Gwen was used to being the only blacksmith in her small town until the Meyers moved in and started stealing her business and making veiled threats and offering to merge their businesses contingent upon Gwen marrying one of Mr. Meyer's sons.
Kellan is a first-class swindler, most recently playing the role of the ducal heir. His father of course played the role of the duke, and upon discovery flees, leaving Kellan to face the music--the music, in this case, being an angry mob seeking to hang Kellan. Kellan is rescued by Gwen after hiding in her smithy, by revealing to the crowd they are in love and exchanging an impassioned kiss. This is, of course, their first meeting. Kellan and Gwen make a deal to remain married for one year for both their sakes, but with no physical benefits.
I think part of the reason this one wasn't my favorite in the series is that Gwen was built up over the first two books, and when the audience gets excited about a specific story, it is always difficult to live up to. With historical romances, you always know how it will ultimately end up, but for some reason, this one felt a little too expected, a little too contrived. The conflict was sort of a rehashing of their first fight, and the spice was scant and often unfulfilling. I found myself checking how far I was in the book far more than I do with a historical romance I love and lose myself in, so this was disappointing. This book had a lot of my favorite tropes, and the story sort of just stumbled along, without much design or chemistry between the Hero and heroine.
I'm giving this two stars, but will continue to read and enjoy the series/author as I did love the previous two!
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager via Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The next in the Duke Hunt series, this book was about village blacksmith and amazon beauty Gwen. When Kellan Fox's father runs off after impersonating the lost duke, the village people want to string up Kellan to pay for his crimes. Gwen steps in and claims they are in love and the village starts planning their wedding.

A grifter for most of his life, Kellan has never had a home or put down roots. He's the perfect match for Gwen who is also an orphan. I really loved this pairing and their story was different than what I usually find in a Sophie Jordan novel. I also loved Kellan for Gwen and was glad that he wasn't an aristocratic lord but an everyman who can match her and share her love of her occupation.

Super sweet love story!

I ‘ve been looking for ward to reading this book ever since I seen a glimpse of Gwen in the first book of the series. I’ve never read a story about a woman Blacksmith or knew I needed that type of story til now. I loved how Kellen respected and adored Gwen. He is definetly book boyfriend material and I loved the sparks between them.

"The Scoundrel Falls Hard" is about a down on his luck swindler, named Kellan Fox, and a female blacksmith, named Gwen Cully. They enter an engagement of convenience to save his life and are forced to spend time together until the wedding takes place in twenty-one days. They fall into insta love/lust and don't really meet any real road blocks with the exception of the beginning of the story when the village wants to hang Kellan.

I found this story to be short and underdeveloped. There weren't any satisfying conclusions to their doubts about how this engagement and marriage will impact them, or how Gwen's lack of trust in Kellan would play out, or how Mr. Meyers and sons might further cause trouble and receive their comeuppance.

I finished this book feeling perplexed and unattached to this story. The premise was promising and Sophie Jordan did great in the first half of the book. Then the story just fell flat and was dissatisfying. But I will give it points in that it is a quick and angst free read if you need a spot of entertainment.

I should also give a disclaimer that there was not any satisfying anvil action as portrayed on the cover of the book (at least not in the arc copy). Darn!

2.5 stars

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of the eARC thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review. I am familiar with this author and always enjoyed her books. This book was a page turner for a historical romance. It is part of a series called Duke Hunt although it can be read as a stand alone. Basic premise is a marriage of convenience between a female blacksmith and a scammer. This book started off exciting and kept it going thru out the whole story. The supporting characters were enjoyable. I like the back-and-forth chemistry of the H&H and the role reversal in this story. But felt the ending was rushed and needed more. I would recommend this to other people because this author is good and worth getting to know.

I enjoyed the first half of the book and I was on my way to enjoying it all thoroughly...but then it just ended. Literally the book just ended.

You know when you're getting to the end of a book and there don't seem to be enough pages left to adequately cover all the bases left to fill? Well, I didn't think I had that issue here...until I did. I was at 80% of the digital arc file and was super excited to see the villains vanquished, happily ever after achieved, and our happy couple happy in love. But then 6% later the book was over and I was absolutely flabbergasted. I had zero time to prepare for the end of the book! I couldn't make peace with my demons! I couldn't bargain! or beg! or steal!

It turns out, the end of the file included 14% of pages from the first two books in the series. Pages I'd already read. Pain. I simply don't understand how this book was so short. The terrible rival blacksmiths never got their true public humiliation and his father just gets to...still be terrible? I'm sorry we were simply not shown enough of him to even THINK about redeeming him in that short time.

The relationship between the Gwen and Kellan was fairly instalove/lust but it worked for the plot, at least for the first half. There was tension and pining and sparks. But my feelings towards them did hinge on a greater emotional payoff at the end which we didn't get. The steam was another confusing part. Book two was HOT. But here, our poor super model-esque blacksmith's never adequately got to fan the flames.

For ONE, when you put an anvil on the cover of a book and put two beautiful people on said anvil on said cover...............the book MUST include anvil ravishment. NOT an interrupted kiss (especially after multiple other previous kisses had also been interrupted). The phantom pains I still feel knowing we never got our anvil scene will haunt me for the rest of my days. Tessa Dare was able to deliver a nice anvil tup in a NOVELLA. With a cover that absolutely did NOT promise steamy anvil sex. My biggest pet peeve is undelivered sexual promises and I'm sorry but this is an egregious Tour de Tease.

There was a hot voyeurism scene that heated the iron in my blood and I did like their one night together, but emphasis on ONE. We got some hot foreplay and their Scene, but then the book just ended along with any hope of scorching chemistry. There was epilogue sex but epilogue sex is a garnish. You cannot use the epilogue to fill *holes* in the sexual body of work. The epilogue is a treat, not part of the main course when it comes to sex scenes.

I will say, the father didn't lead to the third act breakup exactly how I thought he would, and I was pleasantly surprised. I understood both sides to the breakup and it was over quickly (although this happened at the end so....it was all over quickly. Gwen handled it like a champ and I was a fan. Kellan's "familial blade of self sacrifice" wasn't too sharp here and I was able to handle it pretty well. I also didn't mind that he was a con artist. It was fun and unique and to be quite honest, there are bigger fish to fry.

I still love Sophie's writing and FLEW through this book. I was super happy with the set-up for the book. I'll admit I was confused in book two when the new duke was said to be an older gentleman because...my romance brain is not wired for that lol. But turns out I was not malfunctioning and I'm feeling pretty smug about it not gonna lie.

Anyways, the premise was super fun and the book did deliver on a pretty light and breezy book, but the passion and heat never got past lukewarm. I love a low angst book, with the stipulation that the couple can carry the plot. We needed a cool 20% more development from Gwen and Kellan at the end for the to shoulder the weight of the summary and badass setup.

Overall, I just don't understand how the book just ended like that. I wouldn't have been so alarmed if the arc percentage left had been accurate...but I can't change the fact that I lost my mind. I fundamentally think a part of this book got lost in translation or accidentally deleted somewhere along the way because it feels incomplete.

Romance readers will NOT be disappointed by this gem from Sophie Jordan. Marriage-of-convenience fans will swoon over Gwen and Kellen and the circumstance that brings them together. I loved the character of Gwen - a craftswoman and business owner, such an original breath of fresh air in historical romance! I really enjoyed this and will definitely recommend to my library patrons looking for their next favorite historical.

Sophie Jordan has done it again!

In The Scoundrel Falls Hard we follow the love story of Gwen, a female blacksmith, and Kellan, a thief. From the get go, this book is amazing. The opening is fantastic - fast-paced and has the reader engaged immediately. I loved both Gwen and Kellan - they were a great pair and complemented each other very well.
The story begins with an engagement of convenience and moves to forced proximity, only one bed, falling for someone you shouldn't... it was a delight. Reading this book brought me so much joy and had me smiling the entire time as I flew through it and stayed up way too late reading.

I loved this book by Sophie Jordan! Marriage of Convenience and only one bed! She put a unique twist on my favorite scenarios/tropes. They certainly spend a lot of the book trying to resist each other, him struggling with his past as a swindler/con artist and her trying to trust him. When they finally come together it’s hot! ❤️‍🔥 He is her total champion and falls completely in love with Gwen and proves to her and to himself that he’s worthy and wants a real marriage and partnership with her. It is a sweet love story. Definitely recommend! I hope there is another book in the series as I am dying to know what’s going on with the true Duke and the housekeeper! Keep em coming!

3.5 stars. I love a good marriage of convenience, and I was excited to see blacksmith Gwen get her own story. When she rescues a handsome conman from an angry mob, the only way to save his life is to claim she's in love with him. So the two strangers agree to marry for a year--platonically, of course. He'll help her save her struggling business from a rival blacksmith, and she'll rehabilitate his reputation. But neither of them can ignore their mutual attraction for long.

This was a great setup that didn't quite live up to the premise. As other reviewers have mentioned, there's no strong emotional connection between the characters. And the resolution is quite abrupt, considering what we've been through with them by that point. I wanted more of an HEA for their sake and the reader's.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

Sophie Jordan is one of my all time favorite authors. I love her style, love her characters - I highly anticipate her stories. I want to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book, The Scoundrel Falls Hard. I wanted to like this book I really did, but it feel short in a lot of ways. First, the story was rushed. I feel like this was a novella not an actual full length story. Everything from the character development to the plot felt rushed. I didn't feel like there was time to develop a love story, just a lust story. I'm all for an early on lust story that turns into a love story but this one felt like it just started and it was ending. Kellan was a charlatan that never fully left that character. Gwen had such a unique story to be told. Female blacksmith. You read that correctly, historical romance female lead as a blacksmith. Loved the idea and wanted to see more of her occupation and how, why, what, where, when about blacksmithing. We briefly get information about her backstory but not enough in my opinion. Their love was hurried, their marriage hurried. The entire story - way to hurried. This premise had tons of promise very sad to say that I did finish Gwen and Kellan's story but I really didn't want to.

Gwen the blacksmith is one of my favorite heroines I’ve read in a long time. She had such a complicated relationship with her own femininity and the life she chose, and was trying to find herself in her work and her relationships with others. She was wonderful.

The whirlwind romance was so fast paced it was a little much, but the story was romantic and sweet and was a very quick read. I loved the only one bed moment! Totally one of my favorite tropes.

The Scoundrel Falls Hard, by Sophie Jordan. What an unforgettable love story. Two people who deserves each other so much turns into a love story that leaves you feeling exhilarated about being in love. Sophie Jordan did a marvelous job of bringing Gwen and Kellan’s love story to her readers. I appreciate that the writer kept the story focused on the passion grows between Gwen and Kellan.
The story is a slow burn, but the writer did a wonderful job of adding some entertainment to keep you riveted to the story. Take for instance the public hanging, that was chaotic event that would have you think twice on visiting a small town. There was other infuriating things that darkened Gwen’s doorsteps that had her think twice about the tall, dark, massively, built like a statue of a man at her door. The story has some pretty colorful characters that will have amazed at how are they still living, as well as some that people will be glad to call friends. I like that the story stayed on point to the plot of the story, while exploring and sharing the sensual, steamy exploit of Gwen and Kellan.
Until next time my fellow readers… read on!

I enjoy a good 'marriage of convenience' historical romance, and this one certainly delivers! The story gets off to a quick start. Gwen, a smart, resourceful blacksmith—and Kellan, a charming, deceitful yet kind-hearted rogue—are thrown together in a startling setting…an angry mob bent on punishing him as a scoundrel. When Gwen comes to his rescue, they find themselves backed into the corner of an unexpected betrothal.

This couple has terrific chemistry, and the romance unfolds beautifully. They have been through some difficult times in their respective pasts and struggle with trusting others. Will they come to trust and believe in each other?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to other romance readers!

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Sophie Jordan for the DRC.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC of this book!

In the third book of this series we get to learn more about Gwen Cully, the village blacksmith. Without giving too much away she saves our hero from the noose. The rouse she uses to save Kellan does not go as planned and quickly these two must become allies to save Gwen's reputation and Kellan's life. It took me a minute to fall in love with our hero but once I did it was all over. He is truly a modern man and loves the fact that our heroine is strong a capable! We have a book in feminism wrapped in a romance novel package. This series overall is so good and I strongly recommend this read to anyone who loves a HEA!

Gwen, quite amazingly, is a blacksmith in a small village. Almost 6 ft tall and working in a man’s field Gwen is a force to be reckoned with. When Kellan storms in to her shop to hide himself from angry villagers who want to hang him for impersonating a ducal heir, Gwen sees the injustice of it and takes action. Nothing she says seems to work until she bursts out, “I love him.” She hadn’t meant to say it but she had been desperate. And it worked. Well, it worked to stop the hanging but it unfortunately worked to cause no end of problems for her. The village expects them to marry. They agree with one another to a marriage of convenience for one year. What might happen between them with this hare-brained agreement?

I’m not sure I could believe in their romance. They certainly had a sexual attraction. There were many examples of that. But the falling-in-love aspect was not so convincing. There was a lot of teasing though most of it was not exactly flirtation. But it did not seem to further a budding romance until almost the very end of the book.

Still Gwen’s character was appealing. I loved that she was a blacksmith and a very tall, very robust, woman. This is not the regular type of female character in romances. It was also delightful to read an historical romance that did not involve the ton but regular people instead. I did wish that Gwen was written with a bit more self confidence as one might expect of a woman who owned her own business and who decided to remain a spinster of her own volition.

Kellan’s character was interesting and engaging. He clearly changed over time from a scoundrel and con-artist to someone with morals.

Note that this is the third in a series but can easily be read as a standalone.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in return for an honest review.

I really, really didn't like this installment in the series, and it had such potential. A female blacksmith who lives rather independently, Gwen could have been so cool. What a wasted opportunity here.

Gwen rescues Kellan after he and her father swindle her town. The angry townsfolk want to hang him, she convinces them they are in love, and the banns are posted. She's not sure he'll even stick around a day, but when he does, she proposes that they marry and stay together for year--enough time for her to take advantage of his strapping figure. No, not in the way you'd hope, because she is surprisingly prudish at first; she wants his help around her house.

The pacing in this book was way off. For the first half, it was so slow that I thought, "this is a novella being stretched to fill a novel." Then, all of a sudden, all the action happens: sex, declarations of love, a break-up, a make-up. We spent as many pages reading about them thwarting a thief trying to steal nails from her workshop as we did covering the sequence from their rupture and to their reunion.

Most importantly, I have no idea who the characters really are: what motivates them, why they made specific choices, what they hope for the future, what they regret and cherish in their pasts. They didn't make sense, so while the plot was predictable, it was mostly because it was telegraphing tropes and stock characters well in advance.

This author tends to be hit or miss for me. She's had some really enjoyable books, and she's had some with ridiculous plot devices (not one but two with a magical aphrodisiac). This one, though, was just confusing and a drag.

I've enjoyed this whole series and was glad to see Gwen get her own story. Gwen is unique in historical fiction because she isn't a blushing debutante or a naive wallflower-- she's the town's blacksmith. Tall and clad in breeches, she cuts what some might consider an unfeminine figure, so it was a nice change of pace to see such a character as the star of a romance novel. Kellan is on the run-- literally-- when he finds help from a mob in Gwen's smithy. To protect him, Gwen feigns a love affair and the two are forced into marriage. It's a fun premise and a delightful read, but the beginning with the call for a hanging was bleak and at odds with the lightheartedness of the rest of the story; so much so that a content warning may have been warranted for some.

Kellan is a grifter who is being run out of town for pretending to be the son of a duke. He ducks into the local smithy to hide. Unfortunately, the townsfolk find him and drag him out to string him up. The blacksmith, Gwen, steps in to try to save him by telling the villagers that she’s in love with him. The town agrees to let him go on the condition that Gwen and Kellan marry.

Gwen is now responsible for a man who is not known for his honesty. She worries that he will leave her in a lurch and she will be humiliated in front of the entire town. They strike a bargain to stay married for a year.

Kellan is a fantastic cinnamon roll of a hero. He knows Gwen is capable and competent, but is always willing to offer an support she needs. He loves to watch Gwen shine and always comes across as proud of her.

Gwen has been doing things on her own for so long that she doesn’t really know what to do when things are taken off her plate. Kellan helps her realize that while she can do it on her own, she doesn’t have to.

This is a great read if you are looking for a soft, cozy read that also brings the heat.

I received an ARC for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyage Pub for this earc!

This book had so much potential but somehow it didn’t reach it.

I was very much enjoying the forced marriage plot line because it was actually written in the best way possible: attraction was there from day one but characters actually took their time to get to know each other. I liked the slow burn and how they came to care about one another

And then, I feel like someone took out a quarter of the book. Kellen’s father stole Gwen’s money, Gwen kicked Kellen out and took him back within two chapters? That jump just messed up the whole story.

I also didn’t like the Epilogue and how even though Kellen’s father hasn't changed, they opened their door for him. Made no sense

Sadly, I wasn’t a fan of how the story ended