Her mother told her not to be silly. That she did not have the sense God gave a goose. The other children called her Silly Sophie.
Used to a lifetime of neglect, Sophie is still shocked when her mother disowns her. Where is she to go in London, a city that is wholly new to her?
Fortunately, a chain of events dramatically changes her life. Sophie finds new friends and is reunited with her … reunited with her brother, the Earl of Nethercote. She also falls in love. But at heart she is still Silly Sophie. How can she compete against the alluring lady who has gentlemen falling over her?
Christopher, the Duke of Henderson has had enough of being pursued by women. When his lackey informs him that a young woman was found in his carriage house and claims to have lost her memory, he is incensed.
But when the frightened young woman in a dirt-stained gown is presented to him, he knows she is no conniving female. Babbling of kings and dukes, she is most likely missing a few marbles!
At first intrigued and then entranced by Sophie’s honest feelings, Christopher must guard his love from dangers unforeseen and from the scheming and vicious Lady Dorothea who is determined to become his duchess.
Never Silly Sophie is Book 4 of the Sisters by Marriage Series. All the books in the series can be read in any order and also independently.
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Clean Regency Romance: Never Silly Sophie (Sisters By Marriage Book 4) by Jessica Spencer
Starts with a listing of the chapters then the story. London 1817 and we find Sophie is taking a ride with Mrs. Bridget Hastings, her mother.
She is always being told she has no sense and is silly….her adopted sister Isabelle is the one most favored and is sent to special high class school while Sohpie attends a nunnery.
They traveled from India to London and Sophie has been told a lot of different stories about her father and step father and she learns her mother disowned her as street urchins were harassing her…
She escapes and lands in Duke Christopher’s carriage and finds a corner to sleep til she’s discovered the next morning and brought in front of Christopher. He takes her under care but she runs away and saves a little boy from a carriage running him over.
The Barringtons then take her under their care and give her food, clothing and a beautiful room to live in while tending to the little boy, in their gardens. She is then kidnapped as her mother had made a deal with Jeremy but Christopher comes to her rescue again.
She overhears others conversations and will keep her distance from Christopher as she fears she’s not in the same class and others will look down on them…He knows he is smitten with her and tries to keep her safe from harm and others…
Lots of drama as it is the season and so much gossip leads to other tales….
Things get complicated and you wonder who is going to end up with who…
Enjoyed the book but wish there were explanations to some of the words, the dictionary couldn’t find them.
Received this review copy from the author and this is my honest opinion.
Sophie never quite understood why her mother, Mrs. Bridget Hastings had hardly a kind word to say to her, but showered praise and kindness on Isabella, who isn’t Bridget’s daughter, but someone entrusted to her care. Sophie has to do all the chores, while Isabella does none. Isabella gets proper schooling, but Sophie only went to the local school in India because her stepfather insisted upon it. Sophie is constantly put down by her mother; being called silly, stupid and lacking the sense God gave a goose! But even after all the verbal and emotional abuse she’s suffered over the years, Sophie isn’t prepared to have her mother disown her and put her out on the street. They’ve only arrived in London from India a few days ago, and Sophie knows no one, and nothing about London. What is she going to do? She’s going to have to find a job, but where?
Christopher, the Earl of Henderson, is tired of women chasing him for his title. When he discovers that his cousin, Lord Barrington, new nursery maid is none other than the young woman he’s had a couple of encounters with he’s intrigued. After all the young women being paraded in front of him by their pushy mothers, Sophie is a breath of fresh air.
I don’t want to give anything away but all is not as it seems for Sophie and Isabella, which leads to drastic changes for them and Mrs. Bridget Hastings. Throughout the book I felt for Sophie. To feel unloved by your mother, to be in completely foreign surroundings and naive about how the Ton worked. Sophie was a complete innocent and trusted everyone, including those she shouldn’t. As far as Christopher, Earl of Henderson, he was the perfect guy for Sophie, but he wasn’t perfect. Like a lot of men with good intentions, he thought he was protecting Sophie, when in reality, if he would’ve had an honest conversation with her about a certain Lady Dorothea she’d have been prepared for the conniving woman’s tricks.
Of course everything works out in the end. If they didn’t why would we read romances? I enjoyed the latest in this series (which don’t have to be read in order). It has a handsome Lord, switched identities, a kidnapping, a new found family, a heartless mother, a scheming Lady of the Ton, but also a lot of characters who do what is right and believe in helping others. Best of all, Sophie learns she was never Silly Sophie.
I received a complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed in my review are my own.
Jessica Spencer – Sisters by Marriage Bk 4 – Never Silly Sophie – Reviewed 5/15/20 – Read 5/5-6/20
Arriving in a new town, disowned by your own mother, where can you go, Silly Sophie?
@ddeegott When Sophie arrived in London from India, everything was so strange, the weather, the city, and the people. Mrs. Bridget Hastings never let up on the belittling of her daughter, telling her that she was so silly! Sophie could never understand why her mother did not love her! Along with the belittling she constantly ignored her, not having any time except for Isabella, and forcing Sophie to do all the work. Isabella was special you see, the daughter of an earl, that had entrusted Bridget with the baby, when he died on the boat to India. Mrs. Hastings raised Isabella to someday take her place among her peers when she would be reunited with her surviving brother. Of course, he would be so overwhelmed with her care of his sister, that she would be rewarded by joining the family.
Christopher, the 7th Duke of Henderson, is caught off guard when he is informed that a young lady was found in the carriage house, claiming to have lost her memory. He has been the target of many of the ladies of the ton, trying to put him in a position of having to marry one of them. Angry, he tells them to bring the woman to him immediately, but as he looks up and sees a young lady with dirty clothes and oversized shoes trying to hold her dress in the air, and present him with a bow as custom requires. He is overtaken by the scene. At once he knows my instinct that the frightened Sophie is not one of the scheming women after him. He is intrigued by the young lady and tells his man to have his housekeeper help clean up the young woman, and that she is welcome to spend the night. Alas, when morning dawns the young woman is gone. When Sophie arrives at home, her mother is so mad that she disowns her, telling her to remove herself from the premises… Now, what??? How can this be??? What shall she do??? And the story begins…
What did I like? This is the final book in the Sisters by Marriage series, I am really sad as they have been so wonderful to read. Filled with awesome characters with so many different problems all leading to the conclusion with this book. Each main character has filled my heart with the love that each of us finds when you have found strong women with values. The storylines will take you by storm and keep you on the edge till the final pages turn. I think of the four books, I really like this one the best, the storyline has a double mystery, and keeps that mystery working till the end. The surprising ending is absolutely amazing. I thought I saw it, but it has this unusual twist that just popped up.
What will you like? Characters that are so real that you will think they are some of your very distant relations. Even the bad guys are truly remarkable and thankfully, get their just deserts! When reading Regency stories, you must picture in your mind the differences as compared to today. Gita has this wonderful mind that is filled with imagination, she makes that period come to life in your mind’s eye with flair. Descriptions and details are so precise and told so that the dresses are created, the carriages, the homes, the streets, and the area is alive and in front of you. You can see on every page the research that it took for her to complete the book in this fashion and rounded it all out with a touch of humor. Bear in mind that Jessica Spencer lives in India but has a strong love of the Regency Period.
• File Size: 3021 KB
• Print Length: 317 pages
• Publication Date: April 17, 2020
• ASIN: B08792F97D
• Genre: Victorian Historical Romance, Regency Historical Romance