My Rating: 6.0/10
Synopsis
Lady Rachel Denby is in need of a husband and a chance encounter with the reserved Lord Arleigh inspires her to offer him an outlandish deal.
He will save her from impending financial doom and she will help him gain his inheritance. All they have to do is marry. It sounds delightfully pragmatic. Yet as they embark upon their matrimonial bliss, they find that being husband and wife is anything but simple. Pleasing the stiff family relations, keeping a nosy sister in check, and dealing with unhelpful solicitors complicates their deal. To make matters worse, there are unplanned feelings growing between them. But the unorthodox Rachel can’t help engaging the aloof Viscount, and his Lordship is certainly not the cold fish he at first appears. Suddenly, the deal they made is far more than just a practical solution to their problems, it’s fast becoming downright dangerous!
This is the second book in The Ladies of Worth series of Georgian romances. It centres on the sister of Lady Rebecca Fairing from Fool Me Twice, and you’ll get to see Caro and Felton again, and let’s not forget the shrewd Lady Etheridge and her wicked wit!
Review
Thank you to Zooloo’s Book Tours and Phillipa Jane Keyworth for having me on this tour for A Dangerous Deal. I really enjoy the Regency Romance genre so I was excited to read this. This is the second book of the Ladies of Worth series and it can be read as a standalone, although I did feel like my experience would have been even better if I had read the first one prior to this tour.
I love when we have a strong heroine to center around in this setting and Rachel did not disappoint. She’s strong, tall, brash, and has a penchant for men’s clothing; basically the opposite of the wilting lilies that we usually think of in this era. I did not feel the heat between her and Arleigh at all, though. This is one of the scenarios where I wonder if I missed a good amount of the backstory in the first novel. Though this novel centers itself on Rachel and Arleigh, it also continued the dive into the lives of Caro and Felton (of whom I believe the first novel is based on) and sets up for what I’m assuming will be Rebecca’s story next. I quite like when novels do this type of cohesive building, though I think we could have had a tad less focus on the other parties so that we had more time to experience Rachel and Arleigh falling in love. At times, I also felt like we were just told things that happened instead of really being shown them.
Rachel is one of those characters that was impossible to dislike and her light shone on everyone that she came into contact with. Though I didn’t always feel the heat between them, she brought out a soft side of Arleigh that previously seemed impenetrable. The romance is very chaste and closed door for anyone that enjoys romance but is shy of its steamy side.
A huge thank you again to Zooloo’s Book Tours and the author!
Thank you so much Cassidee for taking part in the tour and for your honest review! x