Sweet Revenge: A Lady Arianna Regency Mystery (Lady Arianna Hadley Mystery Book 1) Kindle Edition

I quite enjoyed this swashbuckling tale, with some caveats. As some other reviewers have noted, Arianna was a difficult heroine, but of course she was cynical after the painful, lonely life she'd been forced to live since the age of 15. I loved the unstinting courage with which she approached every situation. Saybrook was very attractive, fighting his own personal demons, yet maintaining his sense of honor. Their romance evolved naturally and in keeping with the time period and aligned well with the story. I enjoyed their repartee, although it and the narrative were littered with cliches, ranging from "the best laid schemes of mice and men" to "cat got your tongue" and even "sticks and stones may break your bones ...," the old childhood taunt repeated in all seriousness by a full grown adult character! Falling back on stale, old chestnuts rather than original expressions of characters' states of mind was disappointing, when the author otherwise wrote quite well. And I can honestly say that Sweet Revenge wins the prize for the most references to men's dangly bits. Whether in the form of jokes, threats or in other contexts, it was a weird preoccupation.

The author specifically requested reviews on the grounds that she is an indie author and information about her books should spread by word-of-mouth. She should not have asked. The book needs a thorough proof-reading for spelling ("capitol letters," "Carlton House") and usage ("to have your own your peccadilloes"). The unmarried daughter of an earl (and the heroine, no less) would not be addressed as "Lady Hadley" but rather as "Lady Arianna," with her given name. A baronet was scarcely "lowly" in the overall English class structure. Bah!

This gets three stars for a fair plot, and even though I finished it, I would not continue with the series. It has huge holes in it for the Regency genre and was implausible in several areas. A major distraction in reading is the poor grammar (same errors repeated throughout the book), i.e., you instead of your, an instead of a, scone when they mean sconce.

There was a lot to like about this book: A strong female character, intrigue and mystery about her past and her father’s death, her plan to seek revenge, her partnering up with an Earl who somehow found himself investigating a murder, and an elaborate plan to enter high society London to find the answers they were all seeking. While I do think the book is worth reading - I’m going on to the next in the series now - this one had some stumbling blocks. 1) The first two to three chapters were “choppy.” It seemed like they jumped from one scene to another too quickly, and the reader didn't quite know what was going on. After the first few, the book settled into a more appropriate pace, but there was still the occasional segue that seemed very abrupt. 2) The notes at the beginning of each chapter were distracting. I thought they might contribute to or tie into the ending in some fashion, but they really don’t. 3) It was REALLY hard to follow the story line when it came to the conspiracy and what all the bad seeds in this book were up to. I saw the author’s note about them being a real part of England’s history, which I appreciate. But as a reader (and an intelligent one at that), that part of the plot was simply too complex to really understand or care about. Lastly, I was disappointed at the end of the book when it seemed like Lady Arianna would not be able to reclaim her identity and live on her own. I won’t know until the next book how that actually plays out, but I’d have much preferred it if she could have retained her independence - at least for a little while. But I also keep reminding myself of the time period, and what the author wrote is prob more realistic. Closing note: I had just finished reading another book by this author, which I thought was fantastic. I know the talent is there, and I look forward to reading more of her work. I just think this one could use a TAD more refinement.

This is the first book in the Lady Arianna regency mystery series. Arianna has disguised herself as a male chef in a London society household in order to find out who was responsible for killing her father while they were their exile from England in Caribbean so she can exact revenge. She is in trouble when the Prince Regent falls ill after eating her solid chocolate concoction, a novel concept at that time in England when chocolate was primarily a drink. Because of the need to keep the attack under wraps, a former military officer and expert on chocolate, the Earl of Saybrook is assigned to investigate. In interviewing Arianna, they are attacked and he discovers her secret. She agrees to help his investigation, going undercover as a distant female relation, in hopes of finding out her own mystery. The two are unsure if they can trust one another, but with the future of England possibly on the line, they must find a way to make it work. The story includes many historical details including a reference to an intricate economic scam of the times. The book includes a slew of chocolate recipes, one at the start of each chapter. While they looked delicious, the sheer number of them was a bit distracting from the story, particularly because of their modern format and descriptions.

Wanted to love it. Didn't. Contrived and predictable and peopled with stock protagonists and villains alike. The female protagonist was too much of a Mary Sue and far from likeable. In fact, my favorite character in the whole book was Alessandro's Grandmother who is featured in diary excerpts at the head of each chapter.The book suffered from too many errors, missing conjunctions and nonexistent pronounces. In quite a few instances it seemed the author was going for word count rather than narrative. Not to mention some of the oddest descriptive phrasing I have encountered. I do think my all time favorite mistake in the book was the "wall scones" - obviously meant to be sconces - it was delicious!

an enjoyable romp. a good use of language. i havent seen the word swiving for a while. a nice use of arse too. the story is peppered with good quality swearing that's very nearly british in its fluency.id not call this a 'cozy' read - i dislike the patronising word. the plot is ridiculous, the characters are theatrical and the story is delivered with panache. fun. nonsense. i hope the author keeps it up.

This is a historical, cozy mystery, with a history of chocolate and receipes sprinkled throughout the book. Arianna Hadley has come to London from the Caribbean. Her father, Richard Hadley, the Earl of Morse, was forced to leave England because of a scandal and was murdered there, while virtually penniless. Arianna has come to London, looking for revenge. Dressed as a man, she is masquerading as a chef - Monsieur Alphonse - in Lady Spencer's town house. At a dinner party, Arianna presents edible (rather than drinking) chocolate, a new innovation fresh from Paris. It is meant as a special treat for the Prince Regent, but instead poisons him. As the Prince lies ill, the guests are sworn to secrecy and the investigation begins.Lord Percival Grentham is the senior government minister in Whitehall's War Office, in charge of security in London. He assigns Alessandro Henry George De Quincy, the fifth Earl of Saybrook, to investigate. A former intelligence officer, he has been wounded by a French saber and uses narcotics to help the pain. He also studied botany and had a Spanish grandmother renowned for cooking and healing skills. As England are at a critical stage in their war with Napoleaon, Saybrook is directed to solve the crime.However, the crime is not as clear cut as first imagined. Financial scandals going back many years and the horrors of debauched secret societies are unearthed, as Saybrook and Arianna join forces to investigate. At times, the constant links to chocolate are rather laboured, but the sparks between Saybrook and Arianna, and also Saybrook and Grentham, help make the plot work. There are other good characters, both in terms of villains and also the more heroic, and it is interesting that Arianna's original feelings of undented faith in her father become more realistic as events unfold. Altogether, this is a good start to a series - a light and frothy mystery, but with just enough depth to make it work.

The trouble with these books is that is a great preoccupation with chocolate to the detriment of other essentials like the plot and the character's emotional involvement.

An enjoyable read. Have just purchased the second in the series

The first of three books following the story of Lord Saybrook and Arianna Hadley, as they join forces to discover the identity of a French spy. You really need to read them in order - and then read them a second time to remember it all. Excellent read.