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HaBO: Hero with an Opera Singer Mistress

This HaBO request is from Melissa, who wants to find this historical romance:

Literally all I can remember from this book is that the hero is arguing in front of his estate with someone, possibly his opera singer mistress, as the heroine pulls up in her carriage to see him for the first time. At some point during the stay, the hero and heroine are in the courtyard having a moment as said opera singer mistress is singing inside. I think it’s also a case of the hero being Super Hot and knowing it and the heroine not being affected by it at all, which naturally intrigues him? This last bit may or may not be true. Oh, and he also may be a pretty well known poet, while also being a lord.

This is a hot mess of a description, but fingers crossed someone can pinpoint what the heck I’m talking about and help a girl out.

Who knows this one?

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  1. Batman says:

    I have no idea what this is, but I also feel like a good 75% of “Marriage of Convenience” regencies have an opera singer mistress, and it’s always a Very Big Deal that the hero no longer wants to shmex his mistress after marrying the heroine and just can’t figure out why. Meanwhile the opera singer mistress throws some kind of epic Italian/French/Continental tantrum because she can’t lure the hero to bed with her voluptuous curves anymore. No more opera singer mistresses, please.

  2. mugglewithmagic says:

    It *might* be How the Marquess Was Won by Julia Anne Long? The H and h definitely have a moment outside while an opera singer who I believe is his former mistress is singing. I think the former mistress threw a humidor at him? The H is definitely not a poet though. Good book either way :).

  3. JoS says:

    Off topic but any recs for historical romances with poet heroes? Don’t remember reading any. In fact the only poet character I remember is the Byron-lite figure in The Grand Sophy.

  4. Kara says:

    Maybe Eloisa James’ Your Wicked Ways? Helene is a wife in name only, her husband Rees writes operas and cavorts with all sorts of entertainment folks. Helene does come back to him while his mistress is in residence, I believe.

  5. Caitlyn says:

    I have this in my ibooks library and read it recently. Can I remember the title? No, I cannot. I’m thinking it’s by Charis Michaels or Jane Ashford. If this hasn’t been answered by the time I get out of work, I will scour my library.

  6. cleo says:

    @JoS – the only poet hero I can think of at the moment is Think of England by KJ Charles – m/m/ Edwardian house party mystery / romance between a flaming Jewish poet and ex-military British bloke.

    Seems like poets are not usually portrayed as hero material in m/f historicals.

  7. cleo says:

    I also thought of Your Wicked Ways by Eloisa James.

  8. Meg says:

    This is driving me NUTS. I know I read a book like this not that long ago, or maybe I’m mashing two books together. I remember the book opening with the hero in bed with an opera singer and he breaks it off with her because of the heroine, and the singer and the heroine wind up meeting at a modiste.

    I’m also remembering something with the hero having a walled-off garden that the heroine finds, and he also writes poetry and hides it from everyone but the heroine finds it.

  9. L. says:

    For me, any time the hero knows how hot he is and can’t understand why the heroine isn’t throwing her panties at him just automatically screams Johanna Lindsey.

  10. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    It’s probably not Mary Balogh’s THE OBEDIENT BRIDE (first, it’s too old, published in 1989; second, it was published by Signet), but the hero does have an opera singing mistress and there’s a awkward scene where the heroine overhears her friends discussing how they can keep the heroine and mistress from meeting at a concert where the mistress is performing. As Batman noted above, an opera-singing mistress was almost de rigueur for Regency heroes in books from the 1980s & 1990s.

  11. Deborah says:

    The Secret to Seduction by Julie Anne Long (all credit to the Romance Novel Book Sleuth group at Goodreads).

  12. Kate says:

    @JoS Amanda McCabe’s The Rules of Love features a poet/kind rake/beta hero who falls I love with an older female school teacher who is a secret author. So much catnip!

  13. McKenzie says:

    My favorite poet hero is Drew Runous from Penny Reid’s BEAUTY AND THE MUSTACHE. He reads philosophy and poetry and quotes it very sexily 🙂

  14. Melissa says:

    This isn’t the HABO book but two of my favorite Jayne Ann Krentz novels feature a hero who makes up fake Renaissance poetry to charm or annoy the heroine. Gift of Gold and Gift of Fire.

  15. Kathryn says:

    A very old regency romance, Imprudent Lady, by Joan Smith features Lord Dammler, a successful Byronesque poet hero and Prudence Mallow, a Austen-like novelist heroine. I remember really liking it back in the day. It was originally published in the 1980s as Signet Regency, but is now available as an ebook. Smith published a couple of follow-up books featuring Lord Dammler and Prudence but I didn’t think they were as good as the original.

  16. Kathryn says:

    Correction to my last post about Joan Smith. I think her books were all Fawcett Regencies not Signet ones.

  17. Sarah says:

    It might be Theresa Romain’s “Season for Surrender”. The hero there knows he’s a catch, and has an opera singer as part of the dissolute house party the heroine is unwillingly part of. But the OS is only pretending to be his mistress. The detail about the H being in bed with the OS at the beginning though – that one niggles…

  18. Jen says:

    I don’t think the rest of it matches, but in NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE by Sarah MacLean, Ralston is the hero and he dumps his opera singer mistress. But then later, Callie and Ralston are at the opera together and she realizes that was his mistress. And then later, Callie and the mistress meet up at the modiste.

  19. Meg says:

    @Jen: That’s the book I was thinking of! Ralston doesn’t do the poetry (I totally got that from another book then), but that was the opera singer plotline I was thinking about.

  20. denise says:

    Does the hero end up with the opera singer? This probably isn’t it, but In a Reckless Desire by Isabella Bradford, the hero makes a bet to turn an actress into a lady. She tries to resist being his mistress, in the end, they have their HEA.

    It has a few of the elements, but not enough. It’s been a while since I read it, but I know he hides her at his estate.

  21. EC Spurlock says:

    I KNOW I have read this, and I’m leaning toward agreeing with @Kara, Your Wicked Ways by Eloisa James

  22. Anne-Maree says:

    Forever Betrothed, Never the Bride by Christi Caldwell?
    the heroine Emmeline, gets him the autograph of the opera singer he is having an affair with. They were engaged as children and the hero, Drake, doesn’t want the plain wallflower girl his father chose for him. He is also a war vet and has PTSD.
    Everyone describes her as plain, and he is constantly correcting them. No, her hair is not ‘brown’, it’s like molten chocolate. Bless him, he has no idea.

  23. Suzee says:

    It sounds like The Secret to Seduction by Julie Anne Long

  24. Karin says:

    Not an opera singer, but in the opening scene of “Emily and the Dark Angel” by Jo Beverly, the hero has been arguing with his mistress. He leaves the house and the mistress dumps a container of her scented powder out the window meaning to hit him, but it also gets all over the heroine who just happens to be passing by on the street. A good book, btw.

  25. Annie says:

    Aspects of this sound like Sweetest Scoundrel by Elizabeth Hoyt.

  26. Karly says:

    @JoS – The novella Kisses She Wrote by Katherine Ashe has a poet Hero. His poetry places a fairly significant role.

  27. mel burns says:

    Could it be Stella Riley’s The Mesalliance? No poet only the sublime Duke of Rockliffe.

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