Lovely lighthearted romance, Edward, Lord Brendon has returned from the grand tour, and recently become Lord Chatham as he has inherited his fathers titile, he has a large estate, but is saddled with debt, his financial adviser advises marriage to an heiress. After working on his estate to but his affairs in order, he comes to London to search for a bride. He gets hold of the Bachelor Bible, a pamphlet which lists the eligible debutantes and their respective dowries, and he focuses his sights on Miss Martha Finch, a 16 year old with an enormous dowry.

He is happy to marry for money as his first love Anne married after he left the country. His father sent him away to separate him from Anne, as she was not of sufficiently high birth. He feels that she broke her promise to him to wait for him, but he believes she is married to a much older Baronet, and living in Cornwall.

Anne, The dowager Lady Howard, has actually been widowed, and released from an unhappy marriage, as her husband was controlling and openly unfairthful. She is on a reduced income, as her stepson has refused to give her her due, so she has taken employment to chaperone Martha during the season.

Edward is immediately attracted to Anne, and finds Martha too young and decidedly odd. He is constantly drawn to Anne, but worrying about his dependents and estate. He discovers a mystery around Lord Howard’s death, and worries that Anne is in danger, how can he protect the woman he loves? Is it possible to protect his estate and still marry his true love.

The mystery and it’s solution is managed with a delicate touch, the relationship between Anne and Edward is sweetly done, especially as he realises how wronged her when he abandoned her to go travelling. The secondary relationships in the book between Mr Raymond Dickey and Martha, and Edward’s sister and her husband Sinclair are also lovely, and Mr Dickey is an amusing catalyst for a lot of the action.

I really enjoyed this readable, amusing romance, with just enough angst.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book and all opinions are my own.

Also posted on Goodreads

I struggled from the beginning of the book. Our introduction to Anne is of her snipping at Edward for bumping into her. He, at least, tried to find out if the lady to whom he bumped into was all right? She begins snipping until she looks at her 'bumper' to see it is her former love. They immediate start accusing the other of leaving them/not waiting.

Then, we read the sixteen year old Anne is sponsoring jumps into kind of blackmailing Anne because she has a secret identity. So, for me, not a great beginning. Not my cup of tea. I can go for angry or jealous hero/heroine, but I like to see some of their redeeming qualities first.

Ms. Marlowe does a great job of reuniting these two long lost loves. Not only does Edward and Anne's story play out but also a secondary character's story that fits so well together. Once I started reading, I could not put this book down.

Lord Bredon and the Bachelor’s Bible
By Mia Marlowe
Rating 3 Stars

Edward Lovell the newly minted earl bears a weighty responsibility to restore his family’s estate to its former grandeur. The task requires not simply a wife, but a wealthy one. Thanks to The Bachelor’s Bible, he already has a particular lady in mind. He has only to convince her sponsor that he will make a suitable husband. There’s just one complication the sponsor is none other than the only woman he’s ever love and inexplicably lost. Now a young widow, Lady Anne Howard is more beautiful than ever. Anne is not about to be taken for a fool a second time. When they last met, Edward was Lord Bredon, the man she adored the man who destroyed her dreams of a happy future. Now he is pursuing the hand of the young lady Anne must keep safe from unscrupulous suitors.

Mia Marlo’s is a new to me author. I was excited to read this book. This is a second chance romance which is one of my favorite tropes. However, the book had a slow start. There was a lot of internal dialogue which I find boring. I would have liked to learn how they fell in love the first time which was skimmed over in the book. In the first three chapters, Edward was referred to by various names: Lord Chatham, Lord Bredon, Edward, and Teddy - I am not sure why. IMO, the different names didn’t add anything to the story other than confusion.

“I believe Bredon may be interested in Miss Finch,” Lawrence said. Caroline arched a brow at him. Teddy must have said as much or Lawrence would never have offered that information.”

The writing style was not my favorite. Sometimes it took me out of the story and I had to go back and reread. The mystery in the book was unnecessary and I was bored by it and found myself skimming. In conclusion, I was underwhelmed by the writing style, the romance, and the mystery.
I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.

Found a new author! Good story, Loved the characters. Ready to read more from Ms Marlowe! Loved all supporting characters as well.

Such a great premise that I think a lot of readers will love. I didn't really like Edward but I loved Anne and I thought the overall romance wasn't bad. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book!

I really like this story. It really shows the reality of women in this era and how they had control over their lives. I liked that it showed Anne doing what she needed to do to survive but it also showed her heart and determination to have semblance of independence on a mans world. It also shows the struggles that being a title man can bring, especially with a failing estate to care for. It showed the sacrifices Edward had to make for his selfish behaviors as well as the choices he has to make for the betterment of his title and its dependents. It kept me entertained and captivated.

There are a lot of historical romances out there which romanticize the era for women. This is not one of them and I really appreciated that. Women had limited power over their lives which this story doesn't flinch from. Why three stars then? I did not like Edward, the hero. He had no business leaving at that particular moment. I felt really badly for Anne and I liked her. I wished for a better marriage for her even though it was going to end for her to end up with Edward. I think this story serves as a good reminder that while it may be fun to fantasize about the world as it was back then, we women are very fortunate to be living in the world as it is.

I had forgotten just how much fun Mia Marlowe’s books can be. I reread the first book in this series, The Singular Mr. Sinclair, in anticipation of reading this one, and both books left me delighted. I appreciate how she writes not exactly a ‘clean’ romance by any means, but she doesn’t continually forgive all gentlemen of the ton for being rakes/whores while unmarried because that’s “just what gentlemen did” during that time period. In fact, our hero’s history in that regard isn’t remarked upon at all, and it was refreshing.

A very fun Regency romance, and since there are 3 more unmarried Lovell brothers, I can only hope there are more stories to come.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Edward Lovell is an earl now and with that comes responsibilities. His financial situation is plummeting so when Edward gets a look at the Bachelor's Bible, a book that lists eligible young women and their dowries, Edward knows what he has to do. He chooses Miss Finch due to the fact that she has the largest dowry. Edward must show Miss Finch's sponsor that he is worthy. An easy enough task, right?

Anne Howard is widowed and she is relishing her freedom. Unfortunately, she must take a position to earn some money. Being a sponsor for a Season should be simple, but turns out to be anything but when it brings her face-to-face with the man she loved and lost, Edward. To make matters worse, Edward is interested in her charge, Miss Finch. Or is he? Anne lost her heart to him once and suffered the consequences when he left her behind. Is it worth a second chance?

LORD BREDON AND THE BACHELOR'S BIBLE is slow to start, but the story builds nicely. Anne and Edward have always been in love with one another. Circumstances and bad decisions brought an end to their fragile relationship, but time heals all wounds. Anne and Edward are given a second chance. This time they must be honest with one another and give it their all if they want things to work out for them. Although I enjoyed Anne and Edward's story, I have to say a couple of characters stole the show, Dickey and Miss Finch. These two were a great pair and I hope to read more about them.