A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book was a pleasant surprise. I love a good mystery and the addition of it being set in 1874 London with a romantic backdrop was an unexpectedly satisfying setting. Viscount Gilford (Will) and Lucy must team up to find her friend, Vera, who was kidnapped. These two had a sweet connection and I enjoyed their growing romance as well as all the twists and turns this book had. A lot of the side characters were enjoyable but my main enjoyment came from the conclusion to the mystery. This is a well-written quick read.

Wealthy Lucy Penhallow prefers to avoid the dance floor and the flattery of fortune hunters. Instead, she finds herself entwined in a mystery when she witnesses a crime alongside Viscount Gilford, her best friend’s brother. As they seek Vera Blackwoood, a missing American heiress, their initial alliance transforms into a budding romance, complicated by societal expectations and the threat of a killer lurking in the shadows. Viscount Gilford faces financial ruin and needs an heiress to secure his future, making Lucy—who is off-limits—an unexpected target of his affections. The narrative balances humor, suspense, and romance, ultimately leading to a satisfying conclusion where love triumphs amidst chaos.

Readers will be drawn to A Wallflower’s Guide to Viscounts and Vice for its engaging blend of historical romance, mystery, and witty dialogue. The chemistry between Lucy and Viscount Gilford is palpable, offering a delightful enemies-to-lovers dynamic. Collins excels at crafting strong, relatable female characters, making Lucy’s journey both empowering and entertaining. With unexpected twists and a lighthearted tone, the novel provides a perfect escape into a world where love conquers all, ensuring readers are left eagerly anticipating the next installment in the series. The charming backdrop of the 1800s, combined with a thrilling plot, also celebrates female friendships and resilience. The book focuses more on romantic tension and emotional connection rather than explicit scenes. It's a great weekend read if you are looking for a historical romance. I also love supporting librarians turned authors!

This was a fun read. I haven't read the series this spin-off is from, and it did not hinder my experience at all. If anything, it makes me want to pick up the whole series and binge it immediately. I really enjoyed the characters and I am already looking forward to the next installment in this new series to keep up with the sleuths and the blooming romance between the American and the sister. The only thing I did not like was that I felt the book dragged a bit towards the end. There was just one too many twists before the mystery was revealed. I didn't see any of the twists coming and was really surprised with the last one. The twist involving the medium and her maid was just one twist too many. Otherwise, the book was excellent.

While the premise and plot of this were very intriguing, I was a little disappointed by the pacing. I thought the plot went by a little too quickly, and the character development seemed overlooked. This was still a fun historical romance, but I do wish there had been a little less plot progression and a little more from each of the scenes.

I love when I’m in the mood for a lighthearted romp and have just the right book on my TBR. This time, the book was A Wallflower’s Guide to Viscounts and Vice by Manda Collins. I’ve read a few of her historical mystery romances in the past and it delivered exactly what I needed over the long Easter weekend, post-vacation.

Here’s the book’s description:

A wallflower by choice, wealthy Lucy Penhallow would rather sit out the dancing all season than listen to false flattery from the fortune hunters who pursue her. But when she and her best friend’s brother witness a crime in progress, they’ll need to put every skill Lucy’s learned from reading detective stories to the test in their hunt for a missing woman. And if Viscount Gilford happens to be handsome as sin and clever to boot? Well, that's no hardship for her.

Viscount Gilford needs a wife to save him from financial ruin, and there’s only one heiress who’s off limits. So when he and Lucy find themselves inextricably linked in the tabloids, it’s a disaster. As their investigation progresses, their once unwelcome alliance becomes something more—a love match neither will give up. But there’s a killer watching their romance from the wings who’s only too happy to keep these meddlesome sleuths together...in the afterlife.

Now, Goodreads says this is the start in a new series but it references characters and storylines that Collins has written about in a previous series, Ladies Most Scandalous (of which I’ve read three of the four books). It doesn’t matter if you’ve read them or not so don’t worry! The happy news is, if you like the sound of this book, there are a bunch more stories for you to dig into!

This is not a book that’s going to set the literary world on fire. But we need books like this. There are a few flaws, to be sure, but I don’t feel like focusing on those. (Other than stating that I’m sure I’ve recently read another historical mystery romance that features an abducted heiress…surely there’s another storyline available?) No, this book is to be read for the sheer enjoyment of reading and being assured of a happily ever after. The crime will be solved and the couple will be married and all will be well. (No, HEA does not have to equal marriage but when it’s a book set in the 1800s, you kinda assume that marriage is the end game.)

I love that there are so many series set in the 1800s that feature smart, capable women. The men are a nice bonus, sure, but it’s the ladies who capture my interest. Lucy may be wealthy but she stays busy, even going against her mother’s wishes and volunteers at the police station where her cousin is in charge. (But bless Lucy’s mother for not being a horrible woman and acknowledging that this work makes Lucy happy. Not all the mothers in this book are so kind.) I love the Ems - a group of women who come together for a book club and talk that would be shocking to many members of the ton. The friendship and support system is something that every woman should have and Collins wrote about it so well.

While the mystery in this book may have dragged on a bit long and was perhaps a bit convoluted, I still hadn’t predicted the ending. There were some twists I didn’t see coming and there were times when I was yelling at the characters to consider a clue they had forgotten about. But it was fun! As fun as it can be when a young woman’s been kidnapped and people keep getting shot and stabbed.

All in all, A Wallflower’s Guide to Viscounts and Vice was a lot of fun to read. I enjoyed my time with the characters Manda Collins has created and I love how she mixes up three genres - historical, mystery, and romances - and comes up with something so entertaining. I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

My first Manda Collins! This was both a breath of fresh air and a loving retread of common histrom ground. I loved its wry tone and the dry wit of especially its female characters. Collins bakes scrumptious layers of conflict into the story: 

1. William, Viscount Gilford needs to marry for money to save his free-falling finances. 

2. He’s decided that his sister’s close friend/heiress Lucy Penhallow is off-limits…but then he starts to feel feelings! He wants her for more than her inheritance…how to be sure she knows his regard is real? 

3. When Will and Lucy witness an abduction, the unfolding murder mystery plot creates an “investigating crimes as a courtship ritual” vibe that adds the stakes of Lucy’s safety and reputation to the mix! 

Lucy is refreshingly pragmatic and Will is so smitten. His little flair ups of jealousy are adorable and he’s so tender with her. They are both steady and steadfastly loyal. In spite of the story’s body count, I found this to be quite a soothing read: blessedly low angst with a feminist sensibility. Will learns by listening to Lucy, observing and reflecting and asking questions. How lovely, to watch good, intelligent people fall for each other AND bring murderers to justice.

TLDR: read The Wallflower’s Guide to Viscounts and Vice!

A tangent: The perfidious steward who cooks the books and leaves the coffers empty is a classic trope. But this time I wanted to poke at it, not because of anything missing in Collins’ iteration, but because in these oligarchic times I read with a more critical lens. Prior to the start of our story, Will has coped with his father’s death by evading his fiscal responsibilities and embarking on a “Continental fever dream.” The book opens as he receives the news that they’ve been fleeced. I found myself fixated on the fact that he had done nothing to earn the money the steward stole other than be born a Viscount, and had also deferred the responsibility of working to keep it. Alas, this is often what we sign up for with aristocratic heroes, whom we tend to meet in such circumstances.

4.5 stars

Some regency romance mixed with murders? Oh we are so back!

This new series from Manda Collins follows a new group of crime loving friends that solve murders and find love along the way. I was bummed that the previous series ended but this one is just as fun - including cameos from some of my favorite characters from Ladies Most Scandalous 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 (I feel like we are with Eversham for the long haul and I couldn’t be happier!

The mystery was super engaging and I had no idea where some of the twists were going! This book definitely kept me on my toes! The romance between Lucy and Will was sweet but I felt like we didn’t get enough of them and their getting together happened too quickly for my liking. However I’m excited for the next book in the series! I have a feeling it’s going to be delicious 🙂‍↕️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review

Will, Viscount Gilford, is in need of a wife with a lot of money. Miss Lucy Penhallow is a wealthy spinster. The last thing she wants is to lose her money and freedom to a husband. One night at a ball everything changes as Will and Lucy become embedded in solving a kidnapping leading to murders. What a way to become closer than to always be around when someone dies. A mystery that builds to a surprising end and the romance of a couple who quickly fall in love.
Mild descriptive sex.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley.

as a historical romance girly, manda collins is always an auto read for me. she has yet to let me down and A Wallflowers Guide to Viscounts and Vice was no different. the sweet romance paired with the lightheartedness of the plot could have easily been pure fluff, but the depth manda gives her characters always negates anything too superficial. Truly loved this one!

A promising start to a new series by Manda Collins.

The two level-headed characters in this story have plenty of reasons not to fall for each other. Lucy Penhallow is wary of the silver-tongued fortune hunters who are trying to court her. Viscount Gifford *is* a fortune hunter, but Lucy is a friend of his sister's and thus off-limits in his search.

Witnessing the kidnapping of one of Lucy's closest friends brings the two together, though. Their slowly developing love affair is considerably more successful than their hunt for a kidnapper.

I enjoyed this light read, and look forward to more in the series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for the ARC! I always appreciate the opportunity to read and review ahead of release day!

I really enjoyed A Wallflower's Guide to Viscounts and Vice as a casual mystery reader and a newbie to the historical romance genre. Our characters were witty and unique, and I really enjoyed the entire cast of characters that surrounded them, from "the Ems" book club to the men who adore them. The fact that the men surrounding these women were not only appreciative but also supportive of their "unconventional" hobbies, and found their strong spirits and intellectual hobbies to be attractive qualities, made this story so much more fun to follow than I expected. The women were all wonderful with such distinct personalities, backgrounds, and motivations - I really enjoyed each of them.

The romance was nothing groundbreaking. The romantic plot actually developed so quickly that I was surprised at first, but for the shorter length of the book and with romance not being the only focus of the plot I should have expected it. I did deeply appreciate Will's obvious growth over the course of the book as Lucy opened his eyes to the realities of women in the upper society in which they live - also his need for Lucy to understand his feelings for her had nothing to do with his circumstances.

The mystery itself was OK - I think the specific red herring details were not resolved in any sort of elegant way, which was a bit disappointing in some ways, but I was satisfied with the resolution overall. I think Lucy's encounters escalating throughout the story was more interesting than the mystery itself, especially considering the impact on her romantic relationship with Will and their feelings for each other.

I rated this a 3.5/5 (or 3/5 for goodreads and netgalley). In general this was a solid read - the mystery wasn't too difficult to puzzle out, the characters were delightful, and the romance was satisfying. I'll likely continue the series because I truly enjoyed the characters that are seemingly being set up for future books!

1874

William (Will) Viscount Gilford, has been spending some time in Paris after the death of his father whom he misses dearly. He receives a message that he must return home as his long time and trusted steward has absconded with a lot of the family funds. Now, he must marry an heiress to keep the family afloat.

Miss Lucy Penhallow works as a filing clerk for the police. Her cousin, Detective Superintendent Andrew Eversham, is her supervisor and is married to newspaper publisher Lady Katherine. Andrew is discussing the murder of a woman of the streets. Andrew feels bad for these women whereas other people do not. Lucy is the daughter of Francis Penhallow who does not approve of her work. However, she is in possession of a large inheritance and as she is of age, she is free to use it as she sees fit.

Lucy is now off to meet her friends, Miss Vera Blackwood and Miss Meg Gilford to attend their Mischief and Mayhem Book Club. This is something that they all enjoy. Meg says that her brother, Will, is finally expected to return home. There, he finds that his mother just does not understand that she must cut her spending habits.

When Lucy and her friends are attending a soiree, Lucy sees Vera being struck and abducted by a man. With Will’s help, everyone puts their heads together to try and find out what happened to her.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really liked the premise of this book. Take everything I love about historical romance and mix it in with murder mystery? Sold. Add a fake engagement and the pairing of a grumpy viscount with a witty wallflower heiress? Gimme.

Let’s start with the fun, shall we?

If you like a fast pace, this book is for you. We jump right into both the meet cute and the mystery, sliding into a world where an heiress is working at a police station—because she wants to, thanks muchly—and meet a group of characters who mostly celebrate witty, forward-thinking women.

Will’s reasons for returning to the ton work well in the world and immediately sets tension with Lucy, so we know where this is going, and settle in for the fun.

And the mystery (while having some loose ends and red herrings that didn’t pan out) is twisty and surprising. It definitely feels like the center of the story.

Onto where the book lost me a bit…

The pacing is fast, bordering on too much so for me, especially for the romance. We never fully settled into a scene, and it was super light on description, which is something I look for in a historical book. It was also sold as a new series, but it took me a while to realize that the reason characters popped in and out without introduction was because they’re all characters from a previous series. A lot of this is a taste thing, though, so if you like a super fast paced read, might not bother you at all!

The premise wasn’t really accurate, though. I don’t know that I’d use the term “fake engagement”. The wallflower was not a wallflower in the typical sense of the word, but rather a woman wary of fortune hunters, with a penchant for walking repeatedly into dangerous situations with zero regard for her own safety. And while the mystery stayed in focus, the central conflict for the romance wasn’t fully carried through. We had a woman wary of fortune hunters falling for a man who actively needs to marry an heiress. The conflict was set up, but I felt like it was never truly explored.

All in all it is a fun, fast read, but needs a bit of a rebrand, both in the premise and as the start of a series. I will check out this author again, but not before going back and reading the first series this one connects to!

Thanks to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to advanced review this book!

I loved Manda Collins' 'Ladies Most Scandalous', so its a welcome return with this spin-off series featuring Lucy (Evesham's cousin) and Will (the son of the murdered man in #4) with cameos from Kate, Caro, Poppy, Jane and their amours.

However I just really couldn't get into this one. I think a huge part of this was Will and his possessiveness of Lucy and a romance that felt a bit too quick. I totally understand the Victorian era had a lot of rules about women, but I just found his actions sexist given Lucy and her friends were all fairly forward-thinking women of the time. Coupled with a bit of the insta-lust I just didnt buy the romance. I felt like Will never really evolved to respect Lucy as an equal (like all the other heroes befor him had to do).

Enjoyable and fun with some good banter, but didn't quite land for me. I am, however, looking forward to the next book.

Thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the ARC.

Cozy, but still exciting romance. The love story was like a warm hug. It works well to offset the tense mystery.

What a fun little historical mystery romance! I really enjoyed the mystery plot just as much as the romance, which is rare for me--lately, I've read a few that weren't as balanced, but Collins does a good job structuring the plots so that both feel like they're given equal weight. Will and Lucy don't feel like super complicated characters, but I think it fit the relatively light, almost "cozy" feeling of the book well. I know, it's odd to describe a mystery involving kidnapping and murder as "light", but Collins doesn't dwell too long in the angst or trauma.

Something I haven't seen much that I liked--Will isn't automatically understanding of the social plight faced by his female family and friends. He isn't completely sold on Lucy's work with the police at first. He's never a misogynist or even very alpha male, but in his POV chapters, we see him learning and growing. Even though he and Lucy have a fairly smooth romantic road (and usually I prefer a romance to be TESTED, give me male angst and a third-act breakup that has to be resolved with a grovel!), I felt that his growth was enough to solidify their relationship for me.

I have to say that this book wasn't perfect. I do wish Lucy had been a little more flawed--even her recklessness doesn't really get her in all that much trouble. I also got many of the side characters confused (but perhaps had I read the previous books in the series this wouldn't have happened)--there are SO many people that show up for just a scene or two that are treated like people I should already have known. And, finally, I wish this book had either stuck with just kissing or even a fade to black rather than one very very tame sex scene. It did nothing to advance the plot and it felt like the author's heart wasn't in it!

A Manda Collins book never disappoints. I really liked Lucy and Will as our leads. She’s so clever, and he’s respectful of her brilliance while also being just the right amount of overprotective considering someone is determined to do her harm. They’re good working together to solve the mystery of her friend’s disappearance, and they’re even better as two people falling in love.

The mystery is well paced and interesting. I honestly couldn’t predict some of the twists, which I always appreciate. All around, a very good book.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this e-ARC! This historical fiction was wonderfully written and a joy to read! Lucy is a wallflower by choice and would rather read thrilling stories about fictional crimes and detectives rather than being part of the ton in the season. Viscount William has no choice but to come back home to return to his responsibilities after leaving his home in London. His family would be in financial ruin. When Lucy and William witness a kidnapping, they find themselves in the middle of their own investigation.
With the mystery and an instant attraction to one another, this was a funny, cozy read!!

The capers and crime solving that Lucy and Will went on were enjoyable. The romance was open door and very sweet. I have not read the first series yet and as a result, was rather lost on some of side characters. I feel like I would have enjoyed it more if I had started at the very beginning.
Thank you to Forever for the copy of this book. Opinions are my own.