My review for Vivienne Lorret's THE TROUBLE WITH INVENTING A VISCOUNT

 

THE TROUBLE WITH INVENTING A VISCOUNT
Historical Romance

 

 AUTHOR:

Vivienne Lorret

RELEASE DATE:
September 24, 2024

PUBLISHER:
Avon

ISBN/ ASIN NUMBER :
9780063352476

RATING:
4.5

AUTHOR LINK:
https://vivlorret.net/

 

Oscar Flint is a proficient gambler. He secretly searches for the father who had abandoned him and his mother. Oscar joins a high-staked game only to lose to a mysterious woman marauding as a man. He remembers the story the vixen told him about a long-lost viscount, and he decides to play the part. Now Oscar must deal with three hostile aunts, an ailing grandmother, and the lovely woman who bested him at cards. Does Dunnelocke Abbey hold a clue to Oscar’s ancestry?

Miss Honoria Hartley is the second daughter of a baron. She uses her betrothal to keep determined suitors at bay. Honoria intends to live her life freely without a husband. She encounters Oscar one night in Paris after trouncing him in a card game. The blasted man comes to her hamlet and assumes the identity of her long-lost betrothed. Can Honoria outwit Oscar at his own game? Or will she unwittingly lose her heart to handsome gambler? And what about her betrothal to Vandemere?

Oscar could be labeled as an ‘honest thief’. I admire how he never went against his principals. Oscar only stole from those who deserve it (aristocrats or merchants who mistreat others, etc). His gambling and thievery were for survival, not greed. I like how his childhood did not turn him into a heartless monster. Oscar still maintained a sense of humanity.

Honoria is a fun character. I like that she is not vain or stuck on herself. Honoria knows that she is beautiful. She uses it and her other assets in a good way. I love her interactions with Oscar. He never once treated her like other men did. Honoria found that she could be herself around him.

THE TROUBLE WITH INVENTING A VISCOUNT is the second book in Vivienne Lorret’s historical romance series, THE LIAR’S CLUB. This is my second foray with this author’s works. I enjoyed the first book immensely. It made me anticipate the next installment! Boy, oh boy, did this story meet my expectations. I love the Hartley family’s eccentricity. They are not your average regency-era aristocratic family. Magnus and Verity do make an appearance in the story. I like how not all their problems were solved in the prior book.

I wonder which Hartley is next. Truman? Or Thea? And what type of person they will be paired with. I still hope (crossing my fingers here) that Ms Lorret will consider writing a book for Rowan and Anna.