Series: The Mating Habits of Scoundrels, #3
Traits & Tropes: slow burn; titled hero; heroine is in love with someone else; cinnamon roll hero; enemies to friends to lovers
Publication Date: 06.29.21
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; London/Wiltshire, England
Heat Level: 3
Rating: 4/5
Well on her way to being considered on the shelf, Elodie Parrish is getting tired of waiting for her childhood neighbor to propose. She’s hopeful he’ll finally settle down after this last season of sowing his wild oats, but his behavior is less than convincing. Ellie also keeps running into the infuriatingly arrogant Lord Hullworth who is convinced she wants to trap him into marriage.
Brandon, the Marquess of Hullworth, was never supposed to inherit the title and never wanted to, but tragic events mean he now has tittering ladies and their desperate mothers dogging his every move. He’s been toyed with before and has no intention of ever letting that happen again; he’d rather avoid marriage altogether. But when he meets Ellie, her easy blushes and forthright opinions have him reevaluating. She’s different from the rest and Brandon could conceive of a future with her, if only she didn’t fancy herself in love with another man.
Ellie only meant for her friendship with Brandon to be a source of information for her book on the marriage habits of aristocrats but her reaction to his nearness is unlike anything she could’ve imagined. The more time she spends with Brandon, the more she realizes she may not have understood what love was until she met him.
I should start by saying I’m not a big fan of this pseudo-love triangle trope, especially when the heroine is utterly clueless. I wound up being charmed by this story, but Brandon definitely carried it off and I merely tolerated Ellie. She had finally grown on me near the final third with all the great progress she was making and the development she showed, only for her to drastically regress and lower herself immensely in my estimation. She gave George entirely too much credit and leeway and I, like Brandon, became utterly sick of her constantly making excuses for him and refusing to put him in his place. When she finally did send George packing, it wasn’t quite as satisfying as I’d hoped, and I think it could’ve been more elaborate and convincing. Ellie’s phobias were simultaneously relatable anxieties and frustrating ridiculousness. I loved Brandon’s support of her working through them and his efforts to build her up, I just wish she had been quicker to give him the same courtesy and stand up for what they had together, rather than reverting to her usual cowardice. She kept agonizing over how she was unsure of Brandon's feelings for her even though he told her quite a lot and way very open about his intentions so this wound up being a bit repetitive for me after a while and made me want to knock some sense into Ellie. Her wishy-washy behavior was frustrating in this sense, and I felt that Brandon gave and risked so much more than she did. I enjoyed this story, but it would have been more satisfying and really pushed it into amazing territory if she fought a bit more for him. Yes, she worked on her phobias for him too, but mostly for herself, and at the first sign of trouble she was quick to run and hide. Much of the time I was left feeling like Brandon wasn’t getting enough credit for how good of a man he was, and she didn’t really deserve him. I enjoyed her efforts to make it up in the end, but I wanted more and a grander declaration and instead the conclusion felt rather anticlimactic. Her relationship with Prue was also rather fraught and I think Ellie was a little quick to forgive, though this was understandable given her changing feelings I suppose. Overall, I enjoyed this story, and it did engross me so I’ll look forward to the next installment in the series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and feelings are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/333001638
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4110942598
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