This is the best so far! Part of it may be because I love Lord Fullerton. He has such a sad backstory - and it's something that actually happened to him instead of to his parents, so it was much more pressing and heart-breaking to me as a reader. As the source of his heartbreak tracks him down, things get quite interesting.

These two make such an amazing couple, but there are some secrets and misunderstandings - horrible ones - between them. And, of course, they all come out at the worst possible moment. I couldn't help but cheer for these two as they tried to navigate through their new sort-or-relationship. Things kept just getting in the way. Like big things. Family obligations, honor, reputation, and the by now ever present danger of the assassin.

As in previous books in the series, there is a good dose of excitement as the assassin tries once again to ruin everyone's lives. But this one does not end the same as previous books! I soooo want to tell you, but I can't. But it is very very good. Now to settle in for the wait for book 6.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

Marisa and Maitland have known each other for years - as the sister to a Libertine Scholar, Marisa has been around the stories and the men themselves for half her life. But, she never expects to find herself waking up in bed next to one of them - naked - and obviously compromised in the eyes of the ton even though nothing happened. But the villainess has struck again, and Maitland and Marisa find themselves wed to save her reputation.This is where I get just a tad tired of the whole style of "she wants love, but he's determined not to." I hope it gets change up a bit more in the future.

Marisa and Maitland are far from an ideal pair. Marisa is determined to find love in marriage and Maitland is determined to avoid it at all costs - he considers passion to be a curse. It may look like the villianess has finally struck a blow to the Libertine Scholars. But Marisa is no coward. She will find a way to bring some passion and romance to her marriage - but when she finally does - well, things get pretty bad.

I just about cried several times in this one. There is tragedy, secrets, and a great loss that Marisa and Maitland will have to overcome before they will ever be happy. This was the most "real" book of the series so far. Things didn't all miraculously become better and all the hurt doesn't just disappear. But because of this, the characters are going to stay with me for a long, long time. I can't wait to see them in future books in the series.

We get to briefly see Beatrice and Sebastian at the end of A Kiss of Lies, book one in The Disgraced Lords series. A Promise of More takes us back a few days to when they first meet, and that meeting is one to remember. When Sebastian fishes Beatrice out of the Thames, he never expects what comes out of her mouth - a proposal. With the death of her brother, their family is about to go to the poor house, and Beatrice thinks Sebastian owes it to them to save the day - by marrying her.

This isn't the set up for a happy marriage. Sebastian killed Beatrice's brother in a duel and I really enjoyed the way Beatrice was portrayed as dealing with the fact that she was about to marry his killer. Resolved and accepting of her situation, she is determined to try and make the best of it all.

But of course, things are never as they seem at first. And when they both begin to feel the inevitable attraction to each other, well, it gets very interesting. Our villian from the first book is still in play and causing all sorts of problems, but the Libertine Scholars may be one step closer to finding out who she is.

I enjoyed the back and forth between Sebastian and Beatrice, but there was just a little spark of something that seemed to be missing. I had a hard time imagining Beatrice finding pleasure in the arms of the man that killed her brother as well, although this ends up being a little different than what they both thought. They still thought he had killed her brother, and then have great sex still. I had a hard time believing it.

Two people on the run from their past, Sarah and Christian are thrown together by strange circumstances. Christian is trying to clear his name from a horrible accusation and wondering who would want to frame him for such a horrible crime. Banished to Canada, he makes friends and begins to raise funds to return to England.

Enter Sarah, applying for a job as governess to Christian's young ward. She has a dark secret she is trying to keep, and the men looking for her are getting closer and closer. Escaping to England with Christian seems like the perfect solution, but she must ensure that he never finds out who she really is or what she has done.

Of course, none of their plans go quite as expected. I'm not usually a fan of the deep dark secret theme, but it fit this story nicely. I understood Sarah's secret and why she had to keep it. But it does cause issues, as secrets will. It also comes out fairly early, so much of the story takes place after they have comes to terms with it and are now trying to help fix it. I really loved it.

The Libertine Scholars were a great group of friends. It looks like each book tells the story of one of the infamous rakes. They all be playing important parts in each other's story, too, which means I get to keep in touch with these great characters.

This was a pretty good story.  There was a lot more adventure and action than I usually see in a historical romance, which I really enjoyed.  What just didn't quite work for me was the resistance between the characters.

Portia is determined to marry for love, and to do that she must make Grayson fall in love with her.  But throughout the story, it's rather obvious that he has fallen in love, but he just is far too stubborn to even admit it to himself.  When Portia believes that he doesn't love her, then she goes off in another direction.  It was just too much pulling apart "just because" for my taste.  They both needed to just get their heads on straight and work it all out.

The mystery behind who is out to get the Libertine Scholars was the best part of the story.  I really want to know who this mysterious plotter is, because they are very good at causing all sorts of trouble.  We find out quite a bit about them in this story, and now I just want to know more.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*