How to Train Your Viscount

Courtney McCaskill

Jul 2021 · The Astley Chronicles Book 1 · Hazel Grove Books

About this ebook

The only one who can help her is the man who broke her heart.

Four years ago, Lady Caroline Astley took one look at Henry Greville, Viscount Thetford, and fell horribly in love, in that particular way you can only fall in love at the age of fifteen.

He didn’t just reject her.

He humiliated her.

But now, in a stroke of rotten luck, he’s the only one who can help her.

It turns out that the “paste” pendant she borrowed from her sister, Anne, was no fake. It’s actually an ancient Egyptian amulet, and now Anne wants to auction it off to save hundreds of widows and orphans. What Caro can’t bear to tell her sister is that the necklace was stolen from right around her neck.

Caro has a few clues, but she doesn’t know an amulet from an obelisk, and the trail has gone cold. Guess who grew up in a house stuffed with Egyptian artifacts? Caro may despise Henry, but she needs him if she’s going to track down the thieves. Which begs the question of which is worse: letting down the orphans or risking her heart all over again.

If you like sizzling Regency romance that makes you laugh and makes you swoon, give How to Train Your Viscount a try!

 

Note: How to Train Your Viscount falls on the comedic end of the Regency spectrum; you might call it a Regency rom-com. The love scenes are red hot. Our hero’s mother wishes to regretfully forewarn the reader that her son utters several shocking obscenities during the course of the novel.  

Suitable for Fans of: Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Julie Anne Long, Eva Leigh

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Brother's Best Friend, First Love

Keywords: Banter, Witty, Comedic Romance, Humorous Romance, Funny Romance, Romantic Comedy, Bickering, Ancient Egypt, Steamy Romance, Sexy Romance, Historical Romance, Regency Romance, Georgian Romance

Ratings and reviews

Uneven and Disparate Parts — This debut novel had its ups and downs for me. I liked the hero and heroine. They were well delineated, and both had shades to their characters that were at turns unbecoming and charming as well as believable. The book feels like it's split into sections, though, that don't quite meld well with each other. The first part of the book feels like a chase, as we come to understand the characters' backgrounds and their first steps in trying to find missing objects that are important to them. For the most part, I found this fun and insightful. Before the timeline of this story, the hero humiliated the heroine when she was just 15 years old. The author doesn't give us specific details of this humiliation until about 12% into the book. As it was referenced quite frequently before this, I was antsy to find out the details to see if it was an event that the heroine perhaps had overblown or if the hero had really acted like a cad. Yes, he truly said horrible things about her that she overheard, but in the present timeline, he is remorseful and willing to do what it takes to get back in her good graces, including helping her find a missing artifact. I felt like the book went off the rails in the second part of the book when the hero chose to keep a very big and important secret from the heroine. He could have trusted her, and they could have worked through the difficulty together, as they had been doing previously. He had many instances where he could have come clean, and I thought the heroine forgave him far too easily. While the title of the book is a clever play on the name of a popular movie, it in no way reflects the story. She didn’t “train” him in any way, shape, or form. I’ve seen this recently happen with two books, and I sincerely hope it is not a trend! This second part of the book had several long and involved sensual scenes. Now, I don't mind a few of such scenes in a novel—I actually usually enjoy them!--the length and detail of them felt excessive and impeded furthering of the rest of the plot lines. And it always amazes me how authors depict young women in historical romances approach these intimate moments, as I believe in real life back in the day they would have been sheltered innocents who would need time to acclimate to that new physical reality and aspect of the relationship. I think authors often go a bit too far, giving historical heroines more modern sensibilities in this area—which leads to anachronistically discordant thoughts and actions, ones that would have been unlikely back then. All in all, I found this book disappointing on several levels, but I hope this debut author will continue to hone her craft. -- I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

The first book in the Astley Chronicles series by a new Author, this is her debut book and I can not wait to read the next book. The story is well written with a very good storyline, and flowed smoothly across the pages. I enjoyed seeing Lady Caroline Astley and Henry Greville, Viscount Thetford get their happy ending and all the ups and downs they went through to get it.

Such an entertaining read A missing amulet and now an Egyptian box both priceless and both needed to found asap. Henry and Caroline are both in a bit of a pickle will it possible for Caroline to work with the man that humiliated her? Will Henry be able to deal with the problem that has landed in his lap by his father? I adored this fun filled book, the characters were great and the story had just the right amount of drama so that the humor was showcased. The steam was on the hot side and the banter and interactions were outright entertaining to read. Make sure before you read this one to read the Note at the end of the books description because it will set the mood for the whole book. Brilliant piece and I highly recommend it. I did receive a free copy of this book from Booksprout and voluntarily chose to review it.

About the author

After reading Black Beauty for the 1,497th time, Courtney McCaskill was inspired to write her own stories. Reviews of her early work were mixed, with her fourth grade teacher, Ms. Compton, saying, "Please stop writing all of your assignments from the point of view of a horse."

Today, Courtney lives in Austin, Texas with the hero of her own story, who holds the distinction of being the world's most sarcastic pediatrician. She is reliably informed by her six-year-old son that she gives THE BEST hugs, "because you're so squishy, Mommy." When she's not busy almost burning her house down while attempting to make a traditional Christmas pudding, she enjoys playing the piano, learning everything there is to know about Kodiak bears, and of course, curling up with a great book. Visit her online at www.courtneymccaskill.com.