4.5 stars.

The Trouble with Honor, the first novel in Julia London's The Cabot Sisters series, is a delightfully charming historical romance. This sparkling gem is full of appealing characters but it is the fun storyline and deliciously steamy encounters that kept me captivated from beginning to end.

With her stepfather's rapidly failing health and her stepbrother's impending marriage, Honor Cabot devises an outrageous scheme to save her family from financial ruin. Her mother's swiftly deteriorating health is the impetus behind Honor and her sister Grace's fears for future of their small family and Honor enlists the aid of George Easton to help convince her stepbrother's fiancée to reconsider her upcoming marriage.

Honor is in her early twenties and having had her heart broken in the past, she has steered clear of romantic entanglements so it is easy to believe she is frivolous and a little shallow. But lurking behind Honor's carefree exterior is a very determined young woman who is fiercely devoted to her loved ones. Stubborn, headstrong and quite feisty, she is also very kindhearted and quite loving. Honor cares deeply for her stepbrother, Augustine, but she also knows how easily manipulated he can be by his fiancée, Monica. It is her desperation to protect her mother that drives Honor to devise her plan to come between Augustine and Monica but Monica is surprisingly resistant to George's charms. And then there's the matter of Honor's surprising attraction to George...

The illegitimate son of a chambermaid and a Duke, all George has ever desired is to be accepted by society. He has achieved a measure of success by investing in risky ventures and for much of the novel, he is on the brink of financial ruin when his latest undertaking appears to have gone awry. While George may not be entertained in polite society, he is quite popular with the ladies, and in fact, he is a bit of a rake. But he is a rake with a conscience, and at first, he is quite hesitant to woo Monica from Augustine. But Honor is pretty persuasive and since she does not want George to actually seduce Monica, George reluctantly agrees to go along with Honor's plan.

George and Honor are wonderful protagonists and I really enjoyed watching them match wits. Honor is certainly a force to be reckoned with and George is certainly up to the task of resisting her manipulations. The chemistry between them is palpable and their scenes are underscored with a delicious sexual tension.

The plot of The Trouble with Honor is refreshingly unique and the characters are well-developed and likable. George and Honor are wonderfully imperfect with insecurities and flaws that are easy to relate to. Julia London adroitly avoids the usual romance clichés and even the "evil" secondary cast of characters is appealing and sympathetic. A truly enjoyable read that leaves me eager for the next installment in the Cabot Sisters series. ( )

A madcap sexy adventure.

The author does a wonderful job getting you involved in Honor's wild scheme and rooting for her to succeed. You can feel her despair and love for her family conflicting with her growing love for an unsuitable rake, George. I enjoyed George with his rakish ways and his disbelief in love. Seeing him charmed and bowled over by his love for Honor was sweet. ( )

Wow! This book was great!
I won this book through Goodreads First Reads.
I'm horrible at writing reviews, but here goes...
The Trouble with Honor is about Honor (obviously). She is very wealthy, has a high status, and lives with her three younger sisters, and her sick mother. One day, her stepbrother decides to get married to a girl, Monica. Problem: Monica doesn't want to share a house with Honor's family. Unfortunately for Honor, she doesn't want to get married yet, so she can't take care of her family if she gets kicked out of the house. Her solution: find someone handsome enough to make Monica change her mind about the wedding. Her someone is George Easton, known for his good looks and his ability to make all women fall head over heels for him. Over the course of this book, another problem arises: Honor finds herself liking George more than she should, and her scheme starts to fall apart.
Any who...that's the gist of it...
This was my first historical fiction, and I absolutely loved it. I loved so many things about this book. Gosh, where to start, where to start? Well, for one, I liked how all of Honor's sister's names are a virtue: Grace, Prudence, and Mercy. I also liked that it was a very fun, and easy read, I especially loved reading the conversations between Honor and George. How they talked of Honor's boldness, and how much they loved each other. The one thing that kinda frustrated me was the ending. Honor had her happy ending, but I got to know a little bit more about Grace, which was nice, but then it ends with a scene that slightly confused me. It left me with a cliffhanger...I will definitely be reading the next one because of that ending. ( )

Not a bad introduction of the four Cabot sisters, but I found the book only okay, nothing too exciting. I found Honor to be a little to pushy to the point that I didn't really like her for the first half of the book. After a few more encounters with George and even with her mother I found her much more likable. George I liked right away, probably because I really like reading about the undesirable members of the Ton and you can't be more undesirable then being an illegitimate peer. Their story was nothing I haven't read before in this genre, but it was entertaining enough to keep my interest. Will read the next book in the series about Grace since the little tease of the last chapter in this book has definitely peaked my interest in her story.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. ( )

Excellent! Vivacious debutante meets decided rake!

Honor, Honor, Honor! What are you up to?
It all began with a game of cards!
Then there was the bonnet affair. This certainly blew the lid off the childhood angst between Honor Cabot and her step brother's fiancé, Monica Hargrove.
Then there was George Easton himself, illegitimate son of a Duke and nephew of a Prince.
As Honor was won't to say, she was a swashbuckler at heart, as was George.
So when these two meet, the odds against conformity escalate. Indeed, that first meeting is most memorable!
And now Honor's mother is showing signs of slipping into madness and Monica is encouraging the idea of Honor and her sisters into marriages or seclusion. After all, does Monica really want her life cluttered up with all these women. Or at least that's what Monica's mother intimates.
Just what is Honor to do?
Why, a mad start of an idea of course! and after all, George Easton does owe her. And this idea will aim a blow at Monica's pretensions!
I smiled at Honor's audacity and on at least one occasion I cried at her courage.
Honor, Honor, Honor! What shall become of you?
A somewhat different and very enjoyable read!

A NetGalley ARC ( )