I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fantastic!

I love the direction that the Harlequin Historicals are taking with the female leads not just being part of the nobility or titled class but having them be more day-to-day characters with jobs. In this story, our female lead runs a magazine for women. It's fantastic! The romance is just as amazing and I loved it!

Good enemies-to-lovers story. Amelia is the daughter of an earl who doesn't believe in education for women (and barely for men). She has always had an inquisitive mind, and after catching her studying Greek with his sons' tutor, the earl sent her off to finishing school to learn proper ladylike behavior. There she met three other young ladies of similar mindsets, and they became fast friends. They still meet regularly, and her friends are the ones who encourage Amelia to start her magazine, The Ladies' Enquirer. After borrowing some money from her aunt, Amelia began the magazine targeted toward women like herself who are not interested in fashion and gossip but in real issues. Unfortunately, the magazine is not doing as well as she would like, and she needs more funds to make the improvements she wants. Her father is no help, and no bank will give her a loan.

It doesn't help that her father is determined to marry her off as soon as possible and constantly pushes her toward "eligible" suitors such as the "Vacuous Viscounts." Amelia has no interest in marriage to anyone. When he drags her to a dinner at the home of Leo Devenish, he intends for her to impress the other nobles at the dinner. Instead, she gets into a discussion of women's rights that results in laughing disdain by most of those present. Leo is the only one who stands up for her, but even he is dismissive of women's abilities.

Leo is the son of a blacksmith and was provided an education as part of a cruel bet. However, he parlayed that education into a media empire and great wealth. He has a reputation as a cold-blooded businessman who scoops up troubled publications and makes them his own. Amelia is dismayed to hear him disparage her magazine and, without giving herself away, asks what he would do to improve it. Though she doesn't like his advice (add a gossip column), when she witnesses the end of his relationship with his mistress, she writes that column about him. Stunned by its success, she soon writes another, and that's where the trouble begins.

Amelia is intelligent but also a bit naïve. When another encounter with Leo results in a chaste but moving kiss, she writes about it, though she uses no names. Leo is infuriated by the column he sees as damaging a lady's reputation and immediately apologizes to Amelia. When she goads him into another, more potent, kiss, Amelia's father catches them. He insists that they marry, and Leo agrees. Meanwhile, Amelia is caught in a web of her own making. She knows Leo has no interest in marriage either and plans to find a way out of the engagement before the wedding.

I enjoyed watching the relationship between Leo and Amelia develop. They spend time together "courting," and each discovers more to the other than suspected. Amelia found that she and Leo have far more in common than she knew, and the more time she spends with him, the stronger her feelings for him grow. But she feels guilty for her part in their situation and is determined to find a way to release him without causing harm to anyone else.

My heart broke for Leo as each part of his past was revealed, from the abuse he endured at school to his treatment at the hands of the woman he loved. The more he gets to know Amelia, the more he admires her, and the greater his attraction to her grows. I loved Amelia's visit to his parents and its impact on him. Having been burned once, he resists the idea that he might be falling for Amelia, but all too soon must admit the truth.

I ached for Amelia as she realized she would be happy to marry Leo if they were marrying for love, but she couldn't stand the idea of a loveless union. When she can return her aunt's money to her, Amelia knows it is time to come clean with Leo. I ached for both during that confrontation, as Leo felt duped and betrayed and reacted with anger. There were some heartfelt scenes with Leo and his parents as he nursed his broken heart and received timely advice. Meanwhile, Amelia's friends and aunt give her sympathy and advice. They can see the truth that Amelia and Leo belong together. I loved the bit of deception that Amelia's aunt carried out to get the two together. Leo was adorable in his awkwardness as he tried to express his feelings. The ending was terrific.

I liked seeing both Leo and Amelia overcome the prejudices of their time to find happiness together. The changes in Leo were wonderful, especially when it came to his relationship with his parents. I enjoyed Amelia's dedication to providing intelligent reading material to women like herself and how that dedication affected Leo. I hope to see more of them in the following books of the series.

He's trying to take over her magazine.

This is the start of a new series. The year is 1894 and women are fighting to be heard, socially and politically. The Ladies Enquirer helps fill that void, a magzine started and run by Lady Amelia, who has chosen to remain unwed at the ripe old age of 23. She's great.

Leo is a successful business man and notorious ladies man (he publicly entertains his mistress at his dinner parties that Amelia and her father attend, this is not done)., He's the son of a black smith and maid who went to a fancy school and that traumatized him so much he is intent on bedding married ladies and having their aristocratic husbands dance to his tune, all because he went to a fany boarding school. Now, he wants to buy Amelia's magazine and oust her aunt from her home. So, Amelia has to deceive Leo to save her magazine and her aunt.

Leo does do a lot of maturing in personal development due to Amelia.

Unbeknownst to her father, the Earl of Kingsland, Lady Amelia Lambourne is the owner and editor of The Ladies’ Enquirer magazine, a periodical dedicated to women who desire more than fashion and gossip. But sadly, her publication is not turning a profit and she is in danger of losing everything, including her spinster Aunt Beryl’s life savings, and her efforts to secure financing have been met with rejection and condescension. She is almost at her wit's end and even her dear friends from Halliwell's Finishing School for Refined Young Ladies – or Hell’s Final Sentence for Rebellious Young Ladies as they liked to call it – have no ideas on how she can turn her magazine around. Feeling a bit defeated, she accompanies her father to a dinner at the home of Leo Devenish, a self-made man who despite his humble beginnings has become rich beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. She finds him extremely arrogant and annoyingly handsome, he has recently acquired several women’s magazines and is celebrating, he even engages her in conversation about the Ladies Enqurier magazine, unknowingly giving her advice on how he would make it successful – a gossip column. She disagrees, but when Leo’s mistress, acting as his hostess, forces an altercation with him after dinner, he dumps her in front of everyone and gives Amelia an idea. She writes a gossip column about the incident and is shocked when her subscriptions increase. She needs more gossip and as luck would have it, she runs into Leo again, but when she writes of the kiss she shared with him, she never imagined that it would lead to him proposing! Now she must find a way to get out of the betrothal without forcing her father into cutting off her Aunt, especially since she hasn’t paid her back the money she loaned her! But Leo is not the man she thought he was and she needs to find a way to release him without hurting her Aunt. Because as much as she wants a real marriage with him, there is no way she will force him to marry her!

Leo has never met a woman like Amelia and as angry as he was about having to marry her, he can’t deny the fact that he no longer dreads the prospect and is actually looking forward to it. But having been burned once, he is not willing to let another woman make a fool of him, but somehow Amelia worms her way into his heart and when the truth comes out, he is devasted and angry. Can they find a way to move on from Amelia’s deception and admit their love or will they be victims of their own stubbornness?

What a great book! I enjoyed getting to know Amelia and Leo very much, they are incredibly relatable characters that have both worked hard to make their dreams come true, despite the prejudices and discrimination of the era and society in general towards women and the lower classes. I did feel like Amelia carried on the deception a bit too long and should have trusted Leo with the truth and I think they both fell back on miscommunication rather than being truthful about their feelings. But overall this was a great read; filled with amazing characters, a lot of emotion, repressed feelings, secrets, lies, incredible chemistry, steamyish love scenes, interfering relatives, and finally a HEA that didn’t seem possible. This is the first book in a new series, and I am happy to recommend it and can’t wait for the next “rebellious young lady”.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*

This is a historical romance for those who like theirs standard, solid, tried and true. It's very straightforward, with nothing to really catch you offguard. I prefer a historical romance that is bonkers from the start, and this definitely is not that.

Lady Amelia distrusts entrepreneur Leo, worried he'll try to buy out her struggling lady's magazine. Her strategy to keep her enemy close backfires when they're compromised and forced into an engagement.

These two both have chips on their shoulders and armor around their hearts. With their constant sparring, they don't see they're falling in love. There's a sweet rapport between them when they let their guard down.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Eva Shepherd's "Lady Amelia's Scandalous Secret" is the first in her series about four young ladies of ton who don't fit the mold 'society' has designated for them. Meeting at finishing school, the four forge a bond that lasts beyond school days.

Lady Amelia is the daughter of the Earl of Kingsland. She is also the owner of a ladies journal/magazine, geared to intellectuals (bluestockings, in the parlance of the day).
Mr. Leo Devenish is the son of tenant workers, who through an extremely callous bet, is able to go away to school and use that education to be a very wealthy man via his media empire.

The relationship between Leo and Amelia begins at a dinner party he hosts. During a spirited conversation at the table, Leo becomes intrigued by the intelligent conversation Amelia puts forth. His mistress doesn't like Leo's appreciation of Amelia's intelligence and throws quite the tantrum when he ends their affair.
Amelia utilizes the scene for her benefit. She makes use of advice Leo claims would make her journal/magazine successful by adding a gossip column. Her first story: Leo's embarrassing break-up with his mistress. Another column, this time about herself and Leo, leads to an unexpected result: marriage. After being caught together kissing by Amelia's father, Leo agrees to do the right thing to mitigate the potential scandal due to Amelia's own gossip column.
During their 'courtship', Amelia learns there is more to Leo than she thought. Leo discovers he doesn't just admire her, he loves her. Of course, there is the customary cliffhanger where HEA seems lost. But through a neat little trick by Aunt Beryl, love wins the day.

Pros: an engaging storyline; realistically portrayed characters; Amelia herself not fitting the mold society expects of an aristocrat (she cares not a fig for her reputation - the horror!); Leo making up with his parents; Amelia's support system via her aunt and three friends.

Cons: too much introspection on the part of both characters (taking up half to three-quarters of a chapter with inner thoughts becomes irksome); Amelia's father who is total snob; Amelia and Leo taking too long to accept what they feel for each other; Amelia being dishonest about her journal/magazine; Leo taking too long to heal from childhood bullying, first-love humiliation/heartbreak, and snobbery of aristocracy.

Rating: 3 stars. Despite the rating, I do intend to read the next in the series. I want to see what happens with the next young.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for this ARC, which I voluntarily read and reviewed.

This is my first introduction to this author and I enjoyed this book. Amelia is a creator of her own problems in this book but that's life in a way. We were able to watch Leo and Amelia's relationship grow from respect show one another over the course of the book. I would habe enjoyed perhaps a science or two about how she runs the paper or an additions
Tea with her friends who I am assuming the additional books will follow. This could use one last pass of edits there were a few paragraphs that seemed very repetitive in nature in row. But I can't wait to read the next one in this series. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for my honest opinion.