Rating: 3 out of 5.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3

This is a historical fiction romance set in 1819 England. Clemency is a young woman who initially was dead-set against marriage, but finds herself engaged to a dashing young baron. Lord Boyle swept Clemency off her feet, but once they were engaged, his affection cooled and Clemency is confused. Audric Ferrand shows up in town determined to get revenge against Lord Boyle on behalf of his sister. He convinces Clemency to join his cause and help him destroy Lord Boyle.

This book confused me. The first several pages of the book described how dead-set against marriage Clemency was, but then a few pages later, she’s engaged with little to no explanation how that happened. Later she decides to stay engaged to help her family financially which makes sense, but that wasn’t her reasoning at the beginning of the book, so again, there was really no explanation as to why she was engaged other than to say he wooed her. It seems if she really was that dead-set against marriage, she wouldn’t have been so easily won over. Also, even after she discovers that Lord Boyle is a terrible man, she’s still googly-eyed over Audric and wanting to marry him. Huh? What about thinking marriage is bad for women? I wouldn’t be so irked about any of this if the author hadn’t included the stuff about Clemency being against marriage. Then it would just be a standard romance novel and would have made more sense.

I also didn’t feel there was much chemistry between Clemency and Audric, and their romance seemed rushed. I mean, they share one kiss, days go by with nothing, and then she’s in love and wants to get married? Again, huh? The minor characters were ok and didn’t offer much other than someone for the main characters to interact with.

Overall, this is a quick and easy story that can be read in one sitting. The story is pleasant and is a fairly standard historical fiction romance.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and Random House. All opinions are my own.