Promised + Giveaway

Margaret Brinton keeps her promises, and the one she is most determined to keep is the promise to protect her heart.

Worwickshire, England, 1812

Fooled by love once before, Margaret vows never to be played the fool again. To keep her vow, she attends a notorious matchmaking party intent on securing the perfect marital match: a union of convenience to someone who could never affect her heart. She discovers a man who exceeds all her hopes in the handsome and obliging rake Mr. Northam.

There’s only one problem. His meddling cousin, Lord Williams, won’t leave Margaret alone. Condescending and high-handed, Lord Williams lectures and insults her. When she refuses to give heed to his counsel, he single-handedly ruins Margaret’s chances for making a good match — to his cousin or anyone else. With no reason to remain at the party, Margaret returns home to discover her father has promised her hand in marriage — to Lord Williams.

Under no condition will Margaret consent to marrying such an odious man. Yet as Lord Williams inserts himself into her everyday life, interrupting her family games and following her on morning walks, winning the good opinion of her siblings and proving himself intelligent and even kind. Margaret is forced to realize that Lord Williams is exactly the type of man she’d hoped to marry before she’d learned how much love hurt. When paths diverge and her time with Lord Williams ends, Margaret is faced with her ultimate choice: keep the promises that protect her or break free of them for one more chance at love. Either way, she fears her heart will lose.

My Review:

This one gives me all kinds of Mr. Darcy/Elizabeth vibes and I loved every second. The banter, the misunderstandings, the deliberate verbal barbs….sigh, I was in bibliophile euphoria. And the cast of secondary characters are just as strong as the hero and heroine, which made for some lively interactions. And lots of humour too.

Another Grumpy/Sunshine trope only in reverse with the heroine being the grump, which was all kinds of fun too, though sometimes I wanted to shake some sense into Margaret. But she is bound by the societal norms of the day so I guess I can understand some of her reasoning…but how she held off from falling for Lord Williams for so long….honestly, I have no idea. I was a goner pretty early on. And then the ‘plot twist’ happened and I was ‘whhhhaaaatttttt????’

Another Regency triumph and a new-to-me author to pursue!

I listened to the audio edition which was narrated by Justine Eyre. She’s an amazing performer and one of my favourites to listen to so I was all kinds of happy with both the story and the delivery.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

ebook available to anyone, anywhere with a .com kindle account 

US — paperback or ebook — winner’s choice

Canada — paperback or ebook — winner’s choice; or also audible (.ca)

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Promised, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday May 20, 2023. Offer open to International Readers.