Cute and suspenseful!
The main part that I disliked about it was the premarital s*x and the fact that it also described it (which means that I skipped past that section).

A seriously fun historical rom com! Delightful to read and definitely pulls on your heartstrings! A warm and wonderful read!

Manda Collins is the master of blending strong heroines with caring men to create wonderful stories of intrigue, excitement, and love.

Poppy & Joshua’s story was an utter delight. In addition to the budding romance, there was some great gothic history and murder mystery vibes going on. A great book to curl up with and enjoy!

Thank you so much Forever Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have read the first two books in this series and while I wouldn't consider them a necessity to read before this one, you'll definitely understand some of the references in this book. But I also fully support chaos reading, so you do you friends.

This book was fun! If you want an engaging and enjoyable historical romance with pieces of murder mystery then this is the book for you. Manda Collins is a queen of combining mystery and romance perfectly in one book, which those happen to be the two genres I love the most. Between the emotional character development spurred on with the romance and then the mystery pushing forward the plot, there are very few slow parts.

Poppy/Flora is such a stunning character. She knows her worth and doesn't back down. This made for some exceptional moments in the book where she easily holds her own against other characters. Adding her personality in with Joshua's more stoic duke-ism, made for a lovely romance. He definitely falls first her which was spectacular. And the way that they helped each other through some heavier moments was the absolute best. Both had their moments of weakness, which severely helped the book when you're dealing with a decent power differential, that and Joshua was so kind. I do think there should have been a bit more build up in their romance, but that's just a personal opinion. Some more longing would have been just the icing on the cake. I do think even without that, it was a well balanced romance.

The murder mystery of the cult and Joshua's history was morbidly fun. I was guessing about the mystery and who did it until the very end. Adding this kind of weirdness/morbidity to the plot I think really made there book. I *needed* to know how it ended. So I stayed up all night reading it... rip work. I'm not going to go any further into this because I need you to go in blindly into this because it would be a disservice to the book if I ruin it.

Long story short, I highly recommend this book if you're wanting a nice balance of romance and mystery. I think that it makes for a perfect weekend read with a nice cup of tea and some nearby food because you won't want to put it down. I think that this was my favorite book of the series simply because I loved Poppy and Joshua so much, just well crafted characters.

This book would be great if you liked the earlier books in the series, if you like Emily Sullivan's League of Scoundrels Series, Evie Dunmore's A League of Extraordinary Women Series, or Elizabeth Everett's The Secret Scientists of London Series. (Also recommend all those books!!)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a lady in danger must be in need of rescue, but whether she wants to be rescued is up for debate—for fans of Evie Dunmore and Netflix's Bridgerton from the bestselling author of A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem!

England, 1867: Miss Poppy Delamare is living a lie. To escape an odious betrothal, she fled to London where she’s been hiding as the unassuming secretary Flora Deaver. However, when her beloved sister is accused of murder, Poppy cannot leave her to the wolves. Only a most unexpected—and unwelcome—collision interrupts her journey home . . .

Despite a rather dismal first meeting, Joshua Fielding, the Duke of Langham, has no intention of abandoning a lady in need. But he’s not above asking a favor. A fake betrothal will give Poppy and her sister the power of the dukedom and protect Langham from the society misses intent on becoming his duchess.

Yet the longer the ruse goes on, the more Poppy and Langham realize how false their first impressions were—and the less pretend their engagement feels. But before Langham can propose in truth, their search reveals a tangled web of lies and betrayals. With time running out, can Poppy and Langham find the real culprit—before Poppy becomes the next victim?

I'm not normally a fan of period romances, but this one surprised me with how much I enjoyed this book
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own

This is the third book in the Ladies Most Scandalous series but I haven't read the first two and I still enjoyed this immensely. Intelligent and independent Poppy literally runs into the Duke of Langham on the worst day of her life. She's always found him arrogant and he's always been exasperated with her but his heart goes out to her when he finds out she is rushing to save her sister who has been arrested for a murder she didn't commit. They agree to work together and decide the best way is to have a fake betrothal. She can stay at his Estate and his family won't be bothering him asking when he's going to get married already. ⁠
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I'm always here for fake dating and fake engagements. It's my favourite trope. I don't read a lot of Victorian romances and I think this is my first romance/mystery. It was so much fun to read and I loved the characters and witty banter. This romance is fairly steamy but also quite swoony. ⁠
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I'm really hoping there will be a fourth book about the Duke's younger brother and a certain sensible governess! And, of course, I'm off to read the first two in this series - I've already downloaded the first on Kindle. ⁠
A Spinster's Guide to Danger and Dukes will be available on March 28, 2023.⁠
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Thank you so much to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the opportunity to read this advanced copy for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for gifting me an ARC in exchange for my honest review. For some reason I knew this book was part of a series but I mistakenly thought they were stand alone novels. I was initially a bit disoriented with the introduction of the characters, as ideally I should have "known" them already. Nonetheless, it was so easy to fail in love with our two main characters, especially Poppy. Who doesn't love a strong, independent, crime fighting ahead-of-her-time female protagonist? This story had a bit of everything: fake dating or engagement in this case, a murder mystery, family ties and and a romance where our Duke who is against marrying, falls first. One thing I especially enjoyed was the witting style. It fit so well with the time period. It is always a bit districting when reading a period novel and one reads characters using phrases more suited to modern times. I will be definitely doing my due diligence and reading the two preceding books in this series. I am excited to read more about Poppy’s friends and having the chance to meet Poppy and Joshua again for the first time.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Now I will say that I normally am not too interested in reading historical fiction, but I had heard about this author's other books before and I was intrigued to read one, and this did not disappoint! I love me a good mystery romance where they work together and fall in love in the process! The banter between Poppy and Joshua was so fun to read and I thought they had great chemistry!

It was a little hard for me to get into, since I normally do not read anything historical, but once I did get into it, I enjoyed it!

HOW HAVE I COMPLETELY MISSED THIS SERIES?! Anyway, this book is just so delightful. The banter, the pining, the mystery, just all so well done. This is the historical romance pick for all my true crime gals. I do feel like I wanted a little more oomph out of the climax, ultimately, but it didn’t really lessen my overall enjoyment. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going back and binging the previous books in this series that have inexplicably flown far too low on my radar.

Mini Book Review
A Spinsters Guide to Danger and Dukes
Manda Collins

3rd in the Ladies Guide Series

Tropes
Fake engagement
Forced proximity
Regency romance
Murder mystery
Cult

Characters
Poppy aka Flora- determined, independent, stubborn, Loyal
Joshua aka the Duke- private, brooding, entitled

Thoughts
Romance with a hint of mystery and intrigue
Easy reading
Fun storyline and characters
Happily ever after guaranteed

Thank you to @readforeverpub for my gifted copy in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I love this series, it’s so much fun - the author’s bio says she grew up with Nancy Drew and Jane Austen and I totally see those influences in here, with an added dose of smut.

If you like the first two, you’ll like this one! Collins’ style is also really pleasant to read: I’d recommend it as a great starter regency romance if you’re new to the genre (but I’m pretty seasoned and loved it all the same).

I don’t want to mention specific tropes because I don’t want to spoil, but may extend this review later.

If you like historical murder romance, you will probably like this book. My issue with this is that it doesn’t lean heavily enough into either - there’s insufficient banter for a historical romance and solving the murder mystery almost happens by accident. It’s book 3 in a series but works as a stand-alone.

Manda Collins does it again with this book! I loved the first two books in this series and had high hopes for the third. Poppy has been living under the pseudonym, Flora Deaver, in London for the last 2 years working with Kate and Caro on their crime column. Poppy hears that her sister, Violet, has been accused of murder and goes to Little Kidding, but it happens to be in the town near the Duke of Langham’s estate. The two of them join forces in a fake betrothal to help keep Poppy’s sister from being convicted of a murder she didn’t commit and so Langham does not have to entertain marriage propositions from his unwanted house guests. The two characters have great chemistry and this murder plot involves, cults, blackmail, and attempted kidnapping!
Just a warning, this book has an abusive father whose actions, while not depicted in detail, are mentioned. Also, Langham suffers from claustrophobia and that is depicted on page.

A Spinster’s Guide to Danger and Dukes by Manda Collins

England, 1867: Miss Poppy Delamare is living a lie. To escape an odious betrothal, she fled to London where she’s been hiding as the unassuming secretary Flora Deaver. However, when her beloved sister is accused of murder, Poppy cannot leave her to the wolves. Only a most unexpected—and unwelcome—collision interrupts her journey home . . .
Despite a rather dismal first meeting, Joshua Fielding, the Duke of Langham, has no intention of abandoning a lady in need. But he’s not above asking a favor. A fake betrothal will give Poppy and her sister the power of the dukedom and protect Langham from the society misses intent on becoming his duchess.

Yet the longer the ruse goes on, the more Poppy and Langham realize how false their first impressions were—and the less pretend their engagement feels. But before Langham can propose in truth, their search reveals a tangled web of lies and betrayals. With time running out, can Poppy and Langham find the real culprit—before Poppy becomes the next victim?
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Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of A Spinster’s Guide to Danger and Dukes! I am a HUGE fan of Collins and this was by far her best in the series! Such a great read and I loved the main characters!

5⭐️

This book had so much potential because the premise is so intriguing. But man did it miss the mark. It continuously sucked up to the main character which made her INSUFFERABLE!!! Please just let me decide I like a character instead of narrating about how cool and independent she is. I swear every character in this gives a mini speech about what an amazing badass she is. The male lead was blah albeit not as grating as the protagonist. A good 50% of the dialogue is repetitive and easily skimmed over. I love cheesy romance novels but the execution of this made even me cringe. It's so difficult to enjoy the plot when you just can't get past the faulty character design and writing style.

After her sister is accused of murder, Poppy Delamere finds herself returning to the family she left two years ago running away from an unwanted marriage. Escaping to London Poppy took on the assumed name of Flora Deaver to work as a secretary.

Of course, Poppy has no idea what she's going to do, but she can't abandon her sister. Running into the Duke of Langham on the train out of London proves fortuitous because he offers his assistance in ensuring the power of his title provides a fair investigation into the murder.

However, Langham needs something from Poppy as well. He's on his way to visit the dowager duchess and of course, he expects to be inundated with all the eligible ladies of the ton. Unless that is, he already comes with a betrothed in hand. Poppy agrees to pose as the Duke's intended for his help with her sister's case.

Soon, it's less about keeping up appearances and more about discovering their true feelings for one another.

I've really enjoyed this series and I have to say this one is by far my favorite. I just felt like the stakes were a little higher than in the previous books which upped the suspense and that was something I liked a lot. I really became invested in the mystery. I don't know if it's something about the history of the town and the kind of secrets that can grow from small communities and things from that past that are kept hidden. It really drew me in.

I liked that Poppy and Langham finally got to the forefront of the story. They've both been interesting secondary characters and I remember thinking in the previous book that they had a good brief interaction that would be wonderful to expand upon.

I think that Manda Collins did a great job of balancing so many aspects of the story. The fake engagement played well into the overarching mystery aspect of the story which of course includes murder, secrets, and deception. It never felt like there was too much or that anything was out of place within the narrative.

I don't know if there will be any more in this series. There were no secondary characters who stuck out and clicked for me this time around like in the previous, but there are certainly other characters who could become involved in a mystery of their own.

Overall, another page-turning mystery full of romance from Manda Collins.

It’s difficult for a woman in 1867 England to be taken seriously, particularly a single one interfering with murder investigations.

Poppy Delamere ran away to London with a new name to avoid an arranged marriage and avoid being found by her scheming step-father. Little could she guess her sister would be offered in her place.

Poppy is racing to save her sister from being accused of murder when she runs straight into the dashing Joshua Fielding, Duke of Langham. She finds herself agreeing to a staged betrothal in exchange for the Duke’s help.

He gets protection from ring-seeking ladies paraded about by his grandmother while she has protection as she attempts to clear her sister Violet’s name after Violet’s husband is found dead. It doesn’t take the entire week for more than one truth to be exposed.

It’s an action packed week filled with high societies, dark societies, and …. Love?

“A Spinster’s Guide to Danger and Dukes” is the third book by Manda Collins. I hesitate to call it an official series. There are references to events in the prior books and appearances of characters, but there is no need to have read the prior two to enjoy this one. I do highly recommend the others as well though.

I was quickly swept up in the world of Little Kidding, captivated by the alternating narrative from the fiery duo. Manda brings her well-honed witty one liners in this historical adult romance that keeps you guessing and giggling.

It’s made for fans of Bridgerton looking for that quick weekend or road trip read. It isn’t highly suspenseful, but I couldn’t put it down. Pick out your favorite hot tea and settle in with your new best friends.

Poppy and Joshua were great characters. I love a fake engagement and this one didn't disappoint. While I thought their romance progressed a little too fast (whiplash-y, almost), there's a lot of good banter. It's not really a hate to love, it's a 'slight annoyance to love' but I was satisfied with the way they helped each other out and improved each other's perspectives on life. Poppy's super strong personality was part of this- without her characterization, I don't think this would have been as good.

There are some character arcs here, but it's definitely plot-driven. And the elements are there! They're enjoyable! But none of the books in this series have had room to breathe so they can still fit into a 'romance-first' box, and that means the mystery doesn't deliver. However, if you're not an avid mystery reader like me, this might not matter to you!

Overall, this is an enjoyable book that just didn't quite hit full potential for me. This book was the best overall, but Caro/Val (book 2) is still my favorite couple of this series.

I enjoyed this historical murder mystery romance - so much so that after the second chapter I went and requested books one and two in the same universe, which weren’t necessary to read this book, but I think would have enhanced my enjoyment.

Looking back at the one part I had noted because something a character said confused me about something that was said earlier, it’s surprising it took me as long as it did to figure out who the murder was, I’ll blame that on my head cold.

I really liked Poppy and Joshua, they were cute and their declaration of love, while probably ill-timed, was adorable.

I received this from netgalley in exchange for a review.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that anyone who reads this book will find it absolutely adorable! Manda Collins is a new author to me, but I now will read everything she writes, and I will continue to do so. Forever. What a wonderful, fun romance! Definitely anyone who loved the Bridgerton series, or Georgette Heyer will enjoy this and it made me long to hop onto a plane and fly to England, to bask in another author who could finally give me the same thrills as Jne Austen. I think everyone would enjoy the sweetness, funniness, the fun and spectacles of this book, while appreciating all the while the simplicity of true love and of this well-plotted love story. Wonderful, captivating writing gives this novel the depth and ability to pull in any reader. Vivid, descriptive story-telling, with interesting characters that have depth to them, and are skillfully rendered. At the end of the book, they seemed more like friends than book characters to me. I highly recommend this author and I can't wait to own this novel in print.