ARC Review: To Marry and to Meddle (The Regency Vows #3) by Martha Waters
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Series: The Regency Vows #3
Author: Martha Waters
Published April 5th 2022 by Atria Books
Goodreads Synopsis
The “sweet, sexy, and utterly fun” (Emily Henry, author of The People We Meet on Vacation) Regency Vows series continues with a witty, charming, and joyful novel following a seasoned debutante and a rakish theater owner as they navigate a complicated marriage of convenience.
Lady Emily Turner has been a debutante for six seasons now and should have long settled into a suitable marriage. However, due to her father’s large debts, her only suitor is the persistent and odious owner of her father’s favorite gambling house. Meanwhile, Lord Julian Belfry, the second son of a marquess, has scandalized society as an actor and owner of a theater—the kind of establishment where men take their mistresses, but not their wives. When their lives intersect at a house party, Lord Julian hatches a plan to benefit them both.
With a marriage of convenience, Emily will use her society connections to promote the theater to a more respectable clientele and Julian will take her out from under the shadows of her father’s unsavory associates. But they soon realize they have very different plans for their marriage—Julian wants Emily to remain a society wife, while Emily discovers an interest in the theater. But when a fleeing actress, murderous kitten, and meddlesome friends enter the fray, Emily and Julian will have to confront the fact that their marriage of convenience comes with rather inconvenient feelings.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.
Marrying Lord Julian Belfry was not what Lady Emily Turner expected to happen when she attended a house party with her friends. Since meeting Julian a few months ago, Emily has been drawn to him, but her mother has a different plan for her, and Emily is barely allowed any freedom. But Julian wants to marry a respectable lady, and gain a wife and hostess who can help him turn his theatre from one where men take their mistresses, to one where all of society are entertained. A marriage of convenience it may have started, but soon some rather inconvenient feelings start making themselves known.
When we met Julian and Emily in the first book, it was clear that they would have a story at some point. I loved the strength that Emily had in this book, or at least developed after her marriage. As the only daughter of a marquess, she was to be paraded around by her mother as the perfect debutante - particularly when her brother is killed in a duel and causes a scandal. And when her father becomes indebted to a heinous hell owner, and Emily needs to placate him for the past three seasons, she's ready for freedom. And Julian more than offers it. They both go into the marriage with open eyes, and the swiftness of the nuptials is crucial for Emily to gain her freedom. Her family are less than happy with who she's married to, and who has allowed her to use her backbone and her voice. Julian, on the other hand, has been estranged from his parents after opening his theatre - and sometimes acting too - and he wants the theatre to become respectable mainly to please his father. There were times I wanted to give him a shake, but Emily showed him he was loved no matter what, and may have meddled a little to get her father-in-law to come on side. I loved the final chapters, and I'm really hoping that Emily and Julian will be large parts of book 4!
Dates Read:
December 27-28, 2022
Rating
4 Stars
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