I genuinely enjoyed this book!

It's a refreshing addition to my historical romance reading list and a great introduction to Lorraine Heath's writing.

All the characters were well-developed, and the subtle hints throughout the story kept me engaged without giving away too much too soon.

Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read!

♡◜✧˖°*:･ﾟ✧
🌶️: 3/5 ( )

Well drat. I’ve read 27 other books by this author and only given one of them below 3 stars. But here’s a second. I saw every plot twist from a mile off, (which alone wouldn’t be a deal breaker, I don’t need to be shocked at every turn, but still it’s nice when there’s *something* that wasn’t heavily hinted at well in advance). And also many, many significant aspects were based on weak or faulty logic. Like lots.

Here is just a smattering. The hero is apparently practically banned from society just because people believe he has affairs with unhappy wives... Since when has that ever been enough to outweigh being young, handsome, rich, single, powerful, and charming? Pretty much every rake hero in any HR sleeps with unhappily married wives, widows and opera singers. Those are like the go-to non-professional women to sleep with! - The heroine makes a big deal about not needing protection and that she can easily take down an attacker using this thumb hold, etc., and then the one instance we see- she does absolutely nothing. Not a thing in her defense. And has to be rescued. And then goes right back to thinking 'of course she's perfectly safe on her own!'. - Or at one point there were like 6 wonky things within like 3 pages! 1) the hero specifically re-states that he doesn't need to know the women's reasons for needing help, even though all three of the cases we've just seen in the book were for off reasons (one nearly getting him killed!). So maybe it'd be worth asking a single question before committing fully from now on? 2) The heroine gets irate when the hero keeps doing the thing she's always known him to do, that's personally very important to him, helps others, and that she's never asked him to *not* do- because it's bad for his apparently already entirely ruined reputation. When she already won't admit to having anything to do with him- to anyone at all! 4) That him having a 'definitely platonic fake relationship' makes their 'definitely not platonic real relationship', (that they weren't going to tell anyone about anyway), just as fake somehow?? 5) That him, temporarily, setting aside one night a week to help someone, is stealing that night from her and is a relationship deal breaker. And 6) instead of informing him of that breakup *with words*, she just 'pointedly returns his loaned carriage'... *side eye* That's got to be worse than breaking up with someone via text, which is already notoriously a horrible way to break up with someone! And those 6 were all back-to-back within pages of each other!

I'll still try the next book in the series, because Heath's writing isn't usually so full of holes. But I'm truly disappointed in this one. ( )

David Blackburn watched his loving mother subjected to his fathers abuse until she ‘fell down the stairs.’ He couldn’t protect her so he vowed to protect other women in her situation. Haphazardly, he found his way into a serving as halving a fake affair with married women who wished to get out of their marriage for one reason or another.

Marguerite ‘Daisy’ Townsend is a inquiry agent and is hired by a husband to determine if his wife is being unfaithful. She disguises herself as a maid in Blackburn’s home hoping to catch them in a compromising position. But she does not anticipate falling for Blackburn’s charms herself.

Blackburn and Daisy were so very cute and both had harsh childhoods that drove them to be the adults they are now, with no intentions of ever marrying. Their banter and flirting were so fun and I loved how shocked Blackburn was that Daisy stood up to him! He loved it! Seeing characters from other novels was also exciting to see where they are now! I can always depend on Ms. Heath to deliver a book I am sure to adore! ( )

The Chessmen, Rook, King, Bishop, and Knight were first introduced in The Duchess Hunt, which was the second book of the Once Upon A Dukedom series. In that book, King found his HEA and now we get to peek through the window and see the other Chessmen find their HEAs as well. This is a thoroughly standalone book, so you do not have to have read the previous series at all, I just mentioned it so you’d have a point of reference if you have read the books. Another lovely thing about the book is that we have very brief encounters with characters from yet another beloved Lorraine Heath series. Remember Aiden Trewlove? Well, he has a couple of one or two-line mentions in here.

Marguerite (Daisy) Townsend was born into an aristocratic family – the grandchild of an Earl. However, her father was the scapegrace of the family and when he married Marguerite’s mother – a lady’s maid – the earl disowned him and turned him out. It wasn’t long before things went bad for her parents and both of them died within days of each other. Fortunately for Daisy, her father’s sister, Charlotte, was a very loving lady who took her in and raised her as if she were her own. Daisy’s aunt is a fiercely independent spinster and she gave Daisy a fair amount of freedom in making her own decisions. That is how Daisy came to open Townsend Detective Agency and she is quite successful at it though it makes her sad to think there is a need for her kind of services. A case in point? Her latest case is to discover if her client’s wife is having an affair with a notorious scoundrel – David Blackwood (Bishop) – who has been named in several divorce cases. She’ll infiltrate the Blackwood household and get her evidence.

Bishop will sacrifice anything, do anything, and go to any lengths, to protect women who need (want) to leave a bad marriage. He doesn’t even ask their reasons for needing a divorce – if they want out, he’s there to help them. At the moment he has three ‘affairs’ going on with married women and he’s just waiting for the husbands to become aware and begin divorce proceedings.

As soon as Bishop spots the new maid in his household, he knows there is something different about her. She’s too confident and looks him right in the eye. Their attraction is immediate and strong, but neither of them wants to let it go anywhere – they can’t afford to. It is fun to watch them fight the attraction while they are dancing around each other, assessing each other, ferreting out clues, and delivering evidence.

When Daisy’s case ends – another one begins. Bishop is being investigated for the death of one of his ladies’ husbands. UH OH! Can Daisy save Bishop? Will he mend his ways? You’ll just have to read this wonderfully well-written book to find the answers. I loved the characters – and the epilogue is absolutely to die for. What a lovely twist it was!

I didn’t give the book five stars because – well – I loved Bishop, but I just thought he was way, way, way too obsessed with his mother and what happened to her. It almost bordered on the creepy. Another thing for me was his method of helping. Bishop was a very intelligent man, so why couldn’t he see that there were many, much better ways to help those ladies than the method he chose? Again, it goes back to his obsession with his mother.

I thoroughly enjoyed the read and definitely recommend it – and now I can hardly wait for the next book and the next Chessman to find his HEA.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )