The Girl with the Pearl Pin

Founded by the wealthiest woman in London, an unconventional crime-solving club brings together single lords and overlooked ladies from every rung of society. It’s a perfectly scandalous match. The Duke of Leomore stuns society when he announces his engagement to a woman who has just been branded a thief. For him, marriage will be a purely practical affair after seeing how his parents nearly ruined the dukedom. Phoebe tears a flounce & Leo offers to mend it or her unfortunately her pins are rusty so he uses his pearl pin. He then claims a kiss, shouts sound & Phoebe bumps into a fleeing man, the next thing she knows is that she’s branded a thief, Leo ever honourable, announces she was with him as they were celebrating their engagement. As if being falsely accused weren’t mortifying enough, Phoebe North is now the talk of the town. And while she knows Leo did the honourable thing to protect her reputation, she can’t help but long for more. It would be an impossible match given their unequal stations, and Leo has made his view of marriage quite clear. A lovely page turning romance, I love the author’s attention to detail & the facts she always includes in her books. The characters are well portrayed, I loved Leo & Phoebe & how their relationship developed also how Phoebe’s confidence grew. Leo was absolutely gorgeous & how he helped her at every turn was a joy. The pace was very good & flowed effortlessly. The secondary characters also had depth & I felt there was a definite teaser about Angela! The villains mostly received their comeuppances & the ending was very satisfying although I would have liked an epiloue. This is the first in a new series & I look forward to more to come My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

A scandalous match? What an interesting group the Society for Single Ladies I can see where this idea will take the reader on many grand adventures. This was a different twist and it was so entertaining. Leo and Phoebe were great characters and with a pace that flowed so well it was a read that was hard to put down. I highly recommend and I look forward to the next book in the series. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.

What an exciting start to this new series by Lynne Connolly! An unexpected encounter with the Duke of Leomore, led him asking Phoebe to dance! Of course she was attending the ball with her cousin Angela, who was much sought after and she had just declined to dance with him. He turned his attention to her and led her on the floor. I adored the interaction between Phoebe and Leo! What happened next ( oh yes you will have to read and find out how it came about!), Leo announce they were engaged to try to get her out of a sticky situation! Oh my, I loved Leo.. He came to her rescue and of course it was truly just a "pretend engagement" to save her from being accussed as a thief. But what could come of it anyone? He was a Duke and she really was not in his league. Filled with humor, a mystery, murder, pretense, romance and of course the SSL Ladies, you will be carried away on a jouney until the last page. Cannot wait for more!!