Sophie Reads YA: Michelle Willingham

2023 New Release challenge

ARC Review: Match Me If You Can (The School for Spinsters #3) by Michelle Willingham

12:00

Match Me If You Can
Series: The School for Spinsters #3
Author: Michelle Willingham
Published August 17th 2023 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.

Goodreads Synopsis
After five unsuccessful seasons, Emma Bartholomew’s stepmother threatens to auction off her hand in marriage. Horrified at the idea, Emma enlists the help of the School for Spinsters to help her find a husband quickly. But she knows that no man will want to wed her after he learns the secret she’s hiding…that she’s practically blind.

Cormac Ormond, the Irish Earl of Dunmeath, is seeking a quick marriage because he desperately wants an heir. He knows he’s dying, and it doesn’t matter what sort of bride he finds, as long as she’s willing to help him.

After meeting Emma, Cormac plans to outbid every suitor…but will she marry a man whose time is running out?
Goodreads

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

Discovering that her stepmother plans to host a bride auction, with Miss Emma Bartholomew being the item in question, Emma knows she needs to find an escape, and quickly. Turning to Mrs Harding's School for Spinsters, she hopes that she can find a way to entice someone to marry her, before it's too late. But she's hiding her secret, and worries that if it was discovered no one would ever want her. Luckily for Emma, Cormac Ormond, the Earl of Dunmeath, is in London to find a wife, as he needs an heir before it's too late. Gaining a reputation as a man desperate for a bride, most ladies are turning away from him, but Emma is different.

I enjoyed this one, but not as much as book 2 I think. Emma and Cormac's relationship was sweet, though not the easiest at first. Both are hiding medical issues from each other, but the issues are quickly revealed, and they are unsure on how a marriage between them would work. I quickly worked out why Cormac was becoming ill, and wondered why they never looked at getting a doctor to check Emma's sight again, but it was still enjoyable to look at the 'mystery' while in Ireland. All in all, this was a lovely ending to the series, though I do have questions on Mrs Harding and her beau.

Dates Read:
August 5, 2023

Rating
3 Stars

2023 New Release challenge

ARC Review: Match Me, I'm Falling (The School for Spinsters #2) by Michelle Willingham

11:00

2023 New Release challenge

ARC Review: A Match Made in London (The School for Spinsters #1) by Michelle Willingham

10:00

A Match Made in London
Series: The School for Spinsters #1
Author: Michelle Willingham
Published April 13th 2023 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.

Goodreads Synopsis
Welcome to book one in the new series The School for Spinsters by award winning author Michelle Willingham.

Violet Edwards is painfully shy with a terrible stutter. Despite her mother’s threats to send her away, she has plans of her own to win a husband. She enrolls herself in the infamous School for Spinsters, where she hopes to be transformed from a wallflower into a breathtaking debutante.

The only problem is that the headmistress hired a gorgeous, notorious rake to give her lessons.

To the rest of the London ton, Damian Everett, the Earl of Scarsdale, is a charming gentleman seeking a wife. But his father’s mountain of debts have left him with no choice but to wed an heiress. When he’s offered a generous stipend to help a shy wallflower, he can’t refuse. All he has to do is provoke Violet Edwards into finding her backbone.

As their lessons turn sensual, Damian is captivated by Violet...and he’s falling hard. But how can he turn his back on his family for the wallflower he wants to love?
Goodreads

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

For Violet Edwards, she knows that she needs to find a husband and quick. She has spent most of her season as a wallflower, and being around others causes her stutter to get worse. Now her mother is planning on sending her into the country, and she can't face the future of being her grandmother's carer. Violet's only hope is Mrs. Harding's School For Young Ladies, also known as the infamous School for Spinsters! However, Violet never expected that her lessons would include spending time with the handsome Earl of Scarsdale, who is everything she could ever want, but so far out of her reach; or is he?

Another regency romance where the heroine is a wallflower, and the hero is the first man to catch her eye. Nonetheless this was really enjoyable. Violet may have been a wallflower, but once she got angry or had some fire in her, she was ready to fight, and Damian set her alight like no other. They were perfect for each other, but her lack of a dowry and connections, and Damian's father destroying the family with his gambling habits, they could never be together. Damian's only hope to save himself and his sisters was to marry the heiress Lady Persephone, who was cruel and enjoyed toying with other people's emotions. I despised Persephone, and I know that her partner in crime, Lady Ashleigh, will be the heroine of book 2, so I hope she has a good back story. There were twists and turns in Violet and Damian's relationship, and I loved the way they worked together, particularly when it came to the family's finances, and proved that Violet was no wilting flower. A fantastic start to a new series.

Dates Read:
August 3-4, 2023

Rating
3 Stars