Review: The Virgin Who Ruined Lord Gray (The Swooning Virgins Society #1) by Anna Bradley

Print Length: 268 pages

Publisher: Lyrical Press (October 27, 2020)

From Goodreads.com: Other young ladies might occupy their spare time with drawing or needlework, but Sophia Monmouth spends hers scaling rooftops and shadowing suspicious characters. Her objective: to gain information that will free a friend wrongly accused of murder. She hasn't bargained on being spotted and followed back to the Clifford School by a mysterious earl who holds almost as many secrets as she does.

Tristan Stratford, Lord Gray, earned the nickname the Ghost of Bow Street because no man has ever escaped him. Sophia—all soft curves beneath her disguise—is a unique challenge. Determined to learn the truth about the Clifford School, he joins Sophia in a scheme that leads from Newgate's cells to the pinnacle of power. But when desire is at odds with justice, succumbing to temptation may lead them both into the heart of danger... 

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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5

So ummmm right off the bat, the title of this story is misleading. Sophia is not a virgin, and she did not ruin Lord Gray. In fact, if anything, Sophia seemed to save Tristan from a life of doing what his mother wanted (for example marrying a woman whose name he could not remember). 

To be honest, I liked these characters. Sophia isn't the kind of heroine that you typically get in historical romances - and for me that gave her an edge. I liked that she wasn't afraid to take risks, and was determined enough that when she had a plan, she saw it through (even if said plan wasn't the best). I also enjoyed Tristan's character, although I would have liked to have seen more of him before he left Bow Street - and more on why he ended up with the nickname that he did. 

When paired together, these two made quite a formidable team - and one of the things that made them so much fun was the fact that up until the last half of the book they weren't tripping over themselves to be in a relationship. In fact, the blatant mistrust and dislike between the pair made the sexual tension all the more fun. I enjoyed watching these two as they learned not only to trust one another, but come to rely on one another as well. 

Where this lost a star for me, was in the fact that the ending seemed to end a little too abruptly without tying up all of the loose ends. Yes, our couple got their happily ever after, but with some of the conspirators are still at large, it just didn't feel "finished" to me. However, I did enjoy it enough that I would read more from this series to see if those "villain's" make another appearance (or at least get their comeuppance) in one of the other stories. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

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                                                  The Virgin Who Ruined Lord Gray is available from Amazon.com