How to Catch a Wicked Viscount by Amy Rose Bennett

Berkley, 2019. Paperback, 352 pages.

The start of the new Disreputable Debutants series, How to Catch a Wicked Viscount introduces the four young women who maintained a strong friendship even after their expulsion from school. The opening novel focuses on Sophie Blackwell, a young woman who’s family is in debt and she needs to try to find a wealthy suitor. However, she doesn’t like her family’s plans for her and is overjoyed when her friend Lady Charlotte Hastings invites her to London for the Season. They and their other friends, Olivia and Arabella, figure that with their tarnished reputations that they need to find a rake and reform them. This leads Sophie right into the arms of Lady Charlotte’s brother, Nate Hastings, Viscount Malvern, despite the best efforts of both to avoid each other.

This regency romance is your typical romance for the era: girl meets boy, they fall in love, an issue crops up forcing them apart, and then happily ever after. The difference is that Bennett came up with the idea to have her leading ladies be strong, outspoken, scandalous, and bookish. The book flowed well and was engaging, and at times it was also steamy. I wanted to give this novel a try since it featured a bookish character and I was curious how the story would play out. I wasn’t disappointed, but I know this book will not be for the majority of those who follow my blog.

This review is based on a novel provided by the First to Read program.