Ross must be acknowledge by the members of the society. At the gathering Rosamund meets Lord Lawrence Byron, who becomes intrigued by the young barrister. The next day, Rosamund goes to first court and ends up going against Lawrence; for a good part of the session it appears that Lawrence might win, but after solid information provided by Rosamund, she wins the case.

Lawrence becomes even more intrigued and after a couple of boy night out and fighting match, he finds out the secret. Since Rosamund met Lawrence, she starts to develop feelings for Lawrence, now that he knows her secret, a flare of passion ignites between of them. The only problem is that everyone knows Rosamund as Ross, and Lawrence is soon to become engaged.

I liked Bedchamber Games. I was happy to read Lawrence’s story since we meet him the previous stories of the Rakes Cavendish series. Rosamund was the perfect person to win over Lawrence and to get him to consider more in life that just moving his way up in his career, which is not bad, but not this time for reason that you have to find out when reading the book.

I loved the Rosamund trying to pretend be a man, and who at first Lawrence was confused because he was thinking he was starting to have feelings for a person from his same sex. It was mostly because “Ross” had certain qualities of woman, and as he says, his body notice before his brain knew the truth.

It would have been quite scandalous at that time if people found out the truth about “Ross” and I was expecting for somebody in the courthouse to recognized Rosamund, but it seems that her father didn’t take her that much to his work.

If you have read the other book in the series or the Byrons of Braebourne series, then you will like this story as we see previous character and learn a couple of things from Leo and Thalia.

I liked how the story ended, I always like when one character does everything it can to find the other one that ran way or is hidden.

If you are fan of Tracy Anne Warren or her The Rakes Cavendish and Byron of Braebourne series, then I recommend you, Bedchamber Games. In the middle 1800’s we meet a woman that wants to help her family and does it by lying to all, but ends up falling for a man that never consider marrying for love until he met her.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

I enjoyed this book. It's been a while since I read the others in the series, so there were some moments where I was a little confused, when the characters made cameos. But I love stories where a girl pretends to be a guy to do the profession that she is denied access to. So that was super fun for me.

Do you like brave women who wear breeches and have a brilliant legal mind? Then go buy this book immediately.

Really enjoyed the romp through the life of two unlikely people that despite difficulties managed in the end to find a life of happiness. Very sweet story.

I did not like this book. I really disliked Lawrence, the male lead. There is a lack of respect for women that I just couldn't get over.