ARC Review: The Lady Knows Best (Goode's Guide to Misconduct #1) by Susanna Craig
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Series: Goode's Guide to Misconduct #1
Author: Susanna Craig
Published April 25th 2023 by Zebra
Goodreads Synopsis
In her print debut, award-winning author Susanna Craig launches a new Regency historical romance series, based around the daring ladies’ magazine, Mrs. Goode’s Magazine for Misses, Being a Guide to Improve Conduct and Promote Wisdom among Young Persons of the Fair Sex—also known as Goode’s Guide to Misconduct—and the witty, clever, often rebellious heroines behind it, including a controversial new advice columnist. A modern twist on the genre, will appeal to fans of Ella Quinn, Sabrina Jeffries, and those who love faster-paced, innovative historical romance featuring strong women.
Serving as the advice columnist, ‘Miss Busy B.’, for an often-subversive ladies’ magazine is the perfect outlet for Daphne Burke’s outspoken nature. But when she advises a young lady of the ton, to break off her engagement to a notorious rake, the consequences take Daphne beyond the page and into her real life.
Miles, Viscount Deveraux, sometimes known as ‘that devil Deveraux’, needs a respectable bride by the end of the Season, and he’s bet a fortune that he can get one. Now, his fiancée has not only changed her mind—but done it publicly, in a letter to London’s most infamous magazine. With the stakes high and time short, it seems reasonable to him that the columnist responsible should come to his rescue and marry him instead.
Fortunately for Miles, Daphne is eager to escape the pressures of the London marriage mart. She agrees to a courtship. But at the end of two weeks, she intends to turn him down in a big, splashy, scandal that will ruin her reputation and set her free. There’s just one shocking wrinkle: Who knew being ruined by a rake could be so much fun?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
For Miss Daphne Burke, stumbling across a meeting of the writers of Mrs. Goode’s Magazine for Misses was like a dream come true. Now the author of her own column, she is shocked that her first advice piece results in the breakup of an engagement, and the man who's lost his fiancee is not happy. Miles, Viscount Deveraux, has bet that he can find a respectable bride by the end of the Season, and he thought it was all sorted until Miss Busy B. arrived on the scene. Now the ladies of the ton avoid him like the plague, and there's only a matter of weeks left until his deadline. Dancing with the lovely Miss Burke, he discovers she is the cause of his problems, and blackmails her into finding him a wife. But even the devilish Deveraux could never expect that she would offer herself up? Or does Daphne have an ulterior motive?
I was so happy when I realised there was going to be a new series from Susanna Craig, and even more so when it became available on NetGalley. I wasn't sure whether to read it as soon as I downloaded it, or wait til closer to the release date, but on a cold January Sunday, I thought now was the time. Daphne Burke is the fifth in her family, and the eldest unmarried. Whereas all of her siblings are gifted, she believes she is just normal, and has nothing really to offer. Often off to the sidelines, her youngest sister, Bellis, is the one who men flock around, and ask to dance, or send flowers. Finding 'Mrs Goode' and the rest of the magazine's staff, she has a purpose finally, and answering the letter of 'Aggrieved in Grosvenor Square' is her first step into finding her place. But the breakup of Miss Grey and Lord Deveraux has caused more scandal than anyone could expect, and Deveraux is now after her. I liked the way he realised Daphne was special from the get go, and Miss Busy B. too. Miles was a Rake with a capital R, and most of the ton knew he had a bet to marry, but he had a softer side which you only see when he's at home with his grandmother - who was a hoot - and his friends. Miles didn't back away from the Burke family when they all came together to grill him, and he proved time and again he was the one for Daphne. He saw her more than her nearest and dearest, and he fell hard. I was expecting the drama which occurred, and sort of wish it wasn't there, but all turned out right in the end. The perfect first book in the series!
Dates Read:
January 14-15, 2023
Rating
4 Stars
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