Frankie Turner is a mathematical genius, a spinster who doesn't think she'll amount to much in the world because of her unmarriageability. She's an agent for the Dove, posing as a governess for the 15-year-old niece of gaming hell owner Jasper Jones. Her mission: to find who is behind the string of marriages of men living beyond their debts to women with large dowries, or essentially a bride brokering business.

This ends up in the DNF pile at 35% unfortunately. I think the book may be excellent for readers newer to the historical romance genre - there is a lot of explanation of social norms (usually about how Frankie is in opposition to them). I find this style is likely very helpful for readers who dabble, but much more difficult for those of us who are immersed in the genre. What I'm hopeful for is that this style of book - with a fun tone, a balance of mystery and romance, and sweeping ballgowns - can help draw more readers in.

I find that I prefer Lovise's writing in a contemporary setting over her historical, so look forward to her next paranormal romcom.

Thank you to Forever & Hachette Audio for the review copies!

Never Gamble Your Heart centers around the mystery of the “Dowry Thieves” - conservative men of the ton are marrying young, radical, rich debutantes after being found in a compromising position. The one thing all the men have in common? They are all members of Jasper Jones’ exclusive gambling den. Frankie Turner is part of an elite group of governess who have been secretly trained by The Dove to spy on the ton - and she is tasked with infiltrating Jasper’s house and discovering who is behind these marriages.

I was hooked by their meet cute - everyone is afraid of Jasper, who maintains a sinister aura, except for brash, bespeckled Frankie. He immediately tells her one of the rules of working for him is not to fall in love with him, which she laughs at, but we all know how a romance plot goes, right? I loved how they were seemingly opposites, but also kind of not? Jasper grew up outside of the ton, but his wealth has brought him into society. Frankie grew up as part of the ton, but their impoverished status has made her an outsider. But both are incredibly brilliant, and I just loved how they played against each other.

Besides the romance, the star of the show for me was Jasper’s niece, Cecilia, who Frankie is hired to instruct. Cecilia is obsessed with finding Jasper a wife, and like honestly gives Andarna from Fourth Wing vibes? She added some much needed humor to keep this plot from going completely dark.

The mystery itself seemed to really give our lovers something to do to bring them together, and while it was central to the plot, I would say this leans more romance than mystery. If you like cozy mysteries with a heavy romance plot, I think you’ll really like this!

🎧 I read the whole book with my eyes and then was given the ALC, so I reread parts of it to see what the narrators were like. I love that it has dual narration, and both narrators are equally engaging. Since I read the whole book before listening, I felt that I wanted Jasper to be a little less “upper crust” (since I pictured him as an adult Kaz Brekker), and I wanted a little more gravel to his voice. I doubt I would have noticed this if I had just listened to the audiobook though, and I would still recommend this as an audio!

This is the second book in the series, and can be read as a standalone as it has it’s own mystery that is not connected to the first book. You do see a cameo of the Book 1 characters, and Frankie showed up a bit in the first book as well.

I am LOVING this series and cannot wait for book 3, the little glimpse we got in the epilogue wasn’t enough!

I looked over the book blurb for content and didn’t see anything to allude to it being an open door book.
But it was:
Closed-door activities in Chapter 28
Open-door activities in Chapters 41, 44, 45
Alluded to the intimate relationship between two females in the epilogue.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love this author and her writing. Her books are light, but have intense characters. And they are in the periphery of the ton.

Freddie almost seemed like she was on the spectrum. She's brilliant and so lovable.. Jasper was amazing, also very smart he crawled his way up to become a very successful business man.

Their love story was well written, there were some secrets, but it's all released when it needs to and the FMC asks for help, which is so refreshing.

The female narrator in this book was really really good. Fantastic male and female voice. The male narrator was okay but did not throw me off feom listening the book. Cannot wait for book 3.

#netgalley #NeverGambleyourHeart

Frankie’s little sister goes missing and she has no idea where to start looking, but thankfully the “Dove” does. Frankie starts to realizes that a lot of marriages have been happening between women who are considered to be troublemakers and men who don’t deserve them and who need an infusion of cash. These marriages are all connected to the membership at Rockford’s which is a gambling place owned by Jasper Jones. Frankie becomes Jasper’s nieces governess and Jasper starts to suspect Frankie is involved in something fishy when she starts snooping around his house. Jasper eventually learns of Frankies secretive doings and wants to help her and throughout that he slowly starts to fall in love with her.

I loved everything about this story! The tension between Jasper and Frankie was so fun to keep up with and their slow-ish burn romance was so sweet. I also loved Jasper’s niece, Cecelia and how rebellious she was. She also wanted to be the matchmaker. The overall discovery of who was behind the marriages that made no sense was fun and of course, Frankie was right about her sister being involved. Overall, this was a great read!