Lynn Winchester

Series: Women of Daring #1
Publication Date: 9/23/19
Number of Pages: 368
*** 3.5 Stars rounded up ***

Lady Victoria Daring and her siblings Lowell (Love), Honoria, Verity, Faith, and Grace had a most unusual upbringing. Their father, Devon Daring, Earl of Gadstoke (Ambassador to the Orient), saw an opportunity for all of his children to be raised with the skills to provide services to the Crown when he observed his eldest daughter’s interest in their servants practicing Kung Fu. Each of the children had very specialized interests and talents and all were trained without respect to their gender. They were all skilled, lethal warriors, but their mother despaired of ever getting them married and settled if they didn’t get back to England and have a season. Then, the perfect opportunity arose when their father was called back to England to uncover the source of an opium ring – their seasons would be the exact cover they needed.

The Darings are to report to Miles Leigh (Lord Leavenson) who will be their liaison to the Home office during their operation – named Operation Imperial Twilight. Victoria’s first solo assignment is to search the home of Malcolm Egerdon, the Earl of Banebridge for incriminating evidence. As she searches Banebridge’s study, she is interrupted by Richard Downing, Viscount Ganwyd. He is intrigued by her, but she manages to escape before he can find out who she is or anything about her. They soon encounter each other again in a chance meeting outside a shop on Bond Street. He recognizes her! How could he recognize her – her disguise was perfect? But there he is – and she knows he’ll be demanding answers.

This book sets up what I am assuming will be the overarching theme of the series – where each sibling will get their story as they pursue the villains who are part of The House of Cards Society. Those villains are at the highest echelons of London society and the Darings will have to tread very lightly to avoid detection, keep their reputations intact, and still capture the villains.

The premise of the story is good – if far-fetched – and I enjoyed the read. The writing was generally good but was a bit slow in a few spots. Of course, not everything was wrapped up in this story since the future books will solve the ongoing mysteries. One thing that just kept drawing me out of the story is the fact that they kept referring to Richard as a viscount – and I couldn’t see any way he would be one. His brother was a duke, so there is no way he’d have a courtesy title – and the story didn’t say anything about him performing great service to the crown or being given a title for anything. So – every time the story mentioned Richard as a viscount, my mind was off wandering again. The story intrigued me and I am looking forward to the next installment. I will mention though, if you like steam in your books, this one is lacking. I hope you enjoy the read.

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

A Lady Never Tells by Lynn Winchester is Book 1 in a new series, "Women of Daring", and what a beginning.
I was intrigued and held spellbound from the first page. The Daring siblings are a group of agents in the service of the The Darings are in the service of the Prince Regent, to combat enemies of the crown. A Regency Historical Romance set in 1817, from Zhejiang, China to London, where they carry out matters of Imperial espionage.
Well written and well excuted. The characters are colorful, charming, and engaging. The storyline is unpredictable, intriguing, adventurous, captivating and original for sure. Ms. Winchester has once again keep this reader turning pages, although, I did find in spots where the story got a bit confusing, but for the most part this is a great beginning to a new series. However, Be aware that to me not all of my questions were answered, maybe, leaving for the next book.

Meet and Follow,
Victoria Daring and Richard Downing, Viscount Ganwyd on their journey to a HEA.

Victoria works for the Home Office, as part of "Operation Imperial Twilight", her mission, is to search the home of Malcolm Egerdon, the Earl of Banebridge, but she's interrupted by Richard.
This story has plenty of spies, secrets, secret identities, danger, intrigue, mystery, suspense, sensual tension and romance to keep readers reading, with a HEA.
I found A LADY NEVER TELLS to be an enjoyable, entertaining and satisfying read. Strongly recommended for fans of Regency, spies, mystery, intrigue, historical romance and much more. A delightful read.

Rating: 4.5
Heat rating: Mild
Reviewer: AprilR… (mere)

'Daring' Do and Intelligence gathering in Regency times, with a difference!

Oh my! Just into the first few pages and I was already heavily engaged. I'd spotted a whole family of interesting siblings who must have their own story coming. The Daring siblings! From an early age they have been steeped in various Chinese martial arts styles, amongst other skills, that could only be found in the Far East. Together their list of abilities are formidable.
Their father, Devon Daring, the Earl of Gadstoke, has been the ambassador to the Orient for twenty-five years. The Darings are part of a secret organization of the Prince Regent's to combat would be enemies of the crown. Now it's 1817 and they have returned from Zhejiang, China to London and are tasked to carry out matters of Imperial espionage.
Victoria Daring's mission for the Home Office, as part of Operation Imperial Twilight, is to search the home of Malcolm Egerdon, the Earl of Banebridge. That's when she's interrupted by Richard Downing, Viscount Ganwyd. The viscount is bored and when he stumbled upon an out-of-place maid at Banbridge's Spring Ball he's intrigued. The spark of attraction between these two will propel them together into interesting times.
I was excited by the premise of this new series. There were some highly thrilling moments but the story ended with way too many questions, including my uneasy feelings and dislike of Miles Leigh, Earl of Leavenson, the Daring family’s only direct connection through the Home Office intelligence network and the Prince.
Apart from that there were moments when the writing dipped, and didn't stay on par.
I wonder if having to use Victoria's exploits to set the scene for future events, meant her story lost some of its initial oomph. Somewhere some of the energy of the opening scenes that so captured me dissipated.
Still I'm hooked on the series and what the future holds for the Daring menagerie.

An Entangled Pub. ARC via NetGalley… (mere)

Cute romance with doctor hero Hank Bartlett coming home to Dry Bayou, Texas with the intention to court and marry the girl he always wanted, heroine Tilly Mosier.

Hank and Tilly knew each other since they were children. Hank used to tease Tilly mercilessly. Tilly was a chubby child and Hank never let her forget it back then. (Not a great way to win the girl of your dreams). Tilly disliked Hank and didn't want anything to do with him for most of her life. But now he wants to court her, woo her, and make her his wife.

This was an enjoyable short read. Tilly was a sweet heroine who wanted to design and make dresses and own her very own shop. (Her parents were terrible and didn't support her in this. All they were interested in was themselves and they wanted her to work in their shop.) Hank was a charming hero who tried his best to make up for how he hurt Tilly in the past.

A sweet and clean western romance. I really liked the ending.… (mere)