Technically belongs on the angst shelf, with the misunderstandings and "unrequited" feelings, but I just didn't feel the angst. Like, the events in the book are angsty, but the characters don't seem to really feel the angst either. At the end when they finally admit their feelings to each other, it felt like there wasn't any fanfare. The set-up is exactly my jam, but the resolution didn't live up to its full potential IMO. I think their first kiss happens just kind of incidentally, sometime during or after they have sex? Still, I did enjoy it, as I love a kinda-plus-sized, kinda-plain tomboy heroine who is insecure about her femininity. And the geeky hero is cute too! I realize I should have read the first book in the series before this one to get a bit more context for him, but this one's premise was more appealing. (3.5 stars) ( )

Good second chance/friends to lovers story. Georgie and Edmund had been good friends as children. Both of them had been labeled as "different" and as a result were also each other's only friend. Georgie was a tomboy, more interested in fishing, fencing, and outdoor pursuits than in the "girly" ones of fashion, needlework, and gossip. Edmund was fascinated by bugs and all things scientific. As the heir to an earl, Edmund's mother didn't want him associating with "common" children, so he was very isolated. When Edmund became ill, Georgie found ways to sneak in and see him, until it all came to a crashing end. Edmund was sent away to recover from his illness, and both he and Georgie promised to write. But as months went by with no letters, each believed that the other had abandoned their friendship.

Georgie has grown up and changed from the hoyden that she used to be. After Edmund's departure, her father remarried and her stepmother went to great pains to turn Georgie into a lady. Her methods were extreme and Georgie has buried the girl she used to be under a façade of propriety. Now that her father has died, she and her stepmother and stepsister have lost their home. Her stepmother is determined to marry the two girls off to titled husbands. Georgie has a fear of marriage due to something she witnessed and is desperate to avoid the marriage mart. She remembers that Edmund had promised to help her if she ever needed it, and comes up with a desperate plan.

Edmund is shocked when his first communication from Georgie in years results in an incredible proposal. She wants him to marry her and in return she will leave him to pursue his own interests with no interference from her. All she asks is that he doesn't consummate the marriage. Still angry over what he sees as her abandonment, he shoots her down most emphatically. But it isn't long before he feels guilty and decides to go to London and find a way to help her that doesn't involve him marrying her.

I enjoyed the development of Edmund and Georgie's relationship. It is still antagonistic at the beginning as each confronts the other about their past actions. But there are indications that their previous friendship isn't as dead as they thought it was. I liked the way that their former openness began to resurface as they spent more time together. It was great fun to see Edmund go from wanting to play matchmaker to realizing that he didn't want her to marry some other man. He is completely oblivious to the reason he is so reluctant to hand her over as he comes up with reason after reason that this man or that one is unsuitable. He also becomes very protective of her, which lands him in an awkward situation but also opens his eyes.

Meanwhile, Georgie is stuck doing what she doesn't want - entertaining gentlemen callers who aren't truly interested in her. I ached for her as she dealt with the constant criticisms from her stepmother while trying to find an acceptable solution to her predicament. I liked seeing her real personality begin to reemerge whenever she was with Edmund. I enjoyed seeing her call him out on some of his attitudes toward her, especially on those things she had no control over. It wasn't long before she was comparing each of her suitors to Edmund until she finally realized that it was Edmund she had wanted all along.

Both Edmund and Georgie also had to find a way to overcome their own insecurities. Though he puts on a good front, Edmund is affected by the way others see him. He frequently takes things Georgie says the wrong way as they play upon those insecurities. It was quite satisfying whenever Georgie would upend those feelings by being supportive of the real him. Georgie's insecurities have been thrust on her by her stepmother's attitudes and actions. Georgie is a tall girl with a curvy figure, nothing like the current fashion, and she can't see how any man would want her for who she is. I loved seeing her surprise whenever Edmund would compliment her. Her fears of the physical side of marriage also faded when she pictured Edmund in that role.

I enjoyed the ending as Edmund took drastic steps to gain the result that he wanted. It was fun to see the encouragement he received from his friends, who saw things much more clearly than he did. I loved that he was so willing to be whatever Georgie needed from him. The conclusion was sweet, romantic, and intense as both Edmund and Georgie were finally able to put all their fears to rest.

The secondary characters were also well done. Georgie's stepmother was vividly portrayed in her horrible attitude toward Georgie. There were many times I really wanted someone to let her have it. I was not terribly surprised by the revelation of how she came to marry Georgie's father. Edmund's mother, though she had few actual appearances in the book, had a much bigger role in their lives than either knew. Again, I wasn't surprised by what she did. I liked seeing Edmund finally stand up to her. ( )

Miss Georgiana Wickford had an idyllic childhood with her playmate Edmund, Earl of Ashenden but that all ended abruptly when he was sent away and he never replied to her letters. He is her only hope to avoid the marriage mart. Edmund is still angry at her for not returning his letters but he wants to help her in some capacity, accompanying her to events, but he's finding himself strangely possessive, it's strange.

It's an interesting read and the characters spark well off each other. ( )