Lila Marleigh, daughter of an English Earl and his Indian mistress, runs a high-end gambling salon and likes to live by her own rules. When Maisie, a desperate pregnant girl, knocks on her door begging for Lila's help, Lila feels compelled to step in, since her family failed to save Maisie's mother. Maisie's fiancee, Sunil, has been accused of attacking a woman, but the story is a lot more complicated than this. Lila investigates with the reluctant help of the handsome Ivor Tristram, who is mistakenly convinced that Lila is his philandering father's mistress.

There are plenty of Georgette Heyer tropes in this homage, (independent women, disdainful men, curricle races and high jinks) with some additional spice and a lot more cultural diversity. A witty, engaging and thoroughly enjoyable read! I look forward to reading more about the Marleigh sisters...

Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️

Unladylike Lessons in Love by Amita Murray will always have a special place in my heart no matter what for two reasons.

1) It is the first ARC I was approved for
2) Lila Marleigh is a brilliant Indian HR heroine!

This novel follows our heroine, Lila Marleigh, a gambling den hostess who is the eldest daughter of an English earl and his Indian mistress. The book starts with Lila being visited by a blast from her past, Maisie whose partner, Sunil, had been wrongly accused of attacking a lady. The lady in question is the hero, Ivor Tristram’s cousin Tiffany. Lila and Ivor cross paths throughout the novel to uncover the true identity of the attacker and his motivations behind it.

First off, I’d like to commend Amita for her characterisation of Lila. She's just about the coolest character I've read about thus far. Just from the way she carries herself, runs her salon and how there are little nods of her homeland in her life. The inclusion of Indian details in this is so seamless and made me feel very seen as a fellow Indian girl. I also found it unique that due to the way the sisters had grown up, Lila doesn’t read as the usual type of Eldest Daughter. She is very much her own person.

Another aspect I loved was how Amita has set up Lila and her sisters’ past. I absolutely adored the way it was written - very compelling and well done. The Marleigh sisters were shipped off to England as children after their parents' passing. When they showed up at their stepmother Lady Sarah's doorstep, Lila and her sisters bore the punishment of their Father's sins. They would do so until each one escaped that terrible household. The language used whenever their past was touched upon was beautiful. It hit right where it's supposed to hurt. It also illustrates why and how Lila became the way she is.

What little we get of the sisters and their descriptions leaves you wanting. Anya and Mira are definitely heroine material. I am hoping this would all pay off well in the subsequent Marleigh Sisters books.

For a debut HR novel, I think it's well written and unique in the sense of historical accuracy. Amita dug into several real issues such as racism, sexism, class privilege and assault through the lens of the Regency era. She used Lila's father, Lord Marleigh, to demonstrate how white lords often had second lives and families with their foreign mistresses continents away from their first family. Maisie and Sunil were examples of Caribbean and Indian descent people respectively who worked for high society peers. Their lives were shown to be the harsh realities of the lower class at the time, and what they had to do to survive. Even Tiffany’s attack was written with such care and highlighted the complexities of assault and its aftermath.

Each of these topics were written realistically without being overwrought. Amita certainly did not shy away from the truths that still echo through modern times now.

The book tickled my fancy with Lila's brilliant character, the main mystery/conflict, a brilliant Act 3 that had me gasping every other page and a great host of characters in Maisie, Sunil and Lila's staff & friends. However, my main critique of the book is the chemistry between the leads was lacking at times.

Ivor doesn't quite feel like the right fit for Lila. This can be attributed to the fact that he could have been a lot more fleshed out. Oftentimes he felt like an afterthought. The romance took a backseat to serve the mystery plot and topics mentioned ​​above that Amita wanted to bring across. Lila's feelings on her childhood trauma was also given priority which hinted at what's to come with the other sisters' backstories. (Not a bad thing, just could have been balanced more with her romance with Ivor).

Despite Ivor not being on par with Lila, characterisation wise, I did enjoy their steamy scenes together. It built up steadily across each Act and got hotter each time.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was great seeing an Indian heroine like myself in a genre I love so much. The secondary cast were so delightful to read about as well. They were all written with so much care and consideration. While this is my first Amita Murray book, I can see how she's transitioning from historical mystery novels to romance. She definitely played to her strengths in this novel. The historical research held up and the mystery took me for a shocking ride. Definitely recommending this for people wanting diverse characters in the HR genre who also love mysteries and plot twists.

Amita Murray can only go up from here with this genre. I am certainly excited to see this journey over the course of the next few books in the Marleigh Sisters series.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"Unladylike Lessons in Love" is a Georgette Heyer novel for the 21st century. There is an unconventional heroine, Lila, with an unusual background who wants to make her own way in society. There is a dashing hero, Ivor, who turns out to be not what he first appears. And there is a rollicking good yarn! Move over GH, Amita Murray has arrived.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

I'm giving this book 3*s because the writing is good and the story wasn't too bad. It had some witty lines in it and I liked that Lila was a strong, independent woman.
On the other hand the story was a bit chaotic. There was lots happening but I didn't understand some of it. I don't think we ever got to know why Sarah Marleigh wanted the girls to live with her. She also had them educated. It seemed totally unbelievable. I'm not a prude but I found parts of it very vulgar and one word was used often and it seemed just for the heck of it. I had to skim two chapters because I found the contents stomach churning but that's because of a personal phobia.
The author says she's been influenced by Georgette Heyer but don't expect her books to be anything like those gems.
This really wasn't for me.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this book, it is fast paced and you want to know how it ends!

Lila is a great main character with lots of depth, what a lovely person she is for the time she is living in.

I was really excited to get to this one- a regency romance with an antagonists-to-lovers and a dash of mystery? Yes please!

<I>’He hated her, she knew it […] Hated her for being who and what he thought she was’ </I>

I was so anticipating Julia Quinn and Martha Waters vibes, but unfortunately this one just didn’t sit right with me. I enjoyed the first third of book- it was fast paced and intriguing. We had our headstrong and independent FMC, shirking society and proud, suppressing her childhood demons and hurts. Enter our handsome but stand-offish MMC, with preconceived notions and a loathing for the FMC. Add in a pregnant young harlot in need of help, and a man being charged for a crime he didn’t commit and we had a real interesting story on our hands!

Unfortunately the sexual tension between the two MC’s could have been better, and they capitulated quite quickly, meaning that most of the book didn’t have that wonderful tension you want from a regency enemies-to-lovers. Plus, once they had caved, any sort of relationship/feelings between then seemed to vanish entirely and their needing to be together felt forced and I like it was only there for the plot.
There were passages and sentences that were repeated, and lines that seemed completely random and non-sensical to the story, but as I read an eARC of this book these things could change before release.
In terms of the mystery I at times felt that the main characters where being deliberately dense, and we’re waiting for answers to fall into their hands without actually doing anything, which was very frustrating and, again, removed any sort of tension or agency from the story as they were mostly ambling along waiting for the plot to fall into their laps 🤷‍♀️

An interesting concept, and I enjoyed the first third, but unfortunately most of the book just wasn’t for me.

***Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review***

4 ⭐ I read this in one day, it was so good!

The "spicy and romantic Regency debut perfect for fans of Bridgerton" read kind of clunky but omg it's so true. And, in my opinion, this book was even better than Bridgerton. Definitely 100% better than books the Netflix Series is based on, but I digress...

Lila Marleigh, the fmc, is the bastard daughter of the late Earl of Beddington and, most importantly, the owner and hostess of a Maison/ gaming parlour were she earns enough money to live comfortably without having to marry. She learned long ago that the reputation of a bastard girl from India is always going to be bad, so she might as well do her best to defy any and all society expectations and live as truly to herself as possible. Ivor Tristram is a distinguished and wealthy gentleman who's looking for two people: the first is the servant who attacked his cousin during a party in his own home, and the second is Lila Marleigh, rumoured to be his father's mistress.

This book was amazing. I loved Lila as an fmc. I loved Ivor, even though he can be too stubborn for his own good. I loved Kenneth and Maisy and Sunil and Hannah and... I just adored this book! The beginning was a bit rough, especially muddling through Maisy's ordeal and the rat pit chapter, where the narration gets a bit confusing. But Lila's strength really shines through and makes the whole thing interesting. Ivor is hardly a perfect mmc, which I kind of liked until the fight and subsequent third act breakup. The man really fumbled the bag with that one. But all's well that end's well, I guess.

This book tackles racism, sexism and the inherent abuse the comes from granting nepotistic titles to the already privileged and wealthy. It was fun when granted, and serious when needed. And I would 100% recommend this book to any reader who likes a little intrigue and spice with their romance.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5
🌶️🌶️.5 / 5

This review has already been uploaded to Goodreads :)

A bit of mystery, a bit of family and the tentacles of love through it all. Very interesting look through the lens of the chilien of the ton’s mistresses especially those from Indian descent. The underbelly of society is exposed along with all its cruelty and inequity. A beautiful romance.

I love historical romances. I did not love this book.

The characters were flat, the plot was ugh!, the writing was all over the place and often read more like contemporary than historical fiction. I skimmed most of the book and think it needs more editing.

Unglücklicherweise werde ich mit der Geschichte bisher nicht warm. Ich habe mich durch die ersten Seiten gekämpft, aber ich finde keine Sympathie für die Figuren und den Schreibstil finde ich schwierig. Ich hab es leider abgebrochen. Das Buch und ich passen leider nicht zusammen. Das Cover hat mir sehr gut gefallen.

I think I liked the concept of this book more than the realisation of it. I spent a good ten years reading pretty much nothing but regency romance and I’m always happy to read another. I’m pleased to see how much the success of Bridgerton has re animated the genre.

But I liked reading these books because they were formulaic. I liked the rigid rules of 1800’s
Britain. I liked reading about woman operating within the confines of a massively restrictive society. I liked the clothing, the balls and the morning calls and that the hero and heroine could never be alone together l without the lady’s reputation being torn apart.

Murray turns all these constructs on their head. Her heroine is feisty and independent and rides astride her horse and doesn’t care about her reputation. She doesn’t move in the highest echelons of society and is (shock horror) not a virgin! Whilst on paper, I applaud all this. In reality, it’s not what I want from genre fiction. I don’t want to be challenged and improved - I want a predictable formulaic story and for me Unladylike Lessons in Love strayed too far from the formula.

Murray explores some of the darker elements of Georgian society too. She takes a much closer look at prostitution than I would have liked and again I found this grating in a romance novel.

Lila is a fun character. Ivor is likeable enough. The plot is intriguing and I can tell Murray is inspired by Georgette Heyer as the story certainly isn’t one dimensional. It kept my interest until the last page and sets itself up well for its sequels.

I loved that the heroine was mixed race. This is something that has been glossed over for a long time in Regency fiction but I struggled to believe that an illegitimate, half Indian woman would have been so easily accepted into society.

I think this story will appeal to readers who want to see Regency romance updated with modern societal norms and feminist principles but I prefer the 1800’s to be a sugar coated fantasy and I found this a little too modern for my tastes!

I was looking forward to reading this book but after trying to wade through all the unnecessary, over descriptive narrative I'm afraid I had to give up, the story seemed to be lost amongst all the waffle

To be honest, I have almost DNF’d this book.
It was really hard to go through it for me.
Lila had an hard life growing up as an half Indian illegitimate daughter, and so her sisters.
As an adult, she owns a gambling game place. And one day, a gentleman comes to talk to her. His name is Ivor Tristam, and he is asking her to stop being his father’s mistress.
This is only the beginning. Other things happen in this book, but really it wasn’t for me. I didn’t like the writing, the plot and the romance.
Something that I really liked though, it is the independence of the FMC. She is a strong woman, whom is not looking for a man to marry.
This was refreshing in this book, considering that was really unusual in the historical period of time that the book is placed.

I would like to thank NetGalley and author Anita Murray for this Arc and this is my honest review. .

Ever since Bridgerton hit the screens, I have searched out Regency Romance novels, devouring the Julia Quinn books and several others.
The premise for this book intrigued me, with a woman, the illegitimate child of an English nobleman and his Indian second wife, or mistress, as the rest of the Ton would say, and how she navigates the world of the wealthy in upper-class London.
Lila Marleigh is a fantastic character, full of spunk. She's carved out her own place in society as the hostess of salon nights, where gambling and drinking take place, as well as some more (in)discreet meetings of lovers and the suchlike.
You can tell she has resigned herself to a life alone regarding relationships, but she has a huge heart, which shows in how she treats her staff, and those around her.
Things go awry with the arrival of a certain ice-blue-eyed gentleman to her salon nights. Ivan looks like he might be trouble, wrapped up in a nobleman's guise...
I have to say I devoured this in a day and enjoyed the diversity at play, as well as the storyline. And this is another example of how racy those Recency folk were, too!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for an ARC.

I really enjoyed this book, it made me want to read more, I’d like to know what happened to the triplets and the story told from the point of view of the two other sisters

Enjoyable historical romance intertwined with mystery, well described characters & engaging plot.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

Thanks for the publisher and Netgalley UK for this ecopy.

I've read this book on April 13th - 14th. I've rated it 4 stars out of 5.

It was a great reading as I have not seen myself read lots of historical romance.

We follow a woman who is different from the usual lady nobles, as she is a person of colour but she also behaves like a "free" woman, without fear of what people could say. She defies the rules of the 19th century English society, and this is what makes the reading interesting. Lila stands for herself, she knows her value and she is bold.
The story between the two principal characters begins by a quiproquo, which turns the situation rather comic. The romance is followed by mysteries that we try to resolve, especially the mysterious sisters of Lila that we cannot wait to discover.

I wished the mystery of the sisters were more present throughout the book, especially if we are going to learn more about them in the next books. It didn't made me impatient, but I still want to read it.
The author made the reading easy and it is well-written.

I enjoyed this book. The descriptions throughout the book were really good and could picture the setting well. The characters were fun. The plot was enjoyable

DNF @ 25%. I've read a quarter of this book and it feels physically exhausting to continue. For one, the writing is not good at all - there were moments of real promise, but when the characters have incredibly confusing motivations (that keep changing) and the prose feels choppy and uninspired, it's difficult to keep turning the pages. Lila was not an interesting protagonist and, even a quarter of the way in, I wasn't entirely certain what the plot was. Goodreads reviews describe this book as chaotic and all over the place (not in a good way) and I'm inclined to agree. I don't even have the energy to hang on for what has been called a stronger second half. What is promising by its cover and premise does not deliver on its content.

A solid start to a series with lots of potential for future books in the series. I thoroughly enjoyed how the race aspect was handled and how the unfairness of the times impacted the characters. The downside for me was the insta-lust and insta-love (especially in historical fiction! Let there be tension and slow burn and build it up). The story itself was pretty alright, but it could have been done without the repetitions of what Lila's other sisters were doing. I also wished there was a little more actual romance. The dual POV was great and as individuals, Lila and Ivor were very layered, but I wish that there was more romance. It felt at times as though one was reading a historical mystery fiction, rather than historical romance.