#In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined

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ARC Review: In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined by Alexandra Vasti

If you haven't read Alexandra Vasti's free Halifax Hellions novellas, you are seriously missing out on some FANTASTIC historical romances! And the last book in the series, In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined, is a pure delight. See why:

In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined Alexandra Vasti Publisher: Self published Publication Date: August 21, 2023 Series or Standalone: Halifax Hellions #3 Links: Goodreads – StoryGraph – Alexandra Vasti’s Website Rating: MY REVIEW Alexandra Vasti is quickly solidifying her place as one of my favorite historical romance writers with her Halifax Hellions novella series. Seriously,…

[triviareads]

Hello, sorry to bother, can you recommend historicals where the hero or heroine play an instrument? Or even don't play but like music

Always Be My Duchess by Amalie Howard: Montcroix a cellist and there's an EXCELLENT scene where he's hard after watching Nève dance and he's trying to play his cello to exercise his frustrations but then she shows up and he proceeds to play her like a cello, vibrato and all.

Theory of Earls by Kathleen Ayers: Maggie plays the piano so stirringly that apparently it borders on wanton for her Victorian audience. The hero Tony is also a gifted pianist and this book features piano fingering, piano oral, and a ruination... on a piano.

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing A Rake by Sarah MacLean: Ralston is secretly a great pianist and he's playing very angstily when Callie sneaks into his house to request that he give her her first kiss.

Patience by Lisa Valdez: Both Matthew and Patience are cellists, I think they duet at some point, and there's a this super hot scene where she's in his lap with her legs spread and they're both playing his cello which leads to more.

Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas: Helen is an accomplished pianist and plays for Rhys in the prior book while he's recovering from his injuries and he's *entranced*. In Marrying Winterborne, Rhys also tries to bribe her into sleeping with him by offering to buy her a new piano. It does work. Kind of.

An Island Princess Starts A Scandal by Adriana Herrera: I mean, they must enjoy the opera enough for Cora to go down on Manuela in their private box during a performance.

In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined by Alexandra Vasti: Ditto for Spencer and Winnie ^^

And if you wanna read about endearingly shitty musicians, there's always the Smythe-Smith Quartet series by Julia Quinn.

EDIT:

M is for Marquess by Grace Callaway: Thea and Tremont first meet after she plays the piano and he's super stirred by it and he later admits he wanted to take her on said piano.

[kazz-brekker]

tagged by @violaeade, thanks!

LAST SONG: Northern Attitude by Noah Kahan (a great many people I follow online have gotten into his music lately and I thought I would check it out)

CURRENTLY READING: FAR too many things at once, as is normal for me. Currently I am in the middle of Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool (fun noir fantasy about a girl who breaks curses), Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (several of my coworkers are obsessed with this book so I have succumbed to the hype in hopes of some good dragon content), Ithaca by Claire North (Greek myth retelling narrated by Hera and focused on Penelope), Star Wars: Doctor Aphra by Sarah Kuhn (listening to it as an audiobook during my commute, I love terrible women in space), and In Which Winnie Halifax Is Utterly Ruined by Alexandra Vasti (delightful regency romance novella feat. sheep and a fake marriage).

CURRENTLY LISTENING: I saw Chappell Roan over the weekend so I've been listening to The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess ever since then. Her music is SO good to hear live and also a ton of fun.

CURRENTLY WATCHING: Season 2 of Dark Winds, a murder mystery show set on a Navajo reservation in the 1970s, the new season of Our Flag Means Death, also allegedly The Bear but I accidentally took a break from that for a few weeks oops.

LATEST OBSESSION: Lately, probably buying interesting clothing from thrift stores? There are a bunch of good ones not too far from where I live and I've gotten some pretty nice (and also cheap!) stuff from them in the last few months like a waistcoat with roses on it and an owl-patterned fuzzy dress.

Tagging hmmm how about @libraryleopard @luthiery @hauntedmoors @shirleyjacksons @allcountersarehipheight @anddreadful

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July 2023 Reading Recap

Goodbye reading slump! July was my best reading month this year! Check out what I read this month (spoiler alert: most of them were pretty great!)

Summer is in full swing, and I have found my reading groove again! While I’m still behind on my overall reading goal for the year, I feel way more back into the swing of things with reading, as I read 10 books this month – the most I’ve read in one month this year! Here’s what I read this month: Continue reading Untitled

[mermaidsirennikita]

Any suggestions for good novella audiobooks? Or novellas available as audiobooks? I want to be consumed by lust while I deepclean my apartment but I don't wanna wait for six hours of lead up lol

Oh sure, I listen to a lot of audiobooks!

Generally speaking, if you want an audiobook that gets to the point FAST I'd recommend Sierra Simone. She's always gonna write the hottest book on the block that's also a great, well-written story; and it doesn't matter if it's an audiobook or not, you'll get into the sex quickly.

Books I know she has on audio that are also novellas:

Sanguine. Actually a short story and it's FREEE in audio. M/m, a vampire is on vacation or something and a former vampire hunter/priest knocks on his door. Heat and surprisingly adorable romcom shenanigans ensue.

Salt in the Wound. Not free in audio, but it is a legit novella and it uh does not fuck around. The beginning of her Lyonesse series, it focuses on a poor little rich girl who likes to Fight and wants to be a nun, except oops her dad wants her to marry the Dangerous Older Sex Club Owner/Maybe He Kills People guy. Obviously I love this series, and it's some of the hottest shit you'll ever read/listen to/whatever.

Her Ivy Leavold series is a trilogy of novellas that essentially amount to "what if Jane Eyre was REEEEEEEALLY REEEEEEEEEEALLY sexy. The Molly O'Flaherty series is also made up of novellas and is in audio. Pretty sure The Chasing of Eleanor Vane (heroine is engaged to a loser but wants his uncle/guardian) and The Last Crimes of Peregrine Hind (m/m, highwayman kidnaps a dandy for Revenge) are also in audio. They're short, they don't fuck around, but they do FUCK.

She also has Supplicant in audio, which is a novella about a woman who gets left at the altar by her fiance (who was also her professor) and basically ends up back in his orbit a few years later. Angsty, but also like, VERY quickly gets down to business lol. And of course, because it's Sierra Simone, they study people who do rituals and shit together and have a lot of worship kinks.

Alexandra Vasti's Halifax Hellions is a series of standalone historical romance novellas, all in audio now, definitely sexy and hilarious. You have In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation (brother's best friend, roadtrip romance in a bid to stop the zany heroine's twin sister from eloping with the wrong man, virgin hero who's wanted the heroine for yeeears); In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint (my favorite of the three, the twin is interested in BDSM and draws erotic art of the hero who finds out and is like WHAT, growly stern man and horny heroine shenanigans ensue); and In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined (heroine is a farmer who accidentally ends up pretending to be married to the hero, except they're kinda real married now?).

Tycoon by Joanna Shupe is in audio; it's one of her first (maybe the first) Gilded Age books, and it amounts to the heroine ending up in a fake married (or engaged? It's been a while) situation with the hero on a train as she tries to evade Criminals.

If you wanna dip your toes into fantasy, Ruby Dixon's The King's Spinster Bride is delightful. The heroine is a spinster princess and the new king of the conquering nation (who knew her when they were younger) shows up like "WE'RE GETTING MARRIED". Lots of voyeurism, pussy worship, all that good stuff. But intensely sweet, too?

And if you wanted to try Immortals After Dark... it does kick off with a novella... The Warlord Wants Forever. In which Myst the valkyrie gets captures by vampire Nikolai, bloods him (which in Kresley's world, for vampires, means essentially sexually reawakening them, as Kresley's vampires can't get it up because their hearts don't beat... and then when they meet their "Brides", a term that is genuinely gender neutral btw, their hearts begin beating and they are hard until they can get off while being touched by said Bride) and then leaves him with the boner from hell for

FIVE. YEARS.

So understandably. When he finds her. He is a bit upset.

Kresley's audiobooks are among the best because they're narrated by Robert Petkoff, who is INCOMPARABLE. He will give you 75 different accents in one book, PLUS the most INTENSE orgasmic moaning I have ever listened to in an audiobook.

(Shoutout to Lothaire, in which he had to be like "ELIZAVETTAAAAAAAA" a million times. Because while there isn't a single Kresley hero who doesn't screamgasm, Lothaire is a special one.)

[mermaidsirennikita]

Hi, any recs with businesswomen?

Contemporary or fictional are also good but I am more interested in historical. Their struggle to establish themsleves and staying firm in the face of heavy disapproval and sabotage from everyone, tells us how much comfortable we are living of course women still face so many problems but we are much better off than them.

Something along the line of Nora Robert's Bride Quartet (Though I only like Vision in White, rest are kind of boring) so as a group or even if fmc is doing it on her own also works.

Thanks

For sure!

Lorraine Heath actually just did a book big on business--In Want of a Viscount. The heroine essentially inherited this invention/floundering business from her father, and the hero is a part of a group of investors she's pitching to. Her passion about being a businesswoman is a big part of the book.

Sierra Simone's Molly O'Flaherty books are big on how passionate Molly is about her business and what she's done to keep it afloat. She runs a shipping company. The series is VERY racy and SA does factor in as part of Molly's backstory that still haunts her, so be aware. However, I found her romance with Silas, the friend she realizes she's been in love with a long time, quite touching. And also hot.

When a Duke Loves a Woman by Lorraine Heath has a heroine who runs a tavern and is determined to stay independent, which is a big part of her internal conflict. She's also lower class, which I love.

In Grace Callaway's Lady Charlotte's Society of Angels, the heroines are all a part of a lady detective agency, basically (it is Charlie's Angels But Victorian). It's super delightful and I was really into the female friendships. The first four books are about the "employees" for want of a better word (I mean I honestly don't know if these girls get paid lmao) but the last one is about Charlie herself, who runs it. I really loved her attitude.

Melissa and The Vicar by S.M. LaViolette stars a heroine who runs a brothel (fairly and ethically). Looooove this book, though the heroine was sold into the trade as a child so be aware. M

In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined by Alexandra Vasti focuses on a heroine who runs her own farm, which is why she's in the plot predicament she's in (to avoid issues, she made up a husband who happens to have the hero's name, and when he finds out years later that he apparently has a wife it's problematic). Not a huge part of the book, but an aspect I found added a fun spin to the romance.

The Duke Gets Desperate by Diana Quincy has a really interesting take. The heroine doesn't initially run a business, but she's American and inherits a castle that's basically crumbling and very in the red financially. So she's like "well, we either sell it or we make it financially feasible", which puts her at odds with the hero, a duke who a) doesn't want to admit she's inherited over him and b) is horrified that she wants to do things like give PAID TOURS!!! GASP! of the castle.

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller is GREAT on this front. The heroine runs her family's hotel, which has been passed down through the generations. But it's about to go under, so she's also scrambling to find a way to keep it afloat. It's a huge part of her character.

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera--another great fit. The heroine is in Paris to essentially sell her family's rum distillery to investors and get them on board. An excellent example of what the historical romance genre can do with businesswomen if it wants to try.

Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas--the heroine is still in the early stages, but a huge part of her character is that she wants to build a BOARD GAME EMPIRE!!!!

Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas--the heroine runs a shipping business she inherited from her late husband.

Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean--a big part of this book is that the heroine is very excited about getting into the family business and pushing forward. Daring and the Duke also has a heroine who runs a business; she's a madame, but her club caters more to women. Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover also features a club-owning heroine.

[mermaidsirennikita]

I'm not sure if you've already done recs for this before, but do you have any historical recs for older heroine/younger hero like in The Countess by Sophie Jordan (I read it based off your review and enjoyed it!) thanks :D

I can definitely offer some recs (and I'm glad you liked The Countess)!

Try:

The Return of The Duke by Lorraine Heath. The heroine is about 5 years older than the hero here--with the twist that she's his dead father's former mistress. (The hero is very mad and seeking her out because his father was executed for treason and stripped of his title, and he thinks she knows what really happened.) TW for discussions of past serious health issues that led to infertility.

Wake Me Most Wickedly by Felicia Grossman just came out! I think the hero is around 24/25 and the heroine is 30ish. He's a dandy from a wealthy family, she's a petty criminal, and she saves him from a mugging to kick it off. It's a Snow White retelling, great if you want a surly heroine and sunshiney hero.

The Dueling Duchess by Minerva Spencer. This heroine is a sharpshooter in a circus, and she's a few years older than the hero. They had a casual relationship, it ended angrily, and now he wants to like, declare his feelings and get her back. TW for Reign of Terror related trauma.

In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined by Alexandra Vasti. I forget exactly how much older Winnie is than Spencer, but she's a few years ahead of him. He finds out she basically made up this husband with his name, but because there's actual documentation they're technically actually married, which is a problem for him.

Joss and The Countess by S.M. LaViolette. Alicia is 39 and Joss is 27; she's twice-widowed and looking for a good time, he's basically her bodyguard as she swans about town... until she realizes that HE could be that good time (he's a former sex worker and immediately knows what she's about lol). TW for discussions of past abuse, SA and otherwise, and stuff that happens off the page.

Melissa and The Vicar by S.M. LaViolette. Melissa is a madame who goes to a small seaside town for her health (she's very stressed and has what's implied to be a stomach ulcer). The hero is the big, virginal town vicar who's like... 25 to her 30ish, I think? TW for discussions of SA and past abuse in general as Melissa was sold into the trade at a very young age.

Waiting for a Scot Like You by Eva Leigh. The hero is a widow in her late forties who's going to attend this scandalous "party". Her bodyguard on her journey is a mid-thirties Scottish ex-soldier.

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt. Maybe my all-time favorite historical; Winter is a 26-year-old virgin/orphanage... master? He takes care like 30 orphans lol by day, and he fights crime in a mask by night (mostly saving kids). Isabel is a 32-year-old jaded widow. TW for discussions of past miscarriages and infertility.

Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas has a heroine turning 30 and a hero who's a few years younger than her, but much more inexperienced (she basically pays for a sex worker to rid her of her virginity on her birthday, and the guy who shows up is actually a publisher trying to talk to her because she's a successful author... but he goes with it). TW for miscarriage.

[mermaidsirennikita]

recs (he or contemp) where the hero just assumes the worst about the heroine? Kind of like those trashy harlequins where dude thinks heroines the absolute worst the biggest brat in the universe but he ends up being so wonderfully wrong?

I mean, the big obvious one off the top of my head is It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas. Westcliff never likes Lillian. Like, even when you read Secrets of a Summer Night, he thinks this girl is TRASH. Mostly because he wants to dive into that trash like a raccoon.

When the Duke Loved Me by Lydia Lloyd has a great setup there. The hero and heroine had this great makeout when they were both in disguise at this party years before, but it's interrupted by his friends who are like "NOOOOO STOOOOOP" because she's actually from this family that is mortal enemies with his family, particularly because her aunt and his dad hooked up years ago and caused SCANDAL AND RUINATION. So the hero, who is hideously attracted to her, thinks she's similar and is just out to get him. Her opinion of him is... not much higher.

A Secret Love by Stephanie Laurens has an interesting variation on this. The hero and heroine really dislike each other, and he has just no real rationale for it because they grew up together (the actual rationale: she got hot as they grew up and he sublimated this development into hatred). However, because of his Special Skills of Financial Investigation (all Cynster dudes have Special Skills, just go with it) the heroine puts on a veil, pretends to be a widow, and enlists him to help her. And he lOOOOVES her as a widow.

In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint by Alexandra Vasti has the hero think the heroine is painted HUSSY because she drew dirty pictures of him... but he's also into it and just can't admit it. In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined also has the hero develop an initially bad impression of her. Mostly because she's pretending to be his wife.

The Duke Gets Desperate by Diana Quincy has a hero who haaaates the American heroine because she's basically inherited his castle and is like "you are art historian and dumb with money, we are going to offer paid tours of this castle to financially justify its existence" and he's like *SCANDALIZED GASP*. It's very funny.

The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe, of course, has Lockwood absolutely despise Nellie after their initial oceanic makeout. Mostly because, in his defense, she's constantly coming in to ruin his attempts at securing a sugar mama. The "you'll NEVER MARRY MY FRIEND"/"well guess what??? that just ensures I'll marry her EVEN HARDER" exchange lives rent-free in my brain.

Never Seduce a Duke by Vivienne Lorret features a hero who thinks the heroine stole his magical Arthurian cookbook, leading to him pursuing her across Europe for JUSTICE!!! (not only for justice)

Once More, My Darling Rogue by Lorraine Heath is a retelling of the Kurt Russell/Goldie Hawn classic overboard, in which the hero hates the bratty, bitchy heroine so much (with good reason lol) when he rescues her from a river and realizes she has amnesia, he literally just tells her she's his housekeeper as revenge. I mean, it's supposed to be a BIT and it goes on much longer than he expected. But he DOES make her wash his back, and that DID make me laugh a lot. TW: discussions of childhood sexual abuse.

Wicked in His Arms by Stacy Reid has a cold, uptight earl (?) who hates the heroine on sight because he thinks she's, again, a hussy. He's such a dick to her. This is also the one, however, where he deflowers her impetuously in a closet and then chases her when she runs like, crying into the hallway, and then they run into his mom and everyone is like "well. this situation is extremely obvious" so bOOM MARRIED.

After Dark with The Duke by Julie Anne Long has the older, dignified, war hero duke hate the younger, seemingly-flighty opera singer heroine because she's a scandalous woman who recently came off of two men fighting a duel over here. It's not classy!!!! Then he's mean to her and the owners of the boarding house where they're staying force him to teach her Italian in apology. And. He realizes things.

Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas, of course, is building off the frankly irrational mutual hatred Leo Hathaway and Catherine Marks have had for each other ever since she entered the scene in Seduce Me at Sunrise. Tbh, the preceding books are good and worth reading (especially Seduce, one of my favorite Kleypases) but it's also just so fun to read Leo being like "I hate Marks so much, she's such a killjoy, I shall sketch her wearing nothing simply because".

Sweetest Scoundrel by Elizabeth Hoyts (a top Maiden Lane for me) has Asa and Eve just kind of hate each other because she's soooo proper, and he's soooo note, and it's actually really lovely to see him realize why she is the way he is, and melt because he's so empathetic, actually, and A DEEPLY GOOD MAN. ASA MAKEPEACE. UGH. I just love that both Makepeace heroes are God Tier.

Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath, of course, has Jack Dodger be like "Olivia is so cold and so uptight and has such a giant stick up her ass" and over time he realizes she's actually a delightfully zany freak.

The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary, of course, stars surgeons who really just severely dislike each other in a very childish way that I somehow found incredibly hilarious. He thinks she's the WORST, and he's honestly wrong about a lot of things... then they're forced to go through work counseling, basically, which leads to them casually taking their anger out on each other through hookups.

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck. It's a retelling of When Harry Met Sally, basically--and to be fair, the hero has his reasons lol. Because the heroine is hooking up with the girl he's trying to date seriously in the beginning. BUT IN HER DEFENSE!!! The relationship wasn't serious at that point. Anyway, over the years of course they become friends... with sizzling tension the whole time.

Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne is a Pride and Prejudice retelling wherein this billionaire meets a woman protesting against his company, and he initially thinks she's basically a poser, but gradually he realizes she's the real deal... and naturally becomes obsessed.

Managed by Kristen Callihan has the hero just hate the heroine... somewhat understandable reasons, tbh. But there's more to her than what meets the eye! He's this very strait-laced manager of a rock band, and he hires her to be the photographer/social media manager.. But he also has insomnia and can't sleep WITHOUT HER IN THE BED LOL.

Eyes on Me by Sara Cate has the hero dislike the heroine because she's his annoying stepsister! That's all. But then she turns out to be into camming, and oops he ends up watching, and it kinds spirals from there.

American Royalty by Tracey Livesay features a stuffy British prince assigned to the task of putting on this big charity concert... Which leads to him pulling in this popular American rapper. There's a lot of clashing because she's confident and doesn't take any shit from him, and of course he's doing some attraction sublimation. It also has a direct sequel, The Duchess Effect, which is similarly so good!

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert features leads who are both on the spectrum, which is great. She's trying to become more independent, so she ends up working at this B&B he runs. But she also like, lowkey hits him with her car. And is kind of wild and off the wall. And he can't stand her. YET...

[mermaidsirennikita]

What are your favorite oops we're married now books?

Hmmmm... I don't have a lot of "woke up married" books that I love? Lead by Kylie Scott is a solid read, but it's probably my least favorite Stage Dive book. What Happens in Scotland by Jennifer McQuiston is a very cute and fun book (and it's basically "woke up married" but with Scotland instead of Vegas in the 1800s) and I'd definitely recommend it, but it's not a FAVORITE of mine.

When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare is sorta this and it's very classic to me. Like, she didn't accidentally marry him, but she accidentally got engaged to him and now she's basically gotta marry him. And she didn't even know he existed lol. Alexandra Vasti's In Which Winnie Halifax is Utterly Ruined is also a fun variation, though in this case she did in fact accidentally make up a WHOLE husband who shows up.

My beloved Princess by Gaelen Foley is like... It's an oops we're married on his end situation... but it's not an oops we're married on HER END situation lol. Very "Well, That Escalated Quickly". You bang one princess and get caught struggling to pull your pants back on by her dad.... (And she's all NO DAD IT'S FINE HE KILLED NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. An incredible, incredible novel that everyone should read.)

LOL WAIT Kerri Maniscalco's Kingdom of the Wicked trilogy literally has this to the point that the heroine is like "WAIT. WE ARE WHAT NOW" and hero is all *grumble grumble* magic *grumble grumble* oops.... BUT WAS IT AN OOPS?

The Music of Love by S.M. LaViolette is another great "well that escalated quickly" shotgun wedding books. Oops you slept with your employee a week after meeting her oops she's pregnant oops you're married. It's one where they're wildly attracted to each other but need to learn how to be a COUPLE.

Lol you could say that every werewolf or vampire book in particular in Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark (a series I love inordinately, of course) is this because the werewolves find their mate and are like "MATE MATE MATE WIFE WIFE WIFE" just like, carrying these girls around like a football, and the vampires very literally call their mates their "Brides" (though this turns out to be a gender neutral term later on, which we love) and in turn are all "BRIDE BRIDE BRIDE" about it.

Omg The Viscount and The Vixen by Lorraine Heath is a great book and PERFECT for this. This is the one where the heroine answers an ad placed by an old man basically asking for a wife, and basically if she answers and signs his contract and he doesn't marry her, she gets a huge payout. And his son shows up like "Obviously she's trying to scam my dad and THIS! WILL! NOT! STAAAAAND". But she's already signed! However, the contract doesn't say she has to marry his dad... it just says she has to marry a man of his line who's GOING to have the title if he doesn't have it already. CHECK AND MATE! HAHA! THE HERO SHALL SIMPLY MARRY HER INSTEAD!

An underrated banger, tbh. I really need to reread/relisten.

Accidentally Compromising the Duke by Stacy Reid has some of this. The heroine meant to compromise this other guy by walking in on him while he was sleeping, but accidentally did it to this duke who was actually in the market of a stepmother for his kids (with the understanding that he would not sleep with the woman because trauma lmao, doesn't work out that way) so he's like "WHATEVER. FINE." And in the next book in that series, Wicked in His Arms, the hero was simply intending to have a conversation with the woman he severely dislikes, in his closet, but then he deflowered her and then they ran directly into his mom and shit right after so now they're married oops.

[triviareads]

Do you have any recs with heroes like Cross from One Good Earl Deserves a Lover? I love that man

Sure! He's a more gentle iteration of a gambling hell owner to me, so while I think Clay Madden from Prince of Broadway by Joanna Shupe, Gavin Hunt from Her Wanton Wager by Grace Callaway, Jack Dodger from Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath, and Derek Craven from Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas are all excellent heroes with similar professions, they generally go harder than Cross. Which isn't a bad thing for Cross! He's one of my favorite MacLean heroes. So here's are books with comparable heroes:

For club owners, I love Aiden Trewlove from The Duchess in His Bed by Lorraine Heath; he owns a pleasure club that caters exclusively to non-heirs and non-debutante-aged women where they can freely hook up, and he gets propositioned by this widowed duchess who it turns out, is trying to get him to impregnate her so she can pass of the kid as her dead husband's heir lolol. There's also Silas from The Rake Gets Ravished by Sophie Jordan. The heroine sleeps with him to distract him from the fact that she's stealing back the deed to her house that her brother gambled away, and when he wakes up, she's left him with an apology note and her VIRGIN BLOOD on the sheets so now.... he must hunt her down.

Also, Benedict aka BEAST from Beauty Tempts the Beast by Lorraine Heath is a brothel owner but like, an ethical one and he's trying to find all his employees new jobs and asks the heroine to teach the women in his employ how to act like ladies in exchange for him giving her sex lessons.

SPEAKING of sex lessons, for heroes who gives sex lessons, I'm a big fan of Kit from The Lady Gets Lucky by Joanna Shupe, Raven from My Kind of Earl by Vivienne Lorret, and (this one is quite underrated imo but PROOF that once upon a time Sophie Jordan could bring the heat) Nate from The Duke's Stolen Bride by Sophie Jordan.

For a celibate hero who still ends up being an animal in the sack, Winter Makepeace from Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt is your man; I'm pretty sure he actually took a vow of celibacy and he's a virgin!

For a hero who WILL come in his pants like Cross does in that scene, partially because he's been celibate That Long, Eden from Scarlett Peckham's upcoming The Mistress Experience is deeeefinitely worth checking out.

For the rare redheaded hero, there's Spencer Halifax from In Which Winnie Halifax Is Utterly Ruined by Alexandra Vasti, and to a lesser extent, the Mackenzie brothers from Jennifer Ashley's Mackenzies series.

[triviareads]

Always have fun with the plot of the heroine inventing herself a man for whatever reason and then that man showing up

they are! I most recently read a variation of that trope in Alexandra Vasti's In Which Winnie Halifax Is Utterly Ruined, where Winnie pretends to be married so she can independently run her sheep farm and it takes like a decade for someone to bring this to Spencer's notice because there could be legal ramifications like his ability to actually marry.