The heroine accumulated financial debt after borrowing from a money lender. After learning that her estranged father died, the heroine returns to the village to sell her childhood home to pay off her debts. However, the hero is staying at said house, stating that his late father acquired the building and he'll renovate it to make it his home. As the two cohabitates as a fake engaged couple, they both began to fall in love even as they seek legal proof of individual ownership.

This is a standalone addition to the Hazards of Dukes series. It features a heroine who wants to pay off her debts, and a scholarly hero who just wants a home to call his own. The heroine first appeared in the first book as she is the sister of that particular book's heroine. It's nice that the first book's couple made a cameo appearance in this book. There were also some other wonderful secondary characters, especially the whole village that came together to help with the home renovation and the main couple's canine companions. I liked the hero more than the heroine in this book because I felt that the growth of the heroine wasn't as balanced as I wanted it to be. It would have been nice to add some more details in certain areas of the story since the story did drag a bit and needed better transition in those parts. Overall, it's a nice reading and I look forward to reading more Megan Frampton books in the future.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in my review are my own.** ( )

This author is usually a middle-of-the-road storyteller for me. I always have great hopes when I request one of her books because, every now and again, she’ll hit the ball straight out of the park. This book wasn’t one of those times. However, 3-stars is a very respectable average rating and I see nothing wrong with it. Of the 5 books in this series, I have rated all but one of them at 3-stars. That one – it was one of those out-of-the-park reads and I rated it as 5-stars.

You’ve probably read the story blurb, so you know the gist of the story. Octavia and Gabriel’s fathers were both gamblers – inveterate gamblers. Nothing was more important to either of them than their next wager – and they loved to wager against each other. Where Gabriel’s father was successful at gambling and made a good bit of money, Octavia’s father lost – almost always. He even wagered his daughters and that was the premise of the first book of the series. Now, within a few weeks of each other, both fathers have died. Gabriel has the signed wager from Octavia’s father saying that he lost the family home to Gabriel’s father. Octavia has nothing at all but insists her father left the family home to her and her sister. When they both arrive at the family home at practically the same time – both planning to live there – well, they have to come to some kind of agreement. For me, I honestly fail to see why Gabriel would have been so accommodating to Octavia since he is the one with the signed legal document giving ownership of the house to him. However, I guess if he hadn’t been accommodating, there wouldn’t have been a story.

What did I like?

*** None of the characters belonged to the aristocracy. They were all plain old Mr., Miss, Mrs., etc.
*** The story takes place away from London in a tiny country village
*** Two delightful dogs who were as polar opposite as their owners. There was Octavia’s Italian Mastiff, Cerberus, and Gabriel’s tiny, fluffy Pomeranian, NYX.
*** Gabriel! He was a delightful character – Very tall, broad-shouldered, handsome, very intelligent. He was a scholar who studied Greek mythology. In essence, he wasn’t anything like his father and didn’t want to be – he detested gambling in any form. He was honorable, protective, and very accepting of people for who they were. My only quarrel with Gabriel was that he was a bit too laid back – too milquetoast. He definitely needed a stronger backbone for dealing with Octavia.
*** I loved the ‘family’ of villagers who ended up living at the house with Gabriel and Octavia. There was the cook who couldn’t cook, Gabriel’s old nursemaid who somehow ended up being the ‘housekeeper’, Old Joe is an old man with a limp and no purpose in life – so he ends up taking care of the stables. Well, you get it there were several of them and they were all delightful.
*** Gabriel’s ‘clean’ versions of Greek mythology were decidedly entertaining.
*** The Pomegranate Compromise

What didn’t I like?

*** Octavia! She came across as impulsive, abrasive, overbearing, annoying, and selfish. She never gave a thought at all to how her actions and words hurt others. She was derisive and dismissive – especially of Gabriel. In her mind, she is always correct and there is no room for argument. When Gabriel says something (using a larger, but common word) she’ll dismissively say she doesn’t understand a word he’s said – but then, in the very next paragraph (or sentence) she’ll say (or think) how very curious she is and how much she loves to learn. So, which way is it? Finally, though, she did seem to have learned a few life lessons and had developed a bit of maturity by the end.
*** The Chemistry between Gabriel and Octavia – I just didn’t feel it. There wasn’t a thing in me that was pulling for them as a couple. Mostly I was wondering – what in the world does he see in her?

I am happy to have met Octavia and Gabriel and I wish the author much success with the book. I’m not sorry I read it – I did give it a respectable 3-stars – but it won’t be one of those books I re-read time after time.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )