Ashlyn Macnamara’s smart and sexy debut is a pleasure to read and should earn a place for her in the annals of talented historical romance authors.

Benedict Revelstoke is shocked, no alarmed to find his childhood friend, Miss Julia St. Clare, the object of a wager in the infamous betting book at White’s. As if the bet itself wasn’t outrageous enough, the wager’s been placed by the man who hopes to land Julia. The same man that Julia’s sister, Sophia, finds herself desperately in love with--William Ludlowe. When Benedict learns that Julia means to accept Ludlowe’s suit because of a misguided notion, he makes a practical counter offer.

This story has been touted as a take on Sense and Sensibility and I can certainly see the parallels. But in my mind, this story is extremely original, even with its nod to Austen, in its realistic portrayal of all the characters’ circumstances and emotional reactions to said circumstances. Julia’s desire to please her parents, to sacrifice herself to Ludlowe in order to save Sophia from unrequited affection and to settle herself into the unhappy life she thinks she deserves, all ring true. Macnamara’s talent with language and her deft turn of phrase will have you eagerly re-reading passages. Though Sophia’s story arc takes a few twists and turns and I did find myself wanting to strike her with a heavy object from time to time, things end on a very satisfying note. Throughout Sophia’s storyline, her emotions and reactions show her to be a layered and textured character.

Usually I take a few turns with the hero, just to get their measure, both physically and mentally, but Benedict is so finely written that I could picture him in my mind from the beginning and he only rose in my estimation with each page. Even when the characters reach a turning point, I couldn’t help cheering for them because they were so “real” and behaved like people instead of clichéd, cookie-cutter, tried-and-true characters. That is a feat not easily achieved and Macnamara does it with aplomb. Plus the sensuality of this piece is smoothly done, especially in a friends-to-lovers piece where things can sometime seem awkward in that transition.

I highly recommend this book and can’t wait for this author’s next book.
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I found myself really enjoying this story and all the characters in it. I'm really glad that I picked this book up :) ( )

This is Ashlyn Macnamera's debut novel so she is definitely a new to me author. Don't get me wrong, I do love to read new to me authors. In fact, I have discovered a lot of awesome authors this way. However, this story just missed the mark. I read the book knowing this was going to be about Miss Julia St. Claire but instead, I was reading about the sister Sophia meeting another guy! I mean, I just barely started reading and by the time I reached Chapter 3, I was totally confused about where this story was headed.

True, there are books that have two romance stories in them, one being a minor romance in the book but I usually read about their romance in the middle of the book after the romance of the main characters have been developed and usually not before. That being said, this just fell short for me. I expected to read about the characters mentioned in the book as the main characters and not about the sister, Sophia (which I thought was a bit of a flake).

This is a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate/Did Not Finish) for me. I may revisit this book at a later time but I won't hold my breath. I expected to be captured by the story by the time I reach the second chapter but this really missed the mark.

This is a run of the mill Regency romance. I like Regency romances & this was a decent example of the genre but nothing outstanding. It is the story of the St Clair sisters Sophie & Julia and their desperate to see them married parents. Sophia is infatuated with the Earl of Clivesden, who only has eyes for Julia and Julia, who has no intention of getting married, begins to develop feelings for her long time friend Benedict Revelstoke. When the girls' father forces the issue by publicly announcing Julia's betrothal to Civesden, Julia takes matters into her own hands and schemes to get out of the betrothal with the help of Benedict.

It was an ok story, with a nice mix of romance, drama, mystery & humor but it was lacking a bit in motivational detail. The characters were given a decent amount of backstory but some things were still left unexplained. ( )

*I received a free ARC of this book from Random House Publishing via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*


Two sisters who have long refused all their suitors end up having the choice made for them.

This review can now be found only on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews.

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