I’ve learned the widower and pregnancy tropes are not for me. ( )

Edmond is a widower of 3 years. His wife and son died in childbirth, and he blames himself for their deaths. He realizes that his other children are lonely, so he decides to marry so they can have a mother.

Adeline was attacked by an Earl and now her father is trying to force her to marry her attacker. In order to escape that fate, she hatches of plan to have herself caught in the room of a man that she cares for who previously offered for her hand. But she finds herself in the wrong room.

Adeline was alright, but Edmond was an ass most of the time. I felt bad for him, and he had some good moments, but I don't think that the good completely made up for the bad. The relationship was very imbalanced because Edmond was so closed off for most of the book. And the relationship that they had seemed more lustful than loving until the very end. ( )

Accidentally Compromising the Duke
4 Stars

Miss Adeline Hayes is desperate to avoid marriage to the letch her parents have chosen. To do so, she conspires with her best friend to compromise her sweet and kind childhood beau. Unfortunately, events do not go as planned and Adel finds herself in bed with the "mad duke", Edmond Rochester, who has sworn off love despite his desire for his delectable new Duchess.

A delightfully fun and charming read.

Adel and Edmond are both very likable, and their reactions to the circumstances are honest and honorable rather than angst-ridden. Their chemistry is palpable with excellent banter and sizzling interactions.

Nevertheless, there are one or two problematic issues. First and foremost is the fact that the book requires editing as there are numerous grammatical and spelling errors. Moreover, the secondary characters are stereotypical clichès, and the subplots remain underdeveloped. One unexplained element that is particularly strange is the fact that despite the focus on Edmond's first wife dying in childbirth, the difficult birth of Adel's twins takes place off page. Surely, the details should have been included to provide closure for this trope?

Despite these problems, the book is well-written and engaging. I look forward to reading more by this author.

( )

This was a nice little romance with a cute story about how these to fall in love. I also liked that there was not too much drama and that most problems get resolved fairly quickly. They may not have been each other‘s first choice, but it was nice to see that they were inevitably meant to be together. A selfish trick that turned into a magical love. I really liked these two. ( )

I would say that the characters are likable, but both a little bit daft. I'm not big on the 'I can never love anyone because I lost someone I loved once and it hurt and now I can't ever risk it again' mentality though. It quickly starts feeling both foolish and cowardly and the longer it's drawn out the more tedious it is. The heroine's shortcoming largely came from her just being kinda immature. For how trying I find those qualities, it's actually a little impressive that I *did* still like them. It wasn't a bad book, but it's my least favorite of the 6 books I've read by this author. ( )