“An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire” From Manda Collins

Guys! I realized a book was a sequel and read the first part first! You should be so proud!

That being said, An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire by Manda Collins is book two, picking up about a year after the events of A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem, but I think it stands alone quite well. I mean, you know a couple’s going to end up together or it wouldn’t be a good romance book, right? So getting a glimpse of the book one couple after they end up together doesn’t feel like a spoiler to me. I also don’t think you need to know everything from the first book to enjoy the events of the second.

So here we go: book two.

This time, we get to know Caro a bit more. She and Kate write a column for Kate’s newspaper, which has the same name of the first book. It’s long and I don’t feel like typing it out for the millionth (fifth) time today.

Caro is every bit as feisty and independent as Kate. She wants a love match like her parents, but fears the rankings of the aristocracy might keep her from finding a passionate paramour forever. It already ended her engagement to Valentine after he failed to defend her and her family to his brother.

When Val’s brother dies suddenly, he becomes the heir to the dukedom and inherits all the pressure to get married and have a family that comes with it. His father is pushing for a well-bred lady to be the future duchess, but the only woman Val can think of is Caro.

Naturally, the kidnapping of Val’s cousin’s fiancée and Caro’s friend brings them together with a purpose. They team up with Kate and her now-husband/detective inspector Andrew to figure out what happened to Effie without Val’s father finding out. Effie is an actress adored by many men and that just isn’t the kind of quality woman the duke wants in his family.

Caro and Val have a lot of history to wade through on this journey. It’s not just the rules of society, but also how their behaviors impact the family and vice versa. It’s a complicated mess of expectations and desires, to put it simply.

I enjoyed that this story didn’t stop with their marriage. They had to work through their issues beyond the wedding day, ya know, like real couples do. It was refreshing that building a solid relationship was the goal, not just getting to the altar. I think that gets confused a lot in our modern world, but that’s probably a discussion for another time.

I love Caro’s sass and how she doesn’t give up on those she loves. I adore Val for not wanting to crush her into a box. There’s a line about how he doesn’t want to take her independence from her, but rather join her on her adventures and I LOVE IT. That’s the kind of partner I would want, so it’s nice to see that reflected in a character as well.

I enjoyed An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire. I picked up on a scene in there and hoped it would lead to book three, which the note at the end indicates it will. So, here’s to Flora’s story coming in fall 2022!

Note: I can receive commissions from qualifying purchases through links on this site.