Review

A wedding is invading the Duke of Somervale’s home – and it’s not his. His younger sister’s wedding brings together three couples tiptoeing on the edge of scandal. The Duke of Somervale didn’t anticipate falling in love with the lovely widow, Lady Olivia Reyne, when he almost ran over her daughter. Olivia never expected love to blossom when she agreed to pretend to be the duke’s fiancée and to actually be his mistress. Olivia’s friend Kate reconnects with Andrew Carlisle, not knowing what adventures the explorer has in store for her. Kate’s school friend Penelope, Lady Townsend knows her husband married her for money, but she wants love to be part of this bargain.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this book. I enjoyed it, that much I know. But it felt like Michaels tried to include too many storylines in one book. I would have loved for Kate and Andrew to get their own book and for Penny and Charles to have their own book. As it was, this felt like three intertwined novellas. Had Michaels chosen to tell these stories in the style of The Lady Most Likely by Eloisa James, Connie Brockway, and Julia Quinn, I think I would have been more accepting of the three storylines in one book. I honestly felt a little cheated not getting to spend more time with each couple.

Overall, I liked all the women. They all fit into a nice, comfortable sphere of Regency females. Penny had a soft spot in my heart because her husband was so detached at first. I rooted for her the most and enjoyed her ending the most because of that. I wanted more with Kate. I feel like her character didn’t get explored as much as it could have. She had all the makings of a feisty heroine, but she never reached her potential.

I felt particularly jipped in the heroes. I wanted to know more about Andrew and Charles. They were much more intriguing than Duke Simon. He was charming and handsome and everything a Regency hero should be, but there was very little depth of interest in him. I feel like there were wonderful facets of Andrew and Charles that should have been explored.

Reviewed by Taylor