The Ace of Hearts

Title: The Ace of Hearts

Series: Larkhall Letters #1

Author: Ashtyn Newbold

Narrator: Christine Rendel

Source: Hoopla

My Review:

I was curious about Alice and her sister Louisa's plight, and I was rooting for them.

Once Alice runs into a certain someone, you know that is who she is going to end up with. Considering their animosity toward each other, you wonder how it is going to happen.

I did appreciate that the author made me care about their relationship and even root for them, although that is not who I would have picked for Alice. A lot is going on in the story, and there are a lot of characters. While I was able to keep up with all the threads of the story, I found the ending to be a little lacking. I felt like the situation with Alice's stepfather needed more resolution and explanation.

Side note: I did enjoy the narrator, Christine Rendel's, reading of the story.

★★★/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):   

A secret venture, a regrettable love letter, and a heart he can't afford to lose.

Faced with her stepbrother’s betrayal and an unwanted marriage, Alice Rosemeyer accepts an invitation to the estate of Larkhall. Determined to earn her future security without a husband, she begins operating as the anonymous Ace of Hearts, writing love letters on behalf of the men eager to secure a match at the close of the London season. If she can manage to keep her identity secret, her reputation intact, and avoid the arrogant house guest, Mr. Thomas Herring, she might just call herself successful.

When Thomas Herring's sister marries an indebted man because of a love letter, he has no choice but to marry into money himself. Invited to stay at Larkhall, he sets his sights on the wealthy sister of his host. When she appears indifferent, he stumbles upon an advertisement: a gentleman offering assistance in matters of the heart. An ace, so he is called. But when he turns out to be she, and also a guest at the same house, his task is further complicated—especially as Alice proves herself to be as captivating as she is clever.

With reputations, secrets, and more than one heart at risk, Alice and Thomas become trapped in a game with no rules, a game neither intended to play. Had they been wrong to play love for a fool?

The Ace of Hearts is a sweet regency romance novel, book one in the Larkhall Letters series by Ashtyn Newbold.