All of Naomi Barnaby's husbands have all died and she wonders if the last one died from foul play. She decides to hire investigators Captain Marcus Ridgeway and Everett Bryant, Marquis of Glenmarrow to help her. But, when she looks into both men’s eyes, she sees that her future may be more pleasurable than she could’ve hoped.
Even though this was a well-written novella, it wasn’t for me. I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily reviewing it.

Erm .... a ménage à trois romance! A first for Jess Michaels and for me too. I was skeptical about this one, as it was outside of my comfort zone, but I had complete faith in the authors writing and was not disappointed I completed this one. And without cringing, I might add.

It flowed effortlessly and naturally, and at no point did I feel it was purely erotica. Which could be because Jess Michaels always manages to tell a good story, in this case about three people.

A novella, in keeping with the rest of the 'Scandal' series, this one too was a quick and easy read (notwithstanding the subject) and surprisingly did not have me cringing with unbelievable sexual scenes as I initially thought it would!!

#GuardingTheCountess #NetGalley

This ARC was courtesy of netgalley - all thoughts and opinions are mine and unbiased

I have read some of Jess Michaels work before so was pleased to be able to read an advanced copy of this

This is a short, quick read.

Part of a series, this is a hot, steamy read that can be read quickly

Looking forward to more

This was not a book - it was a short erotic story and nothing more.

There was little to no character development and the plot beyond sex almost felt like an after thought. I didn't feel any connection to the characters or felt that they had bonded with each other. When those 3 words were spoken I laughed because it felt so incredibly unbelievable.

** ARC received from Netgalley **

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
💋💋💋💋
Steamy , Erotic even ,but so emotional and stunning in the telling.

A tale of two best friends, business colleagues, partners.
That’s until the woman who is to make them whole asks for their help to find the person responsible for killing her husband .
Can she help them in return, can the three of them make each other’s lives fuller and complete.

This book contains M/M as well as M/F/M, if this is not to your taste that’s ok , but this is written very tastefully and is beautifully done , not tacky or unpalatable in my view.

Beautiful in the extreme, I loved the book , the story, the romance and the emotion.
Perfectly told and written.

I received an Arc copy of this book and chose to post this review

This is is surprisingly deep and well-plotted for what presented as a PWP novella.

P.S. I wish Jess Michaels would write more full length books, because while I'm normally not a novella fan, she does such a great job with so little.

Goodreads bookshelves: historical-romance, novella-ish, 4-stars, arc-read, genre-challenge, i-ship-it, lgbtqiap-plus-hollah, read-in-2019, yay-for-diversity, read-ish

Naomi Barnaby has lost yet another husband. The rumor mills are having a ball with that information. Although his death was ruled from natural causes, Naomi believes he was murdered. That is how she finds herself in the offices of investigative partners, Captain Marcus Ridgeway and Everett Bryant, Marquis of Glenmarrow, for help.

Marcus immediately wants to aid Naomi, but he can feel Everett's reluctance. When Naomi is shot at outside their business, all hesitance fades away. It is clear that Naomi is being targeted and it doesn't take long to see she is innocent of any wrongdoing. Marcus and Everett must work with Naomi to uncover the truth of her late husband's demise. When the three give into temptation, they soon discover they are risking more than just friendships; they're also risking their hearts.

I love author Jess Michaels. Her latest installment in the SCANDAL SHEET series, GUARDING THE COUNTESS is wicked, yet moving. To be truthful, the M/M side is not my cuppa, but I was able to read through the passionate scenes with no qualms. I was actually touched at how deeply Marcus and Everett both cared for one another, and it saddened me that they were unable to admit their true feelings until Naomi came into their lives. Although unconventional, they are a threesome I can see standing the test of time. I give GUARDING THE COUNTESS a 3.5 star rating.

I don't do a lot of historical or period romance novels usually ( they just remind me of my grandmothers reading material) but this was quite a surprisingly interesting a d hot read.

Short, steamy novella filled with lots of delicious angst and mystery! My only complaint is that I wish it could’ve been longer, but I loved the dynamic between the trio and the twist at the end was one I actually didn’t see coming. Can’t wait for the next installment!

3.5 stars!

This was a very sexy, steamy little historical romance novella. M/M/F romance with several very sexy scenes. Even though it was only 79 pages, the author still did a great job developing the characters. This is a plot that I would have liked to see even more fleshed out as a full novel

A short Hot and steamy mmf or mfm.
Think about historical romance and taboo or forbidden story with a lot of hot moments between the characters in some unexpected situations.
I would’ve loved to read more about the relationship between the male characters and maybe a longer story overall but it’s a perfect read for an hour of enjoyment.

This is my favourite story so far from the series. Jess Michaels delivered another Beauty. This is a MMF romance with a good amount of sex, tenderness and a little bit of mystery. I really enjoyed it.
Thanks the publisher and netgalley for this ARC. The opinions expressed here are all mine.

A steamy erotic romance with a heart of gold, Jess Michaels' Guarding the Countess packs a lot of tenderness in between sex scenes. It was a fun read with a very happy ending.

I was so excited for this book. A mmf historical? Yes please! The mystery was meh. But the romance was hot! I would have liked a little more m/m personally but still very enjoyable!

Guarding the Countess, is what I think of if there were ever a porno flic made in the 1800's. Guarding Naomi is the back story but bedding her is the story. I liked the way that Naomi and Everett join together to get Marcus to see the bigger picture.

They are few and far between, but Jess Michaels always delivers with her delve into the more non-traditional romances, aka historical romance on steroids.

The synopsis pretty much tells it all but in my opinion, while Naomi Barnaby was the catalyst, the story hinges on the deep and complex relationship between Captain Marcus Ridgeway and Everett Bryant, Marquis of Glenmarrow.

I am more than ready for a novel length story from one of my favorite authors!

Up until now, I had never read anything by Jess Michaels. What caught my attention about this one was the polyamory (I’m a simple reader, I see polyamory, I click want to read). So, I had no particular expectations going into this. To say I was pleasantly surprised sounds trite, and as though I wasn’t expecting to be surprised, but it’s the truth here. This book managed to juggle three POVs, a mystery, and character development all in less than 80 pages, and it was wonderful.

Guarding the Countess opens with Naomi, the countess, heading to visit a private investigator (Marcus), after her third husband’s untimely, and downright suspicious, death. But instead of one investigator there are two (Everett being the second), and when someone tries to kill Naomi on the driveway outside Marcus’ house, they offer to place her under their protection (which means a helluva lot more than actual protection, as you might have guessed).

What I loved about this book is that, even though it’s a novella, Michaels spends time on each character approximately equally (maybe Naomi slightly more than the others at first, but it evens out). You meet each of them and their worries and desires, so they all grow on you (and have you rolling your eyes when they do something that is clearly meant to deny themselves happiness). And the bi characters (Everett and Marcus) get to talk about being bi, and attracted to more than one gender.

But while there is a lot of time spent developing the relationship (after a pretty rapid start, admittedly), Michaels doesn’t forget about the mystery. Yes, it’s fairly obvious who did it (there’s about one suspect), but there is still some actual investigating going on. It’s not like they wholly stumble on the culprit totally by accident.

If there’s one thing I needed from this book though? More of it. It did feel a little compacted into the novella, like a full-length novel could have expanded more on their developing relationship.

But basically, that’s me just being greedy and wanting more of these three.

a very pleasing work of what I'd call erotic romance! The book starts out with a little bit of a mystery: who killed all of Naomi's previous 3 husbands? She goes to Marcus & Everett to help her find out. They quickly discern that she is in danger and offer to protect her. It turns out that they are all wildly attracted to each other. Marcus & Everett have "shared women" in the past...but will Naomi be different?

I super enjoyed this. It;s a very light, fast read! I just needed something that would make me feel happy and this book delivered. I literally read the thing immediately after getting approved and here I am to report on it.

I'm giving it 5 stars bc I loved it---but, it's novella-length and there is an insta-love feeling about it. It all really worked for me, but I do think it moves very quickly, but that's just how it works with books that are this long.

Holy hotness this book came close to setting my kindle on fire!!! I recently discovered Jess Michaels, Becca I was never really into historical romance. They made me think of cheesy 80s romances...ladies and gents..,this is no cheesy 80s romance! Jess Michaels has shown me that rakes, rogues and now Lords and Captains are the epitome of hot and sexy! Who needs a Navy SEAL when you can have a Marquess?

So about the book. Why did it have to end? I need more Everett, more Marcus and more Naomi. I love ménage romance especially when all three players are in love 🥰, and all three of these characters were definitely in love.

For a novella, I got suspense with a fascinating who dun it, volcanic level steam, marvelous characters and a great story! My issues: the book was short, I wished there was an epilogue, and that there was a little more Marcus and Everett together.

I was quickly drawn in and I wanted to know more about these three. What will their life be like down the road.,,can we have a book 2? I have further affirmed that I need to continue to work my way through Ms. Micheals backlist because damnnnnn she can write some great steamy historical romances! This book is definitely a recommend from me. Don’t delay and get it today!!!!