This story kept me captivated from the first paragraph. I loved the storyline and am looking forward to the next in this series. I just loved how our heroine refused to be sidelined and how she fought for herself.

Wendy Vella books always have a good mix of intrigue, character development and mystery and this was not an exception.

Both Anthony and Evie were complex characters and over their mutual fake engagement, they becomes friends and eventually get their hea.

A nice enjoyable read.

Brother of Sin is the first book in The Blackwood Brotherhood series.

Lord Hamilton is feared by Society. After years of abuse from fellow students and the headmaster, he has hardened his heart from being hurt again until he meets Evangeline Spencer. She also has hardened her heart to help her sister and father now that there is little money left to care for the three of them. She takes up the ruse of Renee, who is a talented gambler to gain money to give to her family. But Lord Hamilton is on to her and will do anything he can to help keep her safe from his childhood enemies who have set their sights on her.

This is a wonderful story. I loved the strength of Evangeline and Anthony. They will stand up to anyone that threatens the people they care about. for all their hardness they had tender sides that surprised the other characters in the story. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Wendy Vella is one of my favorite historical romance authors and I was excited to start her new series, "The Blackwood Brother.hood" "Brother of Sin"
did not disappoint. I loved FMC Evie and her unorthodox ways of ensuring her family's longevity. MMC Anthony is broody and dark, yet also vulnerable in the right situation - and with the right woman. This is not instalove but is mildly enemies to lovers with a dash of fake engagement and entertaining secondary characters (love me some interfering elderly aunties). Add in some spice and this is a super fun read.

4.5 stars rounded to 5. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. These opinions are my own.

Great start to this new series! Wendy Vella's characters always have the best banter! I love an enemies to lovers story especially when the friends and families are doing everything to throw them together. There is also a mystery & threats of danger around every corner. All of that combined kept me reading until late at night and it was worth it. I'm looking forward to the rest of the books in there series!

I enjoyed this enemies to lovers story about Evie and Anthony. They were two stubborn, strong willed people that thought marriage and love was not for them but decided a fake engagement would help solve some of their problems. The characters in this book were funny and witty. The banter between the friends and aunts were entertaining. This fake engagement turned into the real thing for Evie and Anthony, but he had to save Evie from the danger she faced for them to get their HEA. This enemies to lovers trope had a fake engagement, love that snuck up on them, great family and friends, forgiveness, redemption, villains with dark rituals, a mystery, kidnapping, steam and a HEA.

This heartwarming novel has romance, suspense, humor, and strong characters who challenge one another, resulting in a satisfying read. Evangeline has taken responsibility for far too long for her family, even daring her to breach the rules of society. She wants nothing for herself, but if she can ensure that her sister finds a good husband, she will consider her job well done. She does not factor in the Earl of Hamilton, who is more astute than she imagined. When Anthony cottons onto Evie's means for generating an income, he is horrified at the risks she takes and will do what he can to keep her safe, even offering her a fake betrothal. Anthony and his friends have suffered unimaginable horrors at the hands of bullies as young boys. They each deal with their nightmares in different ways, but one thing is for certain: no one takes on the Earl of Hamilton and those he cares for without facing the consequences. However, it is only when Evie is in danger that Anthony finally realizes that he cannot live without her, but he has to find her first before he can lay his heart bare. The novel comes to a very satisfying conclusion, although I would have liked to know the punishment meted out to the perpetrators. I received a copy of this book as a gift through Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley, and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Two people who rub each other the wrong way over and over. This isn't an insta love story, which I am thankful for!

Nasty villains and the reason the villains and the H and his friends dislike each other was slowly revealed. Interesting main and secondary characters and I can't wait for the H's friends to find their HEA.

The H's aunts were a hoot, and we are treated to great banter between the aunts and the H and of course between the H/h.

I had a hard time between the last name of the H and another. Why do author's try and confuse us old folks with similar names? Hamilton vs Hampton. When there chapters apart, it's easy to get confused!

A moment with the h and a villain I thought would be a cookie cutter moment, but the author saved the day and went a different path - yea! Some suspense, some romantic moments, intrigue, characters written with depth, no cheating, no cliffhanger, HEA and a tad of steam outside of marriage - heat level 3 out of 5. Lord's name used in vain once.

I received ARC and all opinions are my own and freely given. I can't improve on the blurb, just giving you extra tidbits to decide whether to purchase. (ljb)

I didn't like Anthony or Evie. Their dialog, which is mostly sniping at each other, was jarring. I usually like enemies to lovers, but this is so over the top it seems like a parody. DNF.
Thank you to Dragonblade for the copy of this book. Opinions are my own.
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Evangeline is a good female lead. She is not obtuse in her rivalry or attitude, I like that she was saucy with Anthony. She gave back as good as he did. Her friendship and love of her sister was really nice. I wish the end had included a conversation where her father had grown up a little. He created the situation that Evangeline felt she had to enter the relationship with Anthony.

Anthony, I liked him a lot until the ending of the book. He was not as growly as we are told. I didn't really see anyone who feared him as it was described. His friend group and his aunts were great. He has so many people that care about him and his wellbeing it is really nice.

The issues I had were the mostly the ending. It was messy we didn't need a third act break up and then also the events that happened with Cavendish. It felt almost comical at certain points how over the top it was.

I think this was really fun and I want to read more in this series. 3.5 overall.

A new series from one of the most beloved authors of our time. A sassy lady and cold Lord mixed together to bring you wit, exceptional banter, humor, joy and an exillerating story. Evangeline doesn't put up with his attitude nor does she fear him like everyone else. Anthony doesn't know what to do with her or himself as he's so prone to getting his way. Difficulty ensures and life must move forward. Exceptional in every way.

The book started out strong but by the end was pretty weak. We get all these glimpses into Anthony and his friends life at Blackwood but no real explanations about what happened to them. It's like the author couldn't come up with enough cruelty or just let it fizzle. There is one point near the end where satanic rituals are alluded to but nothing comes of it.

Anthony and Evangeline are both ok characters with her being a bit more fleshed out. Overall it was an OK read but not sure if I will continue the series.

Wendy Vella is an amazing author and i love reading her entertaining stories. Brother of Sin is the first in a new series called The Blackwood Brotherhood. Lord Anthony Hamilton has a reputation for being aloof, ruthless and an overall persona of being a bad person. Miss Evangeline Spencer dislikes the character of Lord Anthony. They both have a past and a present that needs to be hidden but circumstances arise where they are able to help each other. Anthony has a troubled childhood and his three aunts protected him when he needed it most. He also has two amazing friends who know exactly what he has suffered. Evangeline is being pursued for marriage by a scoundrel perhaps worse than Lord Anthony. Together, Anthony and Evangeline's mutual aid and constant proximity creates an atmosphere of romance.  An absolutely amazing story.

This was such a good read, it had great characters and was written in a very readable way. Miss Evangeline Spencer was attempting to provide for her family and insure her sister enjoyed her season and hopefully secured a husband. Lord Anthony Hamilton was not a person to cross and there was something in the past that was painful for him to remember. He had two very good friends in Toby and Jamie, they were more like brothers than friends. Anthony and Evie are both stubborn and opinionated and the banter between them was lively and amusing. There are some villains to add interest and I couldn’t forget Anthony’s three engaging aunts. They were such fun! Also there was romance, although that didn’t always run smoothly. I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own. However, I did preorder my own copy.

He supposedly doesn't feel anything...

But Anthony is a hedonist with dark tastes. Drinking, gambling. F ing, fighting...He's a lord with dirty tastes.
But he sort of reluctantly follows one rule.

Lady Evangeline is not Anthony's type. He likes to pay for it and sees it as transactional. Evangeline is emotion and chaos.

These two don't like each other. Until they do.

What’s not to love: enemies to lovers a la Pride and Prejudice, a fake engagement, a house party, and witty/comic dialogue and action
Brother of Sin is the start of a new series for Wendy Vella called the Blackwood Brotherhood. The hero Anthony is a survivor of childhood brutality, and though now a rich and powerful lord, he is clearly haunted by the trauma. Evie is poor gentry trying to guide her younger sister through a Season in London in hopes of achieving a marriage that will secure both their futures.
Anthony and Evie dislike each other on sight but end up in a fake engagement which fosters their budding respect and mutual attraction.
I loved this from the first page and had to read it twice to catch all the wit and subtle detail. I especially loved the description and development of Evie as a character, from her secret ways of keeping her family financially afloat to her habit of standing with one foot on top of the other. But Anthony is equally three dimensional and well-drawn.
I was frustrated by a lack of detail regarding what actually occurred at Blackwood School as it tied into one of the current subplots, but I assume some of that story is being left for later chapters in the series.
This is definitely on a par with Ms Vella’s other series, and I eagerly await the next installment.

The book is everything I have come to expect from Wendy Vella. There is great world building, humor, suspense and of course romance. The cast of characters is quite entertaining. I highly recommend this book. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

Great start to this new series. I loved it! Anthony seems to be a feared member of society. He can't let the mystery of Evangeline Spencer rest. He knows something isn't as it seems. The mystery that surrounds her is a secret he needs to solve. I love fake engagement stories and this one was great. His aunts are a hoot and they are determined to see him marry and have an heir. Evangeline and he have great chemistry and they end up working to overcome the same enemies. This book is full of strong characters and I can't wait to read the next in the series.

Brother of Sin by Wendy Vella is the first in the Backwood Brothers series. The Blackwood Brothers are a group of men who attended boarding school together as youths and by and large were tortured by bullies, some of them the adults who were to care for them. As adults, they stood together when one was in need. Lord Anthony Hamilton was one of these men. He believed the heart had been tortured out of him and he lived as if this were true. He drank and gambled and whored, not really enjoying any of it. On his way home after one such evening he comes upon a Frenchman, Mr. Renee, trying to stop Beaton, a boy f rom Hamilton’s youth. from killing himself. He had just lost everything gambling and couldn’t stand to go home and tell his family. Hamilton stepped in, even offered to help the man replenish his coffers through investments. It turns out Mister Renee was Miss Evangeline Spencer in disguise. She had been out gambling and winning as a means of keeping her family afloat.

Hamilton may have been a grouch but he was bright and quick and it took only a couple of run-ins before he sussed out Miss Spencer’s secret. She was aghast, even more so when he suggested a fake engagement to both keep his mother off his back, and attract a higher class of beau for Evie’s sister. Both these people are stubborn, which makes for the best kind of story. Vella writes for her reader and builds characters that the reader will root for in almost any odd situation. She knows what we want and gives it to us. We are at the edge of our seats very often as these two battle it out. I enjoyed watching Hamilton’s friends throw him under the bus, laughing at his misery. It was a good read.

I was invited to read Brother of Sin by Dragonblade. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #Dragonblade #WendyVella #BrotherOfSin

The first in a new series and I can't wait for the next in the series. Lord Anthony Hamilton has a reputation and is determined to never show or feel any emotion as a result of his time spent at Blackwood school. Evangeline Spencer has a secret that has put her on the radar of a bully and who won't take no for an answer. When Anthony discovers Evie's problem he offers to help with a mutually beneficial agreement, an agreement that means he has to spend lots of time with Evie. The more time he spends with her, the more he realizes what she means to him. When trouble rears it's head, Anthony discovers that he will do anything to save Evie. I adore this book. I love the witty banter between Anthony and Evie as well as the friendship he has with his friends, a friendship borne of strife, and how Anthony is with his aunts. Wendy has created another masterpiece of a series.