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As I’ve mentioned in my previous reviews (because clearly, I can’t shut up about it), I’ve been on a historical romance binge.
And let me tell you, I have zero regrets. Not one. This book is one of several Harlequin historical romance books I grabbed the other day, and I practically inhaled it.
The premise is fairly simple: three orphaned sisters who have been under the care of their elder brother and his wife are starting to get itchy feet, so they’ve decided to put themselves on the marriage mart.
This book focuses on the eldest sister, Eloise, who receives a letter from her brother – who is off exploring the continent – kindly suggesting she enter a marriage of convenience with some random acquaintance of his, the Earl of Fearnoch. You know, as one does.
After having a conversation with the earl – who turns out to be much more agreeable than her sisters and sister-in-law expected – they decide to go ahead with the marriage of convenience.
Of course, in classic romance fashion, that fake marriage starts looking real real fast.
But it isn’t without its challenges: back-and-forth emotional push-pull, walls going up and being broken down, and the struggle of two people scarred by the very parents who were supposed to care for them.
It’s not an easy feat for them to come together and make a conscious decision to fall in love, but they do try their best – even with more than a little reluctance on both sides. And in the end, they fall head over heels for each other.
I’ll tell you right now – I’ve read a lot of books with this particular trope of a strategic relationship where both parties stand to gain something.
But what was so funny to me here was how normalized kissing was between them, and how that made it so clear they would fall in love.
I mean, you’re definitely going to fall in love with someone you’re kissing like that. To their credit, they do try to fight the passion, but the chemistry? It was off the charts.
Her primary dilemma was that she didn’t want to just be swept away by passion, but she still found herself in a deeply passionate relationship. It took a lot of unlearning and healing on both their parts before they could make headway in the relationship.
Now, let’s talk about Alexander. A rake is probably the darling of a lot of historical romance writers, but I’m liking the trend of seeing more sweet boys – more cute boys who can’t live without their woman.
And that’s exactly who the very considerate Lord Fearnoch is. He is kind to a fault. But I did have one issue with his character development: his primary dilemma just didn’t feel believable.
I’m trying not to give it all away, but it didn’t make sense in the context of who he is. It felt very rushed, which only adds to what I just said. Honestly, you’ll need to read the book to fully get what I mean.
But I will say, I don’t like it when the big issue of the book is resolved too conveniently and without any real tension (emotional or otherwise).
At the center of this book is really the relationships between the different characters.
I loved Eloise’s relationship with her sisters. I even loved her relationship with her sister-in-law. And I really enjoyed their conversations.
The dialogue is obviously a strong point for this author – even though this is my first book by her, it definitely won’t be my last.
Through Eloise’s conversations with Matthew, we get everything from social commentary to those deep, middle-of-the-night kind of thoughts – and that was just precious to see.
Even more importantly, I liked that this book examines the superfluous nature of the English gentry.
While it brings this question forward, there isn’t much done on-page to address it, but I’m hoping that’s something we’ll see explored more in the sequels, which I’ll definitely pick up when I get the chance.
This is a pretty good book that I think readers will enjoy. It’s sweet, steamy, and very romantic and I really think you’ll have a great time reading it too.
