it was a well writen book i enjoy it
I received this novel from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this book. Great characters and romance. I finished it in one night, and immediately started to read Spencer's other novels.

I reviewed a copy of this book via NetGalley. This is no way affected my views.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but had to DNF it after 62%. Notorious follows Drusilla Clare who has been in love with her best friend, Eva’s, step brother for the last five years. Gabriel Marlington is a sort of outsider to the ton. The son of the current Marchioness of Exley, he spent his youth as one of the Sultan of Oran’s favourite sons, expecting to take over after his death, and have a harem full of women at his disposal. After a coup left him fleeing his homeland, he arrives in England and is embraced by his English family members, but not London as a whole. When Drusilla is compromised by one of Gabriel’s main enemies, Gabriel and Drusilla are forced to marry, but will Gabriel give up his agreement with his two mistresses, and tell Drusilla about his love child?

I started this just this morning, and have been forcing myself through it until I got to chapter 16 - roughly 62% into my eARC - and just decided enough was enough. I didn’t like any of the characters; Drusilla was a feminist, but seemed to give up all her ideals after sleeping with Gabriel, and Gabriel only cared about sex and women, and was extremely misogynistic. He seemed too hung up on her ex-fiancée, his mistresses, and the belle of the ton, and neigh on hated Drusilla. After a petty fight, too, Eva - who is supposedly Drusilla’s best friend - shuns her and acts like a petulant child.

Apparently, looking at other reviews, this book sort of follows another of Spencer’s, about Gabriel’s mother, so they could be some backstory I’ve missed. All in all, a truly disappointing read.

I made the grave mistake of starting this book at 9pm. By 2am, I had finally finished, but I don’t regret it for a moment. The hero was a young man new to England at the end of the author’s previous series, and now that he’s had time to live his life outside of being a sultan’s son in North Africa, it’s time for Gabriel to find love. But he’s a tricky character and not always easy to root for. He comes with an excessive amount of baggage but is fortunately able to deal with it. The heroine has baggage, too, but hers is of the much lighter “I’m not pretty enough” vein, and therefore feels somewhat shallow. But what makes this story so wonderful is watching them both fall in love. It is not instantaneous. He doesn’t much like her, and she thinks she’s been in love with him for years (merely infatuation). So seeing them take the time to learn each other and come together in understanding is beautiful. Plus the sexy scenes are HOT.

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

DNF at chapter 10.

Unfortunately, I wasn't connecting with the characters or plot in any way. There was an imbalance between dialogue and narration, which I suppose was meant to encourage a witty rapport between Drusilla and Gabriel. But it was often too over-written to be crackling or snappy and only served to further disengage my attention.

I'm giving it a neutral 3 stars, although I don't feel comfortable giving it any sort of rating when I didn't actually finish it.

When the ton find Drusilla Clare and her best friend's brother, Gabriel Marlington, in an awkward position as he saves her from scoundrel Earl Visel, they are forced into marriage to save both their reputations. Though Drusilla has been in love with Gabriel since they met, she's an avid believer in Mary Wollstonecraft's ideals of marriage, deciding to never submit to any man's will, especially not one who has several mistresses. Will they learn to be happy in their marriage? Or will a heinous plot end them before they can even try?

Maybe this is because I've never read a Minerva Spencer book before, but this was NOT the cozy romance that I was expecting it to be. Instead, I was met with a more complicated than anticipated plot and main characters who don't always do the swoon-worthy thing (@Gabriel). The synopsis is misleading in implying that Gabriel has feelings for Drusilla before their marriage. Let me just say: he does NOT. And when reading this, it was a huge let-down for me to realize that our male lead was hardly interested in our female lead, instead being much more focused on his own sexual exploits.

However, I found beauty in the fact that this book doesn't have main characters who immediately swoon for one another. Instead of a tale of miscommunications and does-(s)he-or-doesn't-(s)he-like-me story lines, Spencer gives her reader a true falling-in-love story where her characters get to know each other and grow together. Furthermore, while it was at times hard to keep up with the side-plot brewing between Gabriel and Earl Visel, I was pleasantly surprised to find more depth to this book than I had expected.

I can't wait to see where Spencer takes us next with Rebels of the Ton #2: Outrageous!

Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is the Fourth in the Rebels of the Ton series, Caught in a compromising situation, Drucilla Clare is compelled to marry Gabriel Marlington, whom she has secretly loved for years. Marriage, kidnappings, Gabriel's mysterious past and an uncontrollable younger sister makes this an interesting fast paced read that will appeal to many Regency fans. Readers who dislike steamy love scenes beware. While the previous books probably fill in the various characters back stories, this can be enjoyed without reading them first. A strong lead in sets the plot for the next in the series, Outrageous. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

A fun historical romance! I found the characters to be enjoyable memorable. A great read if you are looking for something lighter. Highly recommend!

I received an ARC of this through Net Galley. Falling in love with your best friends brother, is a theme that I have read before and enjoyed. I enjoyed this book as well. The main character's acerbic nature added an interesting dynamic between the main two characters initially. It was interesting to read about a character from another culture who then came in to moving in high society circles.

I wanted to love this more, I really did. The set up of the novel in the first chapter particularly started out really great. I enjoyed the easy banter between Gabe and Dru but the rest of the book was a big mess of miscommunication and anger from Gabe that I got annoyed super fast. If they had just communicated with each other instead of Gabe running off and Dru staying silent after every argument then half of the book wouldn’t have been necessary. I’m also not sure if I enjoyed the “not sure if this is my bastard son or my brother’s son” part of the story and “my mistresses will need to be a part of his life”. If I was Dru I would have been furious. Her sudden acceptance of it threw me off. Just wish this went a different way.

This was my first Minerva Spencer book and I absolutely loved it! Drusilla our strong-headed and intelligent female lead has been attracted to her best friend Eva's brother Gabriel for five years but she's held in her feelings because he is a well-known rake. Their future is set into place when Gabriel's enemy Lord Visel, puts Drusilla in a rather scandalous position, and he must marry her to save her reputation.

Something I appreciated was the pace of the story. An issue I have with HR (at least the ones I end up selecting) is that it's so long-winded in terms of its writing and very slow-burn which isn't something I enjoy but Spencer nails it, giving us a fast-paced, very sexy, and sensual historical romance.

Drusilla is our loveable clever and sharp-tongued heroine. A character with life and wit that I very much liked. I wished the elements of feminism were explored more but I felt that this novel was different than others, in terms of her charity work to better the lives of women and children, rather than a feminist who likes to fight with the man (like most feminist approaches to historical romances). At first, Gabriel really annoyed me. I mean his sexual history was very over the top and fetishized in my opinion, (the perfect male fantasy threesome with two lesbian lovers) but I think he got a lot better. I loved that he was a mixed-race character because diversity is so necessary for books and we got to see glimpses of his homeland and his identity struggles. Overall, I loved their relationship. I'm a sucker for the whole "I've loved and pined for you for years" and I loved his loyalty to her.

There is no debate that this cover is absolutely beautiful. It is something that had me drawn to the book instantly but the book doesn't stop there, Minerva Spencer writes an engaging romance about feminism, religion, and cultural differences. I highly recommend this for those who are looking for something different and special in a historical romance novel. I couldn't put the book down! I'm very excited for the next installment in this series.

Drusilla Clare has been in love with her best friend's brother, Gabriel Marlington, for a while. The only problem is that they are always at odds. When a scoundrel compromises her, Drusilla is surprised when Gabriel steps in to save her reputation. Suddenly, Drusilla finds herself married, to Gabriel, of all people.

Gabriel wasn't ready for marriage, and certainly not to Drusilla. Still, he means to try his best to make it work. Gabriel gives up his mistresses easily enough, but he has one more thing to do, introduce Drusilla to his son. It could change everything.

I have been awaiting Gabriel's (Jibril's) story for what seems like forever, and it did not disappoint. NOTORIOUS is an adventure, for sure. Gabriel's unconventional upbringing leads to some very interesting choices in his life. I very much enjoyed how he gave it all up to be with Drusilla. They were the perfect match. I give NOTORIOUS 3.5 stars.

Initial review:
Historical romances are not my usual choice for me, partly because I find it hard to stay engaged with historical language if the pacing slogs even a bit. This one gets right into a well-paced, interesting, story from the start. The one thing that leaves me unsure is that already in the first few chapters, the hero's background seems complex and confusing, and I wonder whether this becomes more clear or more muddled as the story develops.

Full review to come.

This had all the charm you’d expect from Minerva Spencer. I adored the Hero. The Heroine was good....but something stopped me from fully loving her. I think it was that I felt if she would have just TALKED then much of the conflict between the two of them could move on to another hurdle before reaching the full HEA. I love drama between my protagonists, but don’t like when miscommunication is the device used to stall the HEA. Still, Spencer knows her way around storytelling, so while I didn’t love this one, I still enjoyed it.

DNF at 18%.

Normally I love a Regency romance plotline where an accident forces two people into marriage to avoid ruin, because it allows them the space to get to know each other outside the Marriage Mart, but this was let down for me by the two leads having exactly zero chemistry or likeability. Drusilla is shrewish and inconstant - she's deeply in lust with Gabriel, but also hates him - and I hated the author's focus on how unattractive she was. Gabriel is irredeemably awful to me in his attitude to women, and I sincerely disliked how this was pinned on his Middle Eastern upbringing while fetishing his 'exotic' looks - this felt like it belonged in an 80s bodice ripper, not a romance in 2020. The two leads spend their only interactions before their marriage needling each other, and not in a flirty, banterous way, but in a way that felt to me like genuine dislike. I just didn't have any interest in watching the two of them fight any longer.

Also, this book is set in 1817, so pretty as that cover is, it makes absolutely no sense as bustles like that were a much later fashion.

This was a smart romance that tweaks the genre. There is a feminist theme, but not what a 21st century woman (especially readers unfamiliar with history) probably expects. In an era where women were property, asserting oneself as the heroine does in this novel, would have been exceptionally revolutionary.

A hero with mixed heritage would have also had a difficult time. Britain's state religion would have made life for a Muslim, especially one with ties to the upper class, exceptionally challenging. There was really no other avenue for the hero, if one tries to hew to any historical accuracy, and I thought the subject was handled with realism, rather than the cartoon-style revisionism currently in vogue.

Wonderful, sensual sex scenes and an exciting peroration make for an all-around exceptional book.

5 stars

Notorious is by one of my favorite historical romance authors, Minerva Spencer, so the fact that I didn't like this story is crushing for me.

I can't tell you how excited I was to read Notorious. I am a big fan of her "Outcasts" series (and I highly recommend reading Dangerous before starting this story because it acts as a prequel for Notorious), and I couldn't wait to read Gabriel's story. However, this book suffered the double whammy of lacking momentum and having zero communication between the main characters.

I struggled to like Drucilla, even from the start. She is snippy with Gabriel and expects him to read her mind when she gives no clues as to how she is feeling. Time and time again, opportunities to communicate pass her by without her engaging in them, and Gabriel was barely any better. There was so much sniping back and forth, and it wasn't much fun to read about. I also didn't enjoy the personality changes towards the end of the story. What about Drucilla's extreme feminism?

I also felt conflicted about how Gabriel's background was portrayed. I love that we got a non-white MC and there was discussion about his background, but I think the story felt biased towards his British, Caucasian side. There was an undertone of something there that I didn't enjoy.

Looking forward to the next book in the series, which I have a feeling I'll enjoy more. I know Minerva Spencer has it in her to wow me, as she has done time and time again, but this book wasn't it for me.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

I adore the cover art for this book. The story is just fantastic Drusilla and Eva are the best of characters. Their wit is unparalleled. Gabriel has a hard time trying to keep up with them once they start arguing with him. The story deals with so many topics that were unconventional for the time but does it in such a way that is both outrageous and totally hilarious. I found myself laughing and alternately rolling my eyes at something one of the characters would say or do. The entire story is an absolute delight from start to finish and I can’t wait to see what antics Eva gets up to in the next in the series.

That was my first Minerva Spencer book and trust me it won't be my last. I really enjoyed the plot, the characters and the atmosphere of the book. I know that from other reviews that there are characters in this book that are part of previous series. Even though I haven't anything else from the author, I didn't feel that I'm missing something. She makes feel this need to read more of her books in order to meet and learn more about these characters.
Dru and Gabriel are amazing together. I can't think of a better couple in England 1800. Their chemistry is undeniable and their characters just compliment each other.
I just liked this story and I can't wait for the next book in the series.

I have been provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Once I read the synopsis for this book I grew excited. The promise of a feminist female character in a historical romance who finds a partner who can respect her views and banter with her sounded all too great. I was not let down. The author did a great job of setting the historical aspect of this book without smothering it with over detailed scenes and overtly English stereotypes. In fact, I was even more excited when it was revealed that the male protagonist was not an Englishman in origin, his actual familial and cultural background was a great surprise twist to the story.

The female protag, Drusilla, was well educated and a woman of immense needs, although she did not shove it into the faces of others. In fact, Dru's charitable nature and stony appearance pushes many suitors away from her. I particularly enjoyed the development of Gabriel's character, especially when it came to Drusilla. The dramatic and mysterious aspects of the story were well created and did not feel out of place when they occurred, the author did a fantastic job of sprinkling context clue throughout the story without them being obvious to the reader (these a quite annoying, what's a good twist if you can see it coming from a mile away?)

Eva's character fascinated me, it was hard to get a real grasp on her, was she as oblivious as people close to her assumed? I believe that there are many secrets and hidden aspects to her that she does not reveal to the world. The ending of the story left me aching to read the next in the series, Eva's own story! How promising.

Overall I really enjoyed this story (if you couldn't tell) and I would recommend this story to those not very familiar to historical romances as I feel that it really opens the door to the sub-genre.

FIVE STARS!!