3.5 stars

I had enjoyed Anna Bradley's previous books and had no qualms trying this and I was not disappointed.

I enjoyed this book immensely. It had all the tropes that I liked - A stern Hero who is actually a marshmallow inside :) Tristan is my absolute favorite kind of hero. I like a good man turned good as much as the other person, but there is something to be said about a Man who is good and yet slightly dangerous so not boring. Sophia was also a darling. I admire how the book struck the right balance in her character by her not being a pushover and yet not pushy. I loved that she was a woman of agency and their chemistry was so good.
It also had good class struggle although that was ultimately on part of heroine.

Then come the friendships, as always I am a sucker for a good bromance and sismance and there was this in spades here. The women friendships was so good and I can't wait to read about their future adventures.

As I mentioned earlier, they had fantastic chemistry and although the romance aspect of the book was not the major focal point, I believed in their story, journey and HEA. That is not an easy thing to do especially in a book that had a murder mystery that needed solving but the author did a great job of building the world.

TBH The 2 things I didn't really care for were the title (LOL) and the mystery I felt was quite amateurish. I think I knew the bad guy almost immediately.

All in all, this was a lovely book. It had great pace and awesome characters. Give it a try if you adore feisty women and the men that love them.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC ( )

I am posting an honest review after reading an advance reader copy of this story

The Virgin Who Ruined Lord Gray, by Anna Bradley, is available at booksellers on 10-27-2020. This is book 1 in Ms Bradley's new The Swooning Virgins Society. I think we're off to a good start. The main characters are likeable. The plot is well done We have Lady Clifford who runs a girls school that is more interesting than any regular boarding school. She a sneaky one. Tristan is complex, newly made lord and ex-bow street runner. He's having a tough time deciding who he is. Sophia has interesting talents. I giggled at the name Lord Gray, tea anyone? A butler named Tribble was the best. My favorite Stat Trek episode is The Trouble With Tribbles. All in all an enjoyable read.

#AnnaBradley #TheVirginWhoRuinedLordGray #TheSwooningVirginsSociety #Netgalley #LyricalPress #romance #historicalromance ( )

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. The Virgin Who Ruined Lord Gray by Anna Bradley is the first book in what looks to be an intriguing new series, The Swooning Virgins Society. Sophia Monmouth resides at the Clifford Charity School for Wayward Girls. She was one of the first students at the school. When one of their own is unjustly accused of murder, she is willing to do anything to help set him free, be it scaling rooftops and following suspicious characters. Tristan Stratford, Lord Gray, never expected to inherit the title. Still, when his brother died, he gave up his career as a Bow Street Runner and is uneasily settling into the life of a peer when he notices a boy lying on the roof of his next-door neighbour's pediment. Confident that the lad can be up to no good, he follows when his suspect leaves the roof to follow an employee of his neighbour Lord Everly, only to be completely shocked to find that the miscreant he has captured is a young lady. What first seems to be an open and shut case of murder soon grows into a conspiracy whose tentacles reach the highest offices in government. I enjoyed reading this book and do recommend it but warn that it does have one plot point that sent me flipping back pages to check Sophia’s age and still has me puzzled as to why it was included. Sophia, despite the title, is not a virgin, and she was betrothed once long ago to a kind and quiet man. My problem is that she’s only 21or 22. How long ago was so long ago that it seemed a lifetime ago, and why would a penniless orphan who lives in a girls' school and solves crimes be betrothed in the first place? It made no sense to me, and I found it to be a flaw in an otherwise delightful book. Steam Level: Medium. Publishing Date: October 27, 2020. #TheVirginWhoRuinedLordGray #AnnaBradley #KensingtonBooks #HistoricalRomance #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #RomanticSuspense ( )

Great start to a new series.

What's not to LOVE! Take a dubious school, the Clifford Charity School on the edge of Seven Dials, led by the mysterious Lady Amanda Clifford, and a small cadre of different and fascinating girls.
The fact that they all love to read Miss Radcliffe's stories is rather endearing. There are rules of course. All must be present for any reading to continue is one of the most important.
Take one of their members, Sophia Monmouth, who is an endearing, brave and shrewd spirit, who has mastered the art of surveillance, of disappearing into the background, mostly!
Then take a Bow Street Runner turned Earl!
(Oh my, putting two of my fav tropes together is so a recipe for success! Add in treachery, murder and an innocent branded killer! My cup runneth over! )
It seems these young women, Sophie in particular, are trained in quite different ways at this mysterious school. Ways that scream ... spying, survival tactics? Lady Amanda has some strong connections in high up places it would seem.
Ex Bow Street Runner, Tristan Stratford, now the Earl of Gray, was renowned as 'the Ghost', and when Sophie is pursued by him she fairly groans with dismay over having locked horns with him.
And what caused that? Why Tristan spying a slight youth on the roof next door of the house belonging to Lord Everly. Of course this looks like a would be thief casing the place. Only Tristan found that this is so much more, leading to a young man incarcerated for murder in Newgate, a deadly scam, and a more recent murder of a Bow Street companion, a crime that has so troubled his heart.

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley ( )

**** 4.5 Stars Rounded Up ****

Oh! What a lovely, fun, exciting read, and just what I needed. It is well-plotted, well-written, very exciting, and romantic. I usually like one of the main characters and am more neutral on the other – but that isn’t the case here. They are wonderful characters who are deep, complex, and fully formed, and I adored both of them.

Sophia Monmouth has lived at the Clifford Charity School since her mother was murdered when she was seven years old. She lives there along with her friends Cecilia, Georgiana, and Emma – all under the guidance of Lady Amanda Clifford. The household is in a huge state of upset because Jeremy Ives, a member of the household, has been arrested and accused of murder. Everyone who knows Jeremy knows he is innocent, but nobody wants to hear it. It is Sophia’s mission to find a way to free Jeremy and she doesn’t intend to fail. Sophia is a tiny sprite of a woman who is quick, agile, crafty, and highly skilled at disguising herself and blending into the shadows. Sophia knows a servant of Lord Everly, Peter Sharpe, is lying about Jeremy – this isn’t Sharpe’s first involvement in a criminal case. She has been trailing him all over London and he always ends up back at the scene of all of the crimes – St. Clement Dane’s church.

Tristan Stratford, formerly a Bow Street runner known as the Ghost of Bow Street, is now the Earl of Gray. He never had a desire to be the earl but had no choice after the death of his brother. Tristan is only in London to wrap-up some affairs and to see justice done for his friend Henry Gerrard, a Bow Street runner, who was brutally murdered. The murderer has been arrested and is awaiting trial – Tristan cannot wait to see him swing. One day, as he’s looking out his window, he sees a boy lying totally still on Lord Everly’s pediment. The child is so still – totally unmoving – until – he’s up, off the pediment and…. Is he trailing someone? Tristan heads out and trails the boy – until he catches him …er…well catches HER. Oh! My!

Tristan and Sophia come from two very different backgrounds and they have very different views of justice and just how equal it is. Sophia manages to turn Tristan upside down and inside out. He thinks she’s a lawbreaker, but he’s drawn to her. Can he fight his attraction and bring her to justice? Is she really a lawbreaker? Their journey toward the HEA is one filled with danger and excitement.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Tristan and Sophia’s story. Now, you’ll have noticed that I gave the book 4.5 stars and rounded it up. The reason I did that is that I learned more about the Clifford Charity School and its mission by reading the book blurb than I did from the book. I have absolutely no clue why Lady Clifford began the school, why she takes in these girls, what the mission of the school really is, etc. It really annoys me when a book raises a lot of questions in my mind and doesn’t answer them. Maybe future books in the series will enlighten me.

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