Title: The Marquess Next Door
(The Talk of the Beau Monde Book 2)
Author: Virginia Heath
Published: June 2021
Genre: Historical Romance, Regency, Mills & Boon Historical, Harlequin Historical

Blurb:

A dashing new neighbor …

Temptation on her doorstep!

To avoid an unwanted suitor at a ball, Hope Brookes asks another gentleman rescue her. He obliges – with a surprisingly passionate kiss! He’s revealed as her sinfully handsome new neighbor, Lucius, Marquess of Thundersley, and they forge a friendship over their balconies. It’s refreshing that Lucius is more interested in her writer dreams than her looks, so why can’t she stop thinking about that kiss?

From Harlequin Historical: Your romantic escape to the past.

The Talk of the Beau Monde

My review:

Here is the second book of The Talk of the Beau Monde, Yuhuuu, finally!

Before I read the book, I scrutinized the cover and the blurb then I found the parallel line of the book, Yupz, how the hero, Lucius and the heroine, Hope establish their romantic story over the balconies. Isn’t that quite captivating?

Indeed, this is the story of Hope meeting her match, the Seventh Marquess of Thundersley, Lucius Nathaniel Elijah Duff. Typically the column gossip, The Whisper from Behind the Fan unfolds the story of Hope Brookes that scandalously throws the frozen desert over a suitor’s head. Hope has lots of admirers that she greatly resents because those admirers just see her unwanted seductive body not her intelligence and wit. She always eschews any gentlemen asking her hand to dance. When she attends her sister engagement’s party, an irritating persevering suitor, Lord Harlington, chases after her in spite of her scathing refusal. She eschews him by going to a garden that has a fountain. There she encounters the new Marquess of Thundersley, Lucius Nathaniel Elijah Duff, a sinfully handsome broad-shoulder with unusual height and long-shoulder length hair whom has beard and an earring (oh my, I couldn’t stop admiring the hero, he was defined like dissolute pirate!).

At first, they just sit on the wall fountain and enjoy the night then Lord Harlington calling her, she asks Lucius to help her so that he would go. Well, Lucius took me by surprise, he instinctively kisses Hope before Lord Harlington and as you could guess, Hope is furious and shoves him into the fountain and that affair becomes the gossip. Following day, Brookes family knows that they have a new neighbor but they do not know who it is, surprisingly when Hope wants to enjoy her writing on her special private balcony, there she meets the new naked neighbor, Lucius and begins establishing their friendship over.

I have been waiting for Hope’s story because she is a typical heroine I enormously admire, red-haired, intelligent, termagant, cannot be charmed by any gentlemen despite her attractive look and a ghotic writer story. She is a perfect match for Lucius, the kind-hearted humorous hero whom is amusing with his clever remarks. Hope and Lucius have been unwittingly attracted to each other since after the kiss and gradually they begin developing their trust to each other over the balconies despite the flaw and at the end succumb to admit their feeling. Yupz, this is what makes this book so gripping, because the insecurities and the flaw that are owned by both characters without omitting the humor.

Heath is a brilliant writer, despite the perfect-beauty within the hero and heroine, she oftentimes sets insecurities and insights beneath the characters, that is what I praise for, like how insecure Hope is because of her unusual size of cleavage and seductive body, she is also anxious that she doesn’t possess any remarkable talent like her sisters however she continually grabs her dream of having thriller book published as a woman author, then Lucius who has coped with his mother’s fragile illness. Heath has succeeded in defining the unfair prejudices in attentive writing and that is how the story eventually evolves.

For me, The Marquess Next Door holds an irresistible attraction wrapped in clever wordplay and quick wit that amuses me over and over with undeniable passion between the charming sinfully handsome hero and natural attractive heroine albeit termagant. Thank you, Virginia Heath, for this ARC which I voluntarily reviewed. I totally and thoroughly enjoyed reading this!

Rate: 5 of 5

Reviewed by Sabilla

About the author

When Virginia Heath was a little girl, it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older, the stories became more complicated – sometimes taking weeks to get to the happy ending. One day, she decided to embrace the insomnia and start writing them down. Twenty books and two Romantic Novel of the Year Award nominations later, and it still takes her forever to fall asleep. Follow her at virginiaheathromance.com or her facebook page Virginia Heath.