Never Vie for a Viscount

Fortune's Brides

By: Regina Scott

Narrated by: Jannie Meisberger

The perky Lydia Villers is determined to leave behind her life as a social butterfly and do what she’s always dreamed of doing, pursue a career in natural philosophy. A shame the only scientist available to assist her is the one man she had once hoped to wed.

The brilliant Frederick, Viscount Worthington, Worth to his friends, has been betrayed once too often, including by the bubbly beauty who now wants to work at his side. How can he believe Lydia’s intentions are true this time? After all, someone is intent of sabotaging his efforts. But with the help of Miss Thorn and her beloved cat Fortune, an enthusiastic young lady and a wary lord might just discover that only together do they make the perfect chemistry.

This sweet, clean Regency romance is the sequel to Never Envy an Earl. Fortune’s Brides: Only a matchmaking cat can hunt true love.

©2018 Regina Lundgren (P)2020 Regina Lundgren

A good addition to the series...

"Fortune's Brides" series is a great set of romances peopled with characters that are flawed, that have weaknesses and vices, that have experienced loss and betrayal and hurt and yet are still capable of overcoming all the obstacles life throws at them and risking everything for the other person, for the one they love...
Number 4 in the series is no different; Lydia Villers is determined to fulfill her dream of becoming a natural philosopher, of being perceived by others as something more than just a pretty face - she has brains, after all, as well. And if she can't have the man she loved once, she may as well concentrate on her scientific work... Frederick, Viscount Worthington, having been betrayed more than once by those he trusted in the past, seems to do exactly the same: follow his career as an inventor and concentrate on that alone, leaving behind the thoughts of a woman who broke his heart... But when Fate (or is that Fortune, the cat? :)) brings them together again, will they be able to work alongside each other or will that turn out to be a complete disaster?
I like the fact that as with all the other books in the series, the romance part is actually the background of the story - we know the couple have feelings for each other, we know they would like to have another chance at love, and we know they will finally find their HEA, but there's more to the book than just the romance... This time it's all about ballooning :) It makes for a really intriguing plot - there's sabotage, there's spying, there are assaults and an attempted (almost) murder... The plot is fast, engaging and at times even funny :) Definitely a great addition to the series.

As always, narration my Ms Meisberger is fantastic; I really love historical romances in her interpretation - she sounds so lady- (and surprisingly gentlemen-) like :) She is very good in narrative parts but she's simply brilliant when it comes to conveying emotions and making the characters' personalities shine... The series couldn't heve a better narrator, I think :)

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Historical Romance in a Hot Air Balloon

Never Vie for a Viscount is another enjoyable Regency romance in the Fortune’s Brides series by Regina Scott. Each book in the series starts with the mysterious Miss Meredith Thorn and her beloved cat Fortune as they place down on their luck gentlewomen in places of employment. This is the fourth book in the series wherein Lydia Villers is determined to leave behind her life as a social butterfly and instead pursue a career in natural philosophy.

The story begins when Miss Thorn helps Lydia secure a position working at Viscount Worthington’s estate along side his sister as they attempt to create the perfect hot air balloon. I loved listening to how Lydia’s curious mind works trying to follow the procedures for testing the materials needed to create the hot air balloon, and the challenges involved. To Worth’s credit, he employed several women in his experiments and he didn’t discount their observations merely because they were women. His only hesitation with Lydia was based on how she acted a few years ago when she appeared a stereotypical pretty debutante who was only interested in making the best match possible. It doesn’t take long for both of them to fully appreciate the working mind of the other, which make them that much more attractive.

Plus, as an added bonus, there is a bit of mystery and scandal with a rival scientist who tries to sabotage Worth’s efforts. To fully appreciate Lydia's “prior life” and relationship with her brother and friends that are briefly mentioned in this book, I recommend reading or listening to the prior three books in the series.

As with the other stories in the series, I listened to the audiobook version of this story, narrated by Jannie Meisberger. I highly recommend this story to anyone who enjoys well written regency romance. I can’t wait to listen to the next audio in this delightful series!