Yet when she lay awake at night in her bed, searching her heart for her dreams, all she found was emptiness and fright. Such terrible fear, for she no longer knew what she wanted and felt unmoored, a ship without an anchor drifting aimlessly on the wide-open sea.” (The quote that made me like Maryann, she said it perfectly.) The story was romantic, and they were really beautiful moments, but I didn’t care about the characters and I struggled to keep reading from the beginning. I thought maybe it would be better when they finally meet, but it felt too unrealistic (or maybe I was just bored).

Separation: Yes They are separated for ~weeks/month, but there was no mention or suggestion of other partners during this time. I do wish the main characters had met sooner than they did, but I enjoyed the banter/interplays between them, and loved how gutsy Kitty was. There is a lot of push and pull from Alexander, but it was completely understandable and the pain (emotional and physical) made me ache for him. But when the enigmatic Alexander Masters suddenly arrives in the city, dashing and oh so angry, he demands retribution. Except not in the way Katherine expected…Before I end this review, do you know the quote where it goes, “What did my fingers do before they held him? What did my heart do with its love?” It reminded me so much of Nicolas and Maryann’s relationship, especially this one particular paragraph/ scene: “I like you, too,” she declared, staring at him from below incredibly long lashes. It was a look that said, “finally you are seeing me, you buffoon,” and it endlessly charmed him. With an inward jolt to his heart, he realized that while he was just noticing her, Maryann had been aware of him for much longer. It went through him then, a jerk of fear, at the thought that he might have missed her. I'm still swooning, clutching my pearls and fainting all at the same time because of this!! What an awesome and refreshing read!!! The story was so lovely and the main gurl? Oh my god, she was so awesome, she had a great personality, a very smart and imaginative mind and she wasn't afraid to put her feelings out there. She was brave and unapologetic in what she wanted, she went for it and achieved things. Loved her, wanna be like her, best heroine I've read in a while!!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I skipped first-period math class because this quote made me ugly sob at 7 am and made me go through a breakdown. And when she is confronted, despite her inner fears, she faces head held high the man who holds her future in his hands. That finger gently trailed from her nose down to rest against her lips. “ I know what to do with every inch of you, Lady Maryann.”In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible. I thought he moved.” Every foolish gothic book she’d ever read in the late evening blared through her mind. It did not help that the sky had the ominous darkness of a fiercely brewing storm. () Shoutout to the Scottish estate staff, too. At this point, me having a soft spot for the maids and butler is a given. I just love them, and all their well intended meddling, so much!! The whole storm & cabin incident? Yes. Give me more. Conveniently vanishing staff members? I love it. Katharine Danvers ("Kitty" to her friends and family) is the eldest of 4 daughters. When their father passed away, the estate and monies went to the nearest male relative, so Kitty and her sisters along with her mother were essentially cast out to live only on a meager dowager salary. As there is no dowry, Kitty has been overlooked for 4 seasons now, and she won't allow that to happen to her younger sisters; thus, she is prepared to risk her own reputation in the hopes that it allows her siblings to secure matches to men who are titled, have at least comfortable wealth on which to live, and most importantly, are by choice. Ideally, she hopes all of her sisters find love matches as she has given up that hope sitting on the shelf at 23 years old. This dream for her sisters inspires her sinful deed: to declare herself engaged to a duke! And who better than the Duke of Thornton of whom no one has seen hide nor hair from for a decade? There is little chance he will hear about it in the wilds of Scotland where he is said to reside, and by the time her farce is played out, Kitty hopes her debuting sister will have made a match that will keep her happy and secure, and later allow for her to sponsor the younger girls in their debuts. How can this plan possibly fail?

Disclaimer: Laura ❀, Ren ♡ (and everyone else who loved the book) please close your eyes and act like you haven't seen this. I don't know what went wrong with My Darling Book, it just didn’t work for me. Overall, I was not disappointed! The main characters were refreshingly unique and fun to watch spar with each other, and (of course), they were given a very satisfying HEA. Alexander had an accident that both left him scarred but also affected his ability to walk. Having faced judgement following the accident he set up home in Scotland and decided to keep his distance from the London crowd. I loved his character so much as he became more and more interested in Kitty and their friendship grew. He tried to push her away on numerous occasions because he did not want Kitty to sacrifice so much for him and it was so great to read about their growing feelings for each other. More often than not, in historical romances it always seems as though the rake sort of railroads over the wallflower. The wallflower pines while the rake is all roughish and stuff. Not the case with our rake (Nicolas) and wallflower (Maryann). In this one, Nicolas takes one look at Maryann and low-key/high-key knows she's it for him, and ditto for Maryann. My first Stacy Reid book! And I have... mixed feelings. 🤪 There are some things I really enjoyed and some that didn’t thrill me unfortunately.It was unexpected, it was so soft, it was unbelievably tender, and scandalously perfect, for it was just a mere meeting of their mouths, but it felt like everything. Ensues a battle of wills, as Katherine fights to pass his inner defense when he tries to keep her at arm’s length. A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented-something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding. The first 20 % of the book was very exciting to me. The build-up of their first meeting was doing it for me. I loved reading about how the fake betrothal helped popularized Kitty, and I was so excited when the news finally reached the Duke. Their first meeting was kind of intense, I was giggling like a child. But unfortunately, it got boring after that. It only ever gets interesting again when the book reached the 60% mark. I was let down obviously because it started out so great for me. I kind of had issues with the pacing because it all seems so slow yet it is all going so fast.

I re-read this before starting A Scoundrel of Her Own, and I maintain my previous rating. It hurts me to rate a Stacy Reid book so low because she is a five-star author, always. You said I never have to fear you hurting me, and by threatening my brother, you are hurting me..." I loved that albeit she is shaken to her core, she does not cower, and even straighten herself for what is to come. She is very devoted to her family, yet in Alexander’s presence, she feels more brazen, she is tempted to dream for things she has thought not for her. Her caring and devotion whether is for her family or Alexander, she is ready to alter everything in her future if it will bring happiness or contentment to them. Reid had the perfect balance of a slow burn, with a light, always moving plot, without masses or overwhelming drama. I really appreciated that there wasn't a huge 70/80% disaster, no flirtatious 3rd party misunderstanding. Reid really knows how to make my heart SING! It was all just one big yes from me.In regards to Alexander's disabilities, and without giving too much away, I must say that I was so impressed with the way the author handled everything. Stacy Reid was really able to bring something new to the table and offer a different depiction of the 'Beast'. Sorry that this sounds so vague, but you have to read this book for yourself! I’m sorry but book two was so much better 😩 like this one was sweet and cute but lord was it slow slow slow burn. There was sex in the epilogue (yay!) but that’s because it took so damn long for the sex scenes to show up to the party that if there wouldn’t have been another, it would have been criminal. I just didn’t feel as much connection to the main characters as individuals and as a couple. Their reason for splitting up was rather flimsy and besides that there wasn’t much propelling the drama or plot. I liked the initial premise and the main trope, it just didn’t wow me. Katherine 'Kitty' Danvers is a Wallflower. She's got an idea to change all that, though. Kitty pretends to be engaged to a reclusive Duke to give her family a little more credibility to get her sisters married off to respectable men. She never ever expects for the Duke to show up and seek her out. Meet the Hon. Katherine Danvers, the eldest out of the four daughters of a Viscount. She has been out in society for years but has yet to make a match. She is fairly attractive, not overly accomplished and has no dowry. Her circumstances is the reason gentlemen look past her when looking for a wife. Resigned to her faith and knowing that no one would offer for her, she came up with an extremely advantageous plan. She would use the Duke of Thornton's name, increasing her popularity and therefore would give her sisters a better chance to wed somehow wealthy gentlemen. What she plans to do is to break off her so-called betrothal to the Duke once one of her sisters are able to accept an offer of marriage. She is quite aware that her plan would ruin her reputation but as the eldest sister who failed to do her duty, which is to marry well, she has to come up with something. She's very selfless and puts her family's best interest above her own. She also feels quite guilty about using a Duke's name whom she does not even know. OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: Yes, but mild Closest is the H’s cousin shows an interest in the h and the H is mildly jealous and defeatist with his own condition to the point he thinks she’d be better of with the OM