This book introduced me to Julia Bennet and wow did it blow me away. There is mystery around the characters and I like how they unfold slowly versus giving me all their backstory at once. Alex newly inherited a dukedom. His estate is failing and he must marry an heiress. He knows this but can't get Evie off his mind after buying a risky photo of her under another name. She feels trapped into working for "the captain" after he "saved" her in her childhood. She tricks people into thinking she can talk to the dead. Alex exposes frauds for fun, and strikes a deal with Evie that he will follow her for a week and if he can prove she's fraudulent then she will admit it in public and if he can't; he will never bother her again. Slowly they get to know each other and realize one week might not be enough. It is different from other books I've read, but I enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed this book and the story sucked me in from the very first chapter. Alex Harcastle, who recently became a Duke after his father passed away, has a hobby - to uncover spiritualists and mediums for the frauds that they are. His newest "case" is Evangeline Jones, whose photograph haunts him. Quite quickly Alex realizes that there is a lot more to Evangeline than he originally thought. They make a wager - he follows her for a week and if he can't figure out her spiritualist tricks, he will give her money and live her alone forever. But if he can, she must publicly admit that she is a fraud.
Evangeline "Evie" Jones is an orphan that was raised by "Captain" since he took her from a brother when she was 12 years old. She's had a tough childhood and she has worked hard to get where she is now. There is no way she is going to let some pompous Duke destroy her life (even she doesn't really like it that much).
Both characters were fantastic. Evie is not a shy and timid young woman, she has great comebacks for Alex and she knows how to play him and how to push his buttons. I loved watching their relationship grow.

I don't even know where to begin. I absolutely loved this book! 
Alex Duke of Harcastle has made it his sole mission to defraud all spiritualist scams. And now his sights are set on Evangeline Jones, sitting in on a seance in order to debunk her tactics. His plans are also fueled by his attraction to her. 

Evie has worked hard and has no plans to abandon what she's built up. They strike a bargain. Alex has one week to prove she's a fake. If he wins, she abandons her work and if he fails, he leaves her alone.

That scene in the carriage was so HOT! I could feel how powerful she was at that moment, commanding the Duke to show her.
I don't think I've ever read a story like this before.

What a great book!! I enjoyed this story so much!! Love Evie and Alex as well as the seanses! I will be looking forward more books of this author.

This is one of the best books I have read so far this year. I found myself completely immersed in the story, which is not your typical English historical romance. Whilst this is the second book in the series, it is a standalone book. I must admit that this story is even better than the first book in the series.
The book follows Alex Stanton, a duke, who is in desperate need of funds. Yet he seems to be hellbent on uncovering fraudsters such as Evangeline, a spiritualist and medium. His fascination began when he was given a photo of her, posing seductively, such that he has not been able to get her out of his thoughts. Yet despite his floundering dukedom and his need to marry an heiress, he finds himself captivated by Evangeline and rather than reveal her lies, finds himself helping her to escape the clutches of ‘The Captain’.
Without revealing more to the storyline, this is a book of such intense feelings between the two main characters. Whilst Evie’s character appears to be one of a fraudster, her fragility is evident to those around her. In many ways, this is what draws Alex in. Whilst he initially appears to be cold and quite determined, his gentle ways with Evie are soon apparent – definitely swoon worthy. This is not a light-hearted romance but one that wrings out all the intensity of a great romance. I so look forward to reading more in this series and hope to see many of the characters again. This was a book that I was disappointed when it ended.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book just as much if not more than the first! Bennet is truly an amazing talent and the romance community really needs to take notice. It’s incredibly sexy and I love a heroine who comes from nothing and is unapologetic about who she is and how she got there. Very much recommend.

This book seriously blew me away and I have a new author I am keeping a close eye on. When I finished this, I immediately bought the first book of the series and will be following her for other releases.

Alex, our hero, is a new duke. While his properties aren't making enough to maintain themselves and the dukedom is slowly going under and he knows he must marry and heiress, that's not his main concern. He's become obsessed with calling out frauds and his focus has landed on Evangeline who is a spiritualist and medium. She was brought to his attention from a photograph that haunts him.

Evie has worked her way up from the bottom of the London streets. She's a successful medium entertaining society, hardworking, but trapped in a life she doesn't love. When she meets Alex, he presents a wager. He can prove she's a fraud within one week. If not, he leaves her alone forever. If he's successful then she must publicly announce she's a fraud.

I adored the writing in this book. It just totally sucked me in. I thought the plot was pretty unique and I really couldn't predict what was going to happen. Or at least I thought I knew what would happen but it was totally different, especially the end.

I enjoyed both characters. I enjoyed the medium aspect to Evie's character but I think it could change depending on how you feel about that stuff. I thought Evie was really strong. But, Alex made this story for me. I loved Alex. So much. He's a cold, arrogant duke with some serious father issues. I know that doesn't sound unique, but I thought his character was really well done. I think that is my favorite hero type. The moment they crack for their heroine, the pain and worry they feel when they are in danger, the passion that burns beneath that utter contempt for the world. I loved it.

This book had a similar feel to me as some of Kerrigan Byrne books. It's a little dark, though not as dark as hers. There's plenty of language that people might find offensive, like the f*** word (used in a sexual context, not only in anger). It's not a light and fluffy romance. The sex can be rather raw and it's explicit and there's at least 3 scenes I believe. But I love all that stuff, so that brought up the rating for me.

There was a part towards the middle that I felt really dragged and I was starting to get a little bored. But overall I really enjoyed this story, the characters, the world that Julia Bennet created. Also the first book has me really intrigued. Alex's half sister is the heroine and she was locked in an insane asylum for 10 years. Can't wait to start that one soon.

I liked this book, it was a nice quick read with some cool historical backstory about the spiritualist movement. It made for a delightful afternoon of reading, and if that isn't the real point of books, what is?

You can see the quality research behind the story. Without spoiling anything, the book provides very good insight into the culture, and mechanics, of spiritualism at this time. The characters had potential to be very interesting and did not rely too heavily on “tragic backstory” beyond what was necessary to explain how everyone got to this point in our story. The story gives a happily ever after with just enough twists and turns to make it worth it.

My only caveat is that I sometimes felt like understanding the characters would have made more sense had I read the first book in the series. Not in a subtle “interconnected story way, but in a “clearly I am just missing information so let's just move on” way. That said, I am requesting the previous book and am excited to fill in the gaps. I look forward to seeing how this author grows and hope to see more titles in the future.

The ending was brilliant! But you will have to find out what is is yourself. For now, just let me tell you that this was a sound story line. The normal fake medium gets exposed by aristocrat. And then it makes a left turn into romance, sensousness, soul searing emotion, danger and action. One of the best parts if this story was how well displayed the fake seance scenes are. The heroine is very likeable and I was rooting for her to get her HEA from the start. Even though the her was a duke, this book was filled with the details of the lower classes life and expectations. These are the parts of the book that I truly enjoyed. Seeing how the lower classes worked and dealt with the problems that they had. One of the most important was how a woman was supposed to support herself without turning to prostitution.
This book was very well written, with good story line and side plots. The people were are believable and clearly defined. There were no grammar, spelling or continuity errors. It was a full length novel, but was an easy read and the reader didn't have to go back to make sure the details were correct. I highly recommend this book. 5 stars

It was a delight to read this book. From page to page the plot flew beautifully and romance developed well. I was cheering for main leads. I wanted to read more each chapter I completed. I really like this book to the extend that I have put this author in my favorite author list!

This is my fair and honest voluntarily given, review, in my own words, for this ARC. From start to finish, I couldn't put this book down. Excellently written tale with great characters. A medium and a duke out to prove she is a charlatan but her future depends on him NOT finding out. As the story progresses so do the characters. What changes? What will determine their futures. A seemingly impossible relationship. Really a read for your TBR list.

Wow! What an incredible book! I was hook from the first word and could not put it down. This is the story of Evangeline Jones, a spiritualist and medium, and Alex Stanton, the Duke of Harcastle, who is trying to expose her for a fraud. Along the way, Alex and "Evie" begin to develop feelings for each other but there are many obstacles in their way. This book draws you in with a mystery that you just can't wait to solve, there is passion and drama. The characters are unique and each have their own stories. Together they make an incredible read. I will definitely be looking for more books by Julia Bennet.

Evangeline Jones has had to struggle to keep her head above water all her life, she was saved from a life in the gutter by her mentor but begins to suspect that he has ulterior motives in helping her. She is about to gain fame and fortune as a successful spiritualist but is targeted by Alex Stanton whose life’s work is to uncover fraud and deceit in her world. Alex has uncovered evidence of Miss Jones’ past that intrigues and excites him against his wishes, resulting in their interactions causing sparks. I loved the atmosphere and setting of this story, the pull between the protagonists is palpable as the pace and tension picks up, I found myself drawn into the excitement of the story. Would love to read the other book in this series. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The writing was superb and it flowed very well. It also painted the era and scene of the book in such a believable matter: I was very pleasantly surprised when photographs were mentioned, as they aren’t usually thought of in other Victorian novels!


However, the characters and storyline didn’t hold appeal for very long. At the start, the book was quite interesting, but then it tapered off into a merely ‘ok’.


The story is about Alex (the male MC) having a ‘hobby’ of exposing fraudsters, and he’s got Evie (the female MC) in his sights, for she is a medium and charlatan in his books.

Alex was an ok hero, and personally the most interesting between the two. However, I didn’t enjoy Evie much, I’m afraid.

She says that she doesn’t hurt anyone, but I do agree with Alex’s sentiments that it’s awful she plays on people’s emotions by performing her medium sessions where she apparently can speak with dead people. From the first chapter, she tells a poor couple who had lost their child that their son is now at peace and in a better place! In her mind, it was a good move to reassure the parents that their child went to Heaven or something, and I feel like she was thinking of herself as a good Samaritan. I begged to differ.

It left a bad taste in my mouth, and I didn’t like her from the very beginning...


Quite unfortunate as the book was very well made :)

I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.
This story had lots of potential, but I felt it fell a little short. I started skimming the story about 50% in. I can't say it was anything specific except it just didn't hold my interest. Maybe it was too much inner dialogue. I just didn't feel the connection between the H/h.

In The Ruin of Evangeline Jones, a duke is intent on debunking a spiritualist and medium in Victoria England. Alex Stanton is honest with himself as he directs his attention towards Evangeline “Evie” Jones--it's not that he just wants to expose her; he also wants to bed her. During his research he procures both a stern image of the Evangeline, and also a much more provocative image of her as "Sally Harper," which holds his unwelcome attention. Evie is also honest with herself--she performs to survive and tries not to do harm in her work. She's beholden to "The Captain" for her survival, who rescued her as a child from a brothel.. When Evie and Stanton meet, the dance begins, and overall it's an enjoyable one. Ms. Bennet writes crisply, and paints the era well--there's a clear tone and place to the novel.

---spoilerish---


Some elements were less successfully executed, such as the main antagonist's motivations. They were so murky, even Alex notes this issue in the book's big climax. Perhaps the author should have made them more believable if even the hero of the novel is like, what the what? Especially since the antagonist allegedly laid the groundwork for YEARS. Also, I know it's a romance, but class is never really as much of an issue as it should be. Perhaps it stood out more because so many other elements were well-done that I thought this could have been highlighted even more than it was. I'm torn between 4-5 stars on this one. I'll give if 5 for the author's potential (and because I've read a lot less successful content recently!).

I received an ARC courtesy of NetGalley, and prompted by Elizabeth Hoyt's raves. I almost didn't request because the hero on the cover looked like the actor in The Room, which is less than ideal ;) All opinions in my review are my own.

This was everything I had been searching for. Easily the best romance book I have read in a long time, perhaps even ever.

The concept and plot were enthralling, I was enchanted from the very first few pages. I loved the characters, particularly Alex who is far from the prim and proper gentleman he pretends to be. The passion between them is unforgettable and the dialogue keeps you turning page after page.

I am delighted to have had the opportunity to read this and discover this author. Highly recommend.

I was given a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I loved the honest communication between these characters! It was beautifully written and you could really feel the care between them. I'm so glad to have found another historical romance author that I love!