I picked this book up based on the blurb, I thought it sounded like a fun read.

"Ever since we first met, I've imagined what it would be like to be in your arms, to feel your lips upon mine. I'm twenty-eight years old. A shy and oft-times awkward spinster with singular scientific interests, and I've...I've never been kissed. Not once. In fact, I never thought I would ever want to be kissed. But then I met you and...and I do want this. Very much."

Miss Lucy Bertram is content to spend her days writing scientific articles or curling up with a Gothic romance novel. Indeed, she'd rather stick a hatpin in her eye than attend a ball. But when her father, the eccentric botanist Sir Oswald, insists she accept the suit of a wealthy but stiffer-than-a-poker industrialist to save the family from penury, Lucy decides to act. She's certain her disowned brother, Monty, will take her side. But first she must find him in St. Giles's cutthroat rookeries.

A covert agent for the Crown, William Lockhart, the Earl of Kyle, is on the hunt for a ruthless killer determined to destroy the Linnean Society. Sir Oswald, a botanical poisons expert, is the prime suspect. Posing as a groom in the baronet's household, it shouldn't take Will long to unearth the evidence Scotland Yard needs. If only the beguiling Miss Bertram wasn't so damn distracting...

As an unexpected but undeniable passion flares between Lucy and Will, confidences are exchanged and dark secrets come to light. But will a murderer, determined to stay hidden, destroy their chances of finding a happy-ever-after?

Quick and easy to read, the subplot of murder and intrigue was enagaging enough to keep me reading. The characters were likeable enough, although some of the interactions between Lucy and Will are forced and awkward to read. If the dialogue was tighter, it would have earned more stars from me.

Thank you to @netgalley for a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

This book is great! It’s part historical romance and part mystery! Lucy and Will have great banter and chemistry. Also this book features facts about poisonous plants- very interesting. Overall a great read!

I really enjoyed Curled Up with an Earl by Amy rose Bennett. I loved both of the main characters, Will and Lucy, you could tell that they just clicked. The plot was great, espionage, murder, smart and capable women, with a dash of passion and poison. I really enjoyed the writing style, this is not my first book by Amy Rose Bennett and it will definitely not be my last. The pacing was really great, even thought Will and Lucy did not know each other to long, I felt that their relationship progressed at a more realistic speed then other books in the genre. I enjoyed seeing Dominic and Artemis again, it was good to see them thriving. This book was great and I cannot wait to see what is in the books next for Jane!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

The second book in the series this can be enjoyed entirely as a standalone

CW: domestic violence incident that led to (past), homophobia (recounted, immediately challenged)

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f historical romance
-secret identity
-sex pact
-a bit of mystery

This was a soft and lovely romance involving a Scottish groom (or is he) and a botanist. I loved their attraction, how just lovely they were with each other and wanting to help each other meet their goals.

Steam: 3.5

“A Scottish incarnation of Heathcliff who’d just come in from the moors”
“I like wicked and wanton. And I don’t just want you, lass. I burn for you”
I’m absolutely in love !!!!
I had already fallen for “Up all night with a Good Duke”, the first book in the Byronic Book Club series … but this one was GREAT !!!
Lucy is a spinster and Will is an undercover spy … and I loved every second of their dynamics together !!!!
The action and the mystery plot was absolutely great, as I also remember book one being. And the spicy times were more than a little bit enjoyable !!!! This time the romance was a bit more friends to lovers but with secret identities and some courtship of convenience that made the two main characters work at close contact to find what they both wanted !!
I loved how independent and determined Lucy is as a woman and how much Will supports her !!!
Their relationship was absolutely wonderful and the expectations I had for this series were more than well met !!!
I can’t wait for another one to be out and this book series to grow !!!
“My Bonny Lucy … You’re so beautiful. So desirable.”
“For the first time in his life, he wouldn’t just be slaking his lust. This would be making love”

An Earl you'd jump at the chance to curl up with!

Teasing hints allude to dark secrets, deadly perspectives and haunting pasts as a budding, all consuming, love burns and thrums in this captivating, upbeat, romance come suspenseful murder mystery.
Instanteous attraction ignites - between clandestine Earl and 'inquiry agent', Will and Lucy, the endearingly bedazzling daughter of a suspected poisoner - that radiates off them in waves and causes all sorts of delightfully distracting, tummy tingling, consequences.
Lucy is a highly likable and extremely lovable heroine. With such a keen intelligence for science - particularly in the field of botany and poisonous plants - that it's awe inspiring. Yet, she is so very relatable in all her shyness, nervous energy come crippling anxiety, that makes her endearing, often bumbling, attempts at flirtation hit their mark all the more for their untutored air and honesty. Especially, when delivered with such a contrasting streak of boldness, which left Will in a spin, as he awakens a mutual desire that bloomed and simmered so hot and heavy between them.
Will, with his sexy Scottish brogue and twinkling magnetic charm, beneath all his attempts to hold Lucy at a tantalisingly tempting distance, is such a caring and supportive hero who really grew to understand Lucy. As he masaraded as a groom to investigate her father - his chief suspect in the poisonous murder of Viscount Litchfield and recent spate of death threats circling the Linnean Society.
I just loved the fact Will had this ability to empower Lucy by cutting through the shyness, while she in return allowed him to truly be himself. There was such a tenderness and warmth entangled within the heavily heated looks and lingering stolen glances that hooked me in and held me emotionally invested until the end. Especially, as their vulnerabilities and insecurities shone through each encounter and melted my heart.

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable read that allowed suspense, suspicions and secrets to abound as an ominious air enveloped the tale. Entangling you up and reeling you in as an unnervingly, repulsive and persistent suitor hovers around Lucy, highlighting her father's odd behavior. With the only beam of hope being provided by her Byronic Book Club friends, the impossible task of hunting to ground her estranged brother and Will's budding devotion to prevent the ever encroaching feeling that something bad is just around the corner.

All combining together to make this a wonderfully empowering romance, that flowed beautifully, conveyed a wealth of colourful characters and had me wrapped up in their strong chemistry from the get go... I will definitely have to hunt out book one in the series. Loved it!

If you like Joanna Shupe’s steam, Kate Bateman’s intrigue, and Christina Britton’s beautiful bluestockings and the dashing men who love them…
then Amy Rose Bennett’s Curled Up With An Earl is for you.

This is the second book in The Byronic Book Club series, I I liked it even more than the first.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is an enjoyable, steamy read by Amy Rose Bennett, who knows how to write the perfect "curl by the fire" HR. It is low-angst with a mystery plot that doesn't end up being all that mysterious (in fact, there's a jarring scene involving the villain nearly at the end that the MFC--strangely--never shares with the MMC, and that foreshadows what happens in the big confrontation scene). But the MC's have wonderful chemistry and I enjoyed all of the research and insight into the forensics of botanicals and poisons. I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series!

I read an advanced reader copy of this book and this is my voluntary review. Opinions are my own. Thank you to the author, publisher, and Net Galley for this opportunity.

I quite enjoyed this - in particular because I thought Lucy was a super character. I have a bit of a pet peeve about writers trying to phonetically write the Scottish accent so I found that grating when there was dialogue for Will. There were some interesting side characters and the mystery was entertaining enough. I would read another in this series.

Lucy and Will's love story is sweet and engaging. While the romance, and the story for that matter, is a slow burn, it does progress nicely without unless narrative or unnecessary characterization.
The pace ebbs at times, but then makes up for it with rich description and unexpected moments of humor.
An overall pleasant read leading me to look forward to reading future work by Amy Rose Bennett..

Amy Rose Bennett has done it again. I absolutely adored the first book in the series. This one is equally as good. She brings a depth to her main characters that invests you in their fictional lives and the story. One of the things that I love the most about her characters is they actually communicate in a realistic way. Unlike many other romance stories, they actually talk about their issues with each other, which is so fulfilling. This gives a reality to her characters. Lucy and Will are wonderful characters. Best part: as with all of her books, you don’t have to suspend your disbelief, so radically to believe what’s going on in their story. Usually you’re nodding along and going, OK I can see that happening. That is beyond refreshing because so often I read romance novels and think, “why didn’t she just say something?” Sometimes the tension is just overly fabricated,, but never with this author.

So, as you know, from the blurb, Will is a government agent and an earl. Our girl, Lucy, is the reason why Artemis came back to London in the first book. So you know that she is a botanist and a scholar, and her father is trying to marry her off. In this book, her brother has disappeared, and her father is trying to marry her off to the weirdest guy ever. And nobody can figure out why her dad is trying to force her to marry this particular guy because there’s no benefit, except the fact that her father needs money, because he has blown all his on elaborate adventures looking for mysterious plants around the world. So why this specific man? And oh my, you are going to hate that man. Especially when you compare him to Will, who just sounds amazing. So there’s mystery as well as romance here.

But anyway, as I said, you won’t be putting this book down. You will follow the story and love both of the main characters as well as the secondary characters. And you’re also going to keep your eyes peeled for any mention of Jane, whose book follows up.

This one definitely gets a strong 4 1/2 rounded up to a netgalley 5. This one is not as spicy as the previous book, but I have no complaints. It’s hard to have an almost perfect series, but it looks like she is on track to do just that. I cannot wait for the third book.

I really enjoyed this one. I had read the previous book in the series and was looking forward to the next one, and it did not disappoint. Lucy was a great heroine—smart, loyal, and brave. I loved that Will values her intelligence and was not at all threatened by her. The story was engrossing and kept me reading—I read it in one day.

I really enjoyed this one. The tension in the romance was well done, and I loved the side plot as well. Bennett is a newer to me author and I definitely will be reading her backlist!

In Curled Up with An Earl, Amy Rose Bennett presents well-crafted and multi-dimensional characters in this very charming hero-in-disguise romance. Lucy and William share a combustible chemistry which plays out authentically as they each pursue an intriguing quest.

Well, this is definitely a book I would recommend to everyone. It is very enticing and straight to the point. I could not put it down.

Will and Lucy met under circumstances that brought them together to be uncover a mystery. Will came to investigate Lucy and her family. During the time they were together they learned to trust each other and became closer to each other. They started to lean on each other and worked as one. During this time they also felt their connection and fell in love. I was a nice read.

A shy spinster. An officer for the crown. A threatening industrialist. A plot to murder Charles Darwin. Curled Up with an Earl had all of these ingredients, plus plenty of sweetness, steam, and intrigue to go along with them.

I really enjoyed the first installment of this series, and so I was excited to curl up with (lol) Curled Up with an Earl. And I wasn't disappointed. Lucy and Will are a sparkling leading couple, with crackling chemistry from the first moment that they meet. I loved seeing Lucy come out of her shell and Will learn to trust. Their interactions are equally tender and steamy, and I appreciated that the reveal of Will's true identity enhanced rather than derailed their relationship.

The background plot of murder and intrigue was also well-executed. There was just enough tension - was Sir Oswald involved? was he innocent? what was up with Monty? - to make things interesting, and to allow this plot thread to stand up to the strong central romance. I did expect a slightly more climactic final confrontation with the villain, but I wasn't terribly disappointed by the way things played out.

My complains are few. There were a few moments of awkward dialogue, and I did occasionally want a bit more depth to Will's backstory, but all in all, a very enjoyable read with plenty of satisfying romance and action.

4.25/5

I really really liked this, just as I loved book one! Curled Up with an Earl was cozy and soft and perfect for midnight reading. Will and Lucy were perfectly matched and the little things they did for each other throughout the book made my heart so happy. (Also the warm milk cracked me up.)

I think the only thing I have issues with is the complete abruptness and 180° of the ending and certain characters. I’m in my revenge era and so I thought some things were handled a bit too prettily.

But even then, I loved their relationship, the mistaken (intentional on his part) identity, and the plot as a whole. He was also just a vibe. That brogue is gonna take me out in the audiobook. The sex scenes were good and hot and Will had one quote that was just so out-of-the-blue perfect?? (Hint: cats)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶🌶🌶.25/5

Just make me the charter member of the Amy Rose Bennet fan club. This books was great, socially awkward heroine, slimy bad suitor, brawny Scotsman, identity changes, poisons. It was great. Even her swear words made Lucy adorable. This series has so far been a delight. ,