Romancing His English Rose (Entangled Scandalous)

by Catherine Hemmerling

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Romancing His English Rose was so cute! It has the right balance of sweet and steamy romance and compelling mystery. Lady Rose is a geek. Or at least as much of a geek as you can be in Regency London. She has an eidetic memory and is constantly stuck in a book on one science or another, which comes quite in handy when solving a murder involving poison. She's also engaged to Simon Trumbull, a match neither are thrilled about, since it was arranged when they were children. But at Lady Lancaster's suggestion, Rose asks Simon to help her with the case. Of course, Simon starts seeing Rose in a whole new light and their contractual engagement becomes a love match.

The mystery portion of Romancing His English Rose was much more mysterious than in the previous book. In fact, we were introduced to the key players then, so there's a bit of overlap from one book to the next. It is believed that Lord Shrewsbury poisoned his brother for his title, and with Rose's new found knowledge about poison detection, it can finally be proven. At least she hopes. First, she has to figure out if it was even poison and if so, what kind. Then the means of getting it to his brother, and a possible carrier. There's quite a bit of sleuthing as Rose and Simon try to gather the proof that they need. On top of that, there's also the possibility that Shrewsbury has another target!

I also really liked the progression of the romance. Simon has developed quite the rakish reputation despite his betrothal to Rose. He has no intention of settling down immediately, and doesn't expect there to be any love between he and Rose. Just an understanding. Rose knows better than to fall for her fiance, but she knows him better than the ton, so it's hard to ignore his sweet side. The two obviously grow closer during their investigation, and get swept up in passion! Hooray!

I adored Romancing His English Rose. It's just a feel good kind of book. I loved how it directly followed up on events that occurred in Taming Her Forbidden Earl, but also was self-contained enough to be read alone. I'm also just a fan of seeing how science has progressed over time, and there's some early forensics, too!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.