Lady Jessica Archer lost interest in the glittering excitement of romance after her cousin and dearest friend, Abigail, was rejected by the ton when her father was revealed to be a bigamist. Now that she is twenty-five, however, Jessica decides it is time to wed. Though she no longer believes she will find true love, she is still very eligible. She is, after all, the sister of Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby.
Jessica considers the many qualified gentlemen who court her. But then she meets the mysterious Gabriel Thorne, who has returned to England from the New World to claim an equally mysterious inheritance. Jessica considers him completely unsuitable, especially when, while they are still barely acquainted, he announces his intention to wed her.
When Jessica guesses who Gabriel really is, however, and watches the lengths to which he will go in order to protect those who rely upon him, she is drawn to his cause–and to the man.
Release Date: Aug 25, 2020
Series: Westcott
Book: 7
Heat Level: Sensual
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley
Price: $7.99
Someone to Romance is the seventh in the Wescott series by Mary Balogh. This series involves a rather large and interconnect group of people, so I would highly recommend you read the series in order. I had read some of these books so in general knew the main players and even I had a bit of a hard time keeping them all straight as I read.
This entry is the story of Lady Jessica Archer, who placed herself on the shelf after the ton shunned her dearest friend. But now that she’s turned twenty five and everyone around her seems to be falling in love, Jessica thinks it may be time to give marriage a shot. Her family thinks she should marry the Earl of Lyndale, but Jessic finds herself intrigued by Gabriel Throne.
Gabriel had to leave London years ago due to a horrible scandal. He’s made a name for himself in Boston and has returned to claim his title from his horrible uncle who’s working to have him declared legally dead. Gabriel knows that a society wife would go a long way to cementing his claim to the title. So he’s decided Jessica will do quite nicely.
I liked that Gabriel was a very open and honest character. He was interested in Jessica and he let her know that almost immediately. He never really wavered in his pursuit of her. Even when Jessica demands that he romance her before she agrees to be his wife. Jessica wants to have a man prove he was interested in her, not her family or her connections. While that’s an admirable thing in a woman, I just never really liked Jessica. She always just seemed a bit of a snob. It wasn’t till very nearly the end that I really warmed up to her.
Balogh is one of those authors that tends to be hit or miss for me. She errs on the side of sweet rather than heat, and her characters tend to get stuck in their heads a lot. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but does have the effect of slowing down the pacing for me. Even with the intrigue in this book I got a little bored in the middle.
Overall I’m giving this a 3.5 because I loved Gabriel and the plot. I did eventually warm up to Jessica and the Wescotts in general are a good bunch. Fans of the series will enjoy Jessica getting her happily ever after, and seeing many of the other couples as they make appearances. However, if you’re new to Balogh I would suggest you start with the Simply Quartet before jumping head first into this long running series.
~ Lindsey
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