Beatrice wants nothing more than to work in the quiet of the country. She is determined to finish her etymological dictionary, but her brother has hired someone to work on the house at the same time she is there and she can't stay focused. It doesn't help that the man doing the work is devilishly handsome!

Ford is stepping in for his father while waiting for his ship to leave. After finishing his work on the estate, he heads back to London to ready for his departure. But when Beatrice inherits a bookstore and can't find no one else to help her fix it up, he takes on the job.

While they seem to clash at every turn, they also can't deny the attraction between the two. But with Ford planning his next adventure, will Beatrice end up with a broken heart?

I really enjoyed Beatrice and Ford's story. I loved the bantering between these two and it often had me laughing out loud. This was a great start to a series and I can't wait to see what Bell has in store for us next!

This was my first book by Bell, but it definitely won't be my last. I need to find some time to read her back list!

Cornwall - 1830

Lady Beatrice Bentley loves etymology, however, today she is studying Stamford (Ford) Wright, a carpenter and a wild rogue. He usually works as a ships carpenter, but this summer he is working on her brother Gothic mansion, Thornhill House, located in Cornwall. Her brother, Drew, the Duke of Thorndale, is due to return soon from his honeymoon with his bride. The noise of Ford’s barking orders and ribald behavior is driving Beatrice nuts. However, she has to admit that he is a fine looking man.

Beatrice has one more season in London and then she hopes to finally be called a spinster so she can spend her time in the family’s library at Thornhill House. She loves books and learning about all of the words inside of them.

Ford tells her that he is anxious for the duke to return home because he thinks the estate agent is cheating the duke from what he has seen on invoices. At the same time, Ford and Beatrice spar over his noise making as she tries to teach him some words all of which simply leads to sexual frustration.

When Beatrice arrives in London her mother has her busy being fitted for gowns for the season. Then her mother tells Beatrice that she has inherited a bookshop from an aunt, but her mother thinks it should be sold. Ford is in London as well and he agrees to go with Beatrice and her friends to visit the shop and they find that with a bit of work, it can be saved from ruin. She is in her element surrounded by all those books.

When Ford and Beatrice meet up and work together at the bookshop, they really begin to learn the real person that they are. With such a difference in their society class, can they have a chance to be together or must they part when Ford is finished with fixing up the bookshop?

Oh, I really, loved this book. Ford and Beatrice are such strong people and their honestly in sharing themselves with one another is touching. This couple is destined to have a long and happy life together. Delightful romance. Don’t miss it!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I did not love this book as much as I wanted to. I love the idea behind it. We have lady Beatrice Bentley who just wants to live in peace and write her dictionary. And then we have Stamford Wright who is a carpenter scoundrel. I like that the couple was from different worlds. It made it more interesting than a duke and a lady... but I just did not like either one of the MCs.

Beatrice is a wallflower who literally talks to her books... look I love books but I don't talk to them.. at least not like she did. It triggered my second hand embarrassment so hard because she did it openly in front of people. I wanted to like her. She's a woman who doesn't care for the ton and their opinions and I liked that.

Stamford Wright was awkward. I don't know how else to explain him. He was meant to be a rogue but I didn't get that from him. He was kind of sweet and awkward.. Which I honestly didn't mind. He was an okay hero. I don't feel like there was anything special about him but I did like that he was very confident in who he was. He was 100% ok with his position in life. He worked his butt off to live a comfortable life and I liked that.

So yeah. There wasn't anything wrong with the story. I just didn't feel the connection with the characters. I think it felt very forced. But I did really like parts of the story. I love Lenora Bell and I think this book might have been alot better if I didn't suffer second hand embarrassment. Beatrice was just a bit too embarrassing for me to read.

This book is good but not as great as it had the potential to be. The hero is more man candy than three dimensional, and while I like a strong heroine, I wanted them to fit together in a more sub-textual way. Only knocking the book execution because of the immense potential. Lenora has major talent and look forward to watching her evolve. 3 and half stars!

Can I just say... The Mayfair Ladies Knitting League.

Please tell me each book will follow one of these ladies. If so, that is all I need to know to read the whole series. First and foremost, this is a group of ladies who are FRIENDS. I say that with all caps because that is just something that (although has been better over the past year) seems to be lacking in many romances. And I mean, they are TRUE friends. They support one another, encourage one another, have each others backs and lend a shoulder when needed, and they do this all with no judgement. And when they meet someone new who has difficulty fitting in with the norm, they welcome them into their group with open arms. It was beautiful.

Anyways, about the couple ...

Lady Beatrice Bentley is called "Beastly" by her peers because of an incident during her birth that caused a palsy and a portion of the mussels in her face don't work normally. She is very intelligent and has no desire for a husband. She just wants to be left alone to write an etymological dictionary. I will say that because this is her life's work and passion, I found myself looking up many words. While this normally annoys me in a book, it was a part of her character, so it didn't phase me in this particular title.

Stamford Wright is on his way out of town to sail with the Nave after finishing renovations on Lady Beatrice's brother's estate. While he knows all the noise is disrupting her work, he just wants to get the work done as fast as possible so he can get back to sea. Even still, her fiery hair and quick wit have ensnared him and even as he tries to sail away he gets wrapped up in another project to keep close to Lady Beatrice.

While there were one or two issues I had with Beatrice and Ford, namely their insta-attraction that led to their inability to keep their paws off each other, I overall really liked their interactions and loved how even though they were vastly different people from very different walks of life, they generally supported one another and allowed them the space to be themselves.

It’s #ThirstTrapThurs my friends, and on this hallowed day I GOTTA sing the praises of one Stamford Wright, unrepentant rogue & handsome handyman🛠

OOOF but Ford works for me as a hero😍 he’s brawny, he’s clever, he’s driven, he’s ~utterly smitten~ with his heroine and (my personal fave) is convinced she’s to good for him💕 put it in my veins!!!!! Other points in his favor:

🤍When Beatrice jokingly throws a romance novel at him, he reads it— and thanks her!!
🤍Ur boy is a carpenter & we *love* a man who’s good with his hands😏
🤍He fantasizes about her wearing her glasses & am soooo here for it
🤍Ford encourages Beatrice in her scholarly pursuits!! I quote, “Find a gentleman who values your intellect & wants you to succeed at your dictionary” 👏🏼
🤍 He has a healthy & close relationship with his mom🥰 and he writes to her about his travels!!
🤍When Beatrice goes on a rant about being forced to engage the ton, his response is “wanna hit things with this hammer?”😂

This book was such a delight!! Ford and Bea have some truly delicious chemistry (heLLO library banging!! sexing for educational purposes!!) and their love story was at once steamy & achingly sweet🙏🏻 I love a bespectacled intellectual heroine, and Beatrice was *so* relatable— deeply invested in her niche interest & easily distracted by hot people in the vicinity🤣 Also now I’m OBSESSED with the Boadicea Club!! Bea and her friends are clever & determined to carve out a space in the world, and I want to be friends with all of them

Thank you so much to Netgalley for my review copy🤍

The sexual tension between Ford and Beatrice is beautiful from the very beginning. I loved the way Ford climbed up the trellis to take Beatrice her glasses. He is almost a swashbuckling pirate in his desire to impress her. I was glued from there.

Beatrice had a huge amount of quiet strength; she just needed that little push to get her going. Once she found her courage, off she went! I loved the silly, nonsensical words and real words Beatrice used to try to teach Ford!

Ford is every woman’s dream! He just seems to ‘get’ Beatrice and her needs. He is encouraging, kind and loyal. The way he continues to look for and ask for the duke, Beatrice’s brother, to help right a wrong shows his sense of right and wrong.

Ford’s grandfather makes for a great ‘villain’ trying to take over Beatrice’s inheritance. Her mom comes in as a close second, treating Beatrice like her own private Barbie doll. The ending for Ford’s grandfather and Beatrice’s mom is so laughable. Loved it.

As a beginning of a series, I am looking forward to the rest of the bluestocking ladies finding their match.

This started out as an absolutely perfect, opposite attract, story. You have a charming, handsome, ladies man, all wrapped up in carpenter extraordinaire, Ford Wright and bespectacled, slightly disfigured, bluestocking , Lady Beatrice Bentley. The banter between the two at the beginning of the story set the stage with amazing potential.

When the story moved to London, so did the the essence of what made the characters charming. Ford fell hard and fast (seemingly out of nowhere) for Beatrice. Ford might have provided Beatrice with some self-confidence but not enough for the boldness she displayed while in Society. The story quickly become unbelievable and everything was wrapped up in a too neat, little bow.

While the story was good, it was disappointing in the potential that it squandered.

Lenora did not disappoint with the first book in her new series! I loved this cute bookworm and her handsome carpenter. It was a sweet tale with a hint of mystery, to boot. The flirting between the two was certainly swoon-worthy, although at times I wanted even more chemistry between them. Overall, I am hooked on this new series and can't wait for the rest.

This was an enjoyable historical romance from a new to me author! A bit slow to start, but it's the first in a new series so I usually expect that. I really enjoyed the opposites attract dynamic between roguish carpenter Ford and bookish etymologist Lady Beatrice. I found Beatrice's wallflower friends from the Knitting League super charming and look forward to getting their stories as well. Things I didn't love - the ending. The conflict resolution with the villain of the story seemed a bit far-fetched and too tied-up-in-a-neat-bow for my liking. Also, while it didn't totally hinder my enjoyment, I did find myself slightly lost at the many mentions of Beatrice's brother the Duke and his wife. He must have been featured in a previous book. Overall, I'm happy to have a new series to read and recommend.

A secret society of wallflower socialites who are against traditional marriage and the patriarchy? A main character who is known as "Beastly Beatrice" and is writing an etymological dictionary? Sign me up! This is a wonderful regency style romance, perfect to recommend to regency readers looking for something a little bit spicy and fun.

Witty, funny, sweet and steamy, this first of a new series by Lenora Bell is rich in vocabulary and carpentry competence-porn. It is assertively feminist but not too aggressive to be off-putting. Wonderful character development including redemption arcs for antagonists. My new favorite of Lenora Bell's books.

A bookish wallflower meets her match in a rogue who’s good with his hands in Love is a Rogue. I loved the premise of Lenora Bell’s Wallflowers vs. Rogues series but the execution in this first novel fell a bit flat for me.

All Lady Beatrice Bentley wants to do is retire to her brother’s estate in Cornwall and work on her etymological dictionary. She’s a determined spinster, but finds herself drawn to carpenter Stamford Wright who is disturbing her peace as he works on her brother’s home. Ford shakes her composure, but Beatrice expects she will never see him again once she’s swept up into the London season – and her mother’s machinations to marry her off. However, fate has other plans for them and Ford once again enters her life. They become entangled when Beatrice inherits a bookshop that’s in desperate need of renovation. She wants to turn it into a clubhouse for her “knitting club” (a secret society of feminists working to support each other’s dreams and goals) and Ford is the only man for the job. They’re from two different worlds and Ford has seen firsthand what happens to a woman who marries someone of a different class. Both know nothing can come of their attraction, yet neither can resist the other. Thus, they follow a fairly predictable route as they fall in love. There’s nothing wrong with a good formula but it felt like the emotion required to make it compelling was missing. All the elements were there for a solid love story, yet I felt like I was floating on the surface of a good romance the whole time, never going deeper, which was a disappointment.

There’s a lot to unpack in this book and all of it has potential. The push-pull between duty and desire, characters coming into their own, an inheritance with a secret attached to it, a villainous opponent, secret relations, naughty texts, a revolutionary group of women, and more, but it all feels very surface level. Plot points dragged on, became important, then inexplicably fizzled. There are many points in Love is a Rogue where Beatrice stops and talks about being a bibliophile, and even more where she and her friends point out the sexism in society. I wanted to love the book because of this but the sentiments (ones I wholeheartedly agreed with) rang hollow. Love is a Rogue isn’t a bad book but I struggled with it because it never succeeded in drawing me in and thus the book dragged. However, I seem to be in the minority at this time so perhaps this is simply a case of a book and a reader not being a good match.

I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an advance reader copy of this story.

Love Is A Rogue, by Lenora Bell, is available at booksellers 10-27-2020. Rogue is book 1 in Ms Bell's new series Wallflowers vs. Rogues. We're off to a good start. Our smart, independent as possible leading lady is likeable to a certain extent. She spends a lot of time doing he loves me he loves me not. A twist on the usual trope is our gal is the daughter of a duke and her man is a builder. No title at all & his father works for the duke. There are all kinds of obstacles in their way but none bigger than themselves. Can't wait to see what's in store for her wallflower friends. Hope they get men as nice as Ford.

#LoveIsARogue #WallflowersvsRogues #Netgalley #LenoraBell #Avon #Romance #HistoricalRomance

Lenora Bell always delivers and this one is a true delight. This is book 1 in her newest series Wallflowers vs Rogues.
"Wallflower Lady Beatrice Bentley longs to remain in the wilds of Cornwall to complete her etymological dictionary. Too bad her brother’s Gothic mansion is under renovation. How can she work with an annoyingly arrogant and too-handsome rogue swinging a hammer nearby?"
Funny, engaging and delightful. Highly recommend this book to all that love an engaging historical romance.

A wonderful story with a beauty and the beast-like twist. It combines my favorite fairy tale with historical romance. Loved the story.

Love is a Rogue is the first book in the Wallflowers vs. Rogues series. The series looks promising and the book sounded great, but I was disappointed after reading this book. I had a hard time trying to stay focused long enough to finish the book. I normally love books by this author but this one seemed to drag, and I just didn’t care for the heroine. I couldn’t seem to connect with her because came across as being selfish. She gripped and made a list of complaints for her brother when Ford was working at their country estate but once she needed him to work on her inherited house, she had no complaints. Ford was a likable hero and was charming but some of the dialogue between them appeared to be forced, not realistic. Overall, the Mayfair Ladies Knitting League has several interesting members for future books so I’m hoping the series gets better.

This is the story of Beatrice and Ford. Beatrice is the daughter of a Duke. Ford is a seaman and the daughter of the head carpenter on the estate of Beatrice's father.
Beatrice is a bluestocking through and through. Born with a slight deformity of her mouth, as a child she is told to read aloud to exercise her facial muscles. Hence the bluestocking.
Ford is a rough and tough, big and st RT ong rogue.
Two people from two different classes. She with no confidence. Him with all the confidence in the world.
Will they be able to meld their lives together.? Will they be accepted?
I loved both of these characters. What I had issues with was that that it was just way too easy for everyone to accept their relationship. That wasn't realistic.
4 stars
I want to thank Netgalley for the chance to review this book.

Ding dang it if I'm not a complete sucker for a bookish and brainy romance novel heroine. This was a cute book that I whipped through on a rainy afternoon (perfect romance book reading weather). It was fluffy where it needed to be and steamy when it needed to be and that is all I could possibly ask from it.
I haven't read any Lenora Bell before this one but I think I'll definitely start.

2.5 stars

I had really enjoyed a different series and I loved the synopsis of this one. Sadly, I was a little disappointed.

I liked Beatrice and Ford well enough. It’s constantly mentioned that she’s into books and words and he’s strong and muscular. It did get a bit repetitive and that was sort of a bummer. However, I did love Beatrice’s friends and they were delightful.

Plot wise, it was sort of boring. The so-called conflict didn’t add any tension and there were threads that felt like they were added as an afterthought. I did like their conversations and how they got to know each other; however, I didn’t really see the connection any further than lust.

Overall, something kept me reading, but I definitely wanted more out of it. I am interested in the other books, depending on who the MCs are.

**Huge thanks to Avon for providing the arc free of charge**