Catherine Tinley’s Miss Rose and the Vexing Viscount is the first in her Triplet Orphans series It’s a fun opposites-attract, bookworm heroine story with a little bit of a mystery mixed in.

The story opens with a prologue telling the tale of the Lennox sisters’ mother as she flees someone before she realizes she’s going into labor and knows it’s too soon. She blacks out as a gruff voice asks her “who’s there?” The story then fast forwards twenty-one years and the girls’ mother is now long dead. They are informed by their guardian that they are to travel to London where his sister will sponsor them for the Season so they can find husbands. He also informs them they are each tasked with finding some specific piece of information about their mother’s past. In Rose’s case, she is to find her mother’s true identity. Rose balks at the idea, but her sisters convince her to go so that they may find out more about their mother. Upon meeting James, Viscount Ashbourne, she is briefly attracted to him before he makes his disapproval of her and her sisters clear. From there, Rose tries her best to dislike him.

Rose and her sisters are presented to the Queen and declared the Diamonds of the season. This does them no favors, however, as rumors of their possibly being bastards begins to circulate. Rose and James slowly begin to become friends and share lots of witty banter. Rose uses social events as chances to find out more about her mother, but is vastly unsuccessful until the end.

I really enjoyed this book. My absolutely favorite part is the banter between Rose and James throughout as they constantly try to one-up each other, which makes for some rather humorous scenes. Early on, I feared thiis was going to be a case of insta-lust, since Rose is almost immediately attracted to James, but since he ruins it right away she fights it as hard as she can.

I loved Rose and James. She is such a sweetheart who is not afraid to put James in his place whenever she feels he is wrong. And bookworms always have a special place in my heart. James, for all his stuffiness, is still likable, and watching him thaw out is half the fun of the story. I especially enjoyed his desperation to get Rose back at the end once he realizes what an idiot he has been.

The mystery subplot takes somewhat of a backseat until closer to the end, but it still adds to the overall tale, and I was surprised by what Rose finds out. It’s not completely solved here, and I suspect will run throughout the books in the series, but that does not take away from the story at all.

While the mystery is not completely revealed, an engaging heroine, brooding hero, and their fun back-and-forth is enough to keep readers engaged. I will definitely be checking out the rest of the series!