Actual rating: 3.75 stars.

I've decided for this short series of books to review them as a whole. I read them one after the other in about a 24 hour time period, so they all sort of seem like one really long book to me, and I am not at all sure that I could review them separately.

My plan is to copy and past the review to each of the four books, so I will post most all of the review under a spoiler cut, because I am sure that I will mention things that would be considered spoilerish.

My overall rating for the series is 3.75 stars...ok, actually it was 3.63, but I rounded it up.

The books are all light, breezy, and very quick reads--all of them clocking in at just under 225 pages.

I enjoyed the books as a whole, the characters (while sometimes extremely frustrating to me) were engaging, the writing style was pleasing, and while the books were mostly lighthearted and amusing, there were a few tense moments as well. The mysteries were pretty easy to figure out, and therefore didn't require much thought...which is something that I sometimes look for in a book.

I think the thing that frustrated me the most was the back and forth between Lady Rose and Captain Harry. They both loved each other, but neither could admit it to themselves, much less the other. The on again/off again engagement of convenience between the two grew very tedious very quickly as did the 'I love you but am to scared to show it so I act as if I hate you' trope that the author employed througout the series to create conflict between the two. One would see or hear something about the other that they'd misunderstand and then go off in a snit until they found out they were wrong. I could see that happening in the first book since they didn't know each other that well, but by the time the fourth book rolled around there really should have been some other means of conflict between the two or just have them get together and acknowledge their feelings for each other . I don't know...maybe it wouldn't have bothered me so badly if I hadn't read all four of them so quickly.

I liked both Harry and Rose, though both--at times--made me wish I could shake them, for the reasons mentioned above as well as for other things. Though both did show some emotional growth and maturity during the series...Rose especially.

I liked the secondary storyline between Harry's manservant, Becket, and Rose's lady's maid/later companion, Daisy.

Two characters I could hardly find any redeeming qualities in at all were Rose's parents. OH MY WORD what an insufferable pair they were!

I've read that the author isn't planning on writing anymore books in this series, preferring instead to concentrate on her two other series, so I'm glad that this one ended the way it did. The implied happy ending is there, but it is also open ended enough to pick the series back up should the author ever change her mind.