Delightful Historical Romance

A fake marriage of convenience which turns into true love and real marriage.

An enjoyable, modern historical book. Within its small group of characters it finds a place for gender, sexuality and cultural diversity in a way that remains appropriate to the setting. The male lead puts up with and openly supports the antics or the female lead and his household in a way that speaks very well for him.

The female character is not entirely enjoyable at the beginning but as she stops trying to prove everybody around her is out to ruin her day she improves with time. Given half stars I would give this a 4.5 but that is not an option so I've rounded up to 5.

The reading was quite good, I listened to it at about double time speed because it is quite slow paced and well announciated.

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Longhope Abbey series - a perfect remedy

While I really enjoyed Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series, devoured Loretta Chase's Carsington Brothers series (with an honorable mention for Lord of Scoundrels) and of course have been completely obsessed with Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series - this Mia Vincy Longhope Abbey series is ABSOLUTELY my FAVOURITE.

So much comedy, banter, sizzle, love and intrigue, it's completely addictive and life-affirming. I adore the way Vincy manages to bring just the right amount of character depth and plot complexity with a fun and light, slightly ironic self-awareness. It's a perfect remedy to the dull monotony of real life! I've listened to all three in the series twice now and enjoy noticing more detail and interconnection every time.

The series is perfectly matched with Kate Reading's delicious narration, with her funny and endearing voices for each character, and her clever ability to seamlessly guide you through the difference between what is internalised and out-loud. Her pace, comic timing, ability to flip from one character to another in rapid succession and her unique English accent are a compelling and engaging mix.

Thank you Vincy and Reading!!! Can't wait for more!

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Great Story

I little bit of everything, Not true to the time stamp in terms of language, however it didn't take away from the story. This full of fun, drama, sadness and comedy. Took me a bit to get through the first chapter, once past that I was away with it. Easy fun read. Looking forward to the third in the series.

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A Good Story

This is a good story with a different kind of leading lady. I liked this political touch, but the lead female character did have moments off irritating immaturity.

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needlessly long.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this book. It started off well and the narration was done well, but even the best narrator can't save a tedious story.

The plot is pretty straightforward. There was lots of promise with the characters, some parts were entertaining, but half of the comedy was centered around the heroine being an airhead. The author introduces her as a mischievous, independent, woman who's forced to fight her way back to her familys' good graces due to being the center of a horrible scandal. However there were times when the author made her irritatingly dumb and cowardly. I understand that being victimized can cause people to cower in the face of their bully, but it becomes tedious when she doesn't even stand up for herself when her bullies strike again by taking away her obsessively touted means of redemption.

The Hero of the story has a less conflicting personality however the martyr complex was so overdone. He has his reasons for being jaded and self-sabotaging, but I meant it when I said this story was tedious. The author spent 70% of the book trying to build angst between the H/h, and I enjoy angst as much as anyone else, but there's a point when it's too much, especially when the story stops progressing. I could have skipped a big part of the book and gotten all the necessary bits for the points of the story.

I wanted to like this book, but I just can't. I also really liked the fmcs BFF miss larke who's featured as the fmc in book 2 of the series, but I just can't. if you insist on giving this book a try, I advise getting the e-book so you can skim. Trust me, the FMC often goes on a inner monologue journey that's pointless or makes no sense or paints her as a flighty airhead. Also the mistaken identity troupe that's mentioned as the synopsis is misleading. IMO, this book is more along the line of the #me2 movement set in Regency England with beauty and the beast sprinkled throughout it. The mistaken identity was used as the meet cute and that's it. The author was trying too hard.

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