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lberestecki's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
sassysmutlover's review against another edition
5.0
Love has a way of making two worlds collide. From the moment they met, it was love at first sight and I knew it was going to be interesting to see how they got together. The story keeps you on the edge on your seat wondering how and when he will find out about the caricatures. I loved that it overlapped a bit with Lord of Pleasure. His sisters add so much to things and so does her cousin.
Nora does what she has to so that her family is taken care of even something she doesn't want to. I loved her right away with her attitude towards things and her skills. She didn't hold back when someone did or said something wrong.
Heath does his job very well, but its not the dream he has. I loved how much he loved his sisters and that his work helped them. He may put family and keeping the tons secrets, but he listens and understands too.
Copy provided for an honest and voluntary review
Nora does what she has to so that her family is taken care of even something she doesn't want to. I loved her right away with her attitude towards things and her skills. She didn't hold back when someone did or said something wrong.
Heath does his job very well, but its not the dream he has. I loved how much he loved his sisters and that his work helped them. He may put family and keeping the tons secrets, but he listens and understands too.
Copy provided for an honest and voluntary review
lindaunconventionalbookworms's review against another edition
5.0
*I received a free copy of Lord of Secrets. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review which is honest and unbiased.*
Nora and Heath got to me from the very first line! The country girl and the future Baron had sparks flying from their first meeting, and it just got hotter as it continued.
Nora and Heath got to me from the very first line! The country girl and the future Baron had sparks flying from their first meeting, and it just got hotter as it continued.
karentje's review against another edition
4.0
Delightfully entertaining read!
Another wonderful spin on the Cinderella trope, with a kind and entreprising heroine (after a little nudge from her brother) and a rather Darcyesque hero, with the little blemishes that go with that: "As a child...I was given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit."
Unlike Mr. Darcy, Heath Grenville, is quite immediately struck by Nora's handsome face and fun personality, and he has an open & friendly manner. However, like Mr. Darcy he is a bit too certain about what is right and wrong, leaving him somewhat too proud and with too good an opinion of the importance of the haut ton and his role in it.
Nora is a great character, coming accross as a little meek sometimes because of her humble nature & generous heart, but brave as well in her choice to continue with her caricatures, knowing full well what's at stake. I thought it was a nice change of pace to have a heroine with insecurities, both with regards to her rank and her learning disability (dyslexia).
To stay in Austen-terminology, she is far more of a Jane than an Elizabeth, and it's nice to see a more atypical heroine secure her HEA.
I like the Grenville siblings immensely, and I would have liked to have gotten more insight into their elusive father. Why is he so absent? What kind of relationship does he (still) have with his wife? How does he feel about his children?
On to the next one!
Another wonderful spin on the Cinderella trope, with a kind and entreprising heroine (after a little nudge from her brother) and a rather Darcyesque hero, with the little blemishes that go with that: "As a child...I was given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit."
Unlike Mr. Darcy, Heath Grenville, is quite immediately struck by Nora's handsome face and fun personality, and he has an open & friendly manner. However, like Mr. Darcy he is a bit too certain about what is right and wrong, leaving him somewhat too proud and with too good an opinion of the importance of the haut ton and his role in it.
Nora is a great character, coming accross as a little meek sometimes because of her humble nature & generous heart, but brave as well in her choice to continue with her caricatures, knowing full well what's at stake. I thought it was a nice change of pace to have a heroine with insecurities, both with regards to her rank and her learning disability (dyslexia).
To stay in Austen-terminology, she is far more of a Jane than an Elizabeth, and it's nice to see a more atypical heroine secure her HEA.
I like the Grenville siblings immensely, and I would have liked to have gotten more insight into their elusive father. Why is he so absent? What kind of relationship does he (still) have with his wife? How does he feel about his children?
On to the next one!
hannas_heas47's review against another edition
5.0
Thanks to the publisher for an ARC to read and give my honest opinion.
The blurb is what caught my eye since I read parts of this in the last book of this series. The cover was cute and the author one I have read from before.
Nora is a poor relation and a paid companion. She bolsters her money drawing harmless but funny caricatures of the Beau Monde. To support aging grand parents and a brother she left behind at the farm.
Heath is a paid problem solver of the elite crust. If you have a secret he can keep it. He is quite the dutiful kind, but he longs for something he can't have. He meets Nora and quickly discovers her simple roots. He needs a marriage that won't ruin his standings.
This was a fantastic read. I enjoyed it immensely and could not put it down. The elegant Nora and her fiery spirit that couldn't be crushed. The handsome Heath that longed to be more than the Lord of secrets. The chemistry between the two was pleasant and surprisingly fun. I even enjoyed the pugnacious pug. The world building in this book was incredible and it is in my opinion the author's best work to date that I have read. Five stars of entertainment! Loved it.
The blurb is what caught my eye since I read parts of this in the last book of this series. The cover was cute and the author one I have read from before.
Nora is a poor relation and a paid companion. She bolsters her money drawing harmless but funny caricatures of the Beau Monde. To support aging grand parents and a brother she left behind at the farm.
Heath is a paid problem solver of the elite crust. If you have a secret he can keep it. He is quite the dutiful kind, but he longs for something he can't have. He meets Nora and quickly discovers her simple roots. He needs a marriage that won't ruin his standings.
This was a fantastic read. I enjoyed it immensely and could not put it down. The elegant Nora and her fiery spirit that couldn't be crushed. The handsome Heath that longed to be more than the Lord of secrets. The chemistry between the two was pleasant and surprisingly fun. I even enjoyed the pugnacious pug. The world building in this book was incredible and it is in my opinion the author's best work to date that I have read. Five stars of entertainment! Loved it.
mechbutterfly's review
4.0
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley - thank you! All opinions are my own.
Lord of Secrets is part of the Rogues to Riches series - which I haven't read, in my opinion it can be read as a stand-alone. Our hero and heroine meet at a ball, but not as equals in the eyes of the society: Heath Grenville is a guest at said ball, Nora Winfield a paid companion to a lady. The whole "beneath his/her station" is a theme I quite enjoy in HR, so I immediately got intrigued. Nora is a farmer's daughter (and a distant cousin to the lady she is serving as a companion) - but she also is quite a talented artist of infamous caricatures. Heath is supposed to find and uncover the artist behind these caricatures, not knowing that he already met and found her enchanting....I really enjoyed this plot, both hero and heroine are endearing and very likeable.
Lord of Secrets is part of the Rogues to Riches series - which I haven't read, in my opinion it can be read as a stand-alone. Our hero and heroine meet at a ball, but not as equals in the eyes of the society: Heath Grenville is a guest at said ball, Nora Winfield a paid companion to a lady. The whole "beneath his/her station" is a theme I quite enjoy in HR, so I immediately got intrigued. Nora is a farmer's daughter (and a distant cousin to the lady she is serving as a companion) - but she also is quite a talented artist of infamous caricatures. Heath is supposed to find and uncover the artist behind these caricatures, not knowing that he already met and found her enchanting....I really enjoyed this plot, both hero and heroine are endearing and very likeable.
theonlymg's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bananatricky's review
4.0
Three and a half stars.
Miss Eleanora (Nora) Winfield has been summoned from her family's sheep farm in the West Midlands to act as a lady's companion to her (distant) cousin Lady Roundtree whilst that lady recovers from a fractured ankle. She's homesick and lonely, treated as a servant, invisible and overlooked she finds her employer catty and an incurable gossip but eight weeks work as a paid companion could help her brother and aged grandparents enormously, taking them from the brink of destitution to almost comfortable so she'll grit her teeth and get on with it.
At Lord Carlisle's ball Nora runs into a handsome gentleman by accident whilst carrying a glass of lemonade to her employer. The gentleman is the first person to actually 'see' Nora and she is struck by his good looks and his charming manners. Later in the evening the gentleman, Mr Heath Grenville, approaches her to ask her to dance and is horrified to discover that she is little better than a servant (and consequently far beneath the heir to a baronetcy).
Heath Grenville is the older brother of three sisters, two of whom have had their own books. He is very aware that his duty to his family and his future role is to marry a woman of impeccable lineage, one who will not bring any hint of scandal to the family. Yet he can't help but remember a young woman with red hair and a pink dress who acts as a companion to Lady Roundtree.
Nora sends drawings and caricatures of the people and places she sees in London back to her family, partly because she has difficulty reading and writing but partly to share her life with them. Unfortunately her brother shares some of the caricatures (anonymously) with a contact and the next thing she knows her sketch of Lord Wainwright, which she laughingly titled 'Lord of Pleasure' has been published in a London newspaper and is the talk of the ton. Not only that, the paper will pay her five pounds for every caricature she sends them - provided of course that they are of the ton. Nora is torn between wanting to earn money to help her family and horror at being exposed as the artist who dared to lampoon a member of the aristocracy - she knows if the artist's identity is discovered she will be sacked and bring censure down upon her cousin's family.
This was immediately gripping, I love a romance featuring a lowly lady's companion, especially one who draws vicious caricatures of the stupidity and ridiculousness of high society and throw in an untameable puppy and you've got me hooked. It would have got a higher rating if Heath hadn't come across as a leetle bit of a prig, so dismissive of all the eligible young ladies of the ton and so judgemental if they so much as smiled in his direction, despite his own mother's obsession with marrying off each of her offspring. I also felt that there was a lack of angst/ tension - whilst that was a twist to confound my expectations it also felt like the ending slightly puttered out.
Nevertheless, another fun read from Erica Ridley. I am SO stoked about the next book ... can't wait.
I received a free copy of this book from the author, via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Miss Eleanora (Nora) Winfield has been summoned from her family's sheep farm in the West Midlands to act as a lady's companion to her (distant) cousin Lady Roundtree whilst that lady recovers from a fractured ankle. She's homesick and lonely, treated as a servant, invisible and overlooked she finds her employer catty and an incurable gossip but eight weeks work as a paid companion could help her brother and aged grandparents enormously, taking them from the brink of destitution to almost comfortable so she'll grit her teeth and get on with it.
At Lord Carlisle's ball Nora runs into a handsome gentleman by accident whilst carrying a glass of lemonade to her employer. The gentleman is the first person to actually 'see' Nora and she is struck by his good looks and his charming manners. Later in the evening the gentleman, Mr Heath Grenville, approaches her to ask her to dance and is horrified to discover that she is little better than a servant (and consequently far beneath the heir to a baronetcy).
Heath Grenville is the older brother of three sisters, two of whom have had their own books. He is very aware that his duty to his family and his future role is to marry a woman of impeccable lineage, one who will not bring any hint of scandal to the family. Yet he can't help but remember a young woman with red hair and a pink dress who acts as a companion to Lady Roundtree.
Nora sends drawings and caricatures of the people and places she sees in London back to her family, partly because she has difficulty reading and writing but partly to share her life with them. Unfortunately her brother shares some of the caricatures (anonymously) with a contact and the next thing she knows her sketch of Lord Wainwright, which she laughingly titled 'Lord of Pleasure' has been published in a London newspaper and is the talk of the ton. Not only that, the paper will pay her five pounds for every caricature she sends them - provided of course that they are of the ton. Nora is torn between wanting to earn money to help her family and horror at being exposed as the artist who dared to lampoon a member of the aristocracy - she knows if the artist's identity is discovered she will be sacked and bring censure down upon her cousin's family.
This was immediately gripping, I love a romance featuring a lowly lady's companion, especially one who draws vicious caricatures of the stupidity and ridiculousness of high society and throw in an untameable puppy and you've got me hooked. It would have got a higher rating if Heath hadn't come across as a leetle bit of a prig, so dismissive of all the eligible young ladies of the ton and so judgemental if they so much as smiled in his direction, despite his own mother's obsession with marrying off each of her offspring. I also felt that there was a lack of angst/ tension - whilst that was a twist to confound my expectations it also felt like the ending slightly puttered out.
Nevertheless, another fun read from Erica Ridley. I am SO stoked about the next book ... can't wait.
I received a free copy of this book from the author, via NetGalley in return for an honest review.