Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I love this author and the way she writes her characters, particularly her heroines, as intelligent and capable women with something extraordinary to offer acadaemia.

In this book Lucy, a keen botanist and daughter of a baronet, starts falling for the new groomsman at her father;s estate. In truth (and I don't think this is a spoiler because it comes out early in the book) Will is a secret agent for the Crown, looking into the poisoning deaths and threats that have been carried out against certain scientists.

While her father is under suspicion, their attraction grows and Lucy becomes embroiled in thrilling intrigue and mystery, while putting her considerable skills as a botanist to the test.

The chemistry between Will and Lucy is palpable and the drama kept me hooked to the last page.

It was a great read and I highly recommend it. I can't wait for the next one.

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

HECK YES Amy Rose Bennett has done it again with the second installment of her Byronic Book Club series! I adored the first book, and the second installment has lived up to the (very high) expectations I had.

This book follows Lucy Bertram, a spinster with a keen scientific mind whose father is suspected of *gasp* murder by poisoning. Her father has recently hired a new groomsman in the stables, but the Scotsman is hiding a connection to both The Crown and the nobility...

There were so many twists and turns to this story, and some amazing historic references (hi, Darwin!) Once again, one of my favourite things about this series is that it is historic romance without historic values. There's high heat, high chemistry, amazing dialogue, and a satisfying HEA for everyone (except for the people who don't deserve it!)

I cannot recommend this series enough, if you like historic romance you NEED to dive into the Byronic Book Club!

This is my first Amy Rose Bennett novel, and it took me a minute to get used to her writing style. Which felt very distinct from other HR novels I have been reading recently. I started the novel via audiobook, and found myself unable to connect with the narration. Particularly the narrator's voice/accent for Will. It had started to put me off the story, but I was wishing to continue reading. Therefore I was able to obtain an e-book version of the novel, and found myself way more invested in the story from that point on. I still continued to listen and read along at the same time, which definitely helped me continue the story. I feel like there was a decent amount of mystery packed in, and I loved how much Will supported Lucy in how she wanted her future to look. Not once did he treat her or look at her as though she could not accomplish everything that she wished to, as well as acknowledged her expertise in the field of botanical poisons. There were times when I loved seeing Lucy own her intellect, yet there were other times when she came off as a slightly different character with her maturity. Again, I wonder if it was the issue I was having with the narrator, and her voicing Lucy as breathy and almost perpetually shocked, or in awe, when I did not feel like reading the e-book version matched up to what I was hearing.

I believe I might have rated this novel with another star if I had read it via e-book in its entirety rather than listen to it primarily via audiobook. I do have the first novel in the series, and am looking forward to reading it.

This book was a bit romance and a bit mystery. The H is an Earl disguised as a groom to solve the murders of members of a scientific club. The h is the daughter of the prime suspect, a botanist who knows a lot about deadly plants.

There is also some mystery with the h's missing brother, blackmail, more murders, etc.

I had a difficult time connecting to the characters and story. The writing was fine but I just could not get into the story. This was more me than the book probably.

Lucy spends much of her time doing botanical research into poisons for her father, but when members of society begin to be poisoned, her father is a prime suspected. Will, is going undercover to try to determine who the killer is.

I wish Will had come clean to Lucy a little earlier about who he was because the murder investigation was very fun, but it was still an great addition to the series.

DNF at 30%

The concept of this series - a Byronic book club of three bluestocking debutantes - is one that I am absolutely here for; however, I found the first book in the series to be only all right with the major criticism being aimed at wanting more depth to the characters and the romance. I did have high hopes for future books because of the brief glimpses that we got of the other romances.

Curled Up with an Earl, however, is not the improvement that I was hoping for. The plot to this book was initially more intriguing than the first installment in the series, but the pacing is just so drawn out that I have lost interest in solving the various mysteries promised. Neither lead character is really calling to me and their romance isn't particularly interesting to me because we are being told, more than shown, the tension between them.

I will still attempt the third book since the characters seem more interesting to me, but I'm not holding out too much hope.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

the slow start got to me this time. I put this book down with hopes of picking it back up and never did. I really like Bennett and her stories, but this one just didn't work form me. I will be very excited to try again next time!

I loved this book! It had my two favorite genres romance and mystery. Lucy and Will had wonderful chemistry together. The storyline was highly entertaining and had a few twists and turns. This is the second in the series but can be read as a stand-alone.
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and these are my opinions.

I too my time reading this story. It is full of funny witticism, strong characters, great dialogue, and a mystery to solve. Shall we meet our cast?

Miss Lucinda Bertram, a bluestocking botanist who is shy and gets tongue tried around people, she babbles when nervous. Her father, Sir Oswald Bertram, is an expert on poison plants. Her brother, Mr. Egmont Bertram or Monty as he is called.

Jane Delaney and her grandfather have some time with Lucy as well as an appearance from Artemis and Dominic the Duke and Dutch was of Dartmoor. These are the Byron if Book club members Jane, Artemis and Lucy, lovers of Gothic novels, friends to the end.

Scots groom-cum-coachman “William Armstrong”, William Douglas Lockhart, or his courtesy title, the Earl of Kyle, grandson to the Duke of Ayr. Former military man turned covert agent for Home Office and Foreign Office with help to Scotland Yard when necessary. Armstrong was his mother’s maiden name. BIG BRAW SCOT!

Mr. Zachariah Thorne, industrialist, plantation owner for tea and coffee, a Calvinist in a major way, snobbish boor, thinks he is better than anyone else, and rich.

Here we go, Lucy gets stuck in the mud in the rain. Her father is keeping a secret, her brother has left and has not contacted her in six months, and she is wanting more for herself but not sure what that more is.

Will has taken on the persona of a groom to search for information regarding the mysterious death of Lord Litchfield. He is tasked to discover if Sir Oswald is guilty. When he deals with Lucy he gets a warm feeling that he has to protect her at all cost.

What happened with Monty? Why the Linnean Society threats? How did Lord Litchfield die? What does Thorne want with them? How is it all connected? When you read this poignant story you will understand all the funny witticisms Lucy throws out in her frustration, fiddlesticks and fudgey jam to name a few. Her reason she does say late in the story is sweet. Will is taken with her from the get go but knows he can't do anything or it will blow his cover. So how does a big Braw Scot search someplace without getting caught? Does he find anything and if so on whom? Will Lucy figure out what she wants?

So come join the merry search and visit the countryside of London and some of London itself.

This book has many of the elements I enjoy; an intelligent heroine, a Scottish hero, and a bit of mystery and action. If you like those things you will enjoy this book. The reason for 3 stars is that I did not always find myself engaged while reading.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC!

This started slowly for me, but really picked up once the murder subplot got going. Generally, I liked the characters and the romance was cute! I did feel like more time could have been spent on the earl’s identity… if I were Lucy, I would have been way more upset lol.

I kind of got the ick with some of their declarations, but that might be a me-problem. Just know, they are mushy.

I will read the rest of this series!

I'm so happy to have received this ARC, especially after I had just read the first book, Up all Night with a Duke. thank you to Netgalley and Casablanca for this opportunity to read and give my own opinion on this book. This one has a different feel from book one. There was a lot of resistance on Artemis' part and it wore down on me a bit in that sense. Maybe I just wanted something that was more external in terms of conflict and this book delivered. It was most certainly insta-lust on Will and Lucy's end and good lord, a Scottish groom who is REALLY a spy, sorta. I want to listen to the audiobook version of this book just to hear the accent (don't judge). We know something is up with Lucy's dad and it was already hinted at in the first book, but it is super awks in this book, and though you know it's not him,,, he is most definitely involved somehow. Oh and by the way, there's a missing brother who refuses to get married even though the family is in financial straits. WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE MARRY SOMEONE RICH? Also, poor Lucy is very overworked and underappreciated as a research assistant, housekeeper, estate manager, chattel for marriage. It's not hard for Will to feel for her, especially when she makes him warm milk in the kitchen. I like a hardworking/overworked FMC, bonus points for being a bluestocking too. In any case, bare forearms and ankles abound, Lucy and Will can't help but feel attracted to each other. And then all the other stuff happens. There are some things which aren't so much a mystery but also just hard to figure out how it will end. There are things surrounding the Bertram family situation which gets figured out over time. One of the things that surprises and sort of delights me is how Lucy ends up being the one to protect herself in a few cases or has good ideas that Will hadn't even thought of because he's so caught up in her. There are also a lot of adult scenes which i love. because yes. she is 28! And their chemistry was quite electric. Ruination, schmuination. It did feel a tad long at times because there seemed to be a bit of waiting around for stuff but overall I quite enjoyed this book and am dying to know more about Jane's story next. There wasn't much that hinted at the next book!

Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Heart flutters:❤️❤️

Second book in the series. There was something missing to make it an enticing read. Lucy and Will were very loveable characters. They started off first as friends but their transition to lovers was quite slow. There is a mystery element added to the story with Will being a Spy. There's not a lot of sex in this book even though the few here were steamy.
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley. The opinion expressed here are all mine.

I loved everything about this story. It had a great plot, strong characters, well written with engaging dialogue and the attraction and passion between Lucy and Will felt natural and always meant to be. Lucy and Will are well matched, she's intelligent and a botanist and he's a gorgeous Scotsman who happens to be on a secret mission. A distraction between these two that turns into so much more, they both need each other and fall in love along the way towards a wonderful happily ever after.

I was really looking forward to this book and have enjoyed many, if not all, of ARB's books up until this point. This book just didn't quite do it for but that's probably me. The story just seemed to move to slowly for me (probably the mystery aspect).

I did enjoy William and Lucy's characters and their interaction was hot! I especially loved when he saved her on the beginning scenes!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Curled Up with the Earl is the second book in Amy Rose Bennett’s Byronic Book Club series. It can be read as a stand-alone, although I do recommend book one. And sadly, I found myself very underwhelmed by this installment, especially after the first did so many things so well. It’s not offensive or bad in any way, but it just didn’t deliver, which is often par for the course for much of the white, cishet historical romance market for me these days.
I continue to like the concept of the series, especially on the heroine’s end. I love how nuanced Lucy is in her interests. She’s another member of the Byronic Book Club, so she, like Artemis, loves a good novel, but she’s also into science and actively engages in scholarly works in that field. While I’m not scientifically inclined myself, I like heroines who break stereotypes, as women in STEM are still rare, much less women in STEM who also love to read novels.
I also liked how her pursuits were interwoven with the mystery, leading to lots of cool references to the landscape of scientific thought at the time. It was especially cool to read about Darwin’s theory of evolution as a new discovery, and how it shook the world. And the thread of suspense, from the missing brother to the goings-on with the Linnean Society, was enough to keep me turning pages.
But the romance left me feeling a bit cold. Lucy and William lacked the spark and connection that won me over in the first book. And William himself lacked the personality of the previous book’s hero. There’s some references to his sad backstory, but other than that, he felt very vanilla to me.
While I wasn’t a huge fan of this book, as I said, a lot of historicals aren’t really doing it for me anymore. But if you still enjoy the genre, I recommend picking this up, in hopes you’ll enjoy it more than I did.

Curled Up with an Earl is the 2nd book in Amy Rose Bennett’s Byronic Book Club series, which follows the first book, Up All Night with a Good Duke. I loved the first book in the series (it was one of my fav new historicals released in 2022) and I was very excited for this second book!

Lucy lives with her father, who is an eccentric botanist, and the story kicks off with Lucy on her way home and getting stuck. She ends up getting help from Will, who introduces himself as the new groom and coachman at her father’s house. Lucy takes a liking to Will right away and feels a connection with him, she just doesn’t realize Will is actually a spy! William Lockhart, Earl of Kyle, is an agent/spy for the Crown and on the hunt for a ruthless killer. It just so happens that Lucy’s father, Sir Oswald is the prime suspect as a botanical poisons expert. So William goes undercover and poses as a groom in their house to get to the truth. Lucy ends up asking Will for help, she wants him to accompany her to the St. Giles Rookery to find her brother. Her father is trying to marry her off to someone she doesn’t want to and she knows if her brother was there he’d back her up.

Lucy and Will form an easy friendship and connection right away. It isn’t until halfway through the story that he reveals his actual identity to her. I enjoyed his character, learning about his complicated background with his family, his Scots brogue, the way he wants to protect her. I wasn’t as invested in this book as much as I was the first in the series, spy-related historicals aren’t always my jam so that’s definitely a me-thing of the tropes in the first book just working better for me. I still do enjoy this author’s writing and will continue checking out the next books in the series!

Thank you to the publisher (Sourcebooks) for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts in this review are my own. Curled Up with an Earl is out February 7, 2023!

For when you're vibing with: nerdy heroines, a bit of servant/rich girl (but not really), mystery in your romance, and a looming villain.

Lucy Bertram is in a tight spot: her father wants her to marry an odious man for the sake of her family, and her brother (who would normally be in her corner) is missing. Little does she know that there's an investigator (investigating something else, but still) right under her nose in the form of the new groom Will, who's actually the Earl of Kyle and an agent of the Crown. Will could come in handy for Lucy--but there is that issue of his overwhelming attraction to her...

This one was a mixed bag for me--I really liked aspects of it, and others I found harder to follow. Part of this may be that I'm just not the right reader for the book; I think that mystery subplots can be hard for me to follow in romances. However, I really did like the pacing of the book, and the sex scenes were frankly pretty bomb.

Quick Takes:
--Having read two Amy Rose Bennett books (both of which I had a mixed reaction to) for me the standout is really how she handles the sexuality of her heroines. Lucy is a virgin, but as a nerdy heroine, she's not completely in the dark about the physicality of sex. Furthermore, she's super enthusiastic about learning! I also really loved the amount of sex in this book--and while, how it did lead up to in v, that wasn't the end all be all. Both Lucy and Will treated the non-penetrative sex they had as really physically and emotionally important. This is something you don't find in a lot of het romance, and especially not in a lot of het historical romance.

--The mystery... It was just hard for me to get into. I kind of wish that Will had just been--actually a groom. I liked the villain trying to marry her, I liked their interactions, but the mystery was just... Not hard to follow, but not connecting with me. Again, that might just be me as a reader; I've had mysteries work for me in romances, but here it just didn't and it did feel like it took away from the love story.

--While I enjoyed Will and Lucy's chemistry and dynamic, I do think that if the mystery hadn't been so in focus, we could've gotten more focus on them and their personal flaws and issues and conflicts as a couple. I don't need a romance to be conflict central (though I love conflict) but to me, when I don't see a couple come up against each other (non-sexually) at some point, I kind of wonder about their long term romantic viability...? I don't know, I guess I as a reader just want a bit more oomph to my leads, even if they're not in an enemies to lovers situation (which to clarify, these two are not).

I definitely want to read more from Amy Rose Bennett. I like her writing style a lot, I just don't know if I've come up on the right plot from her for me. However, if you do like a bit of a cozy mystery vibe, if you enjoy a nerdy heroine and a bit of an undercover situation, you will probably love this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Miss Lucy Bertram has a comfortable life helping her father with scientific research. But her father, an eccentric botanist, is demanding she be courted by a wealthy but uptight religious zealot who is offering to fund a research expedition. Lucy is determined to avoid the man and locate her missing brother...she just needs someone to help her find him in St. Giles's cutthroat rookeries. Enter William Lockhart: Earl of Kyle, heir to a duke, covert agent for the Crown, and disguised groom in the baronet's household.

This is the second book in the Byronic Book Club series, featuring three bluestocking friends. It can stand alone, although the first couple does play a small role and this book's couple have a brief meeting in book one.

William is on the hunt for a ruthless killer who has already poisoned and threatened members of the Linnean Society. Lucy's father, Sir Oswald, is the prime suspect due to his expertise in a botanical poisons. Will knows he and Lucy have met before (under one of his different disguises), and there is an almost immediate attraction between the two. I usually enjoy "impersonating a servant" stories because characters get to spend a lot of time together and generally let their guard down. That was the case here. I liked the balance of romance and investigation, and felt like the book took off in the second half when Will let Lucy into his confidence.

Tropes: Bluestocking, Spinster, Character in Disguise, Spy/Govt Work, Forced Proximity, Fake Relationship (sort of)

Steam: 4

* I received an ARC and this is my honest review. #NetGalley #CurledUpWithAnEarl

Great second entry to Amy Rose Bennett's Byronic Book Club series. While I recommend reading the first book because I liked it, it is not necessary to have read that book to thoroughly enjoy this one. "Curled Up with an Earl" is the story of shy spinster Lucy and Will Lockhart, British spy and Earl of Kyle.. Lucy and Will have an adorable meet cute when he comes upon her after her cart has gotten stuck in the mud during a rain. Will is undercover, posing as a groom to investigate whether Lucy's botanist father is part of a poisoning plot that has Charles Darwin as its reason for being and ultimate target.

Lucy and Will have an immediate attraction, but more than that, they learn they like spending time together. Getting more and more nervous as her father's apparent determination to marry her off to a repulsive older crony, Lucy seeks Will's assistance in trying to locate her brother, Monty, who has been missing for a number of months. He provides her help, and seems to see her in a way no one else has. Their courtship is not super steamy but progresses in a sweet way as they do small actions of physical care for each other.

Ms. Bennett did a good job weaving together the mystery and the romance, even though some of the major plot points - Monty's reasons for departing, the identity of the villain - are predictable early on. I liked the glimpses of Artemis and her duke and look forward to Jane's story to come.

4.5 stars, rounded to 5. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. The opinions herein are my own.