This collection of stories focuses on a gossip column written by the elusive Lady X. She knows everything that is going on and doesn’t hesitate to write about it. This book contains stories by 6 of my favorite authors. Each story focuses on how the gossip column can separate or bring people together.
Amanda Mariel’s One Moonlit Tryst starts as a bet between two men and ends with them both falling in love. A fun and delightful bit of fluff.
Deb Marlowe ties her Love Me, Lord Tender into her Half Moon series with an heiress who helps the underprivileged children of London while trying to see if the man she loves will lover her even without a large dowry. While he needs an heiress to save his foundering estate he must decide whether to choose love over money. As usual, Deb Marlowe’s characters choose love over money.
In The Lady Loves a Scandal Christina McKnight tells the story of a woman who’s love leaves town the night before he signs the betrothal documents. Now, one year later, he has returned – will she spurn him or is their love as strong as ever. It all depends on why he disappeared in the first place, but can he tell her his secret?
Erica Monroe writes a delicious murder investigation in The Scandalous Widow. Gabriel missed his chance years earlier when his friend an Earl married a woman that Gabriel was in love with. Now with the Earl dead, Gabriel (a detective) helps the countess to prove that her brother-in-law, the new Earl, is the murderer.
Ava Stone’s How to Land an Earl in Ten Days starts with a bet that Lord Darling can get a woman to fall for him in ten days or less. What can you expect from someone who is called DARLING. Ava Stone provides a fun story with some politics and danger thrown in. Little does Lord Darling realize that instead of a bet, he won true love.
To finish off the collection, Dawn Brower gives new meaning to the phrase that “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. In A Lady Hoyden’s Secret we finally find out who is behind Lady X’s column and why she began writing in the first place. Helena was already planning to write a gossip column to giver herself some cash and independence but when Lord Dashville is forced to dance with her she uses him as inspiration for her column. Years later, he has grown up and matured (with some thanks to Lady X’s writing) and he finds himself in love with Helena. Will he want to marry her if he knows her secret?
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With a stroke of the pen and a vivid imagination, these six immensely talented authors have created something special. It Started with a Whisper is mysterious, sensuous, humorous and hard to resist. By mixing old school values with modern day twists, historical romance will continue to shine it's bright light on a much loved genre of stories.


Deb Marlowe and Dawn Brower, show how dangerous gossip can be to one's reputation and heart. Erica Monroe begins with a scandal and ends with a hard won happily ever after. Second chances are the catch of the day when Ava Stone and Christina McKnight take center stage. Amanda Mariel seduces readers and characters alike with her tale of One Moonlit Tryst. Prepare to be scandalized and hypnotized with this fascinating collection of tempting tales. ( )

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley to read in exchange for a fair review. It Started With A Whisper is a collection of 6 regency novellas by Deb Marlowe, Amanda Mariel, Christina McKnight, Erica Munroe, Ava Stone, And Dawn Brower. The individual stories are linked by the gossip column Whispers from Lady X. I enjoyed reading the novellas each with a different trope. A wager about a kiss, a secret heiress, a missing groom, a murder mystery with the one that got away, a wager about falling in love, and the unveiling of Lady X. My only problem with this book is that Lady X’s gossip whispers tend to be quite cruel and cause distress for the characters, so when she turns out to be the heroine of the last novella I was annoyed with her and didn’t like her at all. I do recommend this book. #ItStartedWithAWhisper #NetGalley ( )