Lady Notorious by Theresa Romain

Cass Benton works with her brother as private investigators. Well, her brother is the one on the books but his boss definitely knows that Cass is involved. When the book opens, Cass is posing as a maid in a ton house while her brother is a footman. While he is shtupping the lady of the house, Cass is busy saving the husband from murder. Which is pretty much their relationship. Cass is super serious while her brother takes life a lot more lightly.
They're in the house in the first place because of George, Lord Northbrook. He's the son of a duke who joined a tontine when he was a young man. Now members are dying off mysteriously and George wants to prevent both his father, and the lord of the house Cass and Charles were in, from meeting the same fate.
Romain can hit books out of the park for me but this was not one of them. I didn't see that George and Cass had the type of chemistry that would weather their class differences in this time. It was an okay read but not one of my faves.

Three stars
This book comes out February 26th
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Follows Lady Rogue

Passion Favors the Bold by Theresa Romain

We met Georgette and Lord Hugo in the last book of this duo. She is the sister of Benedict Frost and has been living with her aunt and working in what used to be her parents' bookshop. At twenty-one, her aunt will no longer be obligated to keep Georgette around so she decides to take matters into her own hands and find the brother who has only recently returned to England after being in the Navy.
Though she is dressed as a boy, she is handily recognized by her brother's friend, the third son of a Duke, Hugo Starling. From there, she convinces him to try and search for the lost gold coins. Hugo is reluctant but ends up giving in when it seems like that will be the only way to get his hospital up and running. Through a series of events, they end up posing as a married couple in order to follow a Bow Street Runner who they believe to also be on the trail of the thieves. This includes pretending to be the niece and nephew of a Northumberland land owner, Sir Frederic Chapple.
A sweet story though there are parts that stretched even my willingness to suspend disbelief. Nothing earth-shaking but I think regular Theresa Romain readers will be happy with the story.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out February 28
Follows Fortune Favors the Wicked

Fortune Favors the Wicked by Theresa Romain

When I requested this book as an ARC, I didn't realize that this was part of a new series (I hope) and not part of the "Romance of the Turf."  I was really looking forward to that next book and that may have dimmed some of my excitement in this book. But, hey, blind hero, courtesan heroine... this is definitely not your average romance novel.
There was a LOT going on in this story though. Both Charlotte Perry (also known as  Charlotte Pearl, La Perle, and Mrs. Smith in the course of this novel) and Benedict Frost, currently on half-pay from his Majesty's navy, are looking for the gold recently stolen from the royal treasury. The reward for finding said gold is 5,000 pounds, a princely sum. Charlotte could retire and set her daughter up for life. Benedict would like to sell his stories but the London publishers have all told him that, though based on his own life, no one will believe that a blind man could travel the globe. So instead, he's hoping to get the reward money and set himself and his sister up for life.
There is also a villain plotting against Charlotte, a murder, and, oh, just a LOT going on in this book. It was still worth a read and I am very much hoping that we will see more of what happens between Georgette (Benedict's sister) and Lord Hugo (Benedict's friend, younger son of a duke).

This book will be published March 29.
Followed by Passion Favors the Bold