ARC Review: Never Marry a Viscount by Anne Stuart

“This is the last book in the Scandal in the House of Russell series and I am afraid to say I find myself underwhelmed ” ~ Under the Covers

After being unceremoniously kicked out of her Nanny’s cottage Miss Sophie Russell knows exactly where she is going to go. Straight back to the family home she lived in – till her father’s untimely and suspicious death and the terrible scandal that resulted in ruination of both her and her sisters life’s. The house is now occupied by one of the chief suspects in her father death and Sophie is determined to see if the Viscount is guilty. Posing as the cook Sophie infiltrates the house ready to find any evidence of his involvement; however, what she wasn’t read for was the instant attraction and chemistry with the wicked and darkly handsome Viscount.

This is the last book in the Scandal in the House of Russell series and I am afraid to say I find myself underwhelmed by it and indeed by the series, although I did prefer the previous two books in the series to this one. I have found the romances to be enjoyable, however, they have neither been original nor intense enough to really capture my attention as previous series by her have. The mystery that has threaded through this series has been good, but I did find the conclusion to be slightly anti-climatic and almost cartoonish in its villainy.

A bug bear of mine in romance is when lust seems to be mistaken for love and this is what happens in Never Marry a Viscount. Anne Stuart has written some red hot chemistry between Sophie and Alexander, and you can feel their desire for one another pouring off the page. What I never felt was any affection or love or deeper understanding of one another beyond the physical, so I was completely baffled when they started thinking they were in love. Sometimes insta-love works, in this case it didn’t and it just left me feeling confused and annoyed.

Never Marry a Viscount also brings the over all story arc regarding their father’s killer to its conclusion. I was disappointed with this part of the story as I have enjoyed this aspect of the series in the previous books, but it all turned out to be quite ordinary in the end. This book also brought the three sisters back together again, and I did enjoy seeing the happy couples together and all focused on helping Sophie.

This series isn’t something I would read again, and probably wouldn’t recommend as there are much better series out there. If you would like to read something by Anne Stuart, please try the Wicked House of Rohan, which is one of my favourite Historical Romance series and shows this author at her best.

*ARC provided by publisher