This third book in the Deadly Damsel series introduces us to another intrepid young woman. Penny Smith has taken on a role as housemaid in the home of Lord William Renquist, Marquess of Stoneway, in order to provide the evidence needed to infiltrate a deadly brotherhood targeting defenceless young women. However, Penny didn’t anticipate becoming attracted to the deliciously handsome Marquess, nor to have that attraction passionately reciprocated.

What then follows is Cinderella type, rags-to-riches steamy romp, which sizzles with sexual chemistry whilst at the same time highlights the differences between the social classes of those with money who live above stairs and the drudgery of the servants working below stairs. This third book continues the Deadly Damsel theme of strong and capable women fighting to protect the innocent. I enjoyed seeing the return of those characters we have come to know from previous books and I found that Penny Smith was definitely a worthy addition to this band of intrepid woman recruited by Queen Victoria to defend the innocent against adversity.

Lord William Renquist’s attraction to Penny definitely sizzles on the page with their encounters adding a nice amount of spice to the story, and of course, there’s a mystery to solve which comes together nicely and leaves the way open for a further continuation of this delightful series.

The third book in the Queen's Deadly Damsels series features Penny, a streetwise maid determined to get her mother out of prison, and William, the Marquess of Stoneway. Penny believes William is involved in a dissolute secret society that trafficks young women. It's a complex tale with many misunderstandings and connections you don't immediately see. The attraction between the Marquess and the maid is immediate, although both try to deny it. Penny is a worthy, deadly damsel, and her challenging upbringing and courage push her into dangerous situations. It's an entertaining story with complex characters, spicy romance and a web of danger and deception. I like the connection between the couple and the conflicts they must overcome. The cast of characters from previous books adds depth and interest to the story, and the romance is passionate.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Spy vs. Spy...

They are both working for the same goal, but with different masters.
Penny is a spy, sharp and clever, she's infiltrated a house as a maid to spy on William.
She's working for the prime minister.

William, is a spy, working for Queen Victoria, he's infiltrated a notorious organization. He is not quite on to his maid.

Its a game of cat and mouse and they are working at cross purposes...

I wasn’t sure what to think of “The Confessions of a Lady” at first. I have really enjoyed the other books in this series but I don’t always like the class difference trope in historical romances. The first half of this novel was a bit hard to get through. Penny a maid in Liam’s household is investigating the Lord. She needs to save her mom from prison by collecting the reward money when she finds information on him to bribe the guards. I didn’t love how she was treated in the house and I struggled to get through parts of the book in the first half. What kept me going was how wonderful Liam was with Penny and the chemistry between the two MC’s.

The second part of the story hooked me in as other characters from previous books in the series get involved and the mystery started to pick up. I loved how Liam was with Penny despite the class difference. He decided she was it for him and never wavered from that certainty. Penny was afraid but courageous in her ability to take a leap of faith for Liam and the main conflict was really good, if not a bit dark, and not a third act break up! Overall I did enjoy this read even though I was not sure I would in the beginning. If there are more books in the series I will definitely continue to read them.

As a reader (and enjoyer) of dark romance, it’s actually surprising to me how recently I’ve found my way to reading (and enjoying) historical romance. Especially so when we’re talking 1800s and 1900s historical romance, when marriage meant a total loss of any autonomy a woman might have (which couldn’t have been much)—not to mention that certain couplings were even illegal. As It turns out, one of my favorite parts of dark romance—the part where a couple finds their happy ending together despite incredibly high stakes—is the bread and butter of historical romance.

Ok, that said, *The Confessions of a Lady* by Darcy McGuire would certainly not be considered a dark romance by most definitions. But the similarities cannot be dismissed, especially since it doesn’t just deal with the high risks of a woman falling in love, but also the higher stakes of a maid falling in love with a marquess. Not to mention our heroine Penny is also actively investigating said marquess (to the best of her ability) because he might be part of a secret criminal brotherhood, the Devil’s Sons, kidnapping maids and women of the servant class and selling them into sexual slavery. Also there’s the part where her mother is in prison because the marquess signed an act declaring houselessness a crime, and Penny is hoping the money she’s been promised as a reward for finding evidence of his being a Devil’s Son will help her free her mother from her shackles.

But uh yeah, it’s not technically a dark romance.

It’s actually quite a sweet one, made less frightening than it could be because we get to see inside the surprisingly progressive marquess, Liam’s head, as well. So while Penny’s fears and frustrations grow the more she falls for Liam, the reader is spared the majority of the struggle, though we are regularly reminded of the uneven risks at play.

Anyway, this was a fun one. It’s part of a series, though I can confirm it works as a standalone as I haven’t read the other books (though I probably will after this). Liam and Penny have palpable chemistry, and while Liam at times felt like just a guy to me, Penny was remarkable. I loved her wit, street smarts, and the clever ways she used her hat pins (and brass knuckles) in a fight. I absolutely understand why the marquess adored her because I did as well.

I will say I did find the book to be quite repetitive when it came to reminding me of Penny’s station at times. And while I think that was helpful some of the time—as it was a regular reminder of the danger she was in—there did come a point where I was like, “ok I get it, so what happens next???” I also feel like the ending was a bit abrupt and I would have liked a little more following the resolution of the final conflict.

But all in all, I had such a good time with *The Confessions of a Lady*, and I hope future installments in the series show a bit of Penny’s fire on the side, even when there are other characters at the fore.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing the ARC.

So a regency mystery story with romance??? Obsessed!! This story is about a marquess trying to infiltrate a crime syndicate and a maid trying to frame said marquess as she is trying to free her mother. But OH HOH??? It gets pretty STEAMY as the two of them fall in love and more shenanigans ensue!

So I didn’t realize this was the third book, so some of the other characters went a bit over my head, but they were ALL iconic. I also felt it was a lil insta love for me, but I felt that there was an equal amount of plot and romance that it didn’t overtake anything. I felt that Penny and Liam as main characters were solid, intricate, and very very fun to fall in love with!

This was a great quick read! And I’m definitely gonna read the other books in this series!

This third book in The Queen's Deadly Damsels was certainly captivating and well written. The characters were complex, strong-willed, and likable. All the drama, action, intrigue, mystery, suspense, past wrongs, an evil secret organization, and all the plot twists and emotional issues were very entertaining. I enjoyed how love overcame everything despite a social difference. I highly recommend reading.

In this spicy upstairs/downstairs romance, maid Penny Smith sneaks into Lord William "Liam" Renquist’s world to spy on him, determined to prove he’s part of the infamous Devil's Sons, a gang specialising in trafficking. She doesn't realise that the brooding marquess is working undercover for Queen Victoria to take down the same criminal gang from the inside. As their paths keep crossing and secret missions clash their undeniable chemistry becomes a steamy affair that could ruin both their plans..

Things I Loved:
Awesome mix of intrigue and romance with loads of plot twists
Great chemistry between the feisty Penny and the noble Liam
The class difference is done well, with some real challenges
Steam factor: High, with quite a few open-door scenes

Minor Nitpicks:
The romance moved fast considering they start so suspicious of each other.
Almost a miscommunication trope (although with good plot justification!)

This is perfect for fans of:
Strong female leads in historical settings
Enemies-to-lovers with a spy twist
Historical romance with some suspense
Love stories that break class barriers

This novel can be read alone, but I highly recommend reading the first two in this series for extra enjoyment of some of the characters that appear. I promise you won't regret it!

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for providing a copy for my review. All opinions are my own.

The Confessions of a Lady by Darcy McGuire 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
Darcy McGuire has done it again!
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐/5 stars

Penny Smith may be a maid in Lord William Renquist’s house, but she is also a spy searching for proof of the marquess’ involvement with the nefarious Devil’s Sons. Expecting to face a cruel and evil monster, like the men in the Renquist family before him, Liam is not as she expected as he makes her heart race, and his unusual acts of kindness make her question if he is really is the man she thinks he is.
McGuire delivers on her promises. She hands us tough characters and puts them to good use. For example, Penny is proclaimed as an individual who grew up with a hard life in St. Giles and isn’t about to let anyone mess with her and throughout the book, we see her stand up and defend herself and even put the monstrously strong-as-he-is-handsome Liam to the test.
The romance is, as always, just the right amount of spice wrapped in McGuire’s beautiful prose. The banter and dialogue are sure to make readers fall in love with the new couple and all your favorites from her first book are an active part of the cast!

My Two Favorite Things:
1. The ongoing plot about the Devil’s Sons as well as Penny’s station as a maid both take very active roles in the book, influencing the characters and driving the plot. I read too many romances where everything outside the core romance is pushed to the back. That’s not the case here!
2. McGuire always has a scent picked out for each character. For Liam, it is the sharpness of the woods. For Penny, it is a heady mixture of vanilla, cloves, and soap. A nice touch!

🍰 𝑆𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑒: McGuire’s colorfully sweet descriptions, oft comparing her characters to food makes a sweet pastry or a snack at hand a MUST when reading this treat! 🍰

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞:
🍰 Tough damsels putting others in distress
🍰 Hot & Sweet Spicy Romance
🍰 Secret Missions
🍰 #touchherandyoudie
🍰 Masque Balls!

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC copy of The Confessions of a Lady. This is my honest review.

Housemaid meets Marquess!_____4.5

Housemaid Penny Smith was trained in the school of hard knocks down in St Giles. She survived by fighting, claiming her own space, and “take no hostages” sorts of actions.
Which is exactly how her relationship with Lord William (Liam) Rehnquist seems to be going.
All she has to do is find letters that prove he’s a member of the Devils Son’s cohort.
Little does Penny know he works for the Queen. She’s under the impression that he’s linked to the fearful organisation. They’re working towards same ends but from different perspectives.
Penny is working for Constable Sweet gathering information about the Devil’s Sons for the reward money promised by Commissioner Worthington, in a desperate bid to free her mother from prison. Harriet Smith has been held in prison under the Vagrancy Act of 1838.
The problem is for Penny is that Liam sees her, he really sees her, lowly maid that she is, and that’s dangerous for both of them.
And did I mention the most dangerous of all! The fact they can’t keep their hands off each other!
Intrigue leaps from the pages as Liam and Penny investigate their leads to a rather shocking conclusion.

A Boldwood Books ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Darcy McGuire has certainly improved from her debut book (the first book in this series) to this one. Her pacing is better, and the romance between the main couple is more developed while still allowing time for exploration of the mystery that has led FMC Penny to secure a position as a maid in the home of MMC Lord William Renquist (anyone else distracted by him having the same name as the notoriously racist former Supreme Court justice? just me?), whom she suspects as being part of a group involved in human trafficking. Penny's investigation ends up crossing paths with that of the Duchess and her lady spies working on behalf of the Queen, even as Penny finds herself falling for William in a way she never imagined.

Villainous intentions are easy to spot early on, and once again the use of "Lady" in the title is misleading - Penny is a destitute maid, certainly not a lady by the standards of the story's time period. I am still missing the Duchess' backstory though I suppose including more of those details in this book would have been difficult. The spice is decent and the HEA satisfactory.

3.5 stars rounded to 4. Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for a complimentary copy of this book. These opinions are my own.

Penny is the highlight of the book, an illiterate housemaid who is solving mysteries and working undercover for the police. She was a delight.

The Cinderella elements were fun, especially the ball scene.

Great fun and great to see the working class in a Regency romance and class struggle explicitly in the narrative.

From the very first novel, I was hooked on this series and, true to form, this one doesn't disappoint—even if the witty banter and humor have taken a slight coffee break (I said "slight," not "missing").
This book is another high-speed chase through a captivating blend of historical romance, action, and mystery. The ladies are not just clever but cunning, taking risks without becoming reckless.
Expect romance, an intriguing hero, and a plot that nudges the protagonists into the inevitable fall for each other. It's a brisk read with a tightly knitted storyline that kept me hooked
So, get comfy, grab this series, and prepare for a thrilling ride! You will surely enjoyed this one too
Many thanks to the Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random Resources for this digital copy, all opinions are mine

I really enjoyed McGuire's last book, "A Lady's Lesson in Scandal," and I found myself similarly pulled in by this new book, "The Confessions of a Lady." McGuire has created a fun, Victorian world full of intrigue, romance, and vivid characters. I appreciated how both Liam and Penny had room to grow, and they each had believable challenges in the book. Penny is scrappy and savvy, a perfectly saucy maid in the house of Liam, who's managed to convince himself he's really a monster just waiting to break loose. They take turns saving one another, both physically and metaphorically, and I enjoyed the banter along with the shifting power dynamics. I found the dialogue quick and witty, the action scenes well-paced and well-described, and the settings perfect. I really liked the mystery plot running parallel to the romance. I'm looking forward to reading more from McGuire!

In this third instalment of the 'Queen's Deadly Damsels', we follow housemaid Penny Smith and Lord William Renquist as they both work to dismantle the corrupt 'Devil's Sons' organisation.

'The Confessions of a Lady' is a victorian times historical spy romance, ripe with sizzling back and forth banter and yearning. Each with secret agendas of their own, Penny and Liam work to uncover the truth, all whilst resisting their blatant desire for one another.

This novel is an absolutely beautiful romance! And the steamy love scenes were perfection! With such different social stations in life, their craving is all the more enticing!

Our heroine Penny is unafraid to be her bold, brazen self, with her sharp tongue and wit; and Liam made sure at every stage he treated Penny as his equal, regardless of her station.

I really loved Liam's realisations about the disadvantages and hardships his servants faced, and the frustration he felt with himself each time for not realising or doing something about it sooner.

The writing in this novel was very well detailed, following both Penny and Liam's POVs. All their thoughts and deepest fantasies were laid across the page for the reader. My only critique is that at times things were described quite repetitively. I think this added to the length of some of the chapters being longer than they needed to be. But still, the story and plot was captivating. You can tell the author cares a lot for these characters, having gone to great detail laying out their backgrounds and morals, and dreams for their futures.

Although this novel is the third in a series, I read it not knowing anything about the previous books, and still had a great time! It can definitely be read as a standalone!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this!

*I received this book as an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) for free in exchange for an honest review*

Spicy, male female, 3rd person dual point of view, historical romance. Slow burn with great chemistry between the leads and an engaging plot with mystery. This is the 3rd book in the Queens Deadly Damsels series but can be read alone. This was a fun perfect length read.

With each successive installment, I have enjoyed this series more and more. FMC Penny is my favorite lead so far. An excellent Victorian romcom with an upstairs/downstairs relationship, an odious brotherhood/fraternity up to dastardly deeds, and a group of women (and the occasional man) working as operatives of Queen Victoria intent on taking them down.

Relationships with obvious power imbalances are very difficult to get right, but the MCs, Liam, the Marquess of Stoneway and Peggy, a maid in his employ, do not fall into problematic patterns. She is too strong willed to defer to him for any reason other than the fact that she wants to, and he respects her too much to use his position to his advantage. This leads to what is probably my favorite aspect of the novel, their banter. The repartee is excellent and every riposte volleyed is both sharp and clever.

A fun, sexy historical romcom that should entertain any Bridgerton fan.

The Confessions of A Lady is packed with witty humor, smart unconventional characters,  steamy scenes and several people working hard to dismantle a very bad organization called the Devil's Sons.

Penny Smith is a maid working at Lord William ( Liam) Renquist' home. She is trying to find evidence against Lord Renquist for Constable Sweet so that her mother can be released from jail. While Penny secretly spies on Liam, she also begins to have feelings for him and he is in lust with her. But it seems that Penny is more preoccupied with helping catch the Devil's Sons, in order to save women from trafficking, serve the queen and set her mother free.
Will Penny catch Liam red handed and turn him in or will love conquer all?

Thank you Netgalley and Boldwood Books for this action packed historical romance.

I really enjoyed this mystery romance with its enemies to lovers, class disparity, boss-employee, „Cinderella“, revenge and espionage tropes. The plot is very well written and packed with drama, intrigue, action, mystery, suspense, danger and steamy love scenes. Penny and Liam are strong and unconventional characters who both have to face their demons and challenges. I loved their verbal sparring, the sizzling chemistry between them and their inner thoughts.
What I also liked was that the book shows the social hierarchy and the injustices of the time very well.
The book can be read as a standalone, but I recommend starting with the previous books of the series to understand the backstories and the supporting characters.

Former army officer William "Liam" Renquist, Marquess of Stoneway, returns to London after mourning the loss of his brothers to fulfil the Queen's secret mission to track down and destroy the human trafficking organisation "Devil's Sons". He is convinced that there is a beast inside him that makes him as evil and nefarious as his father and brothers.
Penny Smith grew up in prison before becoming a servant. To get her mother out of prison, she accepts an assignment from a constable friend and infiltrates Stoneway's household to gather evidence that he is a member of the Devil's Sons. Jenny blames Liam for the cruel fate of her family and wants revenge on him, but he is different from what she expected and she soon finds herself attracted to him. Liam is also drawn to his unconventional maid, but she is his servant and therefore off-limits to him...

Overall, a captivating romance full of intrigue, suspense and spice that I‘m happy to recommend!

I received a free ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and left voluntarily.

Once again, I find myself reading a book partway into a series. Penny is a badass. She grew up scrappy and strong and is the perfect spy. The suspense is perfect - I got physically uncomfortable at parts waiting to see what would happen. And the slow burn was so good.

Highly recommend!