I seriously ADORED this book! A charming story-line and very well-written. Twins switching roles, one a handsome Reverend, the other a saucy gambling lord, insert the innocent and loveable heroine, Mary, and you have a cheeky, heart-warming read with a delightful and fulfilling ending. I really fell in love with this book and I was so impressed with the characters development throughout - it's the one thing I always look for and it didn't go unnoticed by me in this one. I'm chuffed. Looking forward to reading Daniel's story!

Reverend Daniel Wayward is an identical twin and lives in Harper's Grove. Devlin his twin, owns gambling halls and lives in London. Devlin has been estranged from his family for years. He is the black sheep of the family. He has finally been invited home after the death of his father and older brother. He is so happy. Then he tries to play a prank on the town and his family by taking his brother's clothes and play Daniel. He ends up breaking his leg and he has to play him for a while longer.
Miss Mary Tomblin is a sweet girl and she has not spent more than six months at any one place since she was born. Her dad builds bridges and when he is done with one he moves on to the next one. Making friends is very hard for her. She also believes she is in love with the Reverend. She goes through a lot of crazy twists trying to make her wish to come to fruition.
Lord Devlin Wayward is the other twin, both are handsome, well-spoken, gentle, and put on a good face. While he has changed his clothes to his brothers and everyone thought he was but the bad thing is he broke his leg. and he has to stay at least a few weeks he can't ride with his leg. Boy, what problems he causes but does not mean to.
A truly wonderful story about twins, one trying to play a prank and one a clergyman. There are some neat surprises coming. The author has entwined the three people into a difficult set of circumstances which are very hard to fix. She managed to keep it all straight and still write a coherent tale. I very much enjoyed it. I do recommend it to anyone over eighteen'
I received this ARC from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

If you're looking for a slow burn, this is the book for you! It drove me crazy and I enjoyed every second of it. 

Miss Mary Tomblin has her sights set on the vicar. Besides his vocation, his position offers her a chance to put roots down. She knows she'd make an excellent wife and seizes the chance to help him with his pastoral duties while his leg heals.

Lord Devlin Wayward is visiting his family for the first time in quite some time. He lands himself and his twin into some trouble when he breaks his leg while pretending to be his brother. They decide to swap places.

I did go in thinking this book would be lighter than it actually was but it did not take away from the story.
I appreciated the growth both of our main characters experienced.
Looking forward to Daniel's book.

ARC provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley

Beautiful cover and a really fun storyline possibilities, but this book fell flat for me. I don't think it ever lived up to the potential of the synopsis.

I don't like my romances to hinge on lies and deceit for the entire book. There are maybe two pages at the end where we see Devlin and Mary interact with as themselves, with no lies between them. It wasn't enough. I couldn't stand that Devlin takes his actions as far as he does, all while Mary still believes he's his twin brother Daniel. Mary also garnered not much sympathy from me. I really didn't like any of the characters.

If you like a lot of soap opera drama in your stories, you may love this one.

I received this book from NetGalley. Opinions are all mine.

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was hesitant about this book from the beginning because of the premise being set up around lying about an identity but by the end I was glad about the HEA. When Devlin shows up an injury results in no option but for Devlin to pretend to be his brother Daniel until his leg heals. While Daniel fulfills his obligations in London, Devlin will tend to his flock and convince Mary to set her sights on someone else.
Mary after being jilted by a man who left her for another woman , her best friend in fact, becomes infatuated with the vicar. Spending time with Devlin, who is pretending to be his vicar brother, turns the infatuation into love but she doesnt know the truth.
I hated how long the lie went on for and I feel like she forgave Devlin way to fast.
I did like how Devlin grew as a person and how he did try to do the honorable thing over and over again but couldn't help falling in love. Mary also develops as a person and learns about herself and becomes a better person having spent time with Devlin. I look forward to reading Daniel's story.

Will his duplicity be the end of them when he will have to go back to his real life ...

Wow, this is my first read by Mrs Liana LeFey and I much loved it, such I can’t wait for its sequel.
It was so entertaining to watch the sinner impersonating the saint all while he must discourage the woman drawn to the holy man.
Devlin but for a letter bears well his name, for his age, he is still quite childish, and like for a child, his pranks have often consequences. Thus here he finds himself having to switch his room with his reverent of a twin. With the mission to not endangering her his brother’s living and fend off a very determined miss who has set her cap on the man of the cloth.
Least he expected to be charmed by said miss, and now he finds himself conflicted between the pull he feels toward Mary and the need to hide his deceit. And what ever he instigates to repel her, she thwarts his every attempts, by genuinely being kind and fair. And then arises feelings much deeper than everything else he has ever felt.
Mary after a heart’s deception has sworn of rogues and rakes, why the reverent has so much appeal, that and her need to put down some roots. But the holy man always finds a way to evade her attempts, until by some fate’s game she finally has her chance to get closer. But it is nothing like she expected, she goes from hot to cold and vice-versa at every turn. One moment, she feels like he likes her, then he rebuffs her. Her time with him is like going from Charybdis to Scylla. Yet, she discerns a very different than the one he shows to his other parishioners. The more time passes, the more his mask cracks, and he lets slip he is also a man of flesh and blood, not only of holy words and prayers.
A man she comes to like more and fall for, instead of his other more refrained self.
I loved to see Devlin and Mary getting to know one another as both came to see the errors of their way, Devlin and his meaningless pursuits of wealth and pleasures and Mary for considering a position before the man. Yet, I wondered when and how Devlin’s trickery will blow to his face.

Mrs LeFey gives her words full reign to explore the many faults of her characters, they are flawed, they make mistakes, they hurt one another yet they also lift a weight in the other’s heart, their love healing their soul.
5 stars

I was granted an advance copy by the publisher Entangled, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

This is a cute (if unrealistic) premise; twins switching places. They are so identical that even close family takes some time to figure out who is who. Mary is totally infatuated with Daniel the real vicar who won't give her the time of day. But he persuades his devil of a brother to please try and dissuade Mary. The ruse backfires when the Devi, Devlin, falls for Mary.

I enjoyed this as a sit down and relax, no angst, romance. It was witty and charming and rather sexy but not over the top. It did feel a bit repetitious toward the middle but the side characters were so well drawn and interesting I didn't mind. I can recommend this book to romantics everywhere. It is a breath of fresh air in these troubled times.

It's an interesting read and I enjoyed it. The story is well-paced and as far as historical romances go, it's a fun one. I quite enjoyed the premise of identical twins switching places. The characters are all likable as well. I especially loved how everything concluded so well in the end. It has one of my favorite endings.

Lord Devlin Wayward us going home for Christmas. He's happy to leave London for a short while to get away from a woman, but must return quickly. His twin brother is a vicar but also has a problem woman. Devlin takes the opportunity to help his brother. This has very unexpected results.

Miss Mary Tomblin has travelled to lots of places because of her father's work. She really wants to settle in a home of her own, preferably as the wife of the handsome vicar. She is one determined woman. She also has a lot to learn.

This is a really fun story. Our devilish hero doesn't know how to solve the problem he started, it just gets bigger and bigger. There are lots of twists and turns and more than a few tears.

I loved all the characters and can't wait to read the next book.

Great fun.

This wasn't for me. Although the writing was good and I thought the premise was fun, the execution wasn't. I couldn't get over how, first of all, flimsy the whole set-up was, but also how awful the characters were, particularly the so-called romantic hero. He was a terrible person and his internal thoughts did not endear me to him. I dislike a hero who's willing to throw lots of money after prostitutes or beds half of the ton, but then condemns the women for being 'impure'. Honestly, gross, so I did not appreciate how Mary was held up as this decent, moral woman in comparison to "all the whores of London". And don't get me started on how Devlin then treats her after their illicit tryst. He was just a major asshole throughout the whole thing.

My main problem, though, was simply that I wasn't captivated by this. It took me ages to get through the first 20% of it and then I just started skimming. It wasn't until the last 50 pages or so that I got into it. This may just be personal preference, but I thought the ending would have made a far more interesting beginning, but as it were, I was just bored throughout most of it.

3.5 stars I went into this story with the expectation of a lot of funny situations. This was not the case, so if this is what you are looking for while choosing your next read, you are better to try a different book. Instead, we have a story with a surprising amount of character growth from our heroine Mary. Then there is our hero Devlin, who for someone who decided not to be ordained, seemed to really enjoy the majority of the duties of a vicar. His character growth was a steady feeling of finding the frivolities of London to be no longer appealing. I really liked seeing this couple get to know each other. I didn't care that much for Devlin's hot and cold, though I do understand that he was continually at war in his commitment to dissuade Mary from liking Danial (his twin brother) and from his own want of spending time with her. I will say the family aspect and some of Devlin's history just didn't make a bunch of sense - maybe this was in earlier books? All the family interactions just seemed off, and the fact that NOT ONE of his close living family attended Sunday service or came and helped him will he suffered, living alone, with a broken leg, just made we wonder WHY you would do anything to protect the reputation of this seemingly uncaring and selfish lot. The initial prank was also way overblown, easily explained away with little to no repercussion - but the resulting fall out for continuing with the switch? WOW. The other thing hit a nerve with me (I didn't research it to see if all the other books that I read were wrong) but he wore his priestly robes EVERYWHERE. I've never seen that before, in 20+ years of reading regency historical romances - so take that for what ever that's worth. Overall, I did enjoy the story, but some things just were a little off for me. *I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and this is my voluntary and honest review.

Twins exchanging places due to an accident and a bold heroine? How can you go wrong with this one?? I absolutely love when such hijinks get used to bring a couple together. There are so many ways it can play out, and this one had romance, character growth, and funny moments. I couldn't put it down! This is my first book by Liana LeFey and I can unequivocally say it won't be my last.

Devlin and Daniel are twins that couldn't be more different. One runs a gaming hell and the other a vicar in the town where they grew up. Can you imagine which one our hero might be? When the vicar find himself the subject of a crush from our bold heroine, Devlin steps in to gently set the girl straight. Only to break his leg on his way back to his house, this results in our more outgoing and devilish brother having to keep up appearances and keep company with Mary.

Mary was a great character, she was bold and owned up to her mistakes. She started out hurt from previous wrongs and a little vain but came into her own. As she got to know the village elders, they got to know her too, which helped Devlin to see that she was more than a girl who didn't know her own mind.

The end was something special in itself, and set it up for us to get the Reverend Daniel's story next which I can't wait to read. The only pause I had in this book was how much the "flock" and the church played a part. But it didn't detract from the overall story. Definitely worth your time!

All opinions included are my own and freely given.

Posted to B&N and will post to Amazon when released.

I was instantly intrigued by the plot of this one. How could a rake and the owner of some of the most infamous gaming halls in London possibly trick a town full of parishioners that he the vicar they have come to know and love?

And while this story definitely had its moments, I have questions. To start, with their families home close to the village (in fact, the family attends the very church Daniel is the vicar at), how did none of the older parishioners NOT know their vicar had a twin? Added to that, when the brother's personalities were so different from one another, how did no one (especially Mary who fancied herself in love with Daniel) guess the truth? There were moments when Mary started to question things (one example being before the switch, Daniel would barely look at her, another stronger example being when she found him drunk) and I was hoping she would figure it out - thinking that watching Devlin try to win her back would be an even more exciting story. Unfortunately, we don't get to see that except for a few rushed feeling pages at the end of the story.

For the most part, I enjoyed their interactions. I liked the way Devlin forced Mary to look inside herself and realize that she was not the pious person she had thought she was. I also liked how the two of them challenged one another to grow in other ways as well. In fact, I was surprised to find out that Devlin acted the way that he did (and seriously never considered there might be repercussions to his actions)?

Some of the interactions with his "flock" seemed to drag on a bit, as did some of the inner musings of our two characters. I also wish that Devlin hadn't been so "hot and cold" with Mary. I understand he was conflicted in his feelings, but at times he could be awfully confusing (not to mention judgemental of her actions and reactions considering he was the one who was a fraud). However, I can understand why the author chose to include them as a way to show character growth and give our two main characters a reason to be alone so that they could get to know one another.

All things considered, I do believe this story was a good start to a new series (and in fact am hoping to read book number two when it comes out - I am insanely curious to find out how a vicar managed the day-to-day business dealings of his brother, not to mention the countless women I'm sure his brother was "acquainted with". I am also hoping to find out just what happened between him and Miss St.Peters).

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

MISTAKEN IDENTITIES LEAD TO SWEET ROMANCE

At the beginning of this book I was sort of on the fence - I liked that the romantic interest was a vicar (which isn't all that usual in Historical Romance, at least as far as I'm aware) but I was not a fan of Mary, the female main character. Soon I was taken over by the story, the evolution of Mary and the ending really had me going.

"Honey catches more vicars than vinegar."


👍 WHAT I LIKED 👍

Premise: Devlin and Daniel, the local vicar, are identical twins. One day, during a prank where Devlin dressed up as Daniel to fool some of the parishioners, Devlin breaks his leg. With everyone believing that it was actually Daniel, the vicar, who broke his leg, the two twins decide to switch places until Devlin's leg heals. Honestly, it sounds ridiculous and far fetched but it was quite entertaining. Especially seeing Devlin, who is a bit of a scoundrel, taking over his brother's duties of vicar.

Mary: Like I said, at first I didn't like Mary. She felt very shallow, having firmly decided on marrying the vicar without ever having talked to him. But as she spent more and more time with Devlin (posing as the vicar) I saw her true character - kind, intelligent, tenacious. I really started to like her, care for her and want the best for her.

Ending: It is not often that a Historical Romance novel hits me so deeply that I actually start to tear up, but the ending of this book did it. It tugged at my heart and brought tears to my eyes.

Absolutely loved this story. Great llot, good pace, time to really get to know the characters.

Devlin is the perfect bad boy, and Mary has such s good heart. Enjoying their banter and growth together makes for a lovely story. Now I'm looking forward to Daniel's tale.

I had been having a bad few days: washer quit, faucet leaking, I decided to read for a while and try to regain my sanity. All I can say is " This book hooked me from the very beginning. A heroine who is not typical at all:, practical, and willing to go toe to toe for what she thinks is rightfully hers. No shrinking violet here! The hero is handsome, .' if you like strong heroines, flawed but gorgeous heroes, and witty dialogue....this is it!

This book was infuriating. Dev is more villain than hero, devoid of integrity, courage, or, honestly, logic, and the way the entire book conspires to gaslight the poor heroine is appalling.

Full review will appear on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books in due course.

Didn’t end up meeting my expectations.


Devlin, riddled by a sudden broken leg out of nothingness, swaps identities with his twin brother and becomes the vicar (whilst his twin goes to take his place in London).

Mary has been... Ehhh, determined? That the vicar of her village is the perfect character to marry, therefore he just has to be her future husband!


For having pined after the real vicar for such a long time, I was surprised Mary didn’t see through the ruse quicker (I actually thought the story would have been about that).
The rest is some contrived bore of them visiting the locals to ask about their welfare, help them if in need, and so on and so forth.... Extremely boring.

I wanted a romance, not a guide on how to care for my sheep flock if I suddenly found myself a vicar.

Ahhhhhhh this was just such a wonderful book and I just thoroughly enjoyed myself. I didn’t want to put this book down. I just fell in love with this wonderful story and it’s wonderful characters. I will most definitely be reading more stories from this wonderful author.

Miss Mary Tomblin is a young woman who knows what she wants...and what she wants is for the handsome reverend to realize that she'd make the perfect wife for him. However, he has proven remarkably resistant to her charms. That all changes one day, but she has a hard time reconciling the reverend's prior pious behavior with the roguish charm of the man in priestly garb before her...

Lord Devlin Wayward, former black sheep of his family, returns home for Christmas and on a lark, masquerades as his saintly twin brother. After breaking his leg during his ruse, he risks opening up his family to scandal, so he and his brother continue the lie, wherein his brother will handle Devlin's affairs in London, and he will tend his vicar brother's wayward flock...and discourage the advances of the irrepressible Mary Tomblin.

Devlin and Mary are drawn to one another, but Mary can never know that he is not the reverend. What will happen when this sinner falls in love with an innocent who believes him to be a saint?

This novel is for you if you like the bleakest of dark moments. You'll also love it if you've read Sierra Simone's "Priest"...and want a somewhat tamer historical version of that. This book is a doozy -- and I could not put it down! The chemistry between the hero and heroine is incandescent and I found myself screaming at the book even as I was rooting for these two to get their respective acts together. The motivations for the characters were delicious and very fitting with their personalities, and I just loved the two of them butting heads.

The secondary characters were fleshed out wonderfully, and I felt completely drawn into the world that Liana LeFey has created. The only drawback is that the "dark night of the soul" moment required a lot more groveling from our hero in my eyes, but that's also because I love a good grovel. 5 stars for sure, and I will be keeping an eye out for more of LeFey's work!