Author: Virginia Heath

The first in a new historical rom-com series, a handsome earl hires a fake fiancée to keep his matchmaking mother at bay, but hilarity ensues when love threatens to complicate everything.

The last thing Hugh Standish, Earl of Fareham, ever wants is a wife. Unfortunately for him, his mother is determined to find him one, even from across the other side of the ocean. So, Hugh invents a fake fiancée to keep his mother’s matchmaking ways at bay. But when Hugh learns his interfering mother is on a ship bound for England, he realizes his complicated, convoluted but convenient ruse is about to implode. Until he collides with a beautiful woman, who might just be the miracle he needs.

Minerva Merriwell has had to struggle to support herself and her two younger sisters ever since their feckless father abandoned them. Work as a woodcut engraver is few and far between, and the Merriwell sisters are nearly penniless. So, when Hugh asks Minerva to pose as his fiancée while his mother is visiting, she knows that while the scheme sounds ludicrous, the offer is too good to pass up.

Once Minerva and her sisters arrive at Hugh’s estate, of course, nothing goes according to his meticulous plan. As hilarity and miscommunication ensue, while everyone tries to keep their tangled stories straight, Hugh and Minerva’s fake engagement starts to turn into a real romance. But can they trust each other, when their relationship started with a lie?

Review:

Enticing, humorous, and romantic!

Never Fall for Your Fiancée is set in the Hampshire countryside during 1825 and features the reliable, strong-willed Minerva Merriwell who may have unexpectedly found the short term answer to all her money woes, as well as the handsome, laidback Earl of Fareham, Hugh Standish, who may have conveniently found the perfect woman to put a stop to his mother’s meddling and keep her content and happy, at least temporarily.

The prose is witty and sharp. The characters are resourceful, feisty, and passionate. And the plot is a fulfilling blend of family, friendship, societal expectations, scheming behaviour, tricky situations, awkward moments, secrets, attraction, desire, and true love.

Overall, Never Fall for Your Fiancée is a charming, delightful, seductive tale by Heath that is a promising, enjoyable start to a series, The Merriwell Sisters, that I will definitely be keeping my eye on.

This book is available on Nov. 9, 2021.

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