This book contains lot of great ideas. It approaches the virginal heroine/virile hero dynamic so common to historical romance in a novel way that emphasizes female agency and brings attention to the disgusting way virginity is often fetishized/venerated in romance. It has a lot of interesting female characters. I love how the female lead schemes and plots for the good of those around her while hiding her true self. It would be really interesting to see how she learns to open up...
If the male lead was actually the right person to make that happen. But he just doesn't have anything to offer her. While the female lead keeps saying things to make the audience understand that she loves him because he's kind, he never does much to support that impression in the text. In the beginning of the book, she says he makes her feel safe, but she just had an encounter with him where he spoke over every sentence she said and categorically refused to listen to her request for him to help her escape a forced marriage because he always assumes the worst of her. She says he's "all heart," but he's never kind to anyone who is not a close relative or a woman he's attracted to. Even with that select group, his kindness feels very self-righteous. His actions are driven not so much by "heart" as by a strict moral code that drives him to disparage and dismiss those he sees as failing to live up to it--including the heroine. Because even though she is demonstrably far more kind to others than the male lead ever is, he thinks she schemes too much. Note that the reason that she schemes is because, as a woman under her father's thumb, she doesn't have many other options open to her. I don't know why he thinks he has any ground on which to judge her.
To me, the male lead never makes up for how awful he is in the beginning of the book. He eventually realizes how altruistic the female lead is and attempts to make up materially for how cruel he is, but she forgives him so easily that he is never forced to address emotionally how needlessly cruel and judgemental he has been to her. I'm not sure he even apologizes for being wrong about her. The worst part is that at the end of the novel, the female lead eventually starts to worry about whether she's good enough for him, and he affirms his love for her and calls her a "fool" for not seeing it, all without acknowledging how all the things he said and did contributed to that mindset. His total lack of emotional awareness makes it even more difficult to believe that he's "all heart."
Although the book is in many ways an attempt to circumvent problematic sexual norms in historical romance, the two leads' sexual dynamic has a lot of problems. Even though the male lead is set up to be the female lead's rival, she completely outdoes him at every turn in terms of kindness, intelligence, and bravery. The only time he ever gets the better of her is when they're having sex, and he's infuriatingly smug about it. He seems to think that having had sex with the female lead gives him special power over or insight into her and is often uncomfortably sexually aggressive with her. It gets to the point where when he professes a firm belief in women's bodily autonomy, it almost feels out of character.
The male lead isn't particularly heartless or cruel as male leads in romance novels go, but his lack of kindness and borderline sexist behavior run so counter to the themes of the novel that it became nearly unreadable for me. Even if there's a reason for it, completely talking over a woman so that she can't speak reads as sexism. Assuming that a woman is out to catch a husband and disparaging her for it in a society where women are socially obligated to marry reads as sexism. Demanding that women live up to a standard of behavior that is only possible for privileged men reads as sexism. And I'm supposed to believe that this man will give the female lead relief from a sexist world? He's part of that world. ( )

Confession: I actually started this last night, not Monday.

And then stayed up too late.

And then woke up, read it, worked, then snuck off to finish it instead of working.

UHHHHMAAHHHGAHHHH

So allow me to say something superlative but untrue, instead of an actual review, even by my standards.

NOTHING gets me like an entitled (I mean this in a not terrible way) heart of gold hero loving the prickly as hell & challenging heroine.

Nothing.

(But... What about the tortured hero and the one who never....NOTHING...

Wait... What about the forever pining hero and...NOT.A.THING

Except... what about the shy hero who....I SAID NOTHING.

)

This book is freaking wonderful, ok, let's not split hairs. ( )

Dang, this was really good! I super related to the heroine, who is a bit vulnerable under her tough exterior, though she is not my usual favorite type of h (not plain, nor a wallflower, though neglected and there is an instance of abuse on page). Well-written, with complex characters, realistic character arcs, and clever dialogue. This’ll be a candidate for my recurring reads shelf. Definitely will read more by this author! ( )

Arabella Larke and Guy Roth have been betrothed since they were children, but neither wants to go through with the marriage, both detesting the idea of not being able to choose for themselves. They're both stubborn and strong-willed, so there's a lot to work through before a HEA.
It's a good story though I wish the two of them had just listened to the other earlier in the book. It would have saved them both a lot of trouble in the end but then the book would have been too short. I really liked the ending where Arabella comes to terms (of a sort) with her pride.
The secondary characters are fun, and I expect we'll get stories for Freddie and Matilda in the future. I've enjoyed the series so far, and I'm looking for more books from this author. ( )

This was like an enjoyable whirlwind of I don’t even know. Arabella might be one of my most favorite heroines ever with her plans and order, and I want all the best for her; happily it seems that Guy is the right hero for her, even though it took them a lot to get to their HEA. The dialogue here was the epitome of witty repartee, and it worked for these two. All the side characters were great too, and Lady Belinda kicks ass if she did what I think she did. ( )