ARC Review: A Reckless Match (Ruthless Rivals #1) by Kate Bateman
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Series: Ruthless Rivals #1
Author: Kate Bateman
Published September 28th 2021 by St. Martin's Press
Goodreads Synopsis
The first in a new regency romance series about two feuding families and reunited childhood enemies whose hatred turns to love.
Maddie Montgomery's family is in debt, and her hope rests on the rival Davies clan missing their yearly “pledge of goodwill,” ceding the land that separates their estates. With Maddie's teenage nemesis, Gryffud “Gryff” Davies, Earl of Powys, away, hope is in reach.
But then, Gryff shows up and is stunned that the tomboy he once teased is now a woman. When Gryff and Maddie discover contraband on their land, they realize it can benefit both families. But they've also uncovered a dangerous plot, and they need to work together to get out alive. Soon, their hatred for each other starts to feel more like attraction.
Kate Bateman brings crackling banter, steamy romance, and a dash of adventure into the first book in the Ruthless Rivals series.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.
Since there was a Montgomery and a Davies living on bordering estates, there's been a feud between them. The history of the families goes that a wayward sheep was to blame, but no one knows, and following one too many skirmish, an area of land between the estates was created, and yearly, a delegation from each family has to go and physically shake hands, or else they cede the land to the other side. For Maddie Montgomery, she hopes beyond all hope that the new Earl of Powys, Gryff, has forgotten about the pledge, as her family is nearly destitute, and she's facing being forced to marry an abhorrent gentlemen to save them all. But, Gryff remembered, and it's the first time the two have met since childhood, and the sparks are flying. They fight their attraction, but as they are thrown in danger together, stopping a smuggling plot on their land and discovering gold, can they honestly say they still hate each other?
Now, I've been waiting - somewhat impatiently - for this book since I finished Kate's previous book, The Princess and the Rogue, and learning that there would be a enemies to lovers plot line made me even more desperate. So when I was approved for A Reckless Match as I was finishing work, I immediately went home and devoured the entire book in just a few hours. Both Maddie and Gryff are products of the feud, and their entire childhood was fraught with mischief and mayhem against each other's family. But then Gryff left, and Maddie was struck by lightening, and they had to grow up. But they've never forgotten each other, and Gryff in particular, can still remember his attraction to Maddie, so seeing her now, as an beautiful woman, is strange and confusing to say the least. I loved the way we saw the animosity between the pair, and then the mutual respect grow as they found the hidden cache on the border land, and where thrown together in more and more difficult situations. It was a real romance that grew and blossomed, and wasn't wholly based on physical attraction.
The plot line, too, was so well fleshed out. We have the backstory of the two families, before meeting the hero/heroine, and then the discovery of the smuggling plot, and all of the danger that entails. There wasn't just Maddie and Gryff who were important, either. There's also Maddie's cousin, Harriet, who appears to have an eye on Gryff's brother, Morgan, and then Gryff's sister, Carys, and Maddie's brother, Tristan. I really hope the other books in the series are about them. A Reckless Match was a fantastic introduction to the series, perfect in itself, but also setting the scene for the rest of the Ruthless Rivals series. I can't wait for more!
Dates Read:
May 10, 2021
Rating
5 Stars
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