The Champion
Series: A Series of Worthy Young Ladies #4
Author: Kate Archer
Published September 15th 2022 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.

Goodreads Synopsis
A Courageous Lady and a Confounded Lord

Six highly placed matrons mourn their lack of daughters until they devise a scheme to launch eligible girls in need of assistance, and so The Society of Sponsoring Ladies is born.

Lady Arabella Berestock has lived in the ramshackle Cornwall house for as long as she can remember. She is the ward of Lord Skeffington, who does not do much to provide, nor does she tolerate him. If there is any comfort to be had, it is the companionship of Mrs. Weston. That good lady has allowed Arabella to pursue her passion for rescuing animals and the house has become a menagerie. Out of the blue, a cousin, Lady Redfield, has stepped forward and will bring her to Town for a proper season.

Lord Peregrine Hadleigh, Marquess of Blackwood and heir to the Duke of Stanbury has found his life going rather well. He’s finally got his own house in Town and he’s put his mother off talk of marriage with the idea that he waits for an old family friend to make her debut, which he certainly does not. His house happens to be next door to Lady Redfield, one of his mother’s cabal of matrons. That may not be ideal but out of all of them, she is the least likely to cause problems. At least, he had imagined so before he and his coachman are delivered a bracing lecture regarding the treatment of his horses from a pert little miss just now staying with the lady. Lady Arabella has a lot of opinions, but she is rather pretty.

As the season unfolds, so too does her guardian’s plot to force Arabella to marry a mysterious old man and threats of sending her back to Cornwall. As those difficulties present themselves, two neighboring butlers confound their houses, a squirrel makes an unfortunate appearance, a Welch Main is set to commence, a beast of a dog misbehaves, a secret society is founded, and a beloved horse must be got back.

If Arabella is to fix anything at all, she may have to use a weapon she has kept secret for years.
Goodreads

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

As the ward of Lord Skeffinton, Lady Arabella Berestock has been left to her own devices in a rundown home in Cornwall, where the lord expects she will follow his every decision, particularly over who she will marry. However, he has another thing coming, and when he arrives to tell her she is to marry an old widower in the north of England, he soon discovers that she and her rescue animals have a different plan, and he has to run after his horses in a ruined jacket for his sins. So when a distant cousin, Lady Redfield arrives to tell her that Arabella is now under her protection, and she will take her to London to have the season she deserves, Arabella's only concern is the welfare of her animals. A chance meeting with Lady Redfield's neighbour, Peregrine, Marquess of Blackwood, may have started off on the wrong foot, but soon Arabella is in his debt, and looks forward to events when she can be with him. But the heir to a duke won't want to marry her, would he?

This one is definitely my favourite of the series. I loved Arabella and Peregrine so much, and the secondary character - particularly Mr Sindu and Hemmings - were great players in the plot line. Peregrine had always told his mother, the Duchess of Stanbury, that the reason he wasn't yet married was because he was waiting for his friend's sister to debut first, but really he planned to wait another two years, and then settle down. Meeting Arabella, however, made him reconsider his timeline, and he worried that if he stuck to the two years, he might miss out on the woman of his dreams. Waiting so that he could escort her and Lady Redfield to balls, and take Arabella into supper, even taking her dance card and ensuring that Skeffington couldn't get on it, were all clear indications of his feelings, though there was a moment when it looked like the odds were stacked so much against them. I really hope we see the couple again in the final books!

Dates Read:
May 27-29, 2023

Rating
3 Stars