Tell Me You Love Me

Here Come the Grooms #3

by Ella Quinn

Within the delightful world of bestselling author Ella Quinn’s beloved Worthingtons and their extended family, it’s time for another gentleman to marry—if he can put the past behind him and recognize the bright future before him . . .

After years stationed in Spain as a diplomate with Britain’s Foreign Service, the time has come for Mr. Walter Carpenter, brother-in-law to the Earl of Worthington, to marry. But Walter’s plans to wed his true love—and lover—the daughter of the Spanish Foreign Minister, soon come to an abrupt and shocking end. Despondent, and afraid he can never trust another lady, he returns to England, knowing he must find a wife. But can he marry without love?

Miss Catherine Stratford, daughter of a career diplomate, was drawn to handsome, heroic, and not least of all kind Walter Carpenter the first time she met him at the age of 16. Yet just as she was to make her come out, her family moved to Vienna. No other man has captivated her since. With a mandate to wed, her parents have sent her to relatives in England to find a husband.

Catherine is exhilarated to discover that Mr. Carpenter is also present with the same mission. As a series of matchmaking house parties commences she hopes he will emerge from his darkness to see her as a love he can trust—and most of all, love in return. But to find their way to one another, they will have to navigate the other eligible ladies and gentlemen in attendance, Walter’s fears—and one long held secret Catherine must ultimately reveal . . .

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance

331 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication November 24, 2026

About the author

USA Today bestselling author Ella Quinn’s studies and other jobs have always been on the serious side (political science professor and lawyer). Reading historical romances, especially Regencies, were her escape. Eventually her love of historical novels led her to start writing them.

She is married to her wonderful husband of over thirty years. They have a son and two beautiful granddaughters, and a Great Dane named Lilibet. After living in the South Pacific, Central America, North Africa, England and Europe, she and her husband decided to make their dreams come true lived on sailboat for three years. After cruising the Caribbean and North America, she completed a transatlantic crossing from St. Martin to Southern Europe. She's currently living in Germany, happily writing while her husband is back at work, recovering from retirement.

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Reviews

[SelinaW]

This was my first by the author, but it is a book 3 in the series. Ella Quinn does a very detailed job introducing supporting characters, and though I was able to keep track of “who is who”, I would recommend reading these in sequence. Other characters have their own side plots going on here, so knowing them would likely increase your enjoyment.

The writing style was unusual - the author prefers direct dialogue to inner thoughts or detailed descriptions, and much of it is in short, fragmented sentences. This makes for a very quick easy read, but takes a while to adjust to.

The story itself is about Catherine, a diplomat’s daughter, who has had her eye on Walter, a career diplomat, for many years. She now must marry and, lucky for her, so does Walter, in order to get his next promotion. Unlucky for Walter, his first choice was a woman in Spain, who rejected him as she was already engaged to another. Nursing a broken heart, he returns to England, where he and Catherine meet in a variety of social settings and house parties.

Walter spends a good portion of the book vacillating on whether Catherine is right for him, mulling over his lost love and generally being very practical about this union. Catherine is already in love with him, but still introduces quite a bit of practicality into the situation. All that level-headedness and not enough passion or intrigue made for quite a slow pace of the story, followed by a very sudden realization that he is in love from Walter. The last quarter of the book wraps up the rest of the story, with a caveat (which I won’t fully explain, but may amend under the spoiler tag when the book is released) that a major tension point is introduced at the beginning of the book and is mentioned, but left completely unresolved at the end.

As a trigger warning, there is also a mention of sexual assault for one of the main characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for this ARC.

[Em Pitre]

Tell Me You Love Me was such a sweet and charming Regency romance!

I really enjoyed the slow-burn nature of Walter and Catherine's relationship. Catherine has carried feelings for Walter for years, while Walter is coming into the story with a lot of emotional baggage after having his heart broken. Watching them find their way back toward each other was definitely my favourite part.

I especially loved the long-held feelings and yearning between them. Catherine has admired Walter for so long, and there was something really satisfying about seeing those feelings finally have the chance to become something more. Walter's struggle to trust again added another layer to their romance and made his journey toward opening his heart feel meaningful.

The Regency setting was also a highlight for me. I enjoyed the matchmaking, house parties, family connections, and all the social expectations that come with the time period. Ella Quinn does a great job creating that feeling of being surrounded by a whole network of characters, rather than having the romance exist completely on its own.

I also appreciated that this wasn't a romance where everything fell into place immediately. There were misunderstandings, secrets, emotional baggage, and plenty of obstacles standing between Walter and Catherine. At times I wanted to shake them both, but it made finally seeing them move toward each other that much more satisfying. 😂

Overall, this was a lovely historical romance with a sweet central couple, plenty of yearning, and that comforting Regency atmosphere I always enjoy. It was an easy, enjoyable read and a great addition to the Here Come the Grooms series.

4/5 ⭐️

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

[Tiffany P]

I love Ella Quinn books and the Worthington (and extended) clan are one of my favorites. I enjoy the family connections. The banter between these strong women and the men that love them is funny and entertaining. This love story was based around a traveling house party, and it introduced lots of side characters. The characters were all well developed. I did get frustrated and tired of waiting on the hero, Walter, to get it together and move on his obvious feelings for the heroine, Catherine. They were so close and spent so much time together during the house party, but he kept letting the fear of making a mistake based on past heartbreak keep him stuck. It took him realizing that he might lose her to step up and let go. There was so much time and detail spent on the house party and courtship, but everything after that seemed rushed. I was a bit disappointed about some crucial information still being a secret unknown to the main characters at the end. I’m not sure why it was added as a twist to the story when it wasn’t really revealed, resolved, or properly addressed. The ending just seemed a little undone and I felt a bit of a let down as I was waiting for something the entire book and it never happened. That is the only reason I only gave 4 stars instead of 5. Everything else was great and I can’t wait to see what the love story would look like for Walter’s younger sister, Mary. She was such an enjoyable character.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley and am voluntarily leaving this review.

[Charmaine Fernando]

Tell Me You Love me by Ella Quinn is a sweet romance that I enjoyed. Miss Catherine Stratford, a career diplomat’s daughter has known no other life and is keen to find something similar for herself as she this is all she has known and she enjoys it very much. In fact, if the diplomatic service hired women, she would put herself forward for a job.

Mr. Walter Carpenter, brother-in-law to the Earl of Worthington, has himself been a career diplomat and is now on the lookout for a spouse whom he loves and can support him in his career aspirations. However, Walter was badly treated by his previous love who he hoped very much to settle down with. Unfortunately, she had ulterior motives which Walter knew nothing about. Her only goal was to get pregnant by a man who resembled her betrothed and marry him; her betrothed was gay and thus they needed an heir to inherit the title. It did not matter if the child was a girl as girls were also eligible to inherit the title.

This leaves Walter heartbroken and disillusioned. He must move on and find a suitable wife for his next diplomatic assignment as it requires a married couple. Should he not succeed, someone else will be assigned. There was a lot of hesitation and worry on Walter’s part but in the end, with Catherine’s understanding, they finally wed. I received an ARC from the publishers and NetGalley with thanks and submit my honest review voluntarily.

[Renee Leeann]

This is my first book by this author and I was excited to read it as it is an historical romance fiction. I believe it would have been easier to track all the characters - there were quite a few - if I had read the first two books. I do not feel as if I missed anything regarding the story and the main characters.

The books starts off with Walter suffering a broken heart. He then returns home to find a wife. From there we travel to numerous estates and house parties while everyone gets to know each other. Most of the guests fall in love quickly but Walter keeps hesitating and asking everyone what love feels like. It did not feel romantic. I felt as if I was reading a story that focused more on describing the estates and gardens than a love story.

I don't want to say too much here but three-quarters of the way through the book the main characters were in love and married. As this point I was really looking and hoping for something to happen related to what happened in the very beginning of the book. This never happened and the book felt incomplete. The last quarter of the book was spent wrapping up everything else.

Readers who enjoy an historical fiction with a touch of romance and vivid descriptions of the various settings will enjoy this book.

[Iseldiraidd07]

What a whirlwind of a book! Walter Carpenter returns from Spain, being badly hurt emotionally, and to begin his next post in Vienna, he has to marry. Enter the scene Catherine Stratford, who has been in love with Walter from afar after a chance meeting in Europe. Now they meet just after the Season ends, and a trip across England and Scotland via various estates is planned. What could possibly go wrong?
It's an emotional rollercoaster! Walter really takes his time to investigate his own feelings, as he, for a long time, feels trapped within his sorrows. But, with a lot of help from the family (above all Lady Mary), his comes to realise that love is really worth the risk, even if you've been badly injured. Catherine on the other hand has her own demons to fight with, but she is always certain about her feelings, especially towards Walter.
It was nice to see a lot of the family members appearing in the novel again, also getting acquainted with a lot of their friends. I have the feeling that we might see some of them in other books again ...
Nevertheless, it's a great book. I heard Mary is next in line to shine. I can't wait to read about her!

[Mary Gosse]

I liked this book - it’s the third in this smaller series, which is a spinoff of the larger Worthington book series by Ella Quinn (which I immensely enjoyed!). There were a lot of returning characters, although the author explained the important relationships that were essential to this book. The plot was enjoyable and I loved the family dynamics. I thought it was a unique spin on the house party theme, to travel between many houses over the course of the summer and see many different family members! However, the dialogue was stiff at times and the bedroom scenes seemed formulaic. The ending also seemed drawn out, like the plot ended a BBC d the book could have been wrapped up 2/3 of the way through.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and it was interesting seeing how Walter got his happy ending. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free advanced copy - this is my honest and voluntary opinion.

[Diane Rey]

How would it feel to have a time limit to fall in love? And then to not know what love really is…how do you know? That was Walter’s dilemma. He was used and lied to; now he doesn’t know how to trust. Yet he must marry to secure a promotion in the foreign office and he wants to do so in a love match. Catherine has been told by her parents that she must marry and she only wants to marry for love. She has a budding friendship with Walter, but how can she get Walter to see that it is love. The story was predictable and at times difficult to keep track of all the characters, but I did enjoy the story. I also liked the house party theme and all the relationships that were created in the book. As this is the first Ella Quinn novel I have read, I would recommend reading others in the series first. Thank you to #NetGalley and #KensingtonPublishing for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Rick Molitor]

This is a slow-burn Regency romance. Walter was in the foreign service and thought he would marry the Spanish lady he was having an affair with. However, she told him that wasn't going to happen as she had been promised to another. He headed back to England knowing he had to marry to advance in his career. His sisters came up with a plan to help him. Catherine's parents were in the foreign service and had told her it was time she found a husband. She also headed to England. Catherine should have been exactly what Walter wanted, but he was afraid to trust a woman again. This is the story of how his family gets involved to try to get Walter the wife he both needs and deserves. The story is at sometimes emotional and at sometimes very funny as these two try to find each other. It is also an educational read as you learn much about the way things were during that period of England's history.

[Rita]

This book has so many different things going on. It was cute how so many ended up getting married from the different house party’s. And all the traveling was interesting! Entertaining read.

[LeeAnn]

A cast of unruly cousins and a castle to boot. Such a fun romance!