herding cats & burning soup: 4 stars--The Viscount Needs a Wife (Company of Rogues #17) by Jo Beverley

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

4 stars--The Viscount Needs a Wife (Company of Rogues #17) by Jo Beverley

*Okay, okay. I know. It's Book 17. I know! Do. Not. Panic! It works totally fine as a stand alone. Promise!*

The Viscount Needs a Wife was a hefty book at over 400 pages but I flew through them and was completely wrapped up in the lives of Kitty and Braydon as the two come to an arrangement. She's in need of an escape from her deceased husband's very controlling family and he's in need of a wife to help him handle his newly acquired title as a Viscount and the two quarrelsome women who came along with it--the mother and daughter of the former Viscount. And so two strangers with only a mutual friendship with a local couple become husband and wife days after meeting and set out to conquer their new life together. Difficult women, mysterious disappearances and plots against the Crown included.

I loved these two! Braydon and Kitty are both somewhat hesitant about their new lots in life but I loved their spirit and how how they were together-- when things were going well AND when they clashed. She's fiery and bold and he's rather proper and buttoned up at times but oh they worked. They had delightful banter and it felt genuine. They could rub along well and then suddenly tempers flaring and insecurities sneaking in since they honestly did not know each other at all or how to react to some things. I kind of liked that and seeing the two of them trying to get used to having someone so significant and new in their lives. And oh they did have nice chemistry together which made for some deliciously heated moments. The romance was just lovely.

There was an abundance of intriguing outside issues that pulled me along too.

Struggles with the former Viscount's crabby and domineering mother who was making everyone's life hell and had me rooting for a good set down on Kitty's part.
The added mystery of what happened to the former Viscount's wife. She'd disappeared years earlier and the scandalous mystery so intrigued Kitty.
And then Braydon's time spent trying to help uncover a murderous plot against three of the royal princes.

Everything blended together wonderfully. I liked all of the outside elements and seeing Kitty and Braydon work together on all of it. It was just fun seeing the two of them out of their elements but finding their stride together.

Now, I did start to think--wow there is no way this will have a satisfying end on all parts--since the book was quickly ending and so many things left to deal with but Beverley pulled it off with style and left me delighted and in some cases a bit surprised with how things turned out.

I could have easily spent another 400 pages with Kitty and Braydon but I loved how things ended for them and have a hope they'll be spotted in one of the future books and we'll get to see how their life together is going. Well done! The Viscount Needs a Wife was thrilling and deliciously romantic. I'm definitely a new fan.

Since being widowed two years ago, Kitty Cateril has been trapped in her late husband's home, where she is expected to mourn forever. Desperate to escape, Kitty will consider any option—even a hasty marriage to a stranger with no intention of abandoning his bachelor ways.

London life suits Beau Braydon, especially his work keeping Britain safe. So when he inherits the title of Viscount Dauntry, he has no intention of resettling on a rural estate. He can’t resist the opportunity to marry a sensible widow who can manage Beauchamp Abbey for him—until he realizes Kitty is more than he bargained for...

Before Kitty and Dauntry can adjust to each other, a threat to the royal family takes them to London. Soon someone is determined to prevent Dauntry from exposing the villain, and secrets in Kitty's past threaten their growing love...