SPOILER FREE review of Diana Quincy's THE MARQUESS MAKES HIS MOVE

Diana Quincy—The Marquess Makes His Move

Stars:  ⭐⭐⭐¾

Heat rating:     🔥🔥🔥

So, The Marquess Makes His Move is the third book in the Clandestine Affairs Series by Diana Quincy. I SCREAMED when NetGalley approved me and then holed up with my Kindle until it was finished (hello, 2:34 am). See, I absolutely adored the first book in the series, Her Night with the Duke, and really liked the second one, The Viscount Made Me Do It. If you’ve read my previous reviews, or checked out my blog, you’ll know that I am a woman of color who just started reading historical romance novels. I knew there wouldn’t be a ton of characters who looked like me and I am always delighted when I find significant characters of color. Diana Quincy’s heroines in the first two books (and the hero in this one) are of Middle Eastern descent. Diana Quincy is an excellent writer, and her books are engaging, fun, interesting, and can make you laugh.

I suggest you read the first two books. As this is a review of an ARC, I won’t be spoiling anything, but I think it’s essential that you read the first two books so you can meet Delilah (Leela) and Hanna, who are the hero’s sister and cousin, respectively. You’ve met Alexander, Marquess of Brandon, in the previous books. Leela mentions him a lot in her book (the first), so you learn more about his background and upbringing, and you even meet him in a delightful scene in that first book when that hero, Elliott Townsend, the Duke of Huntington, mistakes him for an presumptuous servant (foreshadowing for this book?). You meet him again in his cousin’s book, when he saves Hanna’s career. I knew I wanted a book with him in it! Not really a spoiler, but you’ll see Leela and Hanna in this book a few times, and I perked up when they showed up on scene. They’re really two excellently-written characters!

That’s not saying Alex isn’t well-written. I fell completely in love with him in just a few pages. The author lets us into his head and reveals what he’s thinking and feeling, which I liked. And Rose was also well-written and smart. I liked her.

Okay, so the gist (which you will find on the publisher’s site, so do not think I am spoiling anything) is that Rose Fleming is London’s premier mapmaker, but nobody knows it because she’s a woman and is letting her husband take the credit. Someone in the Fleming mapmaking business has cheated Alexander Worthington, the Marquess of Brandon, out of his land, so he’s cosplaying a footman to get retribution. That puts these two on a collision course.

So the best part: I really did not anticipate a few of the plot twists, so when the reveals occurred, I went “oh wow!” I think that’s saying a lot about the book. I was never bored, and kept reading because I knew there were a couple facts that were just beyond my reach and I wanted to find out more.

What I also like is that the minor characters are interesting and fleshed out. You don’t always get that in books and I found myself invested in those characters. Kudos to the author for that. It is awesome when the minor characters are three-dimensional.

The physical part isn’t as spicy/detailed as the other stories, just an FYI.

The epilogue left me a little wanting. It was unlike the epilogues in the previous books, which gave us a peek into the future. In this book, it really just felt like Chapter 27 and I didn’t feel like it was wrapped up as tightly. Still, I really enjoyed the book and here’s hoping we at least get a novella or two with Leela and Alex’s awesomely fun cousins or a book about baby Maryam!

Solid 3-3/4, which rounds up to 4 easily.

Oh, before I forget, the cover was pretty great. I love the colors and the hero and heroine depicted definitely fit with the novel’s descriptions. The cover definitely gets an A. If you’ve read my previous reviews, you’ll know that I will call out covers if they seem silly or totally miss the author’s described vision. This one was lovely.

❌  Mistakes (this is an ARC, so they may be fixed before official publication): at Location 2149, it has “wretched” instead of “retched.”