A good start to a new series by Lynn Morrison and Anne Radcliffe that you can sink your teeth into. If you want a better understanding of the background to Lady Charity Cresswell and why she is as prickly and suspicious as she is, read the first in the series The Missing Diamond.

This series picks up at a party thrown by Queen Charlotte to introduce her granddaughter to her intended, Prince William of Orange. Charity is there as her chaperone to ensure all goes well. Things are off to a swift start when Prince William hands the small party a glass of his country's celebrated drink. Unknown to them at the time, the drink has been laced with henbane which makes the prince terribly sick. Luckily for charity, neither she nor the princess have felt the full effects as neither finished the drink after taking a couple of polite sips.

Following this debacle, Charity suspects that Lord Peregrine Fitzroy is behind this seeing as his mother was the perpetrator behind Charity's almost fall from grace and the eyes of society. Peregrine has desperately tried to distance himself from his mother, a known traitor to the crown and to prove his innocence, is willing to work with Charity to uncover the perpetrator and the plot behind it.

A thoroughly enjoyable read that will keep you engaged. It is the first in a series so do not hope that Peregrine and Charity will end up together - at least not yet! In the meantime, you can look forward to lots of court intrigue, deception, misunderstanding, attempted murder, to name just a few.

I received an ARC from Victory Editing and NetGalley and submit my honest review voluntarily.

I liked the intrigue, I like the characters, I liked the slow burn. But what did not work for me as with the first series is the writing style. There's something that just jarrs my mind, maybe the phrasing or the fact that it bounces around a bit, I'm not sure. As a result while I like the books, I find reading them much harder. Maybe what we need is an audiobook!

#BrillianceandBetrayal #NetGalley

I liked this entry in this new series. The first books in the series were not my favorite. The only thing I didn't love was there was a lot of toxic masculinity and borderline SA stories that really made me uncomfortable and not really like the main male character. For that I docked a point, but the character of Charity was enjoyable.

This first book in A Diamond of the Ton Regency Mystery series is a slow burn enemies to lovers' story. It is full of drama, action, intrigue, deception, misunderstandings, miscommunication, attempted murder, and political turmoil, and is very much connected to the royal family. I enjoyed this very captivating story and how well written the historical facts of this era are. The ending left me wondering what would happen next. I can't wait, but unfortunately, I must wait for the next book. I do recommend reading the prior series, Missing Diamonds first. I recommend reading this, too!

We get a lot closer look at the royal family in this historical mystery. Being Queen Charlotte's diamond is not necessarily a good thing. It can make life very uncomfortable. That is the situation for our heroine. It's even worse if you are the only son of traitor like our hero.
Our lead characters need to solve a mystery for the Crown. If they fail it could cost one of their lives. Even if they solve it, not everyone will be happy with the results.
Obviously this book is full of intrigue and danger. All of the characters are very interesting, with varying degrees of nice and nasty.
It is the first of a new series and although there is an ending, it will also carry over to the next book.
Good fun.

There is so much intrigue and drama in this story. I had not read the previous series, but was still able to understand the storyline by the excellent insertion of previous events. Charity and Peregrine may be attracted to each other, but the machinations of others work against them at every turn. The royal court intrigues are fascinating!

I loved this book! I didn’t realize when I started it that it was a spinoff of The Crown Jewel Regency Mysteries, and the story felt familiar, which confused me. I loved the Crown Jewel Regency Mysteries, so I am happy there is another storyline! I needed a bit more of a recap at first so I could place Lady Charity’s history and the relationships between characters, as it had been a while since I read the original series. I could probably still use a bit more info on the reason why Lady Charity and Lord Fitzroy’s mothers hate each other. I have to say, it was really hard to like Lord Fitzroy for most of the book, which is probably the intention. His backstory and situation is intriguing and I’m curious to learn more in the next book. I hope it’s coming soon.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book.

I was so excited for Charity to have her own adventure! In these series we see her making an unlikely alliance with Peregrine Fitzroy, the son of the infamous Mariann Fitzroy who kidnapped and almost killed Charity in The Missing Diamond. She's working to bring Mariann down and developing feelings for Perry against her will. Can't wait to see where this romance takes us.

Wow! What a ride. It all began with the Crown Jewels Regency Mysteries, but now we are in Charity's world, and the Lady can nurse a grudge. Trust is no longer a part of her vocabulary, and from the moment that Charity and Peregrine (dare I call him Perry) set eyes on each other after the events of the previous year, they embark on a roller coaster ride that raises and dashes hopes the entire journey. Deals are made, loyalties tested, hearts broken, and if you are not careful the intrigue and machinations from the Royal court to the squalid backstreets will give you whiplash. So, buckle up, enjoy the wit - barbed and otherwise - and prepare for a fast paced tale that will leave you wanting more. I admit that I literally groaned when I realized I had reached the end and now must wait for the next book. In the meantime, I am looking for ways to incorporate "addlepated." into my everyday speech. Read the book, and that will make sense.

Lady Charity owes much of her social standing to her connection with Queen Charlotte, a position she very much wants to retain. She’s attending a party with the queen’s granddaughter. Also attending the party is Lord Peregrine Fitzroy, the one man Charity despises more than anyone else. When the princess’ almost-fiancé is poisoned, Charity immediately suspects Peregrine; Peregrine suspects Charity. The two are forced to work together to solve the mystery while walking the thin line to remain in the good graces of the royal family.

I enjoyed the story and the characters. Both main characters have their secrets and backgrounds they are working to overcome. Trusting others also doesn’t come easy for either of them, especially when it comes to trusting each other. If you are looking for a couple who starts out mildly annoyed with each other but are soon overlooking every fault and falling into each other’s arms – this is NOT that story. Instead, settle in for an enemy-to-lovers with slow burn and tension, and political intrigue on the side.

I haven’t read many books with this much connection to the regency-era royal family. It was interesting to see Charity carefully weighing every word and expression she had when with Queen Charlotte. Likewise, Peregrine had to deal with the Prince Regent “Prinny” and his clueless and over-indulgent ways. They dealt with everything much better than I would have!

Note: I went into this book almost completely blind. I saw it was a regency mystery (one of my favorite sub-genres) and gave it a read. I didn’t realize it was connected to an earlier series by the authors and felt a bit lost at times. So, I would highly recommend reading The Missing Diamond first, as the authors suggest.

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for making this advanced copy available.

Brilliance and Betrayal is the first book in A Diamond of the Ton Regency Mystery series.

The story takes place in the same universe of The Crown Jewels Mysteries, which I loved, and we get to meet most of the same characters that graced the previous series.

Here it is Charity that takes center stage, grappling with her animosity towards Fitzroy, they have to work together to unwrap a poisonous plot against the royal family.

Unlike The Crown Jewels Mysteries, the plot itself is not unraveled in this book and I cannot wait for the second installment to come out!

Great characters, a well written story and enemies lurking in the shadow will leave you wanting for more!

I have received an advance copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily, thanks to the author for it.

This book has an intriguing royal mystery plot. It is well-written and well-researched. Even though two aspects of the story didn't add up for me, I overall thought the mystery was very well done. However, I did not like the way that Peregrine repeatedly violated Charity's boundaries (e.g., touching her face or arm when she told him not to, and breaking into her bedroom!). So it was difficult for me to root for their relationship. By the end, he had redeemed himself a little in my eyes, though not entirely. I still definitely want to read the next book in this series; this is a slow-burn and I need to know what happens! I give this book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you to Victory Editing Co-op and NetGalley for the free eARC. I post this review with my honest opinions. This review is cross-posted on Goodreads and will be posted on Amazon within a week of publication.

Content notes: Descriptive fighting/violence and injuries. Profanity. The description claims that it is "clean but definitely not sweet," yet I would not call it "clean" either, as there is some kissing and some non-descriptive sexual comments.