Anna Harington always impresses me with her fresh and intriguing plots and the SPARKING chemistry between her couples.

This latest book was such a joy to read. I loved every page and can't wait for the next.

Alexander Sinclair, Earl of St. James, and his half-brother Nathaniel Reed are part of the Lords of the Armory a group that works with the Home Office attempting to discover the leader of Scepter, a group of revolutionaries who want to overthrow the monarchy. After an explosion at the Admiralty Club, a clue is discovered that leads them to Henry Everett, school master and mathematician. Miss Olivia Everett is Henry’s sister and Headmistress of the Everett School. While Nate tracks Henry, Alec watches Olivia. Will the Everetts offer the clue that finally leads them to Scepter? Frequent encounters and some not-too-subtle matchmaking by his sister create a connection and attraction between Alec and Olivia. There are many obstacles in a relationship between them, class difference and pain and secrets from the past. Some honest heart-to-heart between Alec and the women in his life, including Olivia, bring them closer to their happily ever after. Henry provided some information, enough for them to stop one assassination attempt, and offered a lead to another who might be key to finding Scepter. Just as in the other stories in this series, action, danger, spies, traitors, an assortment of villains make this story a page-turner. Justine Eyre brings the story to life in the audiobook. Great characters and a happy ending. I look forward to the next exciting adventure or the Lords of the Armory.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

I've really been enjoying this series - it's not just romance but a solid plot including spying and adventure and, well, saving the world! Or England, anyway. In the fourth book of the Lords of the Armory, Scepter is plotting something nefarious in its apparent quest to take over England. This book brought Lord St. James, or Alec, into focus. and we also learned about Alec's half brother. Warning, Alec's father was a horrible person, so his half-brother's origin story is not a pretty one. In fact, Alec's father was so awful that Alec has no patience whatsoever for dishonesty in his world. Everything is black and white, cut and dry. Unfortunately, real life often includes shades of gray, and this is a nice segue into Olivia. She's a schoolteacher at a girls' school who has a squeaky-clean reputation, but is inadvertently sucked into Alec's fight against Scepter. Alec and Olivia are drawn to each other, but once Alec learns Olivia doesn't quite live up to her reputation, he becomes very angry and writes her off completely. Olivia is crushed but knows perfectly well that a peer cannot marry a schoolmistress so there was no future anyway. Or is there? Will Alec expand his horizons and understand that shades of gray do indeed exist? Will he overlook his duty for love? Can Olivia forgive him for his cruelty? And what about Scepter, can their evil plot be stopped? You will have to read the book to find out! I'm a huge fan of Ms. Harrington's work, and was delighted to receive an ARC so that I could provide an honest review, which I just did. Happy reading!

Mathematics and terrorism!

Secrets, plots and assassination attempts carve out a story of lost love, despicable family relationships and redemption in this enemy to lover story.
Alexander Sinclair, Earl of St James, rake by night and Home Office investigator by inclination, is searching for connections to a recent attempt on the Prime Minister’s life by the revolutionary group Scepter. That leads him to the Everett School for the Education of Proper Young Ladies and mathematician Henry Everett. It seems though that Everett’s sister Headmistress Olivia is the one with the superior mathematical talent.
Alec and Olivia tangle, in more ways than one. Henry has disappeared and Olivia is frantic with worry. Henry has been rash and secretive, seemingly getting in over his head with his feverish desire to join the ranks of the Royal Society. Alec and Olivia’s forays will become a joint race against time to find out the next development in Scepter’s plot, and to save who and what they can in this Regency thriller.
A clever plot continuing the Lords of the Armoury’s hunt for the terrorist group Scepter.

A Sourcebooks ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

I loved this book from the first. A woman who is smart and educated. Olivia and her brother run a school. When Olivia awakens to find a masked man in her room, she doesn't scream but instead makes a deal with him. When she finds out what he really wants from her she is shocked. Not as shocked as she is when she finds out who he really is. Romance, suspense and a heroine that you will love. I received this book from Source books Casablanca and Net Galley for a honest review.

This is book 4 in this wonderful series. The characters are wonderfully written and the background story is always well researched. I learn something new every time I read one of Ms. Harringtons’ books. In this one, we learn about the maths behind the construction and destruction of buildings. It adds a nice added level to the story. I love the mystery and adventure in these books. There is of course a few sex scenes that this reviewer skips and it doesn’t affect the enjoyment of the overall story. I am now waiting patiently for the next one. I received this as an ARC and freely give my review.

This was an entertaining, well-written Regency romance. It was steamy, clever and action packed. I wanted to find out what would happen next. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more books by this author.

This is rapidly becoming my favorite series. I can't wait for the next book. It's historical romance with a mystery theme running through the series. I love stories about former soldiers who discover their mate while on an op for King & Country. In this series we are searching for Scepter, a mysterious society working to overthrow the English monarchy. This time they've managed to bomb the Admiralty Club just before the Prime Minister made an appearance. Clayton Elliot, Undersecretary of the Home Office has called upon one of his former officers, Alexander Sinclair and his half-brother Nathaniel Reed to work with just him to discover who is responsible for the bombing. They now realize there's a mole in the Home Office so he can only entrust this to these two men. Their only clue is some mathematical equations on a Admiralty Club floorplan with the name Everett.

Alexander Sinclair is Earl St. James now. He recently discovered his wholly evil father spawned another son with the upstairs housemaid, producing Nathaniel Reed. Reed is now Captain of the Horse Guards and a war hero. They barely tolerate each other but will do anything for their country. Together with Clayton they will discover who Everett is and try to weed out Scepter. The Everett clue lead them to Olivia and Henry Everett, owner-teachers of the Everett School for Young Ladies. Henry is missing and Alexander ends up rescuing Olivia one night as she tries to track down her brother. What follows is a delightful journey of clues that take both of them to follow and ferret out. This was such a delicious story of the genius schoolmistress and the soldier Earl.

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

This is one of my favorite Regency romance authors and I absolutely love the Lords of Armory series. This fourth book is the story of Olivia and Alec. The characters are very real, relatable and have great chemistry. The plot involves spies, action, mystery and romance. I highly recommend this book to all lovers of romance and mystery.

I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy and all opinions are my own.

The one thing Anna Harrington does well is character development and suspense and you'll get both here. This book can be read as a standalone and while I have read other books by this author, this was the first of this series for me and I was not lost, she tells you plenty of information for you to get the idea of things in the past books.

While trying to find the men who attempted to assassinate the prime minister, Alex Sinclair stumbles upon schoolmistress Olivia Everett. Unknowingly helping her brother who has been working with a group planning to overthrow the government, Olivia now has to rescue him from their clutches. But Alex Sinclair doesn't give up and he will bring them both to justice, if only he doesn't fall in love with her first.

The tension and thrilling danger in this book are high and so very well written. One thing this author does well is put her readers in the time and place with her words. You feel as if you are right alongside the action.
I liked the romance between Alex and Olivia and felt it moved along at a good pace and it was nice to see Alex change throughout the book, with glimpses of his rakish past still there. The storyline is very well done with some great banter and while there is no epilogue, I did enjoy the historical note at the end. The steamy parts are great and add to the story rather than just being gratuitously thrown in.

Spoilers ------



What dropped this book a star for me was a few things that culminated together into how I felt at the end. I still had a nagging sense that while I enjoyed the romance between Alex and Olivia, I didn't fully believe in them having any long-term relationship. This may have been because there was no epilogue and we end on him asking her to marry. But it also has to do with his reaction at learning she was no longer a virgin. While virginity was very much prized at this time, and he took great care saying that he wasn't going to ruin her, given his reputation as a rake, for him to blow up and call her a liar didn't sit well with me. In fact I don't think it would have bothered his character at all but it was blown up into way too much of a thing.
There is also the fact that Olivia was made out to be very smart and witty but then she was just so naive and dumb when it came to her brother and then with some things with Alex, I started to lose my liking of her.

Overall, I would recommend this book just for a great storyline and well fleshed out characters with a bit of a crime to solve.
I received an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

Evil machinations pushed the limits of trust and integrity for both Alexander Sinclair, Earl of St James and school teacher Olivia Everett as they were confronted with clandestine schemes and deadly espionage in Anna Harrington's A Relentless Rake!

Alex and Olivia were as intriguing as the plot they were unwittingly pulled into sharing feisty exchanges and action packed encounters. This couple's outer appearances belied an abundance of secrets that burdened them both. As past mistakes and the expectations of others mounted this pair fought to maintain a hold on their tenuous growing feelings for each other. With a shared need for forgiveness and unconditional trust Alex and Olivia's attraction was as poignant as it was steamy. There was a kindness and sweetness to this couple, even in their most difficult moments, that was beautifully expressed by Ms. Harrington. That being said this author did a great job of sneaking in Alex's rakish charm with superb precision bringing this pair's attraction to the next level.

Anna Harrington can always be counted on to write well-rounded books focusing not only on the personal relationships of her couples but giving brutally honest glimpses into history. Showing the vast class distinctions that existed in Regency England, with special focus on the struggles of women in all strata of that society, she gives amazingly insightful looks into the world she is depicting. It is always refreshing to read her work and see how this author can not only elevate but empower her heroines even while putting accurate obstacles in their way for the period they lived in. Of equal importance her heroes are progressive in their views of women without seeming out of place for their time.

Consistently Ms. Harrington's exchanges are thoughtful, often showing her characters' vulnerabilities, humanizing them and making them relatable to her audience despite their placement in time periods other than the ones her readers live in. You would be hard pressed to find a storyteller as talented and entertaining as Anna Harrington in any time frame. A Relentless Rake brings the past to the present embracing its readers in a romantic grand adventure impossible not to be caught up in!

This is the fourth in the Lords of the Armory series. Alexander Sinclair, the Earl of St. James, and Olivia Everett are brought together by a plot to kill the prime minister. Unlike others in the series, this one has fewer high stakes moments and the story is more focused on the two main characters. It is a good installment to the series, works as a standalone, with good pacing, that I enjoyed.

I enjoyed the two main characters falling in love, which I felt was the focus in this one, making it a good standalone. The conflict involving Scepter was less of a focus, except for the climactic scene, which is a little different than others of the series where the suspense flows throughout the plot. The climactic big scene is of course, heart pounding and part of what sets this series apart from so many other current historical romances. I love a good spy series, and this series' world building is very accessible. It's not so complicated that you need a map and a diagram, while keeping the suspense going. There are not many instances of other characters from the series appearing either, this is very focused on just these two and a small sliver of the Scepter suspense plot line. For me personally, I wanted more of the suspense plot. Nevertheless, I did enjoy these two characters together.

I liked Olivia a lot but found her too gullible with regards to her brother. I appreciate an intelligent, working female main character. I liked her the most when she wasn't making excuses for her brother or just giving in to him, as well as when she didn't give in to the Earl. I also preferred Alexander Sinclair when he wasn't trying to be the suave rake, but just himself. However, the shift between his two personas was part of his character growth arc and I think it was handled well. Sexy times between them are on the page. This is a different classes trope and I'm personally over the male main character needing to be enlightened that the female main character is good enough for him since maybe he's actually not good enough for her. Olivia was definitely too good for him.

I've enjoyed this series and am looking forward to the next installment.

ARC Review

3/5 Stars

Like many new readers of Historical Romance I started with the Bridgerton series after the show.

I'm so glad I found Anna Harrington's work!
It was a good read and I can't wait to read more!
The characters were compelling and although I didn't agree with some the conflict it was still enjoyable.

A Relentless Rake by Anna Harrington is book 4 in the Lords of the Armory Series. This is the story of Alexander Sinclair, Earl of St. James 'Alec' and Olivia Everett. Alec learned at an early age not to trust people and he labels them as good or bad. When he is tasked by the Home Office to find who has tried to assassinate the prime minister and find revolutionary group planning to overthrow the government. Alec leads have lead him to Henry and Olivia Everett. Olivia is a school mistress for girls and has to maintain the perfect reputation. Which is why a secret she harbors is something she can't reveal. Henry, her brother also works at the school and does other things too. When Alec shows up looking for answers she tries to work with him but he starts to put her down in his bad catagory for something she feels she can't reveal. Enjoyed. I will be looking for future books by this author.

Alexander "Alec" Sinclair, Earl of St. James, is a rake. But he's more than that--he's a man of ACTION! Given the task of uncovering the men behind a plot to assassinate the prime minister, he's happy to slink about, wearing masks and desperately trying to deal with his copious daddy issues. Until he runs into the proper, innocent schoolmistress, Olivia Everett. She turns her nose up at him, not wanting anything to do with his scandalous ways.

The issue? Olivia's brother may have been involved in that assassination plot. On pain of her brother's life, Olivia agrees to help Alec. Only to be drawn to him, while hiding secrets of her own...

Oh, this book. I've never read an Anna Harrington before, and I'm very tempted to say that I'm going to give her another shot, because for so much of it, there was a lot for me to love. Alec wears a mask! Olivia recognizes him! Alec is in her room a lot! He sucks on her tits and gets a boner and she tries to hide it with a bonnet, which is really the only way bonnets should ever be used in these books. He makes her come twice against a tree!

But.... And oh, is there a but. I hate it when this happens. When a book is really fun and you think you're going to give it at least four stars, but then one legitimately horrendous thing happens and you're like "welp, there is really no way I can justify going above three".

So here's the deal, if you'd like to read more (fair warning). Olivia has had sex before. She obviously isn't going to go around advertising it, because society. But she's not a virgin. And after before mentioned coming against a tree situation (which did not involve penetrative sex) Alec is all "no, we must protect your precious flower" and Olivia is all "no worries, my flower has been plucked". Not once did she outwardly tell this man, from what I recall, that she was a virgin--though if she did that would be fine because society and misogyny and that's her fucking business.

He is PISSED. And it's all justified because his abusive father was a liar who pretended to be a morally upright prude while secretly fucking all over the place (and beating Alec for good measure) but this did not track for me. This is no babe in the woods, here. Alec has been in society for years and developed his own reputation, and he's fully aware of how important *technical* virginity was for proper young ladies, which is why he said he wouldn't fuck her. But once he finds out that Olivia has had a penis inside her (once!) he's like "oh my god, she's been lying to me, how could I trust her about anything, THIS LIAR!!!!"

And it did kill my lust for him very hard.

Of course he gets called on it, and of course they figure things out, but I never feel like he was sufficiently apologetic for slut shaming Olivia. Because it's all justified behind that "my daddy was a mean man who lied about his sex life among other things" story. And that didn't track. Additionally, Olivia did not have sex because she just wanted to. She had sex under very justifiable, very understandable circumstances that involved light pressure and didn't really have anything to do with her just wanting to fuck for fun. So it's like "poor Olivia, she is not a true slut, and thus we can absolve her of her sins".

That's.... concerning for me. Especially in 2022. I don't want to rate this book lower because the rest of it was very fun and I don't want to assume that this is par for the course when I haven't read anything else by this author. I want to give her another shot. But damn, that was a misstep of a plot point.

This book was provided for me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Alec was abused as a child by his father. A man who presented himself to the world as charming and moral. This is why he scorns anyone who does the same. Olivia is a schoolmistress with a secret to hide. If anyone finds out, her morals will be in question and she will lose her pupils at her school for girls. The two meet when the Home Office tasks Alec with finding out who was behind an explosion in an attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister. The only clue leads Alec to Olivia's brother Henry. A mathematician, did he help the criminal association Scepter with the bombing? When Alec finds out it's really Olivia doing the calculations, he has two suspects. Secrets, explosions, plots to overthrow the government. Excitement abounds. Both need to make peace with their pasts. It's a continuation of who is Scepter? Also, this girl has a hard head!

This was really more of a 3.5/5.0 for me but for the sake of NetGalley I will round up to 4 stars. I enjoy this series but some titles more than others. While this was nowhere near as good to me as book#2, I still quite enjoyed it. I like the ongoing plot with Scepter and how some historical events are woven in. I felt like the class conflict seemed to have been resolved a little too easily, as well as the ending regarding the assassination plot. It seemed kind of anti-climactic. Overall, not something I would probably read again, but I would still recommend this title if you enjoy this series, the author, or historical romances in general.

Alexander Sinclair, Earl St. James, works in secret for the Home Office. An attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister in an explosion by a group of revolutionaries called Scepter, leads him to Henry Everett. Henry is a scholar and mathematician. He runs the Everett School with his sister Olivia, the headmistress. When Alex discovers Olivia is the true mathematician, he follows her instead. The connection between architectural plans and a mathematician are the key. Alex's late night visits and his sister's machinations find Alex and Olivia in passionate kisses that lead to more encounters. Trying to stop another assassination and finding her brother keep the story moving with answers and more questions.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

I'm in love with this series. Anna Harrington delivers a fast paced mystery on the hunt to track down those behind Spector. This story is so much fun and I know readers of Elizabeth Hoyt will love this. A Relentless Rake is fourth in The Lords of the Armory series. The entire series is working to uncover a criminal organization and I highly suggest reading them all. This novel also reads as a stand alone.

Harrington gives us such a lovely mix of classes, hidden identities and some sleuthing fun! I thought this book was so much fun and full of danger! Olivia Everett runs and teaches at a school for girls. Her Brother shares the responsibility with her but goes missing. Searching for her brother in the darkest alleys in town she is rescued by a masked man. Alexander Sinclair, Earl of St James has been assigned to follow Olivia in order to find her brother for the Home Office. Only he finds she needs protecting and he needs to put his trust in her.

Both our leads have backstories with people they couldn't trust in their lives. Sinclair's backstory is very sad and includes mentions of abuse to children and women. Harrington arranges their attraction and growing partnership masterfully. There is a solving the crime element to this without some of the adventure of the previous novels.

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

Hello! I did not think that I could love a hero more, love his backstory more, from any of Anna Harrington's books, than I do that of Alec Sinclair. He is everything that Olivia or any woman should not want in a man...which makes him irresistible. And, as he finally realized 'the error of his ways,' his attractiveness rose infinitesimally. I loved this book, love the cover, love the stories, and love the characters. Olivia seemed surely on pins and needles, and the dynamics between hero and heroine as he operated ten steps ahead of her, respectively, were fun. I remember my first Anna Harrington book with Dukes are Forever. It was awesome, and she always manages to top herself. I enjoyed the interplay of mathematics in 'a Relentless Rake,' along with a potential political plot. Super clever! Anna Harrington always delivers on dialogue and description. I am always transported to time and place, and this book is no exception. I felt as though I were on the scene, with each page, in this book. I appreciate having received an advance copy from Netgalley. I definitely recommend 'a Relentless Rake!' Thank you!