A young lady’s tarnished reputation might cost her everything in this first book in the Disreputable Debutantes series. Shy, bookish Sophie Brightwell is expected to make an advantageous match to improve her family’s fortunes. However, Sophie’s plans to make a spectacular debut go horribly awry when she and her three closest friends are expelled from a young ladies’ academy for unbecoming … unbecoming conduct. Since the ton will be sure to close their doors on these disgraced debutantes, they determine that unconventional means need to be employed in the husband-hunting market. Rakehells—the beau monde’s wickedest members—might be the only men willing to overlook a young lady’s besmirched reputation.
But how does one catch a rake?
Nate Hastings, the devil-may-care Viscount Malverne, is the older brother of Sophie’s best friend, fellow disgraced debutante Lady Charlotte. When a terribly foxed Nate accidentally compromises Sophie, Charlotte strikes a wicked bargain: in order to avoid a scandal and the parson’s mousetrap, Nate must help Sophie snare a husband. But as Nate fulfills his obligation and begins to instruct the lovely Sophie in the art of luring rakes, he soon finds himself battling his own fierce attraction to her.
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Amy Rose Bennett’s How to Catch a Wicked Viscount is delightful Regency romance infused with heat, energy, and glamour. Bennett effortlessly captures the ingredients that make Regency romance so compelling to readers: sparkling dialogue, passion, and the elegant ballroom manners that mask the danger and risks that lie just beneath the surface.
I opened my package with the ARC, read the blurb and immediately started reading…for the rest of the evening. Four young ladies are dismissed from school for their unbecoming behavior. Three years later they decide the only eligible prospects are rakes. Once they make their list, it’s look out rakes. Full of humor, sexual encounters, love and heartache, I highly recommend this charming book.
A free copy from the author for an honest review.
Amy Rose Bennett is a new-to-me author and after reading How to Catch a Wicked Viscount, I am definitely a fan. This is a fun, steamy read about four friends who were expelled from school and now trying to re-enter society to find true love, marry, and secure their futures. The series begins with Sophie’s story, a shy, bookish young lady who has a secret crush on her best friend’s brother. She is invited to spend the season and attend events with her friend, Lady Charlotte. Nate, Viscount Malverne, is a rake and rogue who refuses to give his heart and marry. After Nate and Sophie are caught in a somewhat compromising encounter, Nate is blackmailed by his sister to be their chaperone and help find Sophie a husband. As their adventures begin, feelings grow and Nate’s resistance is tested. This is a wonderfully written story that is engaging and entertaining.
I was lucky enough to receive an advance reader copy from the publisher, but all thoughts and feelings are my own.
Woohoo what an awesome start to a series, I am sure any historical romance reader will not want to miss this one, there were smiles and sighs aplenty in this sensual and fabulous story of how a debutante with a damaged reputation goes about catching a rakehell, make yourself comfy while you get to know Sophie and Nate.
Miss Sophie Brightwell is a bookish quiet country girl studying at a ladies academy, when she and three of her friends are expelled for unbecoming conduct, shunned by the ton Sophie is given the opportunity to spend the season in London with her best friend Charlotte Hastings, the four girls meet up and come up with a plan to catch a husband and not just any husband they want a wicked rakehell. And Sophie has her sights set on Charlie’s brother Lord Malverne.
Nate Hastings, Viscount Malverne is forever in trouble with his conduct and is forced home for the season by his father, Nate is not interested in marrying and he has his reasons for that and for his behavior with his three best friends they are forever setting the tongues of the ton wagging. But when he gets into a spot of bother in his own home with his sister’s friend Sophie, Nate’s life as he knows it is going to change as he becomes chaperone to Sophie and must help her find a husband, but helping her is setting is heart alight.
This is a fabulously written book, that is sure to have any reader turning the pages, MS Bennett has taken me back to the regency era with balls and ladies who are learning about the real life and seducing rakes, and Nate and Sophie have a journey to a HEA that is steamy and moving and touching, I loved this one and do highly recommend it, and I am very much looking forward to more in this series.
Fans of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton’s series will enjoy this series! I kept getting the same feels while reading this book! I immensely enjoyed it! It definitely has more steam compared to Bridgerton and I’m excited to see where this series goes.
Our heroine, Sophie Brightwell has to figure out a way to pay for her family’s debts. She catches the eye of Nate Hastings who is her friend’s older brother (Lady Charlotte). Sophie needs to find a husband and quick and Nate agrees to help her out. But that isn’t until he starts to have feelings for her that he fights.
“She wasn’t a princess and her life wasn’t going to be a fairy tale. And the sooner she embraced that harsh reality, the better.”
I couldn’t put this book down! Like I mentioned, I really enjoyed this book and I really look forward to the next book(s) in this series! Sophie was such an amazing character; I love that she was a writer and something that wasn’t really accepted at that time. Nate is a very interesting character with very intriguing past.
“”Now come here, my love. Let’s do something that’s really scandalous.””
Amy Rose Bennett’s How to Catch a Wicked Viscount reminds me of just how much fun Regency romance can be at its best. The story is expertly crafted, with lots of heat and humor. I especially liked the strong female friendships in this one, and the way the members of the Society for Enlightened Young Women supported each other. The male friendships were pretty great, too–and often hilarious. Some scenes had me laughing out loud. A great start to a new series!
This book nicely kicks off a new series!
I love historical romance set in the Regency era! Amy Rose Bennett starts her new series, ‘The Disreputable Debutantes’ with the first story titled ‘How to Catch a Wicked Viscount’. Nicely written with charming characters such as young debutante Sophie Brightwell and Nate Hastings, Viscount of Malverne.
It tells the story of Sophie, a shy young lady, who attends an academy for young girls with her three best friends Charlotte, Arabella and Olivia. Together they create a group called the Society for Enlightened Young Women. However, they are expelled for their bad behaviour, which was scandalous for that period of time. You will see why when you read her story! Will their reputation be tarnished forever when they decide to go husband hunting? That’s when Nate, a handsome and scandalous rake enters in Sophie’s life. But one night, something happens, and to make up for it, Nate has to help her find a husband. He will teach Sophie his own techniques, such as flirting… but by doing this, he will spend a lot of time with her and eventually fall in love with her. Charmed by Sophie, Nate will soon discover that he is attached to her. Will Sophie be able to catch Nate’s heart forever? Will he let himself be caught in his trap? Are they made for each other?
In ‘How to Catch a Wicked Viscount’, Ms. Bennett has created a charming story set during the Regency era. Lovers of historical romance will love it! Watch will happen next to the other heroines in her second story titled ‘How to Catch an Errant Earl’. Who’s story will it be?
A sweet and spicy read full of sly wit and rich with delicious details that pull the reader into the scene. A delightful confection of ballroom banter and bedroom seduction.
Sexy, sweet, romantic, and funny, How to Catch a Wicked Viscount will steal your heart away. Amy Rose Bennett is a charming new voice in historical romance.
Woo! What a great book! I loved the characters and the situations they ended up in. This one definitely kept me turning pages!
I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from Penguin House and Amy Rose Bennett. She is a new author to me and she already has me hooked and I can’t wait to read the next installment. What a fabulous sweet, witty and especially romantic book. Her characters are lively, smart and funny. Amy Rose Bennett pulls her readers in to her story and makes everything so realistic and present. A great start to her new series.
What a ruined miss to do when attracted to a determined-to-never-marry-rake, who spreads ruin in his wake.
This is my first read by Mrs Amy Rose Bennett and it was an enchanting one. She has crafted a bright and spirited tale of taking its life in hand and accept the wounds left by past battle for a better future.
Sophie was ruined long before her coming out when she was caught with her friends indulging in drink, salacious reads and smoking cheroots at her school. Which of course put her marital prospects close to zero when her family would have needed very much some help as they are close to destitute.
So when she receives a missive to go back to London to be her friend new companion. She thinks she might have found the answer to her prayer and the opportunity to maybe find a groom-to-be.
Nate for Nathaniel Hastings is a man full of contrasts, he hides his troubled self behind a mask of a profligate. he indulges in drinking, carousing, whoring, gambling to forgot the horrors of war and the scars it left inside him, feeling hollow. But it is not his only struggle, he has his past guilt and shortcomings making him felt a failure when he is only victim of the ignorance of others about dyslexia and sad circumstances.
In spite of her shyness, Sophie is no simpering miss, she can be quite blunt and when she thinks her feelings can be returned, she does not let her timidity deter herself from going after what she wants. But she knows also when recognize she is defeated. She is much more stronger than she appears to be and won’t settle herself only because it might uplift her status.
Nate is so afraid to be hurt by another loss that he refuses to feel again but nobody orders one’s heart. Whatever he tells himself, he is inexorably drawn to Sophie. For most of the story he preferred label it lust but lust is not possessive and can be easily sated, when he longs for her, can look at an other woman without being reminded of her. She is in his every breath.
Sophie is the courageous one as she tried to show him love is not always about pain, when at every turn he rejects her.
What will be needed to make Nate understand she is the one for him, that he can, if he desires it really, attain bliss by accepting to open his heart and being vulnerable to pain and heartache but also joy and happiness.
Mrs Bennett with this first in a series has opened the doors of a really entertaining and intriguing world. Each friend of Sophie will have her story which will turn around one of Nate’s friend.
Those side characters were nicely introduced as they came as part of the plot surrounding the romance of Nate and Sophie.
A fat five stars for a delightful tale of acceptance.
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Sophie Brightwell comes from a family of lesser means. At her finishing school her and her best friends, Charlie, Olivia and Arabella decide for form a club, the Society for Enlightened Young Women. Why should the men know about all of the wicked things about marriage, while the women have to be naive and innocent. While investigating these wicked things they get caught and kicked out of school. Now they are known as the disgraced debutantes.
When Sophie gets the chance to stay with Charlie’s family who will host her debut, she sees Charlie’s brother again, Nathanial “Nate” Hastings, Viscount Malverne. Sophie has been attracted to Nate since she first laid eyes upon him. When Sophie realizes that Nate is attracted to her, she thinks who better than to teach her about wicked things than the rake viscount himself. As things start to heat up between the two, Sophie finds herself falling in love with Nate. Too bad Nate deems himself as the type who will not love anyone.
Between the other gentlemen wanting to call on Sophie and the wicked thoughts Nate constantly has of her, it is going to take some great soul searching for Nate to finally realizes he has fallen in love with her. Hopefully he is not too late!
I just adored these two. Sophie was such a fun, forward thinking girl. I love she behaved when it came to Nate. I also really loved Nate. It was fun watching this wicked playboy fall hard. Together they were just so fun! Great start to this new series.
Sophie Brightwell believes she is doomed to spinsterhood when she and her three friends, Lady Charlotte “Charlie” Hastings, Olivia de Vere & Arabella Jardine are expelled from Mrs. Rathbone’s Academy for Young Ladies of Good Character and are dubbed the Disreputable Debutantes.
But three years later, things begin to look up when Charlie invites Sophie to join her in London as her companion and Charlie’s Aunt Tabitha, Lady Chelmsford decides to sponsor both girls for the season, she has also offered to help Sophie get the children’s book she has written published. And if all that was not enough, it also enables her to see Charlie’s older brother Nathaniel “Nate” Hastings, Viscount Malverne again – she met him three years ago and has harbored a tendre for him ever since.
Nate is restless and his escapades have become increasingly scandalous, to the point where his father, the Earl of Westhampton has put his foot down and demanded that Nate make some serious changes in his life, he also closes Malverne House and forces Nate to move back home. His first night home, he runs into Sophie in the library, he is enchanted by her and but deems her off-limits. But it doesn’t stop him from flirting with her the next day at Gunter’s.
Later that night, a very drunk Nate returns to his father’s house and mistakenly enters Sophie’s room and climbs into bed with her. They are discovered by Charlie, who blackmails him into helping Sophie find a match or she will inform their father of the incident and he will be forced to marry Sophie himself.
As far as debut novels go, this was better than most and the author clearly has taken the time to learn the genre and has done her research. The book is well written, but a bit predictable and slow in the middle, there are also quite a few storylines going that either lead nowhere or just didn’t seem relevant to the story. The characters were likeable, the “idea” of the story was fun, the love scenes were steamy and I was elated that the author included an epilogue. I think this author has a lot of promise and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an e-ARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the Publisher.*
Series: The Disreputable Debutantes #1
Publication Date: 8/27/19
Number of Pages: 352
I loved this book for what it didn’t have as much as for what it did have! I didn’t have to suffer through page after page of angst and internal navel-gazing to get to the romance. I did get a lovely romance with wonderful fully-developed characters that I came to really like. The writing is excellent, the pacing is just right and the epilogue is lovely. The introduction of characters who will be gracing the pages of future books in the series wasn’t overpowering to the story as is sometimes the case in first books of a series. These future characters were introduced naturally and we learned as much about them as we needed to know for this book.
Sophie Brightwell and three friends – Lady Charlotte (Charlie) Hastings, Arabella Jardine, and Olivia de Vere – were expelled from Mrs. Rathbone’s Academy for Young Ladies of Good Character and caused a scandal they still hadn’t lived down three years later. What was their transgression? They were caught sampling liquor, cigars, and perusing risqué prints – simply because they wanted the knowledge. No decent hostess will invite them to any ton events and they are now pariah’s to society.
For Sophie, it might have been her family’s last chance at salvation. They were deeply in debt to Baron Buxton who lived next door and he was pressuring them for payment. If they cannot pay, they may have to forfeit their home and land. It would also mean that there would be no future at all for Sophie or her step-sisters. They have hung on in the three years since the scandal, but just barely and Sophie’s mother is afraid that the odious baron is pressuring Sophie’s step-father for her hand in marriage. When Sophie receives an invitation from her friend Charlie to spend the season in London, they leap at the chance.
Finally, after three years, the three friends are reunited in London and they all know that finding a husband won’t be easy. So, they decide that maybe the men they seek out should be men who are also on the fringes of good society. Good men, but rakes. The ladies meet and make a list of the men who meet their criteria – good men, caring men, not men who are truly debauched. Charlie adds most of the names to the list because she knows of them because of her brother who would head the list, but isn’t interested in a bride.
Nate Hastings, Viscount Malverne, heir to the Earl of Westhampton, and his three friends – Gabriel Holmes-Fitzgerald, Earl of Langdale, Hamish MacQueen, Marquess of Sleat, and Maximilian Devereaux, Duke of Exmoor – all served together under Wellington and fought in the battle at Waterloo. All have lived the life of an unrepentant rake since they returned from the wars and none of them have any desire to marry. Their exploits are constantly in the scandal sheets.
I loved Nate and he and Sophie were perfect together – he just had a really, really hard time seeing that. He was in constant denial and it ate at him. Sophie was a realist. She accepted that she loved Nate, but when he just wasn’t interested in marriage and wouldn’t admit to loving her, she did her best to move on and find someone new. When she did, it made Nate really jealous, but he still wouldn’t admit his feelings. So, a woman does what a woman has to do.
It is a lovely read with fun characters and does a great job of setting up the characters for future books – there’s also a nice excerpt from the next book included.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Top Listen of 2021
I had totally forgotten how much I LOVE historical romance! But Ms. Amy Rose Bennett has totally reminded me! I love a good sibling’s best friend book. So I was intrigued by this one. I freaking LOVE it!! Like all of it! Sophie and Nate were thoroughly entertaining on their own…. but then there were the others in the story. Sophie’s 3 friends and also Nate’s friends. Baron Buxton totally creeped me out from the start! I am totally drawing a blank on the man’s name now…. but there was this other Viscount that was courting Sophie and he had me freaking SWOONING! Charlotte (Charlie) was a freaking riot! I absolutely adore her and I can not wait to get to her story in the series!
There were some super hot scenes that had me panting! And then there were the ones that brought a tear to my eye. Some of the most comical moments came from Miss Charlotte ….. she was totally someone that I identified with!
I listened to the audio of this and I was not tall all disappointed. Sienna Frances had me totally engaged the whole time and I was all in! I had that feeling that I was back in time listening to someone tell me the story of Sophie and Nate. Definitely a book that I will recommend to my friends!
Story
Spice
Swoon
Angst
Narration
I thought this was a well thought out book. Love the idea behind it. I found the characters fun to follow along, and they kept me coming back for more. Each character has a distinct personality with their quirks.
There was lots of heat and humor, and I thought the hero and heroine were made for each other. I am excited to listen/read to the next books in the series. Wonderful!
– Lily S. Thomas author of the Ice Age Alphas series
I was looking forward to reading “How to Catch a Wicked Viscount” by Amy Rose Bennett, but unfortunately I ended up being somewhat disappointed with it. It was generally a well-written novel, but the story seemed to drag in several places and the characters were not as well-developed as they could have been. Most importantly, I had a tough time believing in the emotional connection between main characters Nathaniel, Lord Malverne, and Miss Sophie Brightwell. Their physical attraction for one another was clear, but I’m finding it difficult to remember them having any significant discussions that didn’t revolve around the fact that Sophie enjoyed reading while Nate didn’t or, later, Nate’s supposed inability to love. What exactly did they have in common besides their shared interest in the scandalous memoirs of Miss Fanny Hill? How could they possibly know that they loved each other when they spent almost no quality time getting to know each other?
Neither Sophie nor Nate was particularly likeable as an individual, either. Sophie’s attitude really bothered me for most of the book because she was so down on herself. She really lacked confidence, especially early in the book, and had a tough time seeing herself as anything other than a “poor country girl” who was unworthy of any gentleman’s attentions, but especially Nate’s. Aside from that, Sophie just seemed kind of boring. I honestly have no idea what it was about her that motivated Nate to give up his rakish ways. As for Nate, I found his immaturity and irresponsibility to be major annoyances. The pranks he and his friends pulled early in the book were incredibly juvenile and seemed better suited to young men just down from university than those in their late 20s. They all needed to grow up, and frankly I think Nate’s father did the right thing in trying to rein him in.
Overall, I can’t say that “How to Catch a Wicked Viscount” was a terrible book, but I didn’t find it to be especially memorable either. I did enjoy the introduction to Sophie’s friends Charlie, Olivia, and Arabella, however, so I will plan to pick up the next book in the series.
*ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss. All opinions expressed are my own.
Entertaining, with spice.
When four friends, expelled from Mrs. Rathbone’s Academy for Young Ladies of Good Character, reunite, they make a pact to help each other find husbands. But they set their sights on men with rakish reputations.
This first in a series is entertaining with enough twist to set it apart from a majority of Regency Romance. I will gladly pick up another to see how the next in our female quartet fares.
I liked the male and the female friendships, but the romantic relationship between the main characters was very lacking. They had some good banter, but mostly it was just physical. I knew more about the state of his wiener than his heart. I missed the part where he realizes he can’t live without her and why.