Not one of my friends has rated this below 4 stars, so I guess take what I say with a grain of salt and remember, different strokes for different folks :)

I really liked the second book in this series A Good Rogue is Hard to Find and I really did not like this one.

What pretty much killed it for me was the heroine. Look I love a good strong woman but I also like Historical romance. These two aspects can definitely co-exist but please don't put a contemporary woman in a historical setting, which I feel is what happened here. Joss was "cool girl" to the nth degree with can't understand why people would not get her, reads books so much she becomes an expert in everything (she was well traveled ((which now that I think about it, was that ever fully explained?)) but come on, I was just waiting for the "I read a medical book, now I can cure cancer"), and all around personality and actions made the hero look like a schlub. I found her incredibly annoying and towards the end of the book when she drops the line "What the hell, Hextall?" I just turned the page because I was immune to it all by then; normally such a line would have me at least muttering a "c'mon man!".

I've mentioned the schlub hero and frankly, don't have much to say about ol' Heath. He was aggressively pushed out of the story by Joss. He liked Joss but wanted a "normal" wife, he spends most of the book literally and figuratively dancing around with another woman who he thinks should be his wife and having Joss save his butt.

The suspense storyline of hidden treasure with villainous Frenchman was pretty fantastical and due to me employing some speed reading tactics, I'm not sure I connected all the dots.

One of the characters from A Good Rogue is Hard to Find, who also makes an appearance here, was my Best Secondary character of 2015, so I'll give the next Bowen book a chance. I just could not get over how much I loathed this heroine. ( )

Kelly Bowen puts forth her 3rd tale in The Lords of Worth series, and it’s a wonderful mystery with a romance element.

Our hero Heath is someone that hails from a family of traders, and now that he’s an earl, it behooves him to get on with finding a proper wife and set up a nursery. To help him out with this monumental task, he engages his best friend and our heroine’s brother.

Our poor heroine Joss has been in love with our hero since in leading strings and she’s not so keen on the matrimonial institution. This young woman is a bluestocking and she’s proud of it!

As our hero Heath applies himself in finding a suitable match, he keeps running into

Joss and even though he finds her irritating, somehow both of them are realizing that there is an interesting and intriguing chemistry between them.

If you’re like me and like your romance to be entertaining as well as romantic, you’ll love this wonderful story, especially because within the plot resides a great mystery.

This was a fast and fun read and I highly recommend it to you.

Melanie for b2b

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher ( )

Heath and Joss come across a dying Bow Street Runner on their way home from a ball and then find themselves being attacked by three men who are trying to finish the Runner off. When Joss shoots the lead attacker, she is forced to come clean about what her family really does under cover of their eccentricity (see the previous books in this series). She and Heath then try to uncover the Runner's secrets, using the package he entrusted to them before his death and are nearly killed themselves.

This one might have been one ridiculously improbable plot too far for me. I liked Heath and Joss (although I was temporarily alarmed by the whole Lady Rebecca thread). Not enough of the dowager duchess, though. ( )

Read for Review (Netgalley)
Overall Rating :4.50
Story Rating : 4.25
Character Rating : 4.75

First Thought when Finished: You're the Earl That I Want was a great way to wrap up this series.

Quick Thoughts: Kelly Bowen has a scored a fan girl. The Lords of Worth series was strong from beginning to end. Even the novella that I wasn't sure about ended up being totally likable. In the You're the Earl That I Want she took Heath from stodgy to sexy. Who woulda thunk it? I think a big part of that was Joss. I love blunt leading ladies in historicals. They are my favorite. The willing to be a spinster to do it on their own terms. Joss was one of those leading ladies (and the duchess would have totally allowed it even supported it). I just downright enjoyed these two oddballs falling in love.

Part of my Read It, Rate It, File It DONE! Reviews ( )