Don't You Dare, My Dear
Series: The Debutante Dares #4
Author: Charlie Lane
Published May 12th 2022 by WOLF Publishing

Goodreads Synopsis
In this sizzling Regency romance by Charlie Lane, a cheerful viscount would rather have the grumpy chaperone than the daring debutante. If only the latter didn't prove to be quite so resistible.

After the woman he loves rejects his marriage proposal, Edmund Crenshaw, Viscount Escher, has sworn off women. If he can’t marry Mrs. Katherine Brighton, he’ll marry no one. When he discovers a daring debutante in his coach, intent on seduction, he’ll do anything to protect his bachelorhood. He must remain uncompromised or doom himself and the lady to a loveless marriage. Because his heart always has, and always will, belong to only one woman—his Kat.

Katherine must escape her younger sister’s insidious grasp. This Season, she has a heart of steel and a plan for independence. As the secret author of a popular out-of-print book, she will convince the publisher to reprint it and fill her coffers with funds enough to live on her own. The publisher agrees—if she writes a new book as well. But with every moment of her day spent helping her sister, she desperately needs a muse.

And Lord Escher, the man whose marriage proposal she reluctantly rejected two years ago, sparks her imagination like no one else. To write her book, she must stay near Edmund. In exchange, he requires her help ridding himself of a persistent miss. They’ll solve both problems in no time. If they can keep their hands off each other.

Can she protect her heart and her freedom, or will the cheerful viscount tempt her to say yes this second time around?
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Mrs Katherine Brighton has spent most of her life, before and after marriage, caring for her younger sister, Christiana. She's ready to take charge of her own life, and when Edmund, Lord Escher, proposes, she's wants to say yes more than anything. However, Chrissy gets engaged on that very day to Edmund's father, and she can't be a countess without her sister helping, can she? After two years, Katherine needs to escape, and sharing a night with Edmund proved that she won't ever be able to forget him, but she needs to be away from Chrissy. Edmund will do whatever it takes to prove they should be together, but can Katherine be convinced?

I liked Katherine and Edmund when we met them in previous books, and it was clear there was a history there between them. Falling in love, only to be torn apart by relatives marrying was heartbreaking, and Edmund was sick of being so close, but also so far. I liked the fact that Katherine had her own life before Edmund, and she had a plan to save herself - through her writing, though it wasn't going to be easy. The added plot line of Lady Edith being after Edmund was funny, and I hope her story is next, because she deserves happiness - just not with Edmund.

Dates Read:
October 27-28, 2022

Rating
3 Stars