Love, Trysts, and the Black Widow's Kiss

A Tenet Gentlemen's Club #3

by Anne Shaw

Follow the gentlemen of the Tenet Club – an elusive group of noblemen that investigates crimes committed by the nobility – on a rousing journey of romance, laughter, suspense, and a guaranteed happily ever-after.

Lord Daniel Winston, Sixth Earl of Roxminister, was nearly killed by his unhinged first wife. If the rumors are true, Lady Kate Darrington is a candidate for Bedlam. Self-preservation warns him to distance himself from the quirky but alluring lady. His curious mind has other ideas. If what she claims is true, her life is in danger.

Lady Kate Darrington suspects that her stepmother murdered her father. Her family claims she’s delusional. Kate is determined to prove them wrong, but the maddening Lord Winston—with his kissable lips and meddling manner—keeps getting in the way. She takes him into her confidence, but at what price to her heart?

Is Lady Kate’s family spreading false lies for nefarious purposes, or is she truly mad? He likes her and enjoys her company, but he can’t allow himself to fall in love Kate. Or can he?

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical

309 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2022

About the author

Anne Shaw is the author of both contemporary and historical romances. She lives in western Washington with her four-legged friend Larry, a quirky cat who stares at her for hours on end while she loses herself in a world where a sexy hero, and bold heroine face insurmountable odds to reach the ultimate goal, a happily-ever-after.

Reviews

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱ · Rating 1 out of 5]

The one thing I can't stand

Even the titans of the industry have fallen prey to anachronisms and cultural mistakes. Unless they greet each other "Hey, what's up?", I mostly find out about them when reading others' reviews.

But there are a couple of things that make a vein pulse in my head. One of those is
・
・
・
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Winnifred D.]

DNF'd around the 35% mark. Yeah, the titles are incorrect, and there are a few proofreading errors, but the storyline was actually compelling for the first third. MMC is haunted by his former marriage and MFC is haunted by the death of her father, convinced he was murdered by her conniving stepmother. Unfortunately MFC is being made out like she's crazy and is virtually kept under lock and key by her stepmother. She has to look to MMC to help her out, as he has a background as a spy and connections to her family. The premise is interesting and not one you run across a lot in HR's, but it suddenly and inexplicably devolved into ridiculousness and I just couldn't read on.

Hopefully this author's writing has been evolving over the last few years. It has promise, but she really needs a trusted beta reader or two.

[Sandee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful Regency Romance. Lady Kate, a fabulous horsewoman, plans a fall from her horse just as a visitor to the estate is arriving. She is hoping to warn him about the 'Black widow' he is visiting. Unknown to her, Lord Daniel's carriage has passed the expected carriage and it is he who comes around the curve as she falls. Of course, he hurries to assist her. She tries to get him to leave so that she can provide her warning but he is suspicious of her actions and remains to help her, foiling her plans.
I couldn't put this book down. Lots of action, a good mystery and great characters with the appropriate amount of romance. I will be reading more by this author. I received a complimentary copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[PAMpublish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crazy Lady Kate or not? That's what her cousin's extended family wants everyone to think when she accuses her young step-mother of poisoning her beloved father. But the problem is proving it before she is sent away to a mental institution. Fortunately, she's young, smart, and feisty when she accidentally bumps into Lord Daniel Winston at a social gathering at the estate who is part of the tenet gentleman's (detective) club. Never a dull moment around Kate as she attempts to allude her family's poor choice of a husband for her while engaging Winston. A full-length rather complicated mystery with lots of characters in an attempt to unravel who her kin really are and their underlying intentions.

[Nadine Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a Regency romance. It is a mystery cum thriller set--somewhat anachronistically--in the Regency period. The writing is good per se, but there is endless perseveration of every idea, so you kinda have to read the first sentence of a paragraph and then go on to the first sentence of the next. Or run down to where you see quotation marks. Every few pages, the sky falls, which became tedious for me. But to be fair, I don't read many thrillers. The heroine was hard to like. The hero was not too nuanced. I really felt I was at a disadvantage because I had not read the previous book in the series because so much of what happens here hinged on that but the author never did give many details. I was at a loss. Still, the denouement was good and it was a good read.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should have read previous novels as I had to 'catch up' to figure out what in the devil was going on! The h was the strongest character in the novel and the most inventive. The H had demons and she helped him overcome and heal. Her stepmother and cousins were waste of oxygen. One aspect of this era is that few of the elite criminals face their crimes; by accidents of birth, they can literally get away with murder, bigeminy and almost any crime that does not involve money.

I enjoyed how the author kept the pace moving and progresses through convoluted plot(s) while maintaining your interest. I really wanted the cousin in law to experience....karma, but atlas, maybe being excluded from the ton was worse for her than a prison sentence.

[Lori Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have not read any of this series before but I don't believe that to be an issue. I found this book a little repetitive in parts and underdeveloped in other sections. Way underdeveloped. I didn't develop any strong connections to either Kate or Daniel.

The main plot around Kate's father is a little darker than most romance books and if you like this book, you'll love Chasity Bowlin. I kinda hate shouting out another author but this book seems like a pale imitation.

I voluntarily reviewed this book after receiving a complimentary copy.

[Jeni Ogg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story! Mystery, adventure, and suspense!

An enjoyable tale with lots of twists and turns, didn't guess some of the outcome till the end. I was pulled up by some of the author's use of words, specially verbs and adverbs about walking ... Perhaps it is the difference between UK & US English, or possibly English is not her first language. I also noticed some of her use of old idioms of the time were not quite right. That said, I look forward to reading more of her books. Thanks for a good story.

[Renee Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC and I am providing my honest review. This book was okay, but it was not a page-turner, at least not for me. The writing was good, but I just couldn't get absorbed into the story.

[muriel somervell · Rating 5 out of 5]

good series!

Have been very pleased with this series. First books from this author. Hope for more! Good story line and plot. The mystery and suspense were well done. Will be starting the fourth book and sadly the end of series. Hope for more like this from Anne Shaw!

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense story

What a great story. I couldn't stop reading until I finished it! The characters have depth. The reader gets to see the inner thoughts of the characters. The clues kept you guessing.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Daniel and Kate’s book. It was a fun, intriguing read. And am voluntarily leaving my review.

[Gail Krisman · Rating 5 out of 5]

exciting and fast paced

So many secrets! Everyone is connected by secrets. Sorting out all the secrets leads to an unexpected outcome. Couldn’t put the book down!