When I got the email that I had access to this ARC, I got excited. I enjoyed the first two books in the series and was looking forward to the next.

That last unmarried Bow Street agent Bachelors and tri-owner of a gaming hell Sebastien Wolff, Earl of Mowbraywhich, has become lonelier due to his friends moving out of the gaming casino and into the arms of their wives (Book 1 and Book 2 of the series). The opening of the story, he was on the way to a night of fun but got sidetracked with an investigation of a dead Russian. His night was not going to be what it thought it was going to be.

Russian Princess Anastasia Denisova (Secretly-a-Princess trope but with good reason) has been hiding in London as a Secretary to a Dowager Countess and goes by Anna Brown. She spends her days being a secretary, and a few nights a week, she pops over to a brothel to help the girls learn essential skills so they can leave the business if they choose. However, this particular night, some male opens the door, see hers, and his willingness to pay her 500 pounds to sleep with him, thinking she worked at the brothel. Misunderstandings and bewilderment happen with a kiss, and then it was over. She knows who he is because he is the nephew of her employer, Sebastien Wolff, but he doesn't know her because their paths have never crossed.

Sebastien gets cranky about this woman that turned him down, and all of a sudden, he wants no one but her. She realizes that she is not safe anymore in London, because people are looking for her, like a very aggressive want to be fiancé. She attempts to leave the city, but kidnappers try to take her, and at the moment, Sebastien is riding upon his horse. He decides he is the only one to protect her and keep her safe, with the blessing of his Grandmother (I love her by the way).

Gaming Hells is becoming one of my favorite locations (looking at Joanna Shupe and Sarah MacLean) and men who are a bit crusty around the edges that dislike balls as much as I like reading about them. I want action, and I got action. I like a bit of mystery or intrigue in my romance because it helps with plot and character development and forces characters on the page to express feelings in situations that don't happen on standard regency romance with ballrooms and proper dukes.

It was a fun read that took only a few hours after downloading it to my Kindle.

Tropes: Secret Royalty, Mystery, Friends to Lovers, Kidnapping attempts

I received an ARC from Netgalley and St. Martin's for an honest review.