Book Review: The Viscount’s Pearl by Melissa Addey

I’m pleased to be welcoming Melissa Addey to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, The Viscount’s Pearl.

He’s a carefree rake who wants a marriage of convenience.

She’s an awkward spinster who doesn’t want to marry at all.

Fate has other plans in store for them both.

Laurence enjoys his dalliances with the married ladies of society, and thinks marriage is only a matter of convenience. He’s on the lookout for a practical woman accustomed to society. Frances is an odd and awkward young woman, more at home gathering shells on the beach than in the ballrooms of London, hoping to stay a spinster forever.

When the two meet in Margate, will their initial dislike of one another turn into something important?

While Laurence finds his life growing shallow, Frances wonders if love might be worth making a bold move for. Can she find her way into Laurence’s heart, and will he undertake to love her, just the way she is?

A warm-hearted Regency romance, full of historical detail and emotional discovery, as two opposites find they might just attract. The Season has begun, the ton is gathered… who knows what the tides will bring for Laurence and Frances.

*****

Frances wants a quiet life. She doesn’t even want to marry, content to live a spinster life. However, as her forth season beckons without a hint of a marriage proposal, her parents are putting pressure on their daughter. After all, the Ton has expectations for its unmarried ladies. 

I love a novel based in the regency period. I am excited to be part of the blog tour for The Viscount’s Pearl. I have also not read anything from Melissa Addey before so it was a chance to discover a new author in the process. 

Frances is such an intriguing character and one I related to… A LOT. The fact that she wanted a quiet life, didn’t like crowds and a hobby that completely focused her brain. Social anxiety and other mental health issues are explored within this character and represented so well. As well as Frances, I wanted to give her Uncle Barrington a big hug. To find people who understand you is a wonderful thing and their acceptance of each other was beautiful to read. It was one of the aspects of this book I loved the most. 

Laurence – he is a rake for sure. He’s probably the character I can’t say too much about as I don’t want to spoil the story. 

The plot moved well and I loved the settings. There is something so elegant about the regency period. It’s just a shame women had such expectations on them (not that they don’t now). The scenes in Margate were amongst my favourites and the author did such a good job of pulling the reader into the story. 

The Viscount’s Pearl is perfect for fans of romance and regency. It’s jammed packed with charm, humour and warmth, reminding us that love can come for you when you least expect it. 

About Melissa Addey – 

I grew up and was home educated on an Italian hill farm. I now live in London with my husband, two children and a black and white cat called Holly who enjoys the editing process as there is so much scrap paper involved.

I mainly write historical fiction, inspired by what I call ‘the footnotes of history’: forgotten stories or part-legends about interesting people and places. I have a PhD in Creative Writing, for which I wrote The Garden of Perfect Brightness and an academic thesis about balancing fact and fiction in historical fiction.

I like to move from one historical era to another, finding stories to share, like a travelling minstrel. So far I’ve been to Ancient Rome, medieval Morocco, 18th century China and Regency England. Join me on my travels: browse my books. 

If you’d like to know more about me and my books, visit my website www.MelissaAddey.com where there are free novellas, book trailers, interviews, videos of research trips, info for book clubs and more.

The Viscount’s Pearl is part of the Regency Outsiders series and was released in February 2025. Click to buy on Amazon UK, Waterstones and Amazon US. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.