What was was one of my most-anticipated reads of the year, and is now just one of my FAVORITE reads of the year!
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Lady Beatrice is a bluestocking who would really just like to be left alone to finish her etymological dictionary. Unfortunately, not only is her mother is determined to see her married off to a titled gentleman, but her countryside refuge is being disturbed by some very loud construction and a very roguish and handsome carpenter, Stamford Wright.
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We often get the rags to riches Cinderella story for our HR heroines, but it’s a nice to have a break from the constant dukes and earls to instead enjoy a swoony commoner hero. Meet my newest book boyfriend: Ford, a handsome, loyal, decent, hardworking carpenter. I absolutely love him and Beatrice together. He's protective and wants to help Bea, but he also recognizes that Bea doesn't need rescuing. Bea is a strong-willed heroine, but she’s an introvert with more of a quiet strength. She’s quirky and adorable, and a titled gentleman would never have made sense for her non-traditional ways.

The perfect blend of funny and touching with well rounded characters and an unexpected twist at the end.
A comedy of highly pleasurable errors from start to finish that couldn't of been sweeter. Had me chuckling with laughter, in awe and stitches at one crotchety caretaker and his fiery wife's antics, building with anticipation, warmed with touching uncertainty and seduced by one besotted, brooding, knight and his debate with himself to freely love the damsel of his dreams, with spicy results.
A riveting good read that might be short, but never feels it, as it packs in the yearning desire and amusement to overflowing!!

Lenora Bell writes a fabulous story with Love is a Rogue. Beatrice and Ford come from two vastly different worlds, but when love strikes, it doesn't care. Ford jumps in to help Beatrice and her friends save her inheritance to the dismay of the man who wants the property. A lovely story follows. Readers will not be disappointed.

LOVE IS A ROGUE was my first Lenora Bell book -- but clocking in at a solid B, it won't be my last. Beatrice is an able-enough heroine, distinguished by her love for etymology, books, and the etymological dictionary she's planning to write once she achieves full spinster status. All she needs to do is fail one more season with the ton to circumvent her mother's plan's to make an advantageous marriage. Ford, our dashing hero, enters the scene as a carpenter whose role overseeing the renovation of the duke's estate brings him into Beatrice's path. They collide with flirtatious results, and the fun continues when Beatrice hires Ford to renovate a bookshop she just-so=happens to have inherited from a dead aunt. Unbeknownst to Beatrice, the property brings Ford's past directly in-line with her present, and they unite to overcome the challenges posed by society, their personal demons, and Ford's dastardly grandfather.

For me, Beatrice's status as the duke's sister undermined the urgency of her final season in society; she doesn't have to marry to save the family fortune or escape a cruel family situation, and in fact, Beatrice quickly decides to play along and appease her mother, all the while knowing she'll reject any proposals and retire to the country in due course. So the stakes are not especially high from a cultural perspective, which deflated the conflict somewhat. Likewise, Ford's inner demons don't hold the same power over him that might seriously impact his actions; he's set to return to the Royal Navy any day now, but decides with zero fanfare that actually no, he'll decline another tour and stay land-locked, tyvm. How realistic would it have been to back out of military service? I can't say -- but it seems like this would have been a serviceable point of separation for Ford and Beatrice, that would have prolonged the third act and provided valuable tension. Because it's the third act that keeps LOVE IS A ROGUE from ascending higher in my estimation. There's a lot of fervent proclaiming -- of love, intentions, desires -- and some very perfunctory acceptance of our hero and heroine's plans to be together. Beatrice loses major steam on her passionate attachment to word origins (hard enough to care about Latinate roots when one is being debauched, surely), and Ford just kind of throws up his hands and decides to be Beatrice's steadfast partner. It was a happy, satisfying ending, but a rushed one -- and one that missed several key opportunities for further development.

While I"m not ready to add Bell to the Dare/Milan/Kleypas pantheon, I'll be reaching for her work next time I've got a hankering for dynamic, well-written historical romance.

This is a lady and the carpenter story.

There are some things done well in this book. The character development for one. The two main characters, Lady Beatrice and Mr. Wright (the rogue & carpenter) come to life. Also, it was easy, due to the author’s talent of descriptive writing, for the reader to visualize special places in the story, as the Library at Thornhill House and Castle’s Bookshop on the Strand.

However, several times while reading Love is a Rogue, I thought, “what era is this? Regency? Really?.” It would be difficult to know as it contains so much modern dialogue that the only clues to the time period are the societal rules and the fashions.

Talk, talk, talk! The characters spent so much time talking I was surprised they had time to **spoiler alert**
have sex.

This is a good tale with some fine moments but with enough flaws to frequently jar me from the story.

Love Is a Rogue checked all the boxes for me. This witty, smart, sweet & sometimes down right smoldering story, kept me rapt from start to finish.
Ford the carpenter, a formidable titan of masculinity, strength and a cocksure smile; had me imagining exactly what he may look like in real life. Feeling & placing oneself in the story and admiring him from afar, inside that high window.
Beatrice, booksmart and precise, she wields her words like that of a swordsman wields his blade. Books and her intellect her insulator and armor to protect her from the outside world, the name calling and the ton. Never to love. Never to marry.
All of her future carefully outlined in her mind...until this carpenter...until Ford.

This is book 1 in the new Wallflowers vs Rogues series and I cannot wait for book 2, it couldn't get here fast enough.
Huzzah Lenora, your best book yet!

Love Is A Rogue is the first in a new series from one of my personal favorites, Lenora Bell.
This story revolves around Lady Beatrice Bentley, and working class carpenter, Stamford (Ford) Wright. Ford is the handsome, roguish carpenter working on the Duke of Thorndon's home in Cornwall (the duke, Drew, and Mina, got their HEA in LB's previous book!).
Beatrice is bookish, scholarly, and completely resigned to spinsterhood. If it weren't for her meddling mother who insists she marries a titled gentleman. Shoving her into expensive frocks of the latest fashion. But Beatrice has decided she'll never marry, because she's just too opinionated, too smart, too bookish, too... beastly. She starts to question her decision after she finds herself caught up in her own thoughts about the handsome carpenter... but could a love match outside their stations ever happen? When Beatrice inherits a derelict bookshop from a late aunt she never knew she had, she enlists Ford for his help to restoring the space for her precious books, and her beloved. best friends. Of course, his conniving, black-hearted grandfather who cast out his mother when she married "below her station" is doing everything he can to stop them both.
I loved this book. Like, well and truly loved. In this season of my life, I've been looking for low-angst books, and this book is just that - but don't take that at face value. These two overcome so many obstacles, and beyond that, they are fairly good at communicating with one another. A refreshing take in historical romance.
Something Lenora has always nailed for me, is her rich, intriguing background/supporting characters. She features them enough to make you want to know more, know them better, see them get their own HEA without taking away from the main couple's story. I don't think that's something easily done but Lenora makes it easy somehow. And my other favorite thing? Lenora makes me laugh. Plain and simple. She brings enough humor to her writing to make you chuckle, but feel deeply for her story and characters.
I loved watching Beatrice and Ford find their HEA and fight for their love and what they believe in, in spite of allllllll the odds. I can't wait to see who Lenora gives us next.
Many thanks to Avon Books, Lenora Bell, Kelly Oakes, and NetGalley for the chance to read & review this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lady Beatrice-Wallflower, Logophile, Bibliophile.

Stamford-Navy man, carpenter, roguish in charm...and yes, he’s VERY good with his hands😉

With a bit of encouragement from Stamford, Lady Beatrice underwent a mental transformation from social expectations and perceptions during the course of the book and I loved seeing her blossom. Stamford was an absolute sweetheart in his own way with his daring smile and complimentary remarks, but I loved seeing him really open up with Beatrice and expose emotional depths I didn’t expect.

Love Is a Rogue was a charming read! I liked the premise and enjoyed the tongue in cheek humor as well as the family drama. There is also a delightfully witty cast of characters with very interesting backgrounds that I am looking forward to reading about in future books! I

I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley/Harpercollins Avon and this is my honest review.

Beatrice is a woman who does not want to marry but instead write a dictionary. Stamford is a sailor rogue on leave doing carpentry work for Beatrice and her family. When his aristocratic father threatens Beatrice, Stamford steps in to help save the day. I received an ARC from NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for my honest review.

After my first encounter with Lenora Bell's latest book, "Love is a Rogue" from a reading given by Lenora herself, I was hooked!

The story revolves around a Lady Beatrice Bentley and Stamford Wright, or Ford as he's known to his friends, a carpenter working at Lady Beatrice's brother's Cornwall residence.

They say "the power of love conquers all" and that "opposites attract" - this is certainly the case for Beatrice and Ford.

From the start there were lots of chuckling and LOL moments with Beatrice's inner voice berating herself as she tries to ignore her growing attraction to Ford who is carrying out repairs on her brother's estate over the summer.

The story is interspersed with Latin and word origins, just like a dictionary - giving us an insight into Beatrice's character, and we learn how her love of words came about.

It's not all one-sided and plain sailing, oh no, Ford feels the call to Beatrice too, and by coincidence their common "enemy" draws them even closer.

As their story progresses, so does the level of detail about their passionate exploration of each other.

I thoroughly enjoyed romping through Beatrice and Ford's story, and cannot wait to see which one of their circle "gets to speak next!"

Thank you so much to HarperCollins, Netgalley and Lenora Bell for giving me the opportunity to read this eARC.

This book was funny and entertaining. I enjoyed watching Beatrice realize what kind of life she wanted once she met Ford and then figure out how to get that life. And I loved her sesquipedalian vocabulary!

I really liked this and thought it was very well done. I liked that it wasn’t your typical hysterical set up. And I’m very happy with the HEA. thank you to netgalley for the ARC!

Society ladies are to be dainty creatures and not have interests beyond bearing children and keeping a house. Beatrice is different from those women, proclaiming herself to be a wallflower and has no desire to marry. If only the handsome carpenter and navy man, Ford, would leave her in peace so she can finish writing her etymological dictionary. Ford is considered a rogue and had no desire for love or marriage. He is here to finish a job and return to the sea and Beatrice is far above his station. Yet, why can he not stop thinking about her? When Beatrice gets an interesting surprise, it brings her and Ford together again. They begin to see more of each other, while Beatrice fits in her mother's demanding social obligations. Neither expected to fall in love, but with such a gap between them and each having their own future plans, will they take that leap of faith?
I received this novel from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a joy to read.
I always love a book with a fun and smart wallflower.
Lady Bea, is very introverted. In comes loud masculine Mr. Wright to bring her out of her shell.
Some fun twist and turns.
Secondary characters are fun too.

"Beatrice, I love you," he whispered, emotion roughing his voice to gravel. She smiled, her eyes shimmering with tears. "I love you, too my rogue."
Lady Beatrice smart, bookish, strong but would prefer to stay in her own quiet world.
Mr. Ford Wright brawny, forward, charismatic and the best part is he sees Beatrice as the beautiful person she is and helps her find her strength.
I enjoyed the dialog between Beatrice and Ford..serious, sweet, funny, engaging! It was a believable love story that snuck up on the H/h. The Duke even comes in at the end to support his sister.
"She was a new beginning. She was his haven. His heaven." Le sigh...heart doing a little patter.
I cannot recommend this book enough.

This lighthearted literary romp had all my favorite tropes: a bluestocking lady who falls for a rogue; a secret (knitting) society of women intellectuals; and secret relatives who bestow inheritances. In the beginning of the book, the heroine has retreated to Cornwall to escape her marriage- minded mother so she can work on her etymological dictionary. There she meets Ford Wright, the very handsome carpenter who is working on the renovations to her brother's estate. Although she initially denies it, there is an immediate attraction between Beatrice and Wright. Beatrice then returns to London to prepare for the Season and through a series of well-timed coincidences, encounters Wright and hires him to renovate the dilapidated bookshop she just inherited.

The dialogue between Beatrice and Ford shows their growing appreciation for each other. As the book progresses, Beatrice becomes more confident and sure of herself. Ford also changes during the course of the book, and allows himself time to reflect on his past experience with loss associated with wartime battles and on the inter-generational influence of family secrets. Together, Beatrice and Ford (rather easily) overcome every obstacle in their path and have their HEA.

Lenora Bell creates characters that are quirky and relatable and I loved the characters in this book. The ladies of the Mayfair secret knitting society are both confidants and wonderful supports to each other. They help Beatrice see that she can enjoy and explore her attraction to Ford. I hope the members of the Mayfair knitting society they have their own stories in upcoming books!


Thank you NetGalley, Avon, Lenora Bell, and Kelly Oakes for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I truly enjoyed the first book in Lenora Bell’s new series. I truly enjoyed the dialogue and interactions between Ford and Beatrice. I also enjoyed being able to catch up with some characters from her previous series.
There were a few situations that rang hollow to me, especially how easily they overcame their issues. Overall, I really enjoyed the journey of Ford and Beatrice in finding their HEA.

I love this new series by Lenora Bell and I can't wait for more books. This book had several plot twists and I really enjoyed getting to know Lady Beatrice and Ford. Ford is very loyal to his promises. I had no idea what a etymological dictionary was until I read this book. I loved that the setting was Cornwall I haven't really read that many book set there. I think Ford was my favorite character and I hope Beatrice's brother gets a books.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon for the ARC to read and review. Reverse class love story. It's usually a duke and a commoner female. This time its a duke's daughter and a carpenter.
Beatrice can't keep her thoughts on working on her etymological dictionary because she's distracted by Ford, the handsome carpenter her brother hires to work on his estate. Beatrice is a first order wallflower and proud of it. She has determined to not marry and devote her life to her dictionary. Beatrice and Ford have a very sexy meet cute and then the story picks up in London at the heart of the season. The Beatrice of Cornwall is lost to her mother's concerns for an excellent match. Amidst the preparations for the season, Beatrice learns she has inherited a bookshop and eventually hires Ford to repair it.

Love eventually conquers all after Ford's grandfather tries to exploit their relationship.

My largest disappointment in this story was how easily every impediment to their relationship is resolved. The last few chapters just don't flow like the rest of the novel and hopefully the finished product will have a more polished resolution to their story.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was not enchanted by this romance novel. While I liked the bookish, Beatrice, Wright didn't quite fit in her world. He was too manly and brutish to be a genuine love interest. He kept using words like princess to refer to her and was too aware of her social status. a match between him and Beatrice just seemed unrealistic.