A Regency. It’s late August, and the heir to the title, Earl of Bentley, faces a dilemma. He must find, persuade, and marry a titled and moneyed English lady before October 30th or he will lose his estates, lands, and finances. So, Bentley, unlearned in the Rules of Love and the intricacies of women’s psyches confronts a ticking clock. He hires a matchmaker.Lady Camilla Merriweather, eldest … eldest daughter of a viscount, must use her considerable beauty to marry a rich, titled, Englishman to save her large family from the poverty and disgrace brought upon them by huge losses in the stock market. Due to a mix-up, Lady Camilla finds herself at a house party set in motion by the Earl’s matchmaker. Will a series of blunders and adventures lead to a happily-ever-after ending?
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Lord Bentley Needs a Bride is a fun, fast-paced novella set in the Regency period. Author, Anne Greene, packs a lot into this story of a future earl choosing a wife.
Hero, Lord Bentley, hires a matchmaker to narrow down his candidates. Honestly, I loved Miss Somerset (the matchmaker) and kind thought the hero should have chosen her! She is older then he, but not on the shelf yet. Maybe we will see a future story for her. Regency novels usually include balls, assemblies, house parties, musicales, and more. This novella gives us most of these along with a variety of entertaining prospective brides. Lady Camilla Merriweather is the hero’s favorite, but has other suitors vying for her hand. Lord Bentley certainly doesn’t beat around the bush in sifting through the elimination process; he’s very methodical and tries to follow and remember the rules. I liked that about him. I feel like I didn’t know Camilla very well. Most of the focus was on Lord Bentley, his life, and personality. She seemed nice though.
The romance was sweet, but with an underlying passion surfacing a little. Give Anne Greene a longer book and I know one could guarantee more romance. A novella where the couple barely meets and have to be engaged quickly doesn’t give much time for more.
If you are in the Regency mood and want a quick, entertaining story, Lord Bentley Needs a Bride, is a great choice for you. Make a pot of tea, put on some classical music, and join the house party of Lord Bentley and friends.
Lord Bentley Needs a Bride by Anne Greene
Book starts out with Bentley and he knows he has to find a wife very soon so he as the oldest can take over the estate and the management of it.
His younger brother has sabotaged all that with the rumors going around town.
Book also follows Camille Meriweather who has younger sisters and a father and knows she needs to get out from under her father’s care.
Bentley after conversing with Sebastian his friend, take the advice of an aunt with the rules of love and rules of the fan and what is meant by different movements.
He throws a stay over party for several woman as he tries to get to know them. Problem is things go missing, the list of women are NOT the ones that should’ve been invited and things just get worse.
Love the things they do have in common, God foremost and horses. Then he learns of why he has to marry even sooner than expected and he’s not sure she will take him as a spouse when she’s courting two other dukes.
Like turmoil in this one as it throws a wrench in the fire.
Other works by the author and her bio at included at the end.
Received this review copy from the author via Bookfun.org and this is my honest opinion.
Oh what a lovely weekend read! I adored both Bentley and Camilla as they interacted together. Such a sweet love story and a twist on the “must get married” story line. Swoon-worthy hero and lovable heroine are well-written and with believable flaws. I loved the whole thing and didn’t want it to end!
What a delightfully cute short story! I’ve never read anything by Anne Greene before and this short book was a great introduction to her books. If you like Regency era novels and sweet romance, you’ll totally enjoy this book.
The writing flows well and is easy to read. The prose is quite amusing and sometimes outright funny, especially some of Lord Bentley’s thoughts. The plot moves quickly and keeps the reader engaged. Lord Bentley is an unconventional hero who clearly makes a very different impression on Lady Camilla than the one he has of himself. Lady Camilla is a beautiful young lady full of charm, poise, and grace but poor. She has a negative impression of Lord Bentley at the beginning but realizes who he really is pretty quickly. They each need to marry soon for similar reasons – saving their respective families.
The book is filled with your typical Regency house parties and balls and proper etiquette but made more interesting by Lord Bentley’s reactions to all of the formality since he basically has to learn all of this in a few weeks to acquire a wife.
There is a bit of a plot twist that Lord Bentley’s brother throws in, which helps build the tension in the plot.
I received a review copy of this book from the author through The Book Club Network. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.