I love a regency romance full of drama in the ton and this one is full of the drama. Fiona is not a proper lady. She prefers pants and certainly doesn’t want a proper hobby. Instead she finds herself jailed and the only person who can help her she wants to avoid at all costs, but she wants her freedom, and she will do whatever it takes.
Before she knows it she wants more than just her freedom from Edward, the man who helped her, broke her heart and perhaps loves her. This was a great regency romp!
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Thank you #foreverpub and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

I enjoyed this one! There are definitely a lot of things going on, and I was most engaged in the last portion of the book when everything started coming to a head. I was eager to see how it all would get resolved. And I did like that Fiona had to pivot her career a bit when things didn't go the way she planned the first way around. It was nice to see both her and Edward grow as individuals and work together to find a way to make their relationship work.

I received this ebook from netgalley for a review. Opinions are my own.

The premise was so promising to me, with Fiona being an inventor. However, it divulged into the same rut of being rescued by a man vis a vie her old flame Edward. They have prior history and are mad at each other but Fiona's business isn't doing well and Edward wants to help. I know this wmis regency but once in a while, I would like a plot where a woman solved her own problems.
This was not for me.

I loved book one of this series, and was excited to receive book two! Another good historical romance, but there was some gaps in the story that felt incomplete at the end. I still enjoyed it and can't wait to read the rest!

When Fiona arrives in London seeking a patent, she decides to attend a protest to stand against the man whose explosive uprising shook their town - but when she attends disguised as a man, and is arrested, Edward must rescue her from prison. The catch? “Finley” McTavish must stay at Edward’s residence for the month preceding the trial. A single woman, with whom he has so much history,tempting him in his own home could cause a scandal the Duke would never recover from.

This was unlike any other regency romance I’ve read! I love Fiona’s strong will and determination that women should hold a seat at the table. The unending hoops she is thrown through to try and patent and distribute her matches were so frustrating, but her belief in her product had her coming back each time.

I loved the tension, not only between Edward and Fiona, but also with Fiona’s disguise roping her into a lot more than she initially planned! Edward’s paranoia of the scandal should anyone discover her secret has been his motivation since How to Survive a Scandal, and it is pushed further with each day Fiona lives under his roof.

This was super fun, and I want to continue visiting this world!

Friends, this was a DNF for me.

I really wanted to like it, and I did try to get through it, but the writing style felt stilted and I couldn't do it. I think it's probably a wonderful book for someone else, but it wasn't for me.

ARC provided by NetGalley for my honest opinion. Smut factor meets sassy female. Families clash with a fierce female as the lead character. The character build-up was good but wordy at times.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm not typically one for second chance romances. I love how independent and strong Fiona is. She has been hurt so much in her life it is hard to rely on anyone, especially the man you once loved and then he left without a word. They way they had to work together and eventually learn to trust again was heartwarming.


I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Regency romance with a strong female character who fights against woman’s place in society. Actually becomes an inventor and fights to be able to sell her invention in a world dominated by men.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this ebook in exchange for a review!

Fiona McTavish has gone undercover as Finley McTavish in an attempt to get her newest invention sold since the men of London simply can’t fathom doing business with a woman.

After a tomato throwing incident lands her in jail, she has to be bailed out by her ex-flame the Duke of Wildeforde. As a requirement of her parole, she has to stay under his roof until her trial date which both parties seem to have an aversion to.

This story was very entertaining and I found Fiona’s charm growing on me as the chapters went on. Her dialogue is in a Scottish accent and though my inner voice felt like an imposter reading it, I was in love with her speech patterns. It just made her more likeable in my opinion.

Edward’s reasoning for breaking up with her the first time was slightly understandable but knowing Fiona’s backstory I wish he would have found his balls earlier and stood up for the woman he loved so she wouldn’t have been hurt. The measures Edward takes to win her back in the end showed great character development and I really believe they will go on to live a long and happy marriage.

The love story was sweet and Fiona doing things women are discouraged and barred from doing and how she discussed it with Edward and made him change his views was well done.

On the not so great side:
I wish we had gotten an epilogue or a few more chapters to see how she acclimated to their marriage. The ending felt a bit abrupt but otherwise I really enjoyed this story.

I (like Charlie) will never forgive Edward for how things ended with William- 7 years is just too dang long!

Additionally, some questions were not answered in terms of the antagonist and how he succeeded in sabotaging Fi. I’m curious to know how it was done even though it’s not directly relevant to the story.

The title is also a bit… deceptive (gasp). I got caught up with exams and forgot what I’d be reading so I thought Fiona was poor and was going to deceive the duke into marrying her somehow. I suppose that is kind of sort of maybe what happens if you squint your eyes and look to the left? I’m not mad at it, I just think it’s funny XD.

liked the concept, I just struggled with the execution. When I say struggled, I mean I had to walk away and read something else to clear my head. That a Duke was allowing his mother to dictate HIS life was frustrating. He, Edward, was a grown man and was helping to make policy for a nation and he acted cowed made it difficult to read. Yes, there was scandal in the family's past. Yes it was horrible, but everyone else had moved on to MANY other scandals since. His mother was keeping the scandal alive in the family and it was NOT healthy for any of them.

Fiona intrigued me in the beginning and I quickly lost interest when she repeatedly let pride go before good sense. She lives on a time where women are NOT taken seriously, unless they are fawning over a man. They are not supposed to try to show they are smarter then the men. She had been given many opportunities to get help from Edward and refused.

That they thought hiding her in plain sight was a good idea was ridiculous. The attraction aside, Charlotte was not an idiot. That Edward wanted Fiona, but wasn't willing or seemingly able to stand up to his mother and society and declare himself had me questioning his honor. Not to mention the myriad of other story lines that were floating and bobbing about. The treason and the Home Office. Her father being an idiot and a worse man for a father. Then Fiona's refusal to see that her approach to potential investors was not working because they do not spend time considering the working class, was frustrating. It all became just to frustrating.

This is the first book by this author I have read. While her character development was good and the conversations were fast paced, I am not sure I will attempt another for awhile. I rounded up from 2.5 Stars to 3.

Disclaimer: I received a complementary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way.

This story is full of laugh out loud moments and “pass me the tissues” moments. While not a book about Women’s rights it was so nice to read about a woman forging her own way at a time when it was not expected. Edwards character was very well written and it so nice to see him come full circle at the end. I cannot wait to read the next book,

I read Parish's debut novel and loved it. This is the second in that series, and I love her strong intellectual females.

Fiona is an inventor and works in a factory. Edward is concerned about his family's reputation and his siblings. They also have a history, when Fiona is accused of a crime she didn't commit, Edward comes to her aid.

I loved the commentary on gender and the social and class system. Fiona code breaking to succeed on her own by dressing as a male felt realistic to today as well. Edward having to break down his own ideals and prejudices was interesting as well to find his way to Fiona.

This unusual pairing makes for a unique love story and the social commentary and historical accuracy made the story much richer and which makes Parish an author to watch.

I wrote about this title, "How to Deceive a Duke" in a column for SELF magazine in Feb 2022. It was about books to read before Bridgerton.

This book wasn’t a good fit for me. The hero starts the book with a spineless betrayal of the heroine, in favor of the villain, his awful mother. I found the mother to be a caricature of campy terribleness. She was hard to take seriously. There were several plot logic holes that I found frustrating, and the dialogue was stilted and awkward. While I love a lady scientist, I wasn’t in love with this book.

This was a great historical romance with fantastic characters! Overall, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who thinks it sounds good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

A solid 4 out of 5 stars!!

This is my first time reading anything by Samara Parish and I was really taken with her writing style - it's lovely. Samara Parish did a great job with writing a fun story that was also very meaningful with unique characters. I really loved reading about a heroine who was an engineer in that time, since that's just straight up fun, I really cannot say much else haha. Our Fiona was great and so was Edward (and his last name is Sterling like NEED I SAY MORE omg why is that name always so hot in a historical). I really enjoyed all the ton/reputation stuff, since sometimes you just need a historical that goes all in on that ton stuff, you know? So yeah, plot was interesting and creative and the characters were great.

*However, I would have liked a bit more pizazz, if you will, between Fiona and Edward. I'm not one for a ton (no pun intended, if that is a pun idk...) of angst all the time but just like a bit more steam and this would have been a 5 star read for me.

I'm definitely going to be checking out Book 3 in this "Rebels with a Cause" series!!

She is smart and too independent to ask for help, even to her detriment. He allowed societal pressures form his decision before, but not this time. The process of getting to where they are in the same place makes this book a very enjoyable read. Looking forward to Charlotte’s and William’s stories.

I received an ARC of this book and leaving my review voluntarily.

I found this book to be entertaining but it wasn’t the best book I have read. It’s a quick read that is just perfect if you are wanting a easy read. It’s not. Something I would read again but I will read more books by this author .

After finishing How to Survive a Scandal, I was so excited to see the next one followed Fiona and Edward's love story. They had so few interactions in the first book but they leapt off the page and clearly had a very interesting and compelling backstory. And I was not disappointed with their story at all. Fiona is such a strong, independent woman in a time where that is not socially acceptable and Edward goes a long way to understand and accept her - even though he is a Duke and she is a commoner from Scotland. Fiona works in a factory, wears breeches, and is an inventor whereas Edward is obsessed with maintaining his family's reputation and not moving a hair out of line (hence the broken engagement in the first book!).

I loved the underlying plot line of Fiona attempting to sell her invention of matches to distributors in London by herself, without a man. As much as it is frustrating to read about female oppression, Fiona was the type to not let it get her down or affect her and it gave me happiness to read and cancelled out the annoying parts that have to be included for historical accuracy. However, there were several times I just wanted to shake Edward because he was being such a MAN, ugh.

But he redeemed himself, oh how he redeemed himself.

Edward's siblings also made this book so incredibly entertaining. I adored his sister and brother, and I am stoked the next book follows his sister's love story with John. I'm very excited to read that one when it comes out and continue in the Rebels with a Cause series.

**Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**