Hattie Sedley is 29, a soon-to-be confirmed spinster, and plans to live life by her own rules. She’s going to take over her father’s business that she has practically been running single-handedly and make her own money. Before the “Year of Hattie” begins, however, she plans to have a night of pleasure.

Saviour Whittington, known as Beast has found himself all tied up, literally! He wakes to find himself in the carriage of Hattie Sedley as she is headed to a night of pleasure at his business. She intrigues him. She is attracted. They have chemistry and they also plans of their own and their independence may get in the way of their hearts.

This is not the kind of historical romance I’m used to. That’s not a bad thing, but the anti-hero doesn’t usually work for me. I need to really like and feel connected to the characters in a romance novel. I liked the spitfire independence from Hattie, but alpha-male grunting of Beast isn’t my favorite.

Overall, it was good read - one that I think I will enjoy more in a re-read once the series is complete. This is book 2 in the Bareknuckle Bastards series.

This is the 2nd book in the Bareknuckled Bastards series and I love it!! My favorite book of Sarah’s has always been “Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover” but I think Beast is my new favorite. Be prepared to read late as you won’t want to put this one down!

Lady Henrietta Sedley (Hattie) is about to turn 29 and wants a new experience as she doesn’t think anyone will marry her. She’s more comfortable on the London docks, at her father’s shipping business, than in a ballroom. As she is planning to go out, she discovers her brother has left an unconscious man in her carriage. And the man is Beast! She is a little afraid of him, but very attracted to him. It appears her brother has stolen some cargo from the “bastards”. As she pushed him out of her carriage, he finds her at a brothel for women and she agrees to help him recover the goods her brother stole. Beast is worried that this half-brother, the Duke of Marwick, who thinks their sister Grace is dead, will come after Hattie.

Does she marry Whit? Is Grace alive? Is Ewan still dangerous to them all? I cannot spoil this story, but I highly recommend it and I can’t wait for the next book in this series. Note to Sarah MacLean: Thank you for a heroine who is built with curves (like a lot of us), and her hero loves them!

Last month I read Wicked and the Wallflower, my first book by Sarah MacLean and absolutely fell in love with everything about that book. After reading Devil's story, I couldn't wait to get to Whit's (aka Beast) story. Sarah MacLean knows exactly how to set the tone of her books and learning about the Covent Garden and the London Docklands was almost as fun as the story between Whit and Hattie.

Let's take a moment to talk about everything that is Hattie. Hattie is amazing and I hope that we all learn a thing or two from her. She is brazen (no doubt), but also a warrior (swoon) and is so brave, even though her world is trying its hardest to push her out and tell her she can not do it because she is a woman. So when on her 29th birthday Hattie devises a plan to take what she wants: Business. Home. Fortune. Future. She needs a final part of her plan to be completed in order to start on all of the others. Body. This is where the story becomes deliciously complicated and the story of Hatti and Whit begins.

If an author can make you feel so much angst and then also make you feel the "aaahhh" finally moment, but then turn around and rip your heart out - to me that is the perfect combination and you have won me over. There are so many wonderful, sweet, and caring moments in Brazen that made me feel this way. Moments that had my heart racing and then moments that had tears streaming down my face. These two characters are so well suited and I was dying for more interactions between the two of them. Their verbal sparring (aka foreplay - hot hot hot) was so much fun to read!

I am loving this series so much and am anticipating the follow up and final book in the series. Thank you Sarah MacLean for writing such a wonderful follow up to Wicked and the Wallflower. I can't wait to read everything else that you've written.

**Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review**

An independent heroine who’s unstoppable and the fierce Bareknuckle Bastard who finds her “fucking glorious” heralds the Year of Hattie in MacLean’s delightful Brazen and the Beast, the second in the Bareknuckle Bastards series. The story picks up where The Wicked and the Wallflower (the first in the series) left off, when Whit meets his match in the headstrong Hattie, a 28-year-old spinster determined to free herself from societal constraints and live a life on her own terms. The characters’ immediate chemistry and strong wills make for delicious banter in a book that is just plain fun to read. Readers who love strong heroines and kisses that last four pages, this is your book.

I absolutely love this series so far and this sequel was even better than the first book! I love the banter between characters. The strong heroines are so enjoyable to read and very distinct individuals from one another. I think she writes heroines better than almost anyone I've ever read before, definitely the best in Avon romances. Her male characters probably go through more emotional development and I really like how she lets them be vulnerable and caring. I also loved the band of friends both the lead characters had by their sides. The had honest conversations to support one another, not just about romance, which was so refreshing to read in a romance book. This book was a bold adventure story about a woman fighting to be taken seriously in the male business world and a man who's always been a protector learning how to open up to others. I couldn't put it down from start until finish. The humor, suspense, action, and romance were a perfect blend. I highly recommend this book and will be eagerly awaiting more books in this series.

If you’re an experienced romance reader, Brazen and the Beast feels different than the romance you’ve been reading for years (or decades in my case - yikes!) and this whole series reads like the future, like a book from an alternate reality, it’s because Sarah MacLean is writing the romanced of the future. For those who cut their teeth on bodice rippers, on 19 y/o h being coerced into sex with men in their 30’s, of women without autonomy and autocratic men who take what they want and only eventually - begrudgingly - love later, this book feels like a revelation. This book challenged every trope I know about romance and the H/h dynamic. In fact, I think we’re going to have come up with a new descriptive shorthand because Hattie is NOT a lowercase h.


Brazen and the Beast still gives everything that I love so much about romance and historical/regency romance in general: a sexy-as-sin alpha male, a tenacious-but-vulnerable woman, a vibrant London that comes alive as the book progresses, that feels more like a character in the book than the location - but its romance of the future. The books we read going forward will (hopefully) all owe thanks to Ms. MacLean’s pioneering. Here’s the turning point away from patriarchy and into feminism, to characters that together explore new sexual desires and satisfaction, that talk about feelings and respect each other’s decisions, that have healthy, realistic relationships that simultaneously allow readers to access the best aspects of fantasy, arousal, and validation.


I’m excited for everyone that reads this book and this series, and thankful for the many authors of my favorite genre who are actively, bravely writing romance that will redefine how we read. Don’t miss this book!

Hattie is determined to takeover her father's prosperous shipping business and knows the person to help make that happen is Beast, a member of the Bareknuckle Bastards quartet. Seeing this strong woman and strong man clash in a wonderful battle of wits was so fun! As much as I enjoyed this, I'm even more excited to see the next edition featuring Grace and Ewan.

Actual Rating: 3.75 stars

Brazen and the Beast is the second book in MacLean's Bareknuckle Bastards series. I went into this book without reading the first, and it read perfectly fine as a standalone despite the main characters from Wicked and the Wallflower making a few appearances.

Lady Henrietta "Hattie" Sedley has a plan for her 29th year of life: take control of her future in many ways, and that includes her father's shipping business. Fate, however, has other plans when Whit (aka Beast), a 'king' of Covent Garden, is stashed, unconscious and restrained, inside her carriage.

The "Year of Hattie" is off to a poor start, but she isn't about to allow a man to get in the way of her goals.

I enjoyed both Hattie and Whit in Brazen and the Beast—they were full of life, their motivations are clear, and their interactions were fun and engaging. Good characters can be hard to find, so it's refreshing to find two likeable (though imperfect) main characters.

What dragged this story down for me wasn't the romance, but rather the subplot. There's dishonesty and betrayal, and the situation devolves into ridiculousness. What should have been clear-cut becomes convoluted, and the antagonist's reasoning is pretty weak. The plot seems to have been devised simply to set up the next book.

I'd love to see the clever writing we got from MacLean's Rules of Scoundrels series, which gave us relevant-yet-building plot and a great romance in each story. While Brazen and the Beast is a fun romantic read, and I recommend it for anyone looking for an engaging historical summer romance, it's missing the magic of MacLean's early-2010s writing. I hope the next entry in this series finds it again.

I adored this book. The female lead was spunky and courageous. Ms. MacLean did not disappoint. Recommend for historical fans.

Lady Henrietta Sedley has a plan to inherit her father's company despite the fact that her father, brother, and society at large don't believe women can run a business. Hattie is setting out on the Year of Hattie, and she is determined to succeed. Meeting Whit throws a wrench in her plans - can the two work together to get what they both want?

I've read a few of Sarah MacLean's books and I've not been disappointed yet. If you're looking for a feminist take on historical romances, look no further.

Sarah MacLean absolutely never disappoints. Sexy, badass, with an inspiring heroine and so much fun chemistry.

ARC via Netgalley

I hoard Sarah MacLean's romances until I need to read something uplifting for my feminist spirit. All her Heroines are fucking (pardon my lack of caring about swears) are so independent and fierce in their ways that it just makes me think, "maybe to tomorrow I will be that brazen and bold." One would think that a romance novel would not inspire that, but Sarah MacLean novels inspire.

Hattie, Lady Henrietta Sedley, doesn't fit the mold at all for a Regency romance novel, and that is what I loved about her character. She about to turn 29 and realizes that she needs to take hold of her life, has a list of five things that need to change. The eve of her birthday finds one of the BKB tied up in her carriage, no time to deal with that situation Hattie unties him and tosses him out - possibly the best meet-cute ever. However, she is going into his territory of Covent Gardens, and he knows where she is heading.

What could go, wrong? Right?

This romance is full of banter, smarts, fights, and a HEA. Oh yeah, Hattie knows how to tie a good sailors knot.

Do you have to read the first book in the series to enjoy this one? No, but it would increase your enjoyment. That said, this was so good that I read it while I was supposed to be sleeping and working. The heroine is clever and strong and better than either of the men in her family. The story is smart and snappy. The main characters are well matched and I can’t wait to see what happens with the last of the siblings.

This love story is a jewel shining in the tough, gritty, streets of early 19th century London’s underworld. The heroine is refreshingly aware and unashamed of her social standing as a woman approaching a certain age, as well as her own sensuality and need for human connection. As the possessor of most of the common sense in what’s left of her family, she deserves a break -- and it arrives in the form of the somewhat devious, alluring hero. When the story isn’t an enjoyable twisting and turning adventure, it’s a slow seduction. Aside from some snippets of modern-sounding dialogue, the historical setting is well rendered, as are the secondary characters; loyal friendship between women is especially well presented in this novel. A fun, well-rounded entry in the author’s Bareknuckle Bastards series.

Sarah MacLean’s Brazen and the Beast was reminiscent to her first ever novel, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake; both female protagonist’s had enough of their prim and proper upbringing and while on the cusp of encroaching ’spinsterhood’, find their mettle to break the bonds of their obeisant roles.

Such as in Nine Rules, Brazen and the Beast explores female independence with the help of the erstwhile gruff and jaded male protagonist. The couple fall in love while exploring new-for-the-times mentalities.

Because I enjoyed MacLean’s debut of Nine Rules to Break so well many years ago, I think it was hard for me to be as enamored of this couple Hattie and Whit, and the winding road of their love because I felt I had read it before, and didn’t want my memory of the first novel to be tarnished by this decades after follow-up. Otherwise this rendition was easy-to-read with a mellow love story.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was provided wth an ARCof this title by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I have been shattered to smithereens, jigsaw pieces helter-skelter, by the genius and wonder of the latest Bare Knuckle Bastards installment. It is the perfect sojourn to a world of rough around the edges, heart on the sleeve heroes.

Hattie repeatedly demonstrates to Beast her ability to fend for herself, take all comers, and hold her own. Her fire and independence are irresistible to a man who is accustomed to wielding the weapons of intimidation and seduction. Hattie demonstrates no trepidation whatsoever when she bargains with him for the loss of her innocence.

Their battle is waged in the language of sarcasm, innuendo and illicit entanglement. If you are a fan of Eloisa James' Duchess series, Tessa Dare's Spindle Cove, or the sparkling repartee of rom com queen Sally Thorne, pick up this book!

Regency romance? Check. Devilishly handsome man? Check. Smart and defiant woman? Check. This book hits all the right marks and should be on everyone's fun book list. Hattie is the smart sibling in her family but as she's a girl, her father won't even consider her running his shipping company.. When her irresponsible brother decides to mess with the wrong master criminal, it will be up to Hattie to save him, and maybe show her father that she is fully capable of running his company. But when that master criminal turns out to be the handsome Beast of the underworld of crime, maybe she is a little in over her head.

She's outdone herself. Brazen and The Beast is the best historical romance of the year. I loved Whit and Hattie so much--their fearlessness and bravery, the ferocious way they go after what they want. You'll definitely cry a little--but you'll feel so alive when you do!

Loved the story of Hattie and Beast! I loved her concept of The Year of Hattie and her desire to grab life by the horns and go after what she wants. Beast and her idiot brother stand in the way though.

Beast is a tortured soul who holds soft spots for Covent Garden and his family. He fights adding Hattie to the list, but can’t help but fall for her.

Great romance and story. Wish I didn’t have to wait so long for Ewan and Grace’s story. I can’t wait to see how MacLean redeems this seemingly unredeemable hero.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

This is the first historical romance that I’ve read in a while. I should not let as much time pass between reading them. I had a lot of fun reading this book. I need to go read book one and I’m looking forward to book three.

There were a few things that didn’t make it a 5 star read for me. There was some more modern language than I’ve heard in a historical. I was still able to enjoy it, but it through me off for a minute. There were a few scenes that seems to drag on a bit. Overall, I’m glad I decided to read this book.

I voluntarily read an early copy.