Series: The Unsuitable Brides, #1
Traits & Tropes: mistress; scandal; class difference; single mom
Publication Date: 02.11.22
Genre/Setting: Historical; Victorian; London, England, 1891
Heat Level: 3
Rating: 3.5/5
As the second son of a marquess, Samuel Rathborne-Paxton has the wealth of his position and none of the responsibilities, preferring to focus his time and energy on his investments and spending time with his brothers and his mistress. When Sam and his brothers are forced, thanks to their father’s mistakes, to seek brides in a hurry, it is his mistress, Alice Woodmont, sought-after Irish courtesan, to whom Sam turns for help finding a wife. But their efforts prove fruitless and when Alice blurts out a marriage proposal to Sam, he realizes that she is the perfect solution. He gets to marry the woman he loves; she’s socially unsuitable enough to irritate his father, and her investments mean she has enough money to ensure his and his brothers’ security.
Alice has spent the last two years since she arrived in London striving to establish independence and security for herself and her young son, Ryan. That has meant entertaining multiple lovers, but Sam has always been her favorite and her best friend so marriage to him seems like a dream come true. She hopes to gain a modicum of respectability along with the happiness of marrying Sam, and the timing is especially ideal since her latest investments have not come to fruition.
When Sam learns the truth about Alice’s finances, and Alice also learns about his and his brothers’ quest to destroy their own family name, she begins to regret the hasty decision to marry him, though she can’t shake her persistent feelings of love for him, no matter how much she wishes she could.
I should start by saying that I really, really disliked Alice when she was heavily featured in the last book in the previous series and unfortunately, she didn’t really grow on me much here. That said, I can also definitely relate to her struggle for independence and her attempts to reconcile that need with her love for Sam and the need to have him in her life. Alice puts her pride above most things and doesn’t really seem to understand the concept of love or marriage and the true gravity of her wedding vows. She was just very quick to want to leave Sam for everything that went wrong, even if it wasn’t really his fault, and it was always him chasing after her and trying to make her see reason. For me, this just made Alice seem like a stereotypically overly dramatic female and I wasn’t a huge fan of that. For his part, Sam was your typical clueless male, but he tried hard to please Alice and show her the truth of his feelings, even in the midst of some pretty serious misunderstandings and unfortunate circumstances, and that carried the story for me.
Also, this is apropos of nothing, but as the son of a marquess Sam should’ve had the courtesy title of Lord, rather than Mr. and Alice would’ve been Lady Samuel rather than Mrs., not that it matters to the story, it’s just a bit of a pet peeve of mine and I kept getting distracted by it. Weirdly, I also was surprised by this story in that I expected more steam given the history between Sam and Alice, but that's not to say that their chemistry wasn't still pretty strong on the page. Regardless of my quibbles, it was quite fun to see Sam and Alice struggling together, despite any reservations they might have harbored about the solidity of their relationship, to thwart the slimy villain out to destroy them both. I'm always here for a couple facing outside threats or challenges together as a team, I only wish there had been a little less infighting between these two, though the reasons for it were wholly valid, understandable, and relatable.
Overall, this was a fun, madcap story with a villain who seems to have multiple layers that should be fun to uncover over the course of this series. I liked the dynamic between the Rathborne-Paxton brothers, and I look forward to their individual stories as they defy convention and follow their hearts.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4546333898
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/2363797131
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