Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Gracie continues the charming seasonal saga of the four Chance sisters (introduced in The Autumn Bride), family by choice rather than blood, with this thoughtful and tender Regency. Miss Damaris Chance (formerly Tait), a missionary's daughter, has a well-earned "abhorrence of marriage." The Honorable Frederick Monkton-Coombes wants to present a fiancee to his cold and distant parents to avoid their matchmaking schemes. Freddy and Damaris enter into a business arrangement: she will engage in a faux betrothal in exchange for ownership of a cottage that will allow her to be self-sufficient. Freddy's cultivation of his rakish reputation has developed his wooing skills, which are put to the test when his friendship with Damaris evolves slowly into romance, despite both parties' hurts and vulnerabilities. Gracie gradually expands the setting without overwhelming the reader by sending Damaris and Freddy to his family estate, separating them from Damaris's benefactor and Freddy's business partners, while setting the scene for the next two seasons. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Keeping an eye on his honeymooning best friend's elderly aunt and the three Chance sister "nieces" is the last thing footloose bachelor Frederick Monkton-Coombes wants to do. But his mother insists that he marry for the sake of the succession and threatens him with a house party full of marriageable girls to make sure that happens. Fortunately, Damaris Chance does not plan to wed either, so a false betrothal in return for a country cottage seems like the perfect solution. Then the pair are trapped together during a storm, and the game changes dramatically. VERDICT A pretend engagement devolves into a forced marriage when plans go awry in this exquisitely written, perfectly plotted story that features deeply wounded but resilient protagonists and introduces an intriguing, most unconventional new character. Gracie (The Autumn Bride) lives in Melbourne, Australia. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
