When A Rogue Meets His Match by Elizabeth Hoyt is the second book in A Greycourt Novel series. It is a great historical fiction romance that can easily be a stand-alone novel, but is best savored if one has read its predecessor: Not The Duke’s Darling.

I enjoyed this second book even more then the first. I really liked Messalina and Gideon’s characters. Yet again Hoyt does what she does best, an enemy to lover plot line with a bit of a marriage of convenience plot thrown in for good measure. I enjoyed this specific plot, the steamy chemistry that is clearly felt between the two characters, and I like how they evolved and their journeys in this book unfolded. I also continue to enjoy the overarching theme that is tying the series together with the mystery regarding the families. It will be very interesting to see where the series goes after this...and of course I will find out!

5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR, Instagram, Bookbub, Amazon, and B&N accounts accounts immediately. Published on 12/1/20.

This is the second book in the series and it can be read as a stand-alone however for best enjoyment I do recommend reading them in order. Gideon worked his way up from the slums of London and became Windermere’s fixer. Now he is ready to move on and work for himself. Windermere temps him with one final job and with it he will when the hand of Messalina. Messalina isn’t happy with the arranged marriage but begins to fall for him as they spend time together. What will happen when she finds out what his final job is? Fast-paced historical read with lots of twists and turns, drama and steam. I liked it.

Duke of Windemere has offered his niece Messalina Greycourt's hand in marriage to his henchman. Gideon Hawthorne started his life in the gutters of London as has sense clawed his way up to do all the Duke’s dirty work. He wants out, but the Duke has offered his niece to Gideon and there’s nothing he wants more than to marry the one woman he’s longed for forever. Messalina is afraid of her uncle and what he might do to her family if she doesn’t agree to this marriage to Gideon. I love how this story progresses Messalina being leery of her husband to her trusting him with her heart and soul. Gideon knows if his secret is revealed he’ll lose the wife he’s become to rely on. Her family are a huge part of her life and she’ll do anything to protect them, even marry the enemy. I have voluntarily read and reviewed these excellent story.

Gideon Hawthorne acts as the Duke of Windemere’s heavy of sorts...doing all the hard jobs that involve scaring people into submission basically. He has worked his whole life trying to get out of poverty by trying to set up his own business. When he finally is ready to strike out on his own the Duke offers him his niece, Messalina Greycourt as a reward if he does one final job.

What I appreciate about this story is that it didn’t waste time with her hating him and us getting sick of it. He hates the Duke just as much as Messalina does and he does offer her a compromise. He will not keep her against her will and she is free to do as she pleases. It’s just really sweet to see such a tough man be tender towards the woman he loves and doing things he doesn't like because he knows she will like it. She is strong willed enough to the point where you like her and not to the point where she makes stupid decisions.

I think if you want a fast paced love story with softening of hearts and knife fights you will enjoy this.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

Since I don’t remember the first book, besides being disappointed that it didn’t give me Maiden Lane vibes, I went into this one with high hopes. I liked this one more but still not enough to rave about it or give it 4 stars.

I love enemies to lovers but coming into this one I felt a bit disconnected. I’m assuming you need to have read book one to fully grasp the enemy part, since right off the bat we’re shown the hatred but I don’t know where it came from. Most of these interconnected standalones can be picked up in any order but I feel like something was missing from this one, so I’m wondering if book one is needed first.

Ugh. I love Elizabeth Hoyt’s books so I will keep reading this series. But they’re not gonna be my favorite. Now, they’re definitely good, just not Maiden Lane great. That’s a hard act to follow.

Book 2 in the Greycourt series but can be read as a stand alone. This is an enemies to lovers trope.
Gideon's has been the strong arm of the Duke for years, doing all his dirty work. Gideon has watched the Duke's neice, Messalina, from afar during that time period. When he tries to leave the Duke's service, the Duke offers him Messalina's hand in marriage if he performs 1 more task for him.
Messalina hates Gideon. She feels hes a brute, a scoundrel and a bully. When she finds out what her uncle has done, she is furious
But Gideon and Messalina come to an agreement, a marriage of convenience.
As they get to know each other and start working together, their feelings grow.
But Gideon still has a task to perform. When he finds out what it is, he knows it will destroy what he and Messalina have built.
So the adventure and the ups and downs of the relationship continue.
I loved Messalina. She was very upfront and honest about things.
Gideon really grows on you. He's rough and tough. He doesn't know how to have a relationship. But he learns and opens himself up to love.
Great story, great adventure. My only criticism is that it wrapped up a little too quickly with the Duke. I wanted to see him suffer more.
5 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved getting to know Messalina, a character from the first book in this series, Not the Duke's Darling. Elizabeth Hoyt does not disappoint here, as this follow up book is even better. I look forward to recommending this to romance readers who enjoy Eloisa James and Mary Balogh.

My first book from Hoyt and a pretty solid one at that.

Gideon and Mesalina get into an arranged marriage/ marriage of convenience and start to fall for each other although she initially intended to leave him and he, who works for her evil uncle, is tasked to murder one of her family members.

I liked Gideon but Mesalina lacked just a bit for me. I really liked her sister though, Lucretia (God, these names) and I’m intrigued about what happened to their other sister Aurelia who was murdered (not a spoiler, she’d been dead before the start of this book).

None of the side characters stuck with me, and although the main couple were above average, I wasn’t emotionally invested in their relationship that much. It needed a bit more spice and flavour and I wished they just had a bit more intense chemistry.

Messalina Greycourt is outraged when her odious uncle summons her and forces her to wed his henchman. She reluctantly agrees in order to keep her sister safe, but she has plans to get part of her dowry and escape. Gideon Hawthorne has spent his life clawing his way up from the slums. What he wants more than anything is marriage to the beautiful Messalina and entry into society in order to make business connections. The more time the pair spends together, the more Messalina begins to soften towards Gideon; but one final job for her uncle drives a wedge between them.

This is the second book in the Greycourt series. I did not read the first book and there was definitely some family background information that I felt I was missing. Nevertheless, this can still be read alone.

I started the book without rereading the blurb and I didn't realize Gideon was the hero, so I hated his guts at the beginning. I had to put the book down and come back when I was feeling ready to give him a chance. I did end up enjoying the story, but I really felt like I needed more from this couple. I give this book 3.5 stars, but I'm bumping it to 4 because I'm not sure if the connection issue was due to my early prejudice or the writing.

Tropes: Class Difference, Anti-Hero/Villain As Hero, Arranged Marriage

* I received an ARC and this is my honest review. #WhenARogueMeetsHisMatch #GreycourtSeries #NetGalley

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I have always enjoyed an Elizabeth Hoyt novel - I've read many of her Maiden Lane series. I had read the first book in the Maiden Lane series back in 2018, Not the Duke's Darling, and enjoyed it. With this book, I liked the first half of the book better than I liked the second half. Messalina became a bit of a frustrating character for me - I found her to be somewhat cruel towards Gideon by the end. Gideon was a classic Hoyt loveable villain and I think he deserved more of a chance than he got from Messalina at certain points. She didn't even seem to give him a chance to explain and then gave him the cold shoulder for two weeks and then subsequently tried to leave him. I know these were necessary pieces of the plot but I just got frustrated with the process and I thought it was a little selfish of her. Other than that I liked the book, it was interesting and definitely entertaining. The last half of the book just fell a little flat for me, otherwise I would've scored a little higher. I'd still recommend it since I enjoyed it!

I am not usually a fan of historical novels, but I enjoyed this book quite a bit. This is the second in a series, but I read it as a stand-alone and was able to follow everything going on. I enjoyed Gideon and Messalina, and their push and pull throughout this book. I liked that Messalina learned a lot about those around her, and her growth as a person in coming to care for them and wish to help them. I was a little confused by the ending, and wish an extra chapter or two had been added to set up and explain the ending a bit better. But overall I enjoyed the book.

This is my honest review of an ARC I received from netgalley.

Messalina we meet in book one, as old friend of Freya. On the way back from the country she gets told she has to go meet her evil uncle. She finds out she is to marry his henchman Enemies-to-lovers for this one along with forced marriage. Gideon Hawthorne has watched Messalina from afar while working for her uncle, but she wants not only her but her money. This is her trying to understand her new world, protect her sister, but also falling in love with Gideon and finding out more about him. This one has way more chemistry and steam that was good and you could feel these two working together.

3.5 stars and 4 steam

This enemies to lovers story sucked me in and kept me up all night reading it in one sitting.

The hero, Gideon, is a broody man who struggled his way up from poverty through his willingness to do what he has to do. And I liked watching his relationship with Messalina develop as she started to understand more about him and the world. There is a lot of sexual tension and drama. If you like Hoyt's dark and twisty romances, I think you will enjoy this one.

On a side note, the previous book in the series suggested the wise women would play a much larger role in the series than they did here. They are mentioned in the book and we get some time with related characters, but it was definitely minimal.

Also, there are a lot of subplot threads that are left hanging in this novel, which will hopefully addressed in the future (I really want to know what Julian was up to).

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Net Galley in return for a fair review.

This was a sweet book. From the first couple pages I didn’t think I was going to like it as my first impression of the hero left a lot to be desired, but I changed my mind and ended up enjoying him. I don’t think this was the authors best book but it was better than the previous one. It lacked a bit of emotional depth, mostly on the heroines side and was light on the character development but it was a solid story.

Book 2 in Greycourt series.
It was an enjoyable read. The characters were likeable.
I liked that the protagonist were older. The hero was almost 50, and the heroine about 40 years old.
The hero was a widower, who had a happy marriage. He is a father and grandfather.
The heroine was in England because she had lost everything in the wars in Spain. Not your typical heroine. She painted flats at a theater.
I always enjoy Elizabeth Hoyts books. Characters have such depth.

There was truly so much to love about this book. It was an enemies to lovers, forced marriage kind of situation, with a small hint of a Beauty and the Beast kind of element to it! In this novel we are following Messalina. An independent woman of her own making, she is still very naïve about how the world works outside of her comfortable life with money and titles. Her uncle wants to keep everything instead of having her brother inherit, so he decides to lure his hitman, Gideon with the one thing he can't resist, Messalina.
Gideon has been in love with Messalina for a long time, but unwilling to admit it to himself, because that would give him a weekness. When Gideon is forced to do a job that would directly influence Messalina, he does everything in his power to change things, and to truly be a better man for his now wife.
Their dynamic was electric, and I loved every minute of this! I really need to read more of the books in this series, and fast!

There is no other author that totally envelops me in their world as fast as Elizabeth Hoyt. She makes Georgian London come to life from the dregs of society to the highest peer!

Raised in the gutters of St. Giles, Gidieon Hawthorne is just as ambitious as he is ruthless! He has elevated himself up from the streets to now holding a position for a Duke and owning his own respectable manse. Now all he needs to do is find a way to get an in to society and it appears the the lovely Messalina Greycourt, nice to his employer is his ticket.

After finding out that her uncle has promised her to his henchman, Mr. Hawthorne, Messalina takes her future Ito her own hands by crafting her own deal with the devil, her soon to be husband, that will see to her receiving half her dowery after a month of marriage and thus a way to escape!

Soon after their marriage these two nemesis find that they work better as a team than as advisories… but Messy still plans to leave at the end of the month and Gideon’s lies and inability to love may be the thing that finally pushes her out the door!

Oh my! This marriage of convenience/ enemies to lovers/ class difference romance was perfect! I loved every minute of reading this book and my emotions were definitely put through the wringer!

Elizabeth Hoyt is one of my all time favourite historical romance authors and this books has not let me down! I am already eagerly awaiting the next instalment in the Greycourt series!!!

When a Rogue Meets His Match by Elizabeth Hoyt is scheduled to release December 1st, 2020.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Forever Grand Central Publishing) through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#WhenARogueMeetsHisMatch #GreycourtSeries #ElizabethHoyt #Netgalley #pinkcowlandreads

3.5 stars
Gideon Hawthorne was born on the streets and clawed his way out of the rookeries, his break came when the Duke of Windemere hired him as a henchman. But after years of servitude and clever investments, Gideon wants his freedom. He is ready to break with the duke when he is offered a reward he can’t pass up – marriage to Messalina Greycourt, Windemere’s niece, that will give him the connection to society he needs to advance his businesses along with her substantial dowry – the catch? He must kill her brother Julian, the duke’s heir.

Messalina is shocked that her uncle plans to marry her off to Gideon and refuses, but soon changes her mind after learning that Windemere will let Gideon marry her younger sister, Lucretia if she refuses. She makes a deal with Gideon, she will marry him, but wants a portion of her dowry and stipulates that her sister must live with them. She plans to use the money to run away and take Lucretia with her. But from the first she is surprised by Gideon and slowly begins to fall for him. Things are progressing and Messalina is reconsidering her plans, but any chance for a HEA is shattered when she learns the truth.

Gideon has also reconsidered his plans and to win his wife back he will have to thwart the duke, figure out who is trying to kill him and prove to Messalina that he is capable of love. Easier said than done…

This was a well written, fast paced book with an interesting mix of characters and a lot of surprising twists. The book has a little bit of everything; steamy love scenes, action, mystery, vile villains, betrayal, cameos from former characters, surprising twists and turns and finally a HEA. I did feel like there were a lot of unanswered questions and I still don’t understand why the duke wanted Julian dead. I also didn’t care for Messalina’s reaction to learning the truth – I expected better of her. Overall, I liked this book and would be happy to recommend it. This is the second book in the series, but it is very loosely connected to the first book and can easily be read as standalone title.

4.5 stars for When a Rogue Meets His Match! We really liked this marriage of convenience between Gideon, bad boy extraordinaire, and Messalina, his employer's niece. So Gideon is one of those supremely focused, supremely competent heroes (he is competent at knife fighting and staff management). Sure he does some bad shit (like knifing people) for a bad dude (Messalina's uncle, the Duke of Windemere), but he really cares about the poor! He's also one of those heroes who doesn't understand emotions - either in others or in himself.

We also really liked how Messalina was able to see a new future for herself through Gideon. It was not because of his love, but because of his perspective that she realizes she can use her privilege for good. It's also because he provides her with a safe space away from her uncle so that she can have the luxury of time to think of others. This includes time to think about Gideon as a person, rather than as the employee of her uncle. Messalina and Gideon's complementary skills made for an intriguing relationship. We couldn't resist when she goes full fairy godmother and orders him a new flashy wardrobe!

Finally, the compact nature of the text really worked for us. There was nothing extraneous to detract from Gideon and Messalina. Even the chapters from Julian's perspective helped flesh out the main plot. Basically this book is everything we love about Elizabeth Hoyt, with almost nothing that can be problematic.

While I struggled with the prequel to this romance, this one is the type of story I have come to expect from Elizabeth Hoyt. Mystery, angst and love all woven together beautifully. Judging from this book, the series is sure to be another winner!