This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a non spoiler review, because you as reader need to read this book. Also, I feel sometimes I have in the past gave away to much of the plot line. This has diminished the pleasure for would be readers.
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Outrageous by Minerva Spencer picks up right after the cliffhanger ending of Notorious. Eva finds that after a scandalous kidnapping a man, she might not be ready to suffer the consequences of this hasty decision. Godric Fleming has sworn to never love again, and Eva doesn’t want to be married.
This is high flying adventuress romp, that you will receive wiped lash with its fast past shenanigans. The romance was spot on, and I liked how each character struggled.
All in all was an enjoyable reading experience. The characters were dynamic, even though some of antics became a little to much. I enjoyed the premise and how the author narration flawed effortlessly through out the book,
I will continue on reading the next book in series.

3 stars

A fun road trip adventure story with lots of danger & a slow burn romance. There is plenty of humor, but that doesn’t overshadow the emotional depth of the MCs’ character arcs. If the plot was more realistic this would be 4 stars.

[What I liked:]

•The prose & dialogue are well written. No particularly quotable lines, but still the story is smooth & easy to read.

•This is a nice slow burn story. There is a bit of insta-lust, but it builds up along with the deepening relationship between Eva & Godric.

•While kinda unrealistic in plot, this is a very fun story I did enjoy reading! Andrew & James made great sidekicks. There is lots of banter, & comic relief.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•Godric starts out as sexist and mean. He treats Eva like a child, & threatens her with physical violence if he doesn’t obey her. But pretty quickly he starts admiring her, & softens up a lot, & by the end treats her as an equal. But his extremely nasty behavior at the beginning I didn’t like at all.

•The whole premise, with multiple kidnappings, is completely unrealistic. As is the hefty number of tragedies Godric has suffered. As is the extreme hatred of some war veterans against a lenient superior officer, simply because of normal casualties of war.

CW: kidnapping, drugging, physical violence

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

I didn't love it, I didn't hate it either. The age gap was tough at times to endear myself to, as a reader, and the characters themselves really weren't that likable. Not that I need to like every character I ever read, in fact I often love books with characters that are awful, but usually they are awful and endearing. The fact that these characters weren't endearing made it difficult to enjoy their romance.

Thank you netgalley for the advance readers copy.

This book was so entertaining. I was drawn into the story from the beginning and was involved until the end. The characters were complex and interesting. I found the story to be well paced and engrossing throughout the whole book. I was invested in the couple throughout the book and felt all the emotions through both the highs and lows of the story. If you want an entertaining and well written book this is it for you.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I beginning to believe Minerva Spencer can't possible write a book I don't love from page 1. Our fearless heroine Eva has gotten wind of Godric's evil plan to kidnap her sister-in-law, and beats him to it by kidnapping him instead. Now they find themselves in a compromising situation, after being on the road alone for days, t hey must marry. Oddly, as time passes and they get to know each other, they start to find the idea not so awful. This book has a feisty heroine and. a misunderstood villain turned hero, who finds redemption in her arms.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.*

We could have had it alllllllllllll.....

Man, I was so excited for this book. After the cliffhanger in Notorious, I was sure that Eva and Godric were going to take me for a ride, and they did. And it was outrageous, as the title suggests. Godric had caused us quite a few issues in the last novel and Eva decided to step in to help her best friend and her step-brother to avoid trouble. Which lands Godric Fleming in her carriage being whisked away for London.

The thing that Eva didn't think through is that kidnapping a man to save her family from harm may be bold and daring, but there are still going to be consequences. NO One is going to believe that she did the kidnaping and to save both of their reputations, Godric and Eva will need to turn this carriage towards Scotland and Gretna Green. What starts as a kidnapping will need to end in nuptials. Even if that both hate each other so much.

But the more time they spend together, the deeper they grudgingly fall. Even though Eva doesn't want to be married. Even if Godric has sworn to never love again. Yup, we have a tragic, burdened war hero with baggage a mile wide.

So, what went right and what went wrong for me.

What went right:
This was a great Hate to Love. With reasoning on both sides for the dislike. I loved that motivations were clear and it didn't feel made up.

I liked that Eva knew a bit about her sexuality while still being a virgin. That is the BEST when it is in a Historical Romance. There were some dynamite sex scenes, as I have come to love of this author.

There was a ton of high jinx and adventure going on. You could not guess what was going to happen next.

I liked the look at family madness in this time period and the worry Eva honestly had about her hair-brained tendencies might means he was actually mentally ill at times. That was a fair concern for the practices of the day.

What went wrong:
Eva was just SO bull headed, like she was giving me whiplash with it sometimes.

There was too much kidnapping and being help at gun point. No spoilers but I counted this happening about 5 times. It was so excessive. I was rolling my eyes by the end.

And finally.... the last 20% of conflict was painfully predictable... Like, WHAT HAPPENED? This book had me on my toes and I was here for all of it... Then it got predictable to a painful degree. Its like the voices in Godric and Eva's heads (yes they have voices in their heads), decided to follow the most cliché way to end this story. Its where it all fell apart for me. I went from enjoying the heck out of this story to cringing and hate-reading the last bit.

I will still be around for book 3, cause the next characters have me interested, but... this one wasn't my favorite by any means. Which just made me sad.

3/5 stars.

Godric Fleming has one goal in life - Destroy Gabriel Marlington. His plans are not morally correct but before he can carry them out, he is kidnapped by Gabriel’s sister, Eva De Courtney. Unfortunately, Godric has reason and strategy on his side and the kidnapper becomes the kidnaped and then a wife-to-be.

I did not read the first book in the series and I did not feel clueless since details required for this story were explained early on in this story.

I was unsure how to rate this book because I loved the first 75% of the book but felt the last quarter was hurried and not satisfying enough. This book has so many things which I loved - Strong characters, engaging and solid writing, with hilarious events scattered throughout. So it was frustrating to see all this tied together in a hurried way. And Godric’s pining was only in narration and he hardly groveled for his mistakes.

Godric’s and Eva’s interactions are hilarious and adorable and you could see why and when they were falling for each other. But it all kind of unraveled into a haphazard way towards the end. Godric also did not have any redemption arc after being an absolute villain which Eva has clearly forgotten and his change from wanting to destroy Gabriel to giving up his plans seemed oddly unrealistic and very sudden.

Although it was a very entertaining read, I could not overlook the loopholes.

I need to fan myself off after reading this. A swoony, steamy historical fiction with spunk that was utterly, outrageously fun!

So, I absolutely adored this. Eva was headstrong but not just because she had an attitude but because she actually had things she cared about. I loved that she wasn't totally anti-conventional just to be contentious, but was willing to sorta appease tradition if it also worked for her. She was 1816 femenism in a delightful way. Never putty in a mans hands, Eva was inspirational. She had fire, she had passions and she had determination. She had control of self but also knew when to let loose. Eva and Godric were just soooooo so good for each other. I could keep reading their story all day.

And a completely crucila shout out to her stepmamma, Mia. I cannot tell you how many young women today need someone like Mia in their lives, to explain their bodies and pleasure and how sex should work for you as well as for the man. She was definitely 1816 femenism too in the healthiest of ways.

I don't think I've read anything by Minerva Spencer before, but this won't be my last.

After watching Bridgerton on Netflix, I developed an insatiable craving for Regency-Era romance. This satisfied that craving. In Outrageous, the scandalously forward and independent Lady Eva kidnaps Lord Visel in order to protect her brother, Lord Visel's sworn enemy. They loathe each other from the start which means that, per the laws of the universe, they obviously fell in love.

Although I did not find Outrageous to be a particularly deep or insightful book, it was an enjoyable romance with the sort of satisfyingly steamy scenes you'd expect from the genre. Based on other reviews of the book I've seen, however, I am quite glad I never touched the rest of the series before reading. In Outrageous, Lord Visel is portrayed as a misunderstood villain haunted by war and a tragic past, and that makes him fairly sympathetic and easier to forgive for his fairly significant failings. The common consensus on Visel based on the previous book, however, was much darker which led many to find his transformation unbelievable and his character unforgivable.

TL;DR Outrageous will satisfy your Regency romance craving as long as you're not looking for a very intense plot or deep characters.

Basic Blurb - Eva kidnaps Lord Visel so he won't kidnap her sister-in-law. Shortly after that - during their flight on the north road - the tables are turned and he takes over Throughout the first part of the book they fight their slow burn attraction, but it overwhelms them eventually. There are many obstacles to their journey in the first half - sort of a comedy of errors, for lack of a better expression and there's lots of entertainment for the reader. Godric has had a very tragic past that is slowly revealed as the story unfolds which explains his actions in the last book and his actions in this one. Eva disappeared mysteriously during "Notorious" and I was wondering what happened; so I was pleased to have my questions answered.

Once I started this book I really didn't want to put it down, but it's long and I had to sleep. 🙂 It's well written, the romance scenes are beautifully handled and are sensual and steamy. The historical details are good but Eva is a pretty modern version of an 1816 heroine. (Feisty, independent, willful, etc). Visel was the bad guy in the previous story and here, he's the hero. The back story is full of adventure, drama, angst and romance and I really enjoyed it. This book does stand alone in my opinion.

(Please note - There is a 17 year age difference between Godric and Eva which didn't bother me, although It was mentioned so many times by the author, that it made me feel a feel a tad uncomfortable - and that shouldn't have been the case. I also saw that some ARC readers didn't like the age difference. When I started reading romance in the 70's, those ages were the norm for the H/h in romances, both contemporary and historical. I would also like to mention that there was no legal age for consuming alcohol in the UK until the late 1880's and even now, that age is 18. Back then, wine drinking was the norm, especially for the upper class)

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to the next one in the series. So I give it 4.5 stars for pure entertainment and drama. My thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in return for my opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

I thought this book was really good! Normally I’m not a fan of alternating POVs but this actually helped the plot move. The slow burn relationship was very well written and the dialogue between the characters was well done. I thought it wasn’t necessary to have so many supporting characters that didn’t necessarily add to the plot but it did not deter from the main plot of the novel.

When Eva discovers a plot to kidnap her best friend, she decides to kidnap the kidnapper. But now she and Lord Visel are trapped in a carriage together, and Eva’s reputation may be ruined. When Lord Visel insists that they must marry, he shows Eva a sensitive interior underneath his brutish, bullying exterior. But he doesn’t think he’s capable of loving again.

This Regency romance takes place mostly in inns and carriages instead of balls and mansions. I didn’t like Eva and Lord Visel quite as much as I liked Drusilla and Gabriel from the first book in this series. I think it’s because of the way Lord Visel used to mock Eva and planned violence. Still, it was an interesting read with some good twists and turns. And the chemistry was fiery.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Outrageous it is for a 19 year old chit to kidnap a 36 year old war veteran with a fifteen year history of military service. Equally outrageous are the coincidences that occur on their stormy ride toward Scotland with multiple meetings with implausibly honorable highwaymen, yet flashes of growing fascination spark the travelers toward a happily ever after that is delayed by a few months and an additional kidnapping. A fun romp from start to finish.

Eva de Courtney overhears Godric Fleming, Lord Visel, planning with his cousin to kidnap her sister-in-law (and BFF) Drusilla and ruin her. Being an impulsive sort of girl Eva determines to kidnap Godric to foil his plans. Unfortunately, whilst Eva is stunning beautiful it is of the china doll variety and Godric quickly overpowers her when he wakes from being hit over the head.

Eva's personality belies her appearance. She might look like a little doll but she hates Balls and dresses, preferring to spend time in the stables and watching mills (boxing matches to you and I). Indeed, her dream is to open her own stud farm and breed horses. She also swears like a stable-boy!

Godric lost his entire family to an attack by pirates while he was at war fighting Napoleon. It also sent him slightly mad with grief, determined never to love anyone ever again because he couldn't bear the pain of losing them. Nevertheless he knows that what he planned to do was wrong, and Eva's actions mean that the only honourable thing to do is to marry her, if he doesn't strangle her from frustration first.

This feels to me like a modern interpretation of a raunchy Georgette Heyer (no greater compliment can I give), a feisty heroine dressed in boys clothes, a broken-down carriage, shenanigans (OMG I loved the ostler who gravely says this feels like shenanigans and the master told him to report shenanigans to the mayor!), a succession of inns, each worse than the last, and kidnappings galore.

This was fun, fast-paced and funny. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Outrageous is the second book in the Rebels of the Ton series by Minerva Spencer. I was excited when I read the premise of this book as Eva had my heart in the first book. She was probably my favorite character in it. While it's not totally necessary to read the first book to read this one (Spencer does a good job of filling in any pertinent information), it will make for a fuller reading experience.

I've broken my thoughts into pros and cons:

Pros
EVA!! (I loved her in the first and was SO excited to see a book that featured her.)Super engaging beginning
The banter between the leads
As in the first book, interesting and fun side characters
Well written and fleshed out characters

Cons
Some of the events seem a bit...outrageous ;)
Some of the characters have very, VERY modern ideals - this could be viewed as neg or pos, depending
I thought some of the traveling bits were a bit long

I found Godric's character interesting in the first book, and I was excited to see how he would be in this one. I would have liked to have seen a more gradual shift. He seemed to regret a lot of what he'd done too quickly - at least to my mind. This didn't bug me too much, but it was something that I would have loved to have seen more of. That being said, I loved seeing his growth. He had been through a lot and he was bound to have some problems. It was great to seem him working through all of his grief.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the interaction between the two leads...and the secondary characters. (I'd love to see some spin offs for Andrew and James!) And, the opening! I started off thinking this was going to be a five star book. Of course, it ended up leveling off - but in a good way. This was great to see since I found the first book had a slow start.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book for review. All thoughts are my own.

I have had the first Rebels of the Ton book on my to-read list, and am usually a stickler for reading series in order. I jumped at the chance to get an ARC of Outrageous though! While you do not necessarily need to read the first book in order to understand this book, reading it prior does probably help with knowing a bit of background about the characters. I will admit during the first two chapters I was at a complete loss for the lack of introduction to the characters, but quickly found my footing after that.
I found the situation of Eva abducting Godric to be highly implausible, but that came to be part of it that I loved. I could not put it down. I feel like the emotions and actions of Eva and Godric towards each other gave me whiplash. Still, despite it all, I found myself rooting for them and their undeniable chemistry for each other. This was a leisurely read and highly entertaining during a time when all of us need happy endings no matter how outrageous the road to them may be.
I will say that if you read the first book beforehand, you will not be lost for the first two chapters. Having now read the first book, I am shocked by the 180 Godric's character takes and find it to be a bit far-fetched after his heinous actions and general repulsive behavior in the first book. I am also shocked that Eva could overlook his actions towards her best friend, beloved step-brother, and herself to be attracted to him. This is the main reason I ended up giving it four stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for providing an E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love Minerva Spencer's books and I looked forward to reading this one. This is Eva's story. Eva is the outrageously behaved daughter of the haughty Marquess of Exley and his first wife, who was mad. Society gossips whisper that Eva's antics are due to her bad blood, but Eva is an independent spirit who does not want to marry but instead to be free to live her own life. I already knew some of Eva's background from Notorious, one of Spencer's earlier books, which is the story Eva's half-brother, Gabriel's marriage to her best friend, Drusilla. Their story ended with a teaser about Eva's story and I could not wait to read it!

This story has many of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, kidnapping, bumbling sidekicks, and unrequited love. I enjoyed the characters, the plot, and the drama. Eva is devoted to her family and when she discovers that Godric Fleming, the Earl of Visel, plans to kidnap her sister-in-law, Drusilla, Eva attempts to foil his plot by dressing as a boy and kidnapping him instead. However, the gambit backfires and Eva now is faced with a possible marriage to her enemy because the kidnapping the Earl ends up compromising her instead. There were plenty of plot twists in the story and a few bumpy transitions that left you wondering about the fate of some of the characters in the book. (Maybe their stories will be resolved in future books by Spencer.) Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it kept me up at night to read "one more chapter."

*3.5 stars*

I adore Minerva Spencer, and I usually rate her books extremely highly, but her Rebels of the Ton offshoot series hasn't exactly been my jam. However, though it took me some time to get into Outrageous, I will say that it grew on me over time.

Where this book falters is the set up and in a few key aspects. First of all, Visel had a total personality change in the beginning of the book, which I found to be completely unbelievable. It helps if you've read Notorious first, but it isn't totally necessary. Nevertheless, you'll get the gist about how the book begins, which makes it just incredible that the author had Visel have some self-awareness all of the sudden. I didn't buy it. Also, the way he treats Eva is nothing short of... creepy. The age gap is very vast, and it skeeved me out how Visel viewed her as a child most of the time. Just, no. It got better as the book went on, but I almost DNFed in the first half.

Honestly, for Minerva Spencer this book wasn't as angsty as it could have been. Usually, this author puts her characters through the ringer, but we get a spitfire of a female MC with a relatively happy upbringing (despite her mother's death and family history of madness), and a male MC with a pretty tragic backstory but it isn't dwelled upon as much as it could have been. I think the angst level was just right for my tastes.

I think I enjoyed the side characters almost as much as the main characters. I'm smelling an M/M romance here, Minerva!!!! There were a lot of complex and interesting personalities to enjoy, and I think it made the second half of the story feel more fleshed out. I was frustrated near the end by a ridiculous self-sacrificing act by one of the MCs, but by that time I was hooked in the story and could barely put it down.

A little inconsistent for Minerva Spencer, but very much worth it in the end. I'm very excited to see where this series goes next.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

The second installment of the series, Rebels of the Ton, was not as compelling as the first one. Even though it was a fun story, with sometimes ridiculous but funny situations, I didn't enjoy the characters as much as in the previous book. I think the chemistry between the MCs was not there and even though, they were interesting individually, together they were rather messy.
On the other hand, they were quite unique so that makes you wanting to keep reading.

I received and ARC of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book I read by Minerva Spencer and I liked it quite a lot but there were a few issued that kept me from giving it all five stars. The story starts out in a very weird way <spoiler>the heroine kidnaps the hero because he was set to kidnap one of her friends - yeah, didn't make much sense to me either</spoiler> and for half the book it is unclear what on earth they are doing or why - basically they are stuck in a carriage going somewhere. Then the second half of the story goes completely bonkers as it seems the weather and every highwayman, inn keeper and strange young lad wants to get them. I have read this second part in a somewhat ironic key and it worked for me but I suppose it could be annoying for other readers.
The love story itself it ok, there is a lot of chemistry and the sex scenes are hot <spoiler>though I would have preferred that the heroine didn't lie about her experience or at least come clean when they were in the middle of the action sort to speak</spoiler> and there is a bit of groveling at the end on his part which I always enjoy.
All in all a good read with equal parts adventure and love.