I really enjoyed this story! It was easy to read with fun characters and an intriguing plot!

Thank you Dragonblade Publishing for providing a review copy!

I really tried to give this book a chance, but sadly it didn't last- I couldn't finish the book, the storyline just feels a bit flat. The characters seem nice... but that's it, nothing too exciting.

Without wanting to give too much away it’s not just a romance but also a bit of a mystery/spy story. It had a fab amount of suspense and ties in with the other books in the series well.

The Marquess of Mischief by Anna St. Clair was a sweet historical romance filled with drama and mystery.

A plot to kill the Prince Regent had to be thwarted by Christopher Anglesey, Marquess of Banbury. He had to keep his ears and eyes open all the time, leading him to a plot to racist a young miss at the ball later that night.

Blinded by an accident and just existing, Miss Diana Lawrence didn’t enjoy balls. She felt pitied and sad. Obligated to take a turn around the ballroom, she was whisked off and assaulted. Thankfully, Chris saved her.

They court, there’s extra drama, and the HEA commenced.

This book was cute but felt a little too easy to figure out. I was confused about the motives of Tidewell and wished we could have learned more about that.

Diana, blinded in a carriage accident, maintains her position in society at the behest of her mother. On an outing to the museum one afternoon, Diana is startled to overhear a plot against the Regent. Enter Christopher, Diana' best friends brother, agent of the Crown and a Marquess in his own right, Having known Diana for years he feels it is his duty to protect her. Hence begins a cat-and-mouse game that is both dangerous and the precursor of an unexpected HEA.
Thank you Anna St. Clair, Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest feedback.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Christopher Anglesey unexpectedly finds himself becoming the new Marquess of Banbury, though he doesn't wish to immediately give up his role in the intelligence services. During one of his most dangerous cases, he meets the beautiful Lady Diana Lawrence, who finds herself in the cross hairs of a plot which would kill the Regent, and bring down the government. Diana may be a debutante, but a horrific carriage accident left her blind, and her prospects aren't the best. Christopher, though, is immediately drawn to her, and feels as if he needs to personally protect her, and being that she's his sister's best friend, it's easy to be there. As the danger draws close, will the growing feelings Christopher and Diana be their savour, or their downfall.

I pleasantly enjoyed the first book in the series, and when I saw the second listed on NetGalley, I thought I'd give it a go, and this one was even better than the first. The main characters were strong, and ready for whatever was thrown at them - and that was quite a bit over the course of the book. Diana had faced life with blindness, pitied by others, but she was still the Diana she had been before the accident, even if not everyone treated as such. Christopher didn't know her too well before hand, but meeting her, and seeing her true self, he realised she was someone who could make him question his decision to hold off on marrying, just yet. Inheriting the marquisate was unexpected, but he wasn't going to shirk his duty, just hold it off for a while. His position in the intelligence services was extremely important to him, and when he realised that he and Diana found themselves in the position to stop an assassination of the Prince Regent, that was more important that anything. The 'villain' was a little obvious, but the plot was enjoyable nonetheless, and I'm looking forward to reading book 3 soon!

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly I feel like I gave this book a fair chance but it justbdidnt work for me.
I read over half the book and I was bored the entire time. I can usually finish a book I like in a weekend and I have been working through this for weeks at this point. The plot was slow and the characters were dull.
Not for me at all.

Christopher Anglesey , the Marquess of Banbury, works for the crown when he overhears an attempted do ruin a young lady who is a family friend named Lady Diana Lawrence. Lady Diana Lawrence has been blinded by an accident. The Marquess comes to Lady Diana's defense.. The Next day the marquess's sister and Diana are at a museum where Diana overhears overhears a plot to assassinate the Prince Regent which is the marquess new assignment so Lady Diana and him are thrown together a lot to find out who's behind the plot. They end up falling in love

2.75 stars

The Marquess of Mischief is a perfectly nice book about nice people who are nice to each other. The romance part is equally nice if not terribly exciting. Second in a series (the first was also nice), it follows Christopher and Diana, longtime family friends, as they navigate a budding romance while dealing with a crazed lunatic (not as exciting as it sounds), an assassination plot (that either), and some bumbling henchmen (who, for criminals, are actually fairly nice). In spite of the niceness, there are trigger warnings, which I'll put at the very end, as usual, to avoid spoilers.

Diana's involvement in the assassination plot comes because she overhears the henchmen discussing it in a museum. Blind since a carriage accident several months before the start of the book, she cannot physically describe the men, but she lets Christopher and her father know what she heard and how the men smelled. Christopher, who works for the crown, finds himself both trying to protect Diana and the Prince Regent. Also, there's chaste courting.

The story is okay if the romance is tame, but I found that the problems that I had with the first book of the series--uneven pacing and odd plot choices--continue in this one. For example, Diana is frustrated because she feels like there's something she should be remembering, but nothing ever comes from it. Attention is paid to odd things, like lengthier-than-usual descriptions of dresses or concern-slash-amusement about her maid's narcolepsy; none of these things end up having any bearing on the plot. I'm not even entirely certain what the bad guy's motive is. And as far as rakes and mischief go, Christopher demonstrates no more mischievousness than Matthew demonstrated excess in the previous novel.

I wanted to like this book more than I did, and in spite of it not being super exciting, it's still a relatively quick read. That said, I'm not entirely sure that I would choose to read future books in this series.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks!

Trigger warnings: Assault, attempted rape

Lady Diana Lawrence was blinded in a carriage accident. That does not slow this amazing young woman down. She remains positive and still attends ton events. When she over hears a threat to kill the Prince Regent, her best friend's brother, Christopher Anglesey, Marquess of Banbury knows he must protect her.
Diana and Christopher are friends first, having known each other for years, as love slowly develops between them.
The story has wonderful characters, villains, suspense, intrigue, romance, and plenty of action. I highly recommend this book for your enjoyment.

While the storyline premise was good and there was a good race to save the Prince Regent, to me it all came out a bit on the boring side. It seemed the whole book never really went anywhere and it was very predictable.
I did like that there was a character with a disability and I felt the author did a really good job of expressing how Diana coped with her blindness and what she was able and capable of doing. I actually liked Christopher as a character and his heroics.
What didn't work for me- in literally a few paragraphs Christopher goes from saying 'I'm not interested in marriage, she's my sister's best friend' to 'I'd like to court you' and kissing her. The reader can tell from the very first rescue scene that he's going to end up with her and she admits to liking him, dreaming about him.
There were also several spelling mistakes and editing mistakes. One huge one was when Diana first got on her horse. It says clearly that Christopher had waited until she had dismounted before approaching, then a few sentences later, he is helping her off the horse.
The story seems to take place over a few days which takes up 24 chapters! A lot of needless words.
Kissing scenes, no steam.

I'm sorry to say this book just did not thrill me and while I read through it, it isn't one I'd ever want to read again. The author is not a bad writer, quite the opposite, so I guess I just expected more from her.
I did receive an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This story was more of a suspenseful, cat and mouse hunt with Bow Street and the agents for the crown trying to track down a would be Assassin of the Prince Regent , than it was a romance. I felt it was the main part of the story with the slow burn relationship between Diana and Christopher secondary. Consequently, I didn’t really connect with them personally.

This is the second book in The Rakes of Mayhem series. It is a delightful friends to lovers romance. Christopher and Diana' have been friends for years but are now starting to realize they have feelings that go beyond friendship. Diana is a lovely character - smart and caring and optimistic in nature. She is the friend of Christopher's sister. She has had many challenges in recent years, but always tends to see the good. As a result of a carriage accident, she is now blind and has accepted that marriage is not in her future. Christopher is a charming character - kind and caring. He is an agent of the Crown and does not want to give that up despite his new title and responsibilities. They begin to explore a new relationship in the midst of some danger and suspense. I enjoyed following their blossoming romance. The interactions and dialogue between the two were a treat to read and I enjoyed the story overall. Looking forward to Ms. St. Clair's next book!

I received a complimentary copy from Dragonblade Publishing via Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Entertaining Regency Romance with Intrigue

A villain is targeting Diana, and she has no idea why. Christopher comes to her rescue. However, when she hears of a plot to assassinate the Prince Regent, her life is about to get a lot more complicated. Diana confides in Christopher about what she hears, and as an agent of the Crown, he might have the resources to protect her. However, the villain with whom they are dealing is dangerous, and Diana’s life is in peril. Could Christopher protect her?

After Diana’s accident, she did not think she would have any hope of marrying since she lost her sight. However, in Christopher, Diana found a man who did not care about her blindness. He did not just want to protect her from danger; he wanted to court her. Could they survive to enjoy the love they found? Who was the villain who wanted to silence Diana and to kill the Prince Regent?

I enjoyed this Regency romance, and I liked the suspense and intrigue in the story. However, as a blind person, I could not help but comment on the blind heroine in the story. In literature, many misconceptions abound. Blind people do not count steps, nor do our senses become keener. It is difficult for the sighted world to realize that we simply adapt to our environment and use alternative techniques to navigate the world without using eyesight. That does not make us extraordinary; it only makes us different.

I received a free copy from NetGalley and this is my freely expressed opinion.

This is the second in the Rakes of Mayhem series by Anna St. Claire. The Marquess of Banbury, was a second son and not expecting to inherit the title. Now that he is the Marquess, he has to consider the future, which may involve giving up his occupation of working as an Agent of the Crown, and consider marrying to secure an heir. He is not willing to give up either, but he does have to consider his family's future, and the securement of his estates.

Lady Diana Lawrence is a close friend of Banbury's sister. She had the misfortune of being in a carriage accident the year before and suffered a head injury that did not seem serious initially, but soon afterwards she developed vision loss. Her family and friends love her dearly, and it seems they would not let her hide away but do what they can to keep her out and about. Unfortunately, there are members in society who have some serious ill will towards her family and choose to use her as a target for their anger.

Banbury ends up coming to the rescue of Lady Diana one night, in the midst of an assault upon her. Their paths intersect again, when she overhears an assassination plan when out on a trek with Banbury's sister. This coincides with Banbury's spy work, but he also finds himself attracted to Lady Diana, and her spirit and bravery in overcoming her blindness.

This is a sweet story in that it seemed that Banbury was going to take on the alpha hero male role, initially saving Lady Diana from assault, but it did not really go that route. Rather than him rushing to save the helpless maiden again and again, and doing for her, he took on a very loving and supportive role, looking for ways for her to be able to engage in activities she enjoys and can experience even with the vision loss, and for them to do together. It was quite uplifting. Also, the hero of the story ends up being unexpected, which I enjoyed.

I read the Earl of Excess and quite enjoyed that as well, as it had a strong, atypical heroine (and a dog) as well. I enjoyed their reappearance in this book as well, though I thought the Earl would have a bit more input here, especially in light of his blindness after his injuries in the first book, as that also came from trauma/injury. Interesting how there is blindness as a theme in both books.

One small issue I had was how quickly Banbury went from being against marriage to turning around to courting Lady Diana; that seemed a rather rushed turnaround. Also, the characters of Ollie and his brother seemed to be rather one dimensional and unformed, considering their roles as threats and menaces. If they primarily acted as thieves, how did they end up being picked by the primary villain as royal assassins - seems a bit of a leap. But otherwise, I found this to be a rather sweet love romance, and enjoyed the development of the relationship between Banbury and Diana.

3.5 stars out of 5.

The Marquess of Mischief, by Anna St, Claire. What a absolute kind hearted, romantic book to read. The leading characters, Christopher and Diana took me and my very vivid imagination on a wild ride, threw parks, stables or mews as they called them in that time period. I was treated with romantic picnic stories as Rose the dedicated chaperone to Lady Diana sir comes to the graciously packed wine and is Inebriated as she snoozes against the tree. I couldn’t help but giggle a little at the many times Rose has fallen asleep on the job!
Back to the sweetest couple in the book. Lady Diana and Lord Christopher explored many feelings and adventures in this light hearted book. Christopher’s character was wonderful. He played the protective love interest on the hunt for the man who dares cause harm to the people around him. I found him authoritative, level headed, caring and a true romantic. Diana is a young lady that seems to not let anything or anyone get her down.
She accepts that special something that is growing between her and Christopher. At the same time, she learns to do things for herself. I truly appreciate that the writer gave this story more dialogue between characters rather than narrative, discussing what the characters are doing or thinking. For some reason the dialogue among the characters helped me visualize the story and get swept away in the fun and entertainment of the book. I thought the writer explained a number of things in vivid detail for the readers, so that they could see what the characters see. I thought all the characters were good natured, charming and witty in the parts that they were supposed to. The adventure and mystery and excitement of the background story definitely helped the book move along. I enjoyed the plot of the story. The romance was soft, but I stillloved it. I give this book two snaps and a, Guntor!
Hide the wine bottle from Rose, her snoring is becoming a bit much on our outings. Until next time my fellow readers… read on!

I enjoy Ms. St. Claire's books and give this one a solid 3.5 stars.

I have enjoyed many books by this author and this one did not disappoint. I loved how sweet and caring Christopher was throughout the story from the start. Diana was blinded by an accident and how she adjusted and the way the ton still welcomed her in a way was interesting. I just couldn't get over how much Christopher went out of his way to figure out things for Diana that she was missing and would enjoy/ be able to do. This is a very sweet romance story, of the hero realizing that he missed this amazing woman and now is lucky to have found her again and to protect her. The whole plot to kill the prince/ spy/ revenge side plots keep the story moving but wasn't what I enjoyed the most of out of it.

This was my first Anna St. Claire novel (I discovered her in the Halloween collection from Dragonblade) and it did not disappoint. I loved both characters from the beginning and following them as their romance developed was very enjoyable. I liked that Diana always puts on smile and acts like everything is okay but does have private moments in which she lets her disappointment come to the surface. This just made her seem more like a real person rather than a saint who is able to just take what life gives her and be happy with it (as so often happens in romance novels). I would have liked a little more build up to Christopher realizing he wanted to court Diana. It felt like he went from "I'm not looking to get married" on one page to "I really want to marry this woman" on the next. I also wish there had been something more about the medical theories of the time about what had caused Diana's blindness. Tidwell is a great villain - just crazy enough to make you believe he was capable of anything, but not so crazy that he comes across as over the top. The mystery surrounding the assassination of the Prince Regent adds just the right amount of tension to the story to keep it interesting.

This is a very entertaining story of one of my favorite tropes friend of older brother.

Christopher works for the crown and has no time for love. Diana is blind and Christopher comes to her rescue when she is almost taken advantage of.

I enjoyed the characters and storyline along with their attraction, intrigue and suspense.

I received an advance reader copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

FAN-TAST-IC!!! The Marquess of Mischief by Anna St. Claire is book 2 in The Rakes of Mayhem series and though I a series this book can be read as a standalone. What I really liked about this book was that the heroine was blind yet was totally acceptance of it and the hero found ways for them to have fun even with her condition. If only I could find a man like Christopher. Super sexy!!! I found this book easy to read and very original. It gave the true feeling of the regency era. The characters are just wonderful too. Anna has a real gift for story telling and the description very vivid. This story has a blind lady that was almost raped, rescue, a friend of the family that realizes his feelings have changed, revenge, madness, a murder plot, a sweet little boy who had rickets, understanding, kindness, not wanting to marry, going fishing, a lady’s maid the is always falling asleep, hearing a plot to kill the prince and facing in love. I am highly recommending you read this book. You will not be able to put it down.

***This book was gifted to me and I am voluntarily reviewing.