Entertaining romance with witty and engaging protagonists and strong secondary characters. Part of a series but can be read as a standalone.

A mix of plot and romance and a quick read.

The second in MacLean's Helles Belles series, Heartbreaker remains yet another installation in "I Will Read Everything Sarah MacLean Writes." I thoroughly enjoyed this story of a thief and a Duke crossing paths--and falling hard along the way. As with all her works, MacLean has a knack for writing strong, independent female characters that make sense within the context of their historical time periods, and the "gotcha" kick to society bullies offered up by the Hells Belles heroines is added fun.

I thought this book was really fun! I enjoy when women come together to cut up and break the rules. The hell's belles certainly fit the bill. I enjoyed the way that this book set up the political backdrop for why women of the era may have seen an opening of possibility. The action was a welcome change to romance books that seem to lag after the first kiss. However, I would've liked the book to learn more into romance and I found myself forgetting about the couple after closing the book. All in all, I would recommend this book to someone who is tired of reading the same old historical romances that seem to repeat the same old storylines. But, I would not turn to this book if you're looking for an all consuming romance. Heartbreaker gets your heart beating but it is not a heartstopper.

I really enjoyed the first book of this series and the second didn't disappoint. Adelaide is secretly the notorious Matchbreaker, a woman who discovers secrets about England's most powerful and uses that information to help women avoid terrible matches. Henry has an impeccable reputation, but he is hiding secrets. They are thrown together to stop a wedding and during the journey sparks fly. Excellent read and looking forward to the next book in the series.

Sarah MacLean’s Hell’s Bells series is one of the best parts of historical romance right now. She gives you everything: an interesting take on being a woman in Victorian society, tropes that leave you craving more, and a lovable group of women out to take down the worst people out in society. I absolutely adored this book and can’t wait for the future books!

Once again, another raucous adventure from one of my all-time favorite authors! Who doesn't love a roadtrip race, complete with singular beds and foul villains? For anyone who loves adventure stories where the woman is the adventurer, give this book a go.

Special thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the chance to review this book.

Not my most favorite one of hers, but reading Knockout immediately after made everything better. Still steamy and worth a read though (if only to get to Tommy & Imogen next).

Sarah Maclean is such a delight to read and Heartbreak was no exception. I love a piney hero and Claybourne was piney as fuck. Adelaide spent so much time thinking she was invisible to everyone and he had been watching her, fascinated, for years. I eat that shit up with a spoon. I also really enjoyed the dynamic aspect of the story. At first they're in competition, then it's a road trip romance and then they work together to take down an evil man. The banter in this book is phenomenal. The beginning, especially the road trip, has so much playfulness that you would not expect (not that I don't think Sarah's writing is playful, it's just not expected based on the brief). There's an especially good moment in the first hotel they stop in that's completely delightful. I also loved the cap moment. Basically I loved any moment where Adelaide was being remarkable and Henry was just remarking her. And there are so many great moments, that I genuinely can't list them all. Their chemistry is 🔥🔥🔥.
I loved how prevalent the idea of found family is. Adelaide makes a name for herself and finds the Hell's Belles and they become her family. Henry has his own family things that I will not go into detail just because of spoilers. I also loved seeing more of the Hell's Bells and I cannot wait until we get Isabelle's book. We got a little moment with her at the end that has me chomping at the bit for more.
Overall this book was so fun and it made me so excited for the rest of the series.

This is your standard spicy historical romance. Readers shouldn't expect the text to follow the mores of the time, but rather more contemporary practices. I did like how the gender roles were reversed somewhat in this story -- usually, it's the man who is more involved in the underworld and the woman is the pristine beauty. Here, Adelaide comes from lower birth and introduces Clayborn to that world. There are also strong themes of female empowerment that are often present in Sarah MacLean's work.

4/5 stars

Sarah Maclean has a way of writing historical romances that keeps me coming back for more! I loved the Chemistry between Addie and the Duke, and that tension! It was everything I wanted and more! I loved the banter between them, it kept me invested and turning the page. I'm having the best time with this series and am very excited to read the next book . I would absolutely recommend giving this book a read!

What is not to love about Adelaide, stuck between two worlds, never knowing where she really belongs until she meets Henry, Duke of Clayton. Their journey to HEA is fraught with danger, action, intrigue, and of course attraction. A battle of wills but also hearts. If MacLean writes it, I will read it. Her stories are hard to put down and pull you straight into another world. I love that those worlds are not all glamorous and perfect, they are better, they are real. Her worlds are flawed and show the parts not everyone wants to see along with her characters. She is able to demonstrate that the world is not perfect, it can be hard and dangerous but with love, you do not have to tackle it alone. That is what you get with Adelaides story, danger and a bit of darkness but also hope, happiness, acceptance, and love.

This book is incredibly boring, nothing really happens, the pacing is all over the place and the hero and heroine are so incredibly boring and flat. There's nothing interesting about these characters and I honestly don't understand what's attractive about them or why they are even attracted to each other.

However, the most infuriating part of this book is that I feel like I am missing background information about our hero and heroine. There is instant antagonism and SM makes it seems like these two have a history together however I don't understand what that history is or even why they dislike each other other than Adeline making it seem like she wants to break up Clayton's brother and his fiance. It was just annoying to read. Nothing about the setup or the characters makes me want to keep reading honestly but I just can't seem to care.

Lastly, the audiobook narrator. I really did not like her. When she's narrating everything but the heroine's voice she's fine. But when she does the heroine's voice in dialogue she sounds nasally and like an old lady. It made it hard for me to find the heroine attractive and to be invested in the story but instead, the sudden shift in voice would take me out of the story altogether.

This was a huge miss for me but I am excited for Imogen's story.

Sarah Maclean’s Hell’s Belles series is a swoony action-packed delight! I was so happy to be back in the world of Maclean's fierce and loyal Victorian vigilantes. Heartbreaker is a wonderful follow-up to Bombshell and held my attention right from the start. We follow adversaries Adelaide Frampton, a thief raised by criminals, but known to the world as a wallflower and Henry, the upstanding starchy Duke of Clayborn as they trek across England to track down a young couple (each for their own reasons).

For fans of road trip romances, there’s only one bed trope, a heroine in glasses, starchy hero gets unstarched, and hero falls first.

I am on the edge of my seat for Tommy and Imogen’s book!!

Awesome addition to her booklist, checked all the boxes and would recommend to anyone looking for this genre.

I was interested in this book because of the Newgate Prison aspect of the plot, but ultimately that was minimal. I think was kind of a miss for Maclean! She usually leads with character and chemistry and not plot, and this one was so so plot heavy, it felt like the romance got pushed to the back.

I so enjoy this series! Sarah has built such a fun group of kickass women that are really fun to read about. Truly if I was reviewing with just vibes, no thoughts, this would be a five star read. It was just that fun.
However, when you pull back the curtain and really think about what happened, it felt like the whole book was stuck on surface level. We never really learn all of what the Hell's Belles are up to or how they accomplish what they do. We don't learn that much about Clayborn either. They fall in love so quickly and just decide they are going to live happily ever after. I wish we would have had a little more time to watch them fall in love and drawn that out a bit.
This was still a really fun read and would be a great series to start with for a person who is newer to historical romance.

Travel and only one bed trope.... Secret thieves and secrets and a hero who discovers he likes a spicy lady. Lots of action, not much for feelings.

Thank you to NetGalley for granting this ARC, and fast read. The plot was interesting and the story was steamy.

Sarah MacLean has done it again! Heartbreaker brings together our heroine, Adelaide, a girl with a dangerous past, and our very own hero Duke. If you like mafia romance, suspense, and women's rights, then this is the perfect romance for you!

I really enjoyed this, as I really enjoy all of Sarah MacLean's books. It's why she's been one of my favorite romance authors for years. It's sweet and fluffy and full of independent heroines blowing things up and setting powerful men up to take the falls they deserve. It has a hero who is absolutely gone on the heroine before the book even starts and he never wavers. He even crashes a carriage because he's too distracted by her hair when he's supposed to be racing her.

The plot is not the deepest and there are many things that are convenient about it, but I don't read Sarah MacLean for deep plot or intellectual puzzles. I read her books for swoony romances that have fiercely independent and unusual heroines. I read them because Sarah MacLean does a great job writing convincing characters who are resistant to love or have determined they can't have it, and then making them fall in love anyway. They don't *have* to have deep or twisty plots because the characters and their banter carry the story and I can't help but root for them.

Adelaide and Clayborn are no exception. They are strong and independent and both secretly believe they do not deserve love, but they quickly fall for one another no matter how hard they resist. They are stronger together and their banter is off the charts. I loved watching them ostensibly competing and it quickly turning into working together. I loved how fierce they both were when they believed the other was threatened. I loved how perfectly matched they were.

I also loved the glimpse of Imogen and her poor beleaguered inspector near the end. I absolutely cannot wait for their book. It will be explosive. Literally.

I really enjoyed the audiobook; the narrator did a great job bringing the characters to life, especially their banter. I found the voice she chose for Adelaide to be annoying (and of course she's the main character) but otherwise I quite liked all the voices.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for providing an early copy for review.