I felt like this one had good potential, but a couple things brought it down a bit for me. The heroine is kind of a ninny. She's naive, yeah, but also very gullible, easily manipulated, and lacking in insight! I don't need all my leads to be brilliant, but I would have enjoyed her a lot more if she had more sense. Also, the hero, I swear fell in love between scenes. One moment he's all 'love her? I'm not sure I even like her!' and the next he's entirely certain in his undying love for her and acts like that's just a given. ? It left me feeling a bit suspect rather than won over. Smaller things- all the characters went on and on that she jilted him *twice* but the second time was just a refusal to be engaged again, that's not a repeated break of an engagement. They brought it up like 20 times and it was inaccurate in all of them. lol. Also, they went on and on about his "dark desires" and "tying women up with cravats" but then didn't show any of it! If they brought it up a couple times and then didn't ever produce evidence, fine. But it was mentioned SO many times! And then he never did any of it to her. And wasn't really into anything very wicked either. Double lame. The horse was a good addition to the story. ( )

More Or Less A Marchioness by Anna Bradley
Somerset Sisters #1

Twists and Turns
A wager
A secret tryst overheard
Can love be found in a match made without it?

This is an intriguing book with a debutante that has her blinders removed only to realize she wants more than her future may hold for her. Sure, a noble is something to aspire to for a husband but is it enough? Iris Somerset is not so sure after overhearing her bequeathed in the garden talking to his last mistress. And thus begins the pursuit of true love by two people in the ton. Do they want true love? Perhaps Iris does but Finn is one who only wants a woman to be his perfect Marchioness. What is expected versus what one desires is a prickly pear to deal with.

I enjoyed this book and would love to see a book about Lady Annabel Tallant in the future as well as some others mentioned in the book. I know we will see Violet and Hyacinth (sisters of Iris) in the future and am eager to find out who they end up with.

My main takeaway is that this book is a historical romance that is plausible. I loved Iris and her awakening and move toward being true to herself. I also liked the awakening of Finn and his coming into his own. Great story and well worth reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensginton Books – Lyrical Press for the ARC – this is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley to read in exchange for a fair review. More Or Less A Marchioness is the first book from Anna Bradley’s new series The Somerset Sisters. Characters from her previous series appear in this book, so fair warning you will probably be intrigued enough to want to read them too after reading this book. Phineas (Finn) Lord Huntington is looking for a bride, one with no complications, a good dowry, beautiful, obedient. Love is a complication that does not interest him in his hunt for a bride. Iris Somerset has been doing all the things she is supposed to do as a diamond of the first water on the marriage mart and here she is betrothed to a Marquess but shouldn’t there be something more? When Lord Huntington firmly rejects her request for a kiss and she overhears a very enlightening conversation with his ex mistress about dark passions Iris tells him she no longer wishes to marry him. Shocked that the chit would have the temerity to reject him a marquess, Finn begins to look at Iris for the first time and comes to realize perhaps a lack of complications is not what he truly wants. Iris realizes that in attempting to be the prize on the marriage mart she is losing herself and begins to explore who she is and what she wants. A dastardly villain, a house party, some erotic literature, and a horse race all add up to a quite steamy story that you won’t be able to put down. Publishing Date February 6th 2018 #MoreOrLessAMarchioness #NetGalley ( )

I won this KINDLE version in a GOODREADS giveaway. ( )