Harriet Wheatley is the mastermind behind the Ladies of Virtue’s quest to rehabilitate the gentlemen of the ton. So when it comes to selecting her own target, she knows who to choose: Oliver Weeks, Marquess of Davenport—the most extravagant wastrel in all of London.
Known for his opulent lifestyle, Oliver isn’t surprised by Harriet’s confrontation. It’s obvious Harriet longs for any way to take him down a notch. She says she’ll help him find a bride, but he knows it’s only because it gives her the excuse to chastise his indulgent ways.
Oliver has good reason for his flagrant overspending, but Harriet will hear nothing of it. So he has no choice but to teach the lady a lesson, even if it means risking his heart to the hard-headed and fiery woman.
I am occasionally iffy about Regency romances. Even though I had my ups and downs with this couple, I loved Heather and Oliver being together by the end of this story
Harriet’s involvement with the Ladies of Virtue made for a very unique story. I’ll be honest, I struggled to figure out the true purpose of this organization. At first, I thought it was some sort of Robin Hood type of thing, but then it just seemed as if they were trying to change the men to be more charitable. I wish that more time had been spent in this story really explaining what this organization was for.
I won’t spoil anything, but by the time I got to the end of the novel, I didn’t really see the point in their whole storyline of “trying” to get together. They almost always had chemistry, even if they tried to deny it. It didn’t make their romance pointless, but a lot of the “drama” between the two had me facepalming.
I did like the fact that Harriet was successful in her own way. Rather than succumbing to the “old maid” syndrome. She didn’t stop her life because she didn’t have a husband, or even feel the need to get a husband. She just wanted to live her life and better her community.
Even though Harriet may have been more spirited than the typical woman of the time, this book still stayed pretty historically accurate. It discussed the issues of women fighting against alcohol abuse, and woman fighting for the good of their communities. They didn’t want the rich men to have all of the power and waste their money on pointless things, dragging their communities to the ground.
The plot of this story moved smoothly, and it started to move quickly after the beginning had finished. It took me a bit of time to get into the story due to a bit of a time skip at the start, but then I got hooked!
I would recommend this short story if you enjoy Regency romances with strong female main characters and sweet love stories.
I received an advance copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
