Chase Radnor’s evening is not going as planned.  His plan was to learn more about Minerva Hepplewhite aka Margaret Finley, it was NOT to be bashed on the head and tied up.  He tells Minerva that he is the nephew of the late Duke of Hollinburgh and that Minerva/Margaret was left a rather large bequest by the duke.  Ten thousand pounds and a partnership in an investment!  Minerva is stunned, she has never met the duke and though this inheritance is a blessing, giving her the money she needs to open her own inquiry business, but it could also be a curse, especially since Chase knows who she is.  What else does he know?  She decides her first order of business will be to find out

Chase has his own inquiry business and has been tasked with finding the three mystery women his uncle left his personal fortune to – completely cutting out his family.  He is also certain that the duke didn’t accidently fall off the roof of his county seat and has more than one person – including the Home Secretary, Robert Peel!  He is pretty sure his uncle was murdered – but by who.  None of the family, save himself knew his uncle changed his will and cut out the family – so Minerva becomes his prime suspect.

Their investigations cross and they get to know one another, Chase is no longer certain that Minerva is his uncle’s killer, but he isn’t quite ready to cut ties with her.  Minerva is equally intrigued by Chase, which comes as a shock, she was sure that she would never be interested in a man after the horrors she lived through with her late husband, but intrigued she is, which could be dangerous for her in more ways than one.  

I thought this was a good book, a little slow to take off, but well written and interesting.  The mysteries in the book are well done and while I am not sure how I feel about the outcome of his uncle’s death, I think the way that was handled perfectly complements the mystery of Minerva’s husband’s death. Chase and Minerva are both complexed characters, they are both shaped by their pasts, both clever and observant and clearly perfect for each other.  In addition to the mysteries, the book has a large cast of secondary characters, a slow burn romance, steamish love scenes and a HEA that is nicely executed.  This is the first book in the series and it nicely sets up the series without taking the readers focus from Chase and Minerva.  I am happy to recommend the book and look forward to the next book!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to by NetGalley and the publisher.*

I will say the beginning opening seen what is a bit interesting.  I sorta liked the mystery too, but for the most part I was bored with the story and I didn't see the connection between the main couple sadly.  

I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Chase has some family drama. With the reading of his uncle's will, everyone in the family has lost their mind and the greed is astounding. He runs an investigative business and takes it upon himself to truly look into what happened to his uncle and if it was an accident.

Minerva is a widow from a not so happy marriage. She doesn't understand how, but she is given a grand inheritance from Chase's uncle. Running her own investigative business keeps her busy, but the two band together to try to solve this mystery.

I think you should try this book if you like plenty of mystery, sleuthing, and crime solving in your novels. 

I really did not like this book unfortunately. I was just so utterly....bored. I hate to say it. I had to force myself to read this and I am not usually like that, even if I don't love a novel. I literally fell asleep twice while reading this book on separate occasions. I just could not get into it. The characters felt so flat to me. I didn't care about them. There was so much time spent on the family and the inheritance and the sleuthing. I felt like when I got to 40% of the book they had barely had 3 conversations together. The first kiss was awful to me with her thinking about her dead husband the whole time. I just couldn't like it. I think maybe someone more into the investigative side of the novel will enjoy this a lot more than I did.

I’m a big fan of Madeline Hunter, and this book doesn’t feel like her traditional romance - but that’s a good thing! Heiress for Hire reads more like an historical mystery with a strong emphasis on romance, and seeing as that’s my preferred genre, I adored this. Both hero and heroine are strong yet flawed, overcoming past experiences. Their relationship flowed naturally, no lightening strike - more of a “Hey, I like you. Cool.” One smaller mystery is solved by the end, but the overarching mystery into the Duke’s death remains, which will definitely keep readers interested for the next book.

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

Rival investigators find love in Heiress for Hire. Madeline Hunter’s Duke’s Heiress trilogy is off to a strong start with Chase and Minerva’s book. It has mystery, romance, and engaging protagonists who make it easy to fall into the story.

Minerva is an excellent heroine who is easy to root for. The survivor of an abusive marriage, Minerva has made a new life for herself with the family she has made. She has also started an inquiry service and knows how to make use of her skills and others’ in a time when people would dismiss a woman such as her as an investigator. Chase is also an investigator, though he doesn’t need to do it for money. Chase is an honorable hero who is easy to love, though he questions himself because of some ghosts in his past. His latest case is close to heart; he’s looking into the death of his uncle, the duke of Hollinburgh, who he believes was murdered. He is also trying to track down three women to whom his uncle has left a fortune. Chase’s investigation put him right in the path of the first beneficiary, Minerva.

Sparks fly from the start between them, but the romance is a slow burn one. Minerva carries scars from her brutal first husband and Chase is sensitive to her needs, fears, and always puts the choice in her hands. There’s a struggle between Chase wanting to be protective and Minerva wanting her independence, but it’s not played for false drama and these are organic bumps on the road toward happily ever after. The two of them suit each other perfectly, both in business and in bed. I enjoyed watching them open up and learn to trust one another with their pasts, secrets, and fears. Their love story builds from a foundation of mutual respect, understanding, and lust and it was a joy to watch unfold.

Heiress for Hire is the first in the Duke’s Heiress trilogy and I cannot wait to see what Ms. Hunter has in store for the next two heiresses. There are a few mysteries in this book, among them the questions of who murdered Chase’s uncle and why did Hollinburgh leave Minerva a fortune. I enjoyed watching Chase and Minerva work through the various mysteries, each in their own investigative style. The question of who murdered Hollinburgh and why looks to be a mystery that will span the trilogy, but there are very interesting suspects and the puzzle pieces laid out in this book are sure to keep me interested in the next two. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Heiress for Hire and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next in the Duke’s Heiress series.

Heiress For Hire is a fresh start to a new series by a favorite author of mine…Madeline Hunter has always done such an incredible job in writing historical romances especially regency. I will say that I think many fans of Madeline Hunter will really enjoy this one here, and it was quite interesting to see the set up of the story and how our hero and heroine actually meet up with each other.

It first starts with our hero Chase, who has just lost his uncle but learns that a complete stranger inherited his fortune. Chase is concerned as is certain branches of the government that his uncle’s death wasn’t quite the accident it seems to be. And Minerva is top of the list considering she inherited it all. And so Chase breaks into her home, and he finds himself tied up and at her mercy. When Minerva realizes he is foolish but not much of a threat, she frees him. And Minerva and Chase both are in the search for discovering who was behind the death of the Duke. And despite how Chase and Minerva clash with each other, they discover a hidden passion in which they least expect to find.

I will say that in reading Heiress For Hire, I was really really excited for this one and ended up being sorely disappointed in some aspects. I really struggled with the flow of the story, it was really challenging to get into this book, and it didn’t really happen until towards the end of the story. The mystery is what really convinced me to stick with the story to be honest. The romance between Chase and Minerva didn’t really work for me to be honest. I just didn’t feel the sparks at all between them. Minerva, at times, seemed to be really naive to the culture in which she lived in. I love seeing a heroine that is independent and goes after her dreams (especially when you see what she deals with in her past) but I also like them to be aware of social structures and have an understanding to certain variables and it just seemed like she didn’t.

Despite my struggles with this book, this book definitely had promise and I am eager to see what this series is headed.

This book was good. There was the murder mystery mixed with high society along with some romance. I will say it was a little slow to get into this book for me personally but it was a good book

This is an excellent first installment of a new trilogy from Madeleine Hunter. The strong female lead is believable and intelligent and her love interest is an intriguing departure from the usual overbearing and overwhelming noblemen of most historical romance. The story moves along quickly with enough mystery, angst and romance to keep you turning pages until well past your bedtime. I’m looking forward to the next two installments in this series.

Minerva Hepplewhite has come into an unexpected inheritance from a man she never met - a duke, no less, who died under suspicious circumstances. Luckily, Minerva is a private detective and she plans to find out what happened lest suspicion fall on her. One of the duke's nephews is in the same line of work and their paths cross. And recross. And cross again. 

CW for domestic abuse (past).

There's a lot to like in this book. Women who start their own business. Found family. A murder mystery. Sadly though, it never clicked for me. I never really engaged with the MCs, and just didn't feel strongly about them. I never truly felt the tension between them. Possibly there were just too many threads? It's the start of a new trilogy, and there's a lot of groundwork to lay, and many of those threads are unresolved at the end of this first book. 

The book is solid and a fine read, but it didn't make me swoon. 

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for review.

I liked Minerva's character and the way her past abuse was handled, but I couldn't connect much with her and even less with Chase. I was supposed to be interested in the mistery but to be quite honest, I was bored. I wish I could say this story grabbed my attention and didn't let go, but that wasn't the case. But that's just how I feel about it, because it's a well written book and just because I didn't connect with it doesn't mean that others won't.

This is a first book in a new series by Madeline Hunter.  I always find that the first book in a new series introduces so many people who are going to be in the following books, it gets bogged down a little. 
That being said, the book was good. A  very nice romance story between Minerva and Chase . As they both have investigative agencies,  they also work to sole the mystery of the Duke's death. 
I enjoyed the book and  would recommend it. 
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

Saint or sinner? That's the question Chase Radnor wants an answer to as he investigates his uncle's suspicious death. Minerva is a beautiful woman with a troublesome past, one of the Duke's beneficiaries with little evidence of how they crossed paths.  Adversaries to reluctant partners, Chase and Minerva investigate the mysteries of the Duke's death and the three women to whom he left his fortune.  
An excellent start to a new series from the author. The Hollingsworth family is noble, rich and hardly needs the money that they did not inherit but their actions and reactions make for a fun foil to this story.  This story is an excellent mystery that will keep readers engaged as Minerva and Chase hunt down clues to discover the truth behind the duke's death.  
Minerva has shaken off the shackles of her troubled and painful past determined to live for today until Chase comes into her home and has her thinking of more than earning a living.  When she learns about the duke's suspicious death, she's determined to look into it and ensure that suspicion does not fall on her.  During the process, romance blossoms between Chase and Minerva. It's fun to see her gain an advantage over the seasoned Chase until he finally reluctantly agrees to partner with her. 
The story sets the stage for the next books in the series and I for one can't wait to see how it all plays out.

Trigger warning for discussion of domestic violence in the novel.

It took me a while to get into this novel, but the second half was much more engaging. It’s a neat premise, a Duke leaving his money and companies to women who need it rather than his greedy family. I liked the hero and heroine, but I really enjoyed it once they started working together rather than sparring. 

The heroine is struggling to be with a man after her abusive husband, and I think the book dealt with her pain and trauma well, though it needs a trigger warning. 

This book is a good set up to a series and features multiple investigators. So, if you’re looking to read about trying to solve a mystery it might be a good fit. 

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Net Galley in return for a fair review.

I love Madeline Hunter's writing and this was a new twist on the genre! I read a lot of historical romance and after awhile the plots tend to blur but this was a different take and was quite interesting to read.

4.5 stars

Minerva Hepplewhite, formerly Margaret Finley of Dorset, and widow of Algernon Finley, is a survivor.

Shortly after receiving a surprise monetary gift from a mystery benefactor, Margaret fled her horrific, abusive marriage (with a servant and her son - the closest thing to a family she has). But when her estranged husband was killed under mysterious circumstances not far from where they were hiding, investigators tried to link her to the crime. With no evidence to prove her guilt (or innocence), she was free to leave; Margaret and her companions fled Dorset and settled in London.

When Heiress for Hire begins, Minerva Hepplewhite has reinvented herself with help from Beth, her servant (and a mother figure of sorts), and Beth's son Jeremy. Though they're nearly out of funds, she’s hoping to start a discreet detective business, and her first order of business is discovering the identity of the intruder lying on her floor. After knocking him out and tying him up, she's debating what to do next when he wakes up and demands she untie him. The stranger doesn't look like a criminal, and she relents after he promises to reveal why he’s in her home in the dead of night. The answer comes as a shock: Minerva was named a beneficiary in the will of the late Duke of Hollinburgh (a stranger), and she's now a wealthy woman.

Chase Radnor, former soldier, private inquiry agent and nephew of the late Duke of Hollinburgh, isn't sure what to think of Minerva Hepplewhite. After the suspicious death of his uncle and subsequent reading of his will (wherein he left most of his fortune to three women who don't appear to have any connection to him), his cousin Nick, the newest Duke of Hollinburgh, asked him to look into the three mysterious benefactresses. His post in The Times was spotted by one of Ms. Hepplewhite’s neighbors, but aside from discovering she was widowed and subsequently changed her name, he knows very little about the lovely woman who knocked him out. Her obvious surprise at the bequest, and laughing dismissal of his suspicions about her relationship to the late duke - Friend? Retainer? Mistress? - seems authentic. And then when she reveals she’s never met him and doesn’t know him, Chase realizes his investigation just got a lot more difficult.

Heiress for Hire initially sets Chase and Minerva as enemies. Chase suspects someone killed his uncle, and since he knows nothing about Minerva, she’s his number one suspect. Except he doesn't think she's guilty, and there are others in the family - who were left very little in the will and are bitter about it - who are also suspect. Chase intends to find the other two mysterious women, but in the meantime, he tries to learn more about Minerva and other possible suspects. Minerva, who has much to lose if Chase were to uncover her past and discover the mysterious circumstances around her first husband’s death (especially if he suspects she killed his uncle), launches her own investigation. These two keep turning up when each other least expects it, and their antagonistic relationship soon gives way to admiration, friendship, lust, and….MORE FRIENDS! LOT’S MORE.

The evolving relationship between Chase and Minerva is an absolute JOY to witness. He’s a thoughtful, gentle, scarred former soldier struggling with the events that led to the end of his military career; she’s a fighter who survived horrific mental and physical abuse, and is determined to be master of her own fate moving forward. They have delicious chemistry, and Hunt does a marvelous job developing these characters both as individuals and as a romantic couple. The author deftly handles Minerva's early marriage and horrific abuse, and its damaging effects on her physical and emotional health. I particularly loved Chase's careful handling of Minerva - even when he only had vague suspicions about her past, and Minerva's growing sense of wonder and happiness at her body and its ability to receive and give pleasure. It's lovely. Reader, I just wanted more of them together on every single page - bickering, talking, flirting, teasing - and I was annoyed every time we segued away from them to advance all the other parallel plot threads. Chase and Minerva light up every scene in which they appear. Fortunately, the secondary characters are also well-developed, and I was intrigued by most of them, too.

Meanwhile, Hunt has lots of other plot threads she successfully strings out as Chase and Minerva slowly fall in love. What actually happened to the duke? Was he murdered? And if so, who killed him? Why did the duke leave a fortune to Minerva? Who are the other women named in the will? What happened to Chase when he was in the military? Who killed Algernon? Who gave Margaret the money to run away? The author does a wonderful job stringing all of these disparate threads together until they coalesce in the final chapters of the book. We get answers to most of these questions, and the revelations are satisfying and in keeping with the tone and mood of this gem of a novel.

Unfortunately, this reader was a bit confused by a couple of loose ends:

I still can’t decide if this novel has a cliffhanger ending - or if the 'big question' is left deliberately vague. Is the author going to return to this story line in future novels? And, the author teases something about Minerva and her wardrobe mid-way through the story, but doesn’t confirm what I thought she was alluding to - even though there’s a great opportunity to do so at the very end of the novel. Did she forget?

I really can’t remember why I haven’t read a Hunt book in quite a while, but I’m so glad I picked this one up. I enjoyed almost every single thing about it (including that lovely cover!), and I’ve shelved it on my Best of 2020. New and old fans of this author will find much to like, and I highly recommend it.

Well this was a sweet read, with a little mystery woven through. I can’t say I was swept away but I did enjoy the read, it was smooth without being completely consuming.

4.5 stars.  This is a promising start to a new series by Madeline Hunter.  Chase and Minerva have palpable chemistry right from the start, and the smallest gestures and contact help build up the tension between them. The premise here combines elements seen in other historical romances but in a unique way. Here, both leads are private investigators, though Minerva’s business is just starting and facing at least some realistic roadblocks given the restrictions on women at the time.  After Minerva is named as an heiress to a wealthy duke’s fortune, one she had never met and had no clear connection to, both she and Chase begin to investigate not only why she was left the money but also who possibly killed the duke.  I actually would have liked to read a whole series of the two of them investigating their independent cases, rather than moving on the another couple.  They each bring their own skills to the investigations and it introduced a fresh element to the story.  The central mystery about the duke’s killer still lingers and likely will remain until book 3 (frustratingly) but there is a satisfying resolution to Chase and Minerva’s story at least.  I’m looking forward to Kevin’s and (I assume) Nicholas’s stories next!

Thank you to Kensington and Netgalley for providing an ARC for review!

Such a fun premise! This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. Lots of good backstory and interaction between the hero and heroine. There were a few times I felt it was predictable but that didn't take much away from my overall enjoyment. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

4.25*

I’ve been a fan of Madeline Hunter’s books for a long time, even if her most recent ones haven’t always had the charm of her earlier books. But this one… it was a book that got out of a reading slump!

I really liked the premise of the book, a duke dies, and three unknown women get almost all of his inheritance. Why? That’s what the whole family is thinking. And Chase Radnor, pretty much the only one who knew he wasn’t getting any money – let’s face it, he didn’t need it – wants to know what happened to his uncle, because his death was not an accident in his mind. And, of course, we understand very quickly that he was right. So, was it one of the women? Was it a family member? A business partner? A member of the household? A complete stranger? These are the questions that go with us as we read the book, and follow the inquiries of both Chase Radnor and one of the mysterious women, Minerva Hepplewhite.

When Chase finds her, he knows there’s something she’s hiding. Is it that she’s killed the duke? He doesn’t think so. Even if his intuition had disappointed him once, he believed he was right.

Minerva has survived her fair share of problems, and she is immensely grateful to Beth and Jeremy, her friends and former employers in her household. When this mysterious inheritance appears, she’s afraid it might disturb their recent peace. And she’s found she’s good at conducting discreet inquiries – very much like Chase. And she wonders: why would someone she’s never met give such a large amount of money?

And this is how Minerva and Chase get involved. I really liked their relationship, how it evolved, with a slow-burn, and more than just a physical thing, they admired each other’s minds, and worked so well together.

I loved the mystery, and following along with our main couple, learning what they learned and seeing their love and steaminess grow.

I also enjoyed seeing how Minerva got through her own fears and past experiences to enjoy her new life, and fall in love again.

It was a great story, filled with romance, and mystery. I can’t wait to find out more about the other heiresses.

I received a free copy of Heiress for Hire in exchange for an honest review.  The plot was intriguing, and I was prepared for a great read with plot twists and lots of action.  However, this story fell short of my expectations.  Minerva was a great character with a questionable past, and had the potential to make for great reading, but the details were far and few between.  Chase was just a mediocre character at best..  

There were a lot of family members involved in the plot to add to the mystery of whether Chase's uncle's death was accidental, intentional, or self inflicted.  It was up to Chase to conduct an inquiry which led him to suspect Minerva and several of his relatives.  Since the character development was lacking, it was very difficult to follow the story-line.   I was also waiting for the introduction of the two other unknown females that were receiving Chase's uncles inheritance, but that never happened.

Overall, I was very disappointed in this story.