This was a delightful, low key story to read. You got to see and feel the banter of the characters as you watch the relationship between Harriet and Mateo grow. I k ow I was rooting for the “commoner” over the “ladies”. And may have wanted to reach through the pages to smack Queenie.

Fantastic story with Cinderella twist.

Mateo Vincente, Duke of Santiava and newly minted Viscount Abbott, arrives in London. While the shy European’s spoken English is impeccable, his writing is less fluent.

Harriet Woodchurch is paid companion of Flora Raney. After meeting Flora at finishing school Harriet was hired to be her companion.

Mateo's mother was determined to find him a bride among the seasons debutante. Going to meet Flora, Mateo met Harriet and arranged for her to be his secretary.

Harriet's friends were sure she was going to have the inside information about the new Viscount.

While working together Harriet and Mateo start to see each other in a different light.

Mateo realizing Harriet isn't your normal debutante. Slowing their relationship became more serious.

The Viscount Who Vexed Me is the 3rd book in the Royal Match series by Julia London. It can be read as a stand alone book. But those who read the other books will enjoy the return of the matchmaker Lady Lila Aleksander, the Earl of Iddesleigh, and Donovan.
This is the story of Mateo, the Duke of Santiava, that recently became the Viscount Abbot. He is a quiet man. He is in England to find a wife., Hattie Broadchurch wants desperately to get away from her family ~ a greedy father, hoarding mother and three undisciplined brothers. She accepts a position as a scribe for Mateo to handle is correspondence. Mateo and Harriet become friends. She has to watch as friends she met while attending a boarding school on a scholarship are considered as candidates to be Mateo's wife. I enjoyed the interactions of Mateo and Harriet. Who will Mateo choose as his wife? Will he break society's rules and follow his heart?
I look forward to reading The Inconvenient Earl when it is released. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am in love with Teo. Like, full on, completely, irrevocably in love with this man. He has spent his whole life being told (and shown) that he is not understood by his family and in some cases, bullied for not being good enough. Now he's quiet and just wants to be left alone....but this mess of an estate in England must be sorted before he can head back home. Luckily, he hires someone with excellent penmanship, who brightens up the room and his staff and whose smile just starts creeping into his heart.

Hattie is such a dear, but I loathed how her "friends" treated her. And how her family treated her. Basically how everyone except Teo treated her! She deserves better!! Justice for Hattie! Honestly, how everyone treated her really bothered me, especially with how it was all resolved or not resolved. It was the one frustrating part of the book for me.

Anyways, I loved this book, very fun and engaging. I was rooting for them the whole time!

The title is deceptive. The viscount doesn’t vex the heroine. She falls for him right away. He’s very shy and reserved because his father constantly belittled him when he was growing up. Now he’s the reigning duke in a small fantasy country and he’s also an English viscount. So every woman wants to marry him. And Hattie knows that, as the daughter of a miserly businessman, she is never going to be considered eligible to marry Mateo. But they become friends and gradually fall for each other. Of course they do. It’s all very much a fairy tale even if the hero isn’t quite a prince, but just a very nice, shy guy.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Mateo is in London to settle his grandfather’s estate. He is originally from a nation close to Westoria. Hattie is hired as his correspondence secretary. The more time they spend in each other’s company shows them to be kindred spirits.

This is a fun, charming, fascinating book which holds you captive to the very end.

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

Julia London doesn't disappoint with The Viscount Who Vexed Me. Hattie Woodchurch loses a perfectly good fiancée because her family is extremely embarrassing. (Imagine the Bennet family from Pride and Prejudice...but with hoarding tendencies.) Determined to earn enough money to live independent of her family, she jumps at the chance to become a "scribe" for the Duke of Santiava who is in London for a short time to settle the affairs of his English relatives. Also, he needs to find a wife. Hattie didn't expect the Duke to be so young or so handsome. The romance between Hattie and the Duke is very sweet. Both characters are charming and you will find yourself rooting for them to get their happy ending. A perfect Regency Cinderella story. Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

Imagine a wealthy but obnoxious, stingy overbearing father who sees no value in his daughter. Imagine a mother who is a hoarder (she would call herself a collector of clocks and tea sets and cats). Imagine 3 unruly and unmannered brothers. Then imagine Harriet (Hattie) Woodchurch, an intelligent young woman who has been given a scholarship at the Iddlesleigh School for Exceptional Girls, who would like to escape from the throws of her family’s craziness but who must make her way with other young ladies who are socially above her in both wealth and status.
Then imagine a handsome Duke from the country of Santiava, Mateo Vincente, who has inherited the title of Viscount Abbot from his grandfather, and has come to London to find a wife as well as help solidify the security of his country.
The young women of the ton are all vying for the Duke’s affections, and, hey, even Hattie can dream about escaping her family’s awful living conditions, right?
OK, no spoilers, but I really had a good time reading this book and watching Hattie speak up for herself! You’ll have to read the book to figure all this out, as I was held captive to the story until the end!
Loved it!
I thank NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book, and my thoughts are my own!

Hattie was always treated like she didn’t amount to anything or anyone. Her sweet caring personality made a certain Duke feel alive and worth something more than his title. Together they are in their own little world. Very sweet romance.

Another delightful and heartwarming book by Julia London! I thoroughly enjoyed the endearing and engaging characters, witty banters and humour in Mateo’s and Hattie’s story.

The Viscount Who Vexed Me is the 3rd standalone story in her Royal Match series. It’s set approximately a decade after Princess Amelia’s and Joshua Marley, Duke of Marley’s story.

Get ready revisit Beck Hawke, Earl of Iddesleigh, and his family, Lady Lila Aleksander and Donovan, while you settle into the story of Mateo, a strong, silent and wealthy hero & Hattie, a kind, “nattering” and resilient heroine.

I loved this book. It was entertaining and sometimes the characters were frustrating. Hattie and the Duke come from very different backgrounds and thus deemed unsuitable for marriage by society. Also, Hattie takes a job working for the Duke which makes her even more unsuitable for marriage to a Duke. There's also the fact of their incompatibility. Hattie is a talker, the Duke is an observer due to constant criticism from his late father. The Duke and Hattie develop a friendship that turns into love on both their parts but neither is willing to admit it. Here's where the matchmaker comes to the rescue and things begin to fall into place. It's a charming love story. I was given an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story is many minor characters who play intricate roles in the story. They include a benevolent earl, a matchmaker, a hoarding mother, a money hungry father, a rogue of a brother, two friends that may not be real friends, a baker, and a mother worried about connections. The heroine is a young lady who has been jilted but learns to value herself in the process. The hero wants to marry for love, but must overcome his sense of duty. They must overcome obstacles before they get their HEA and they get some assistance. The story even can vex the reader in that you want to shake a few characters into action or behaving better. It was nice, sweet read and had enough going on to keep my attention. I received an ARC for an honest review.

Julia London stories are always a success. She writes heartwarming stories with characters that are well developed and a story line that grabs your interest from the start and keeps it until the last page. Don't miss this one!

I’m not sure how the title pertains to Mateo and Harriet. I don’t think he ever really vexed her, but she sure did him.
Mateo is an introvert, made that way by his father’s constant commentary on everything Mateo did or wanted to do growing up. He doesn’t really talk to anyone, even his own siblings. But when Harriet breezes into his life working as his scribe he slowly begins to open up to her. He’s in London to settle his grandfather’s estate. His home is a nation close to Westloria, so you meet characters from previous books in this. One being Lord Iddelseigh, Donovan, and Lady Aleksander.
Harriet shouldn’t have to work but her father is a penny-pinching miser when it comes to her. Harriet can’t wait to leave her family home, which is quite frankly a disaster, so she takes jobs to save up enough to live on her own. She believes that she will never marry because of her family, and even though she and Mateo are perfect for each other she won’t entertain the idea of being with him.
One of the jobs Harriet has is to be a companion to someone she went to Lord Iddelseigh’s school for girls with. Flora is a very self-absorbed girl, and definitely not a real friend to Harriet. Don’t even get me started on Queenie, she’s a real peach that one. Flora’s parents push her toward Mateo, and she gets even worse in behavior from it. The outcome for her was satisfying after the way she treated Harriet.
Mateo’s mother wants him to marry, and before they leave London. She just happens to be friends with our matchmaker, Lady Aleksander (Lila). Lila does try to match Mateo with women his mother approves of, but quickly realizes that his perfect match is right under his nose. Of course, getting her couples together never goes smoothly.
I will say that I wish Harriet’s father had been given a dressing down at some point, he was truly awful.
Also, if the cover model is intended to be Harriet, she is not plain! She is very pretty.

Hattie is a wonderful character, independent and intelligent but also limited by her station in life. A very engaging story.
Love found and problems overcome... eventually.
While it can be read as a stand alone, characters from earlier books make an appearance and I loved that. Altogether a perfectly lovely romance.

The Viscount Who Vexed Me is a true romance that keeps you rooting for the hero and heroine from beginning until the very last page. This book is the third in the Royal Match series by Julia London. It can certainly be read as a stand alone. There are a few return characters from the previous books that are such favorites as to leave a smile on the reader’s face. We have the mysterious, confident matchmaker Lila and Beck (Earl of Iddesleigh). Both are out to help the Duke of Santiava, now visiting England to settle his late grandfather’s estate, find the perfect match. The Duke (Mateo) needing assistance with his correspondence hires Harriet (Hattie) Woodchurch on the recommendation of Beck. Hattie is an intelligent, honest, warmhearted young woman from an impossible, zany family. Beck has previously sponsored her at the Iddesleigh School for Exceptional Girls. Upon first meeting, Mateo thought Hattie to be ordinary like he thought himself “save for the circumstances of his birth.” Mateo is a quiet, brooding man that never quite lived up to his family’s expectations. Hattie just didn’t fit in her family with all their quirkiness. She is a caring, genuine person, self-sufficient enough to work at making a life for herself. Becoming a scribe for Mateo was a great opportunity. The time they spend together shows them to be kindred spirits in the fact that they understand each other as no one else does. One of Mateo’s hobbies is baking and he and Hattie develop a bond over the delicious pastries they make together. They both love looking at the stars and discussing books. A perfect match if not for the expectations of family and society. Can love win out? Mateo and Hattie’s journey is filled with troubles and unexpected surprises. I know you will enjoy their story as much as I did.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Newly arrived in England Matteo, sovereign Duke of Santiava and newly minted English Viscount Abbott, hires Hattie to help with his English correspondence. Although it certainly is not appropriate for a woman of her class, Hattie wants to earn enough money on her own to get away from her crazy family! A wrong-side-of-the-tracks trope takes us on a sweet engaging ride.

Matteo is a hunky, sweet and sexy hero. He is a shy man, having been denigrated his whole life by his father. But he has a wide range of interests, including baking! He loves to read and even enjoys Jane Eyre when Hattie loans it to him. Most of all, he can talk to Hattie, and only, it seems, to Hattie can he share his thoughts and feelings and interests. But he struggles with his desire for her. They are from such different strata of society plus Hattie is basically his employee, thus off-limits.

Hattie is a clever and appealing girl. She is fearlessly honest and endearingly open. Matteo admires her for being ‘unabashedly who she is.” She is quite modern in many ways: she’s not just waiting around for some man to save her. Rather, she is working several jobs to earn enough to become independent of her miserly father, her hoarder of a mother and irresponsible brothers. Alas she struggles over her desire for Matteo, though she is more rational about it. How could she marry a man so above her and how can she stop her father from trying to make money out of the deal, keep all her mother’s cats and her screaming brothers away from him? It simply won’t work.

Will they be able to beat the odds against their relationship? It is a quirky, fascinating, and charming book to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received this book through Netgalley for an honest review. I have enjoyed several books by Julia London and therefore had certain expectations and I was not disappointed. The characters are vividly brought to life as well as the settings. I could clearly picture Hattie’s home as well as her family in my mind’s eye. I adored both Hattie and Teo and pretty much disliked everyone standing in their way. Their trials and tribulations, though mostly self inflicted, had me rooting for them the entire time. This is a wonderful story with a very satisfying ending.

I adored this story! All of the Royal Match stories are wonderful, but can be read as a standalone. This story has some great cameo appearances from prior stories, including the charming Mr. Donovan and the matchmaker Lila. The character building in this story is great. I couldn't put this book down until I finished it. Loved it!!

Julia London, author of many bestselling Regency novels, has authored a new book in her "A Royal Match" series. Her new book, "The Viscount Who Vexed Me", follows the story of Hattie Woodchurch, whose plain appearance, outspoken personality, and insanely crazy family has run away all men interested in her. Reaching her "spinster" years, she takes a job as a scribe for a reclusive and introverted Duke, Mateo. Along the way, Mateo and Hattie realize they have a lot in common and it's easier to talk to each other than anyone else. Not only are they familiar spirits, but they also have good chemistry together. Will they be able to defy society's expectations in order to end up together?

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I was hoping for more of London's usual chemistry between characters, but I didn't find it in this book. While I was rooting for Mateo and Hattie, they were a bit too stubborn in my opinion, and made things too difficult for themselves. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.