A trio of sizzling historical romances that prove passion is timeless . . . Mischief and the Marquess by Sylvia Day Justin, the Marquess of Fontaine, and Lady Sophie Milton-Riley are completely ill-suited to one another. But they will have to prove it in order to end their mothers’ insistence that they should marry. Yet the more they attempt to demonstrate how wrong their union would be, the … marry. Yet the more they attempt to demonstrate how wrong their union would be, the more surprisingly, irresistibly right things feel . . .
THE DUKE’S TREASURE by Minerva Spencer
Plain, prickly Josephine Loman has loved Beaumont Halliwell, the Fifth Duke of Wroxton, since the first time she saw him. But the most beautiful man she’s ever met had eyes only for Jo’s erstwhile friend, who betrayed Beau’s trust by marrying his brother. Beau hasn’t been home in years, but when his brother dies in an accident, he must marry to save the impoverished dukedom. And Jo is the overlooked heiress who will turn his world upside down . . .
THE INCONVENIENT COUNTESS by Kristin Vayden
As the eldest in a poverty-stricken family of daughters, Miss Diana Katherine Lambson’s only option is a marriage of convenience. Her only prospect is a rogue with a miserable reputation. Her only true desire: freedom. And that is exactly what Charles Brook, Earl of Barrington, is willing to offer, in return for the respectability their union will give him. He will even provide Diana with a contract. But does she dare entrust her future to a scoundrel? Does she dare not to?
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The Arrangement is a collection of 3 historical romance novellas from authors Sylvia Day, Minerva Spencer and Kristin Vayden. I thoroughly enjoyed these friends to lovers and marriage of convenience romances though Day’s was my favorite.
Mischief and the Marquess by Sylvia Day
In Mischief and the Marquess, we find Lady Sophie Milton-Riley making a rare social appearance after a scandal that has left her reputation in tatters. She is visiting Justin, the Marquess of Fontaine along with her grandmother. Despite the nerve-wracking situation, she is not blind to her grandmother’s scheming with Justin’s mother to make a match between the two long lost friends.
When she was younger, in her late teens, Sophie assumed Justin to be an arrogant, aloof man who had no sense of adventure compared to her wild ways. Unbeknownst to her, he was quite infatuated with her and lost his chance at love when she married another. But now that she knows of his true feelings and returns them herself, he is prepared to do anything to repair her reputation and marry her.
I love friends to lovers romance novellas because there is already history between the two making it easier to believe the quick love affair. Day does a great job of describing their current attraction and establishing their past history so that you fall right along with them in their sudden connection. Plus, their sneaking around at night adds to the intrigue, especially in a historical romance.
Justin’s mother was a hoot. She made a few appearances which had me loving her frankness with Justin and their honest communication with one another. Sophie and Justin are a great pair. Each with their own differences and yet together, the perfect compliments to one another. A great read!
The Duke’s Treasure by Minerva Spencer
The Duke’s Treasure brings us a marriage of convenience story. We first meet Beaumont Halliwell, the Fifth Duke of Wroxton, and Josephine Loman at their wedding. Beau has arranged this marriage with Jo’s father because he is in desperate need of her money all while unaware that she’s harbored feelings for him for 5 years since their first meeting.
This is a short story of their growing affection and trust in the early days of their marriage all while Jo’s father is on his deathbed, causing her heartache as well as an unwelcomed visit from a meddling sister-in-law.
Jo is very likeable and feisty to the demanding Beau. He’s harder to like but I do love his outlook on the marriage he hopes to have.
Overall, I felt like the novella was very well written and had great pacing with great character development for such a short story. I couldn’t really understand why Jo was heartbroken that Beau didn’t remember her from 5 years ago given how she “saw” him back then, but it was such a minor part of the story that I just let it go.
The Inconvenient Countess by Kristin Vayden
The Inconvenient Countess is another marriage of convenience romance story. Diana Lambson is the eldest of 5 daughters who feels duty bound to protect her family since their estate has grown destitute since her father’s death. Given their dire straights, she has no choice but to agree to the marriage of convenience proposed by Charles Brook, Earl of Barrington.
Brook has lived a life of debauchery and is now saddled with a reputation in tatters. This wouldn’t otherwise bother him however it’s impeding a business deal that he’s been counting on and the only way to seal the deal is to find a wife who can give him respectability.
Both are desperate and faced without a choice, but this is fiction so of course they luck out in their marriage becoming more than just friendship. With it being a novella, things of course move very fast. Given his reputation and her age, it’s hard to buy that they fall in love after just one week together. The story, however, was very well written and pulled together for a novella. You’ll just have to go with the instalove on this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for the advanced reader copy. All opinions of this book were my own.
Read my full review on my romance book blog, She Reads Romance Books, here: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/book-reviews/the-arrangement. You can join my list to get all my reviews and my list of top 10 Romance Book Boyfriends here: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/boyfriend-list-sign-up.
I really enjoyed these 3 historical shorts of these authors I’m all familiar with. I actually missed reading some Sylvia’s historical’s, so this was a nice cleansing palette of the past few books I have read. All of these stories give a great glimpse of what each three of the these authors on what and how they write and plus there are some excerpts of 2+ chapters of some of their books. I’m looking forward to more!
GaH! And can I say I fell in love with this cover! The colors and pose, the cover artist got it right!
I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I didn’t realise that this was an anthology of 3 historical romances by 3 separate authors. It didn’t put me off reading it though. Nice to read novellas for a change! I loved all the stories but Sylvia Day’s was my favourite. Mischief and the Marquess – A cute friends to lovers story about 2 friends who grew up together and get a second chance. A beautiful story which I’m sure you will love too along with the other 2 novellas.
I did think the formatting/layout of the book could have been better.
The Arrangement.
Mischief and the Marquess by Sylvia Day is a refreshing, fun, and scorching read all in one! 5 Stars
Justin, the Marquess of Fontaine, and Lady Sophie Milton-Riley, had known each other when they were younger. Both Justin and Sophie, now widowed, knew their reintroduction after so many years, was a matchmaking scheme in the making. Justin’s outward demeanor was always serious but under all of that was someone deeply in love with the reckless and vivacious Sophie. Sophie’s impulsive, daring, and mischievous behavior always got her into trouble and ultimately cost her her reputation, but it gave her a son. Now that she knew what her grandmother and best friend were up to, she knew she had to save the Justin she remembered and cared so much about, from a life of ruin and ostracism by the ton by association.
This is a deliciously steamy “second chance at love” story that is guaranteed to set off the smoke detectors! It’s a great story that grabs and holds your attention with a witty dialogue, some humor, great characters, and a five alarm romance that leaves nothing to the imagination. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I’m a fan.
Happy Reading
Content Note: Adult Rated
Some reader’s may be offended by the steamy and strong explicit sex scene descriptions and words.
5 out of 5 flames!
The Arrangement
The Duke’s Treasure by Minerva Spencer. 5 Stars!
I Loved, Loved, Loved it!Jo and Beau’s story is an exciting and beautifully written steamy treasure… What some might presumptuously expect to be “just another typical Historical Romance” will be surprised and delighted to find this story to be anything but!
Jo and Beau are the most unlikely couple but with the Dukedom in desperate need of money along with the pressure to honor the broken marriage contract from Beau’s brother, the prior Duke 5 years ago, doesn’t leave him a choice other than to marry the unremarkable but wealthy merchant’s daughter. The cleverly plotted storyline is charming, sassy, heartbreaking, witty, and humorous, with great attention to detail, great character development, and a smoking hot romance, with a HEA. This is everything I look for in great historical romance.
The writing and the characters are so engaging and descriptive that I found myself riveted and happily lost within the scorching hot love story.
I recommend this story to everyone who loves a well written historical romance, and is not afraid of a red hot romance that can leave you with a tantalizing sunburn! This is my third story read by this author and I’m a big fan, and excited to read more of her work!
Happy Reading
Content Note: Adult Rated
Some reader’s may be offended by the very steamy and strong explicit sex scene descriptions and words.
5 out of 5 flames!
I highly recommend this anthology. Three exceptional writers share the theme of arranged marriages. There is some pain, humor and not exactly an easy path to an HEA. Great epilogues. Day’s novella was published in 2007 and works in with the other two new ones. If you haven’t read any books by these authors you’re definitely missing out on some good reading.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.
I received an ARC of The Arrangement from Netgalley. This book is made up of three fabhlous stories. Sylvia Day’s Mischief and The Marquess is a fun loving sweet humorous love story between two childhood friends. Minerva Spencer’s The Duke’s Treasure is a story about a marriage of convenience between a Duke, Beaumont and a cit’s daughter, Josephine and their developing love.
Kristin Vayden’s An Inconvenient Countess is the story of Brook, an Earl, also called The Devil’s Bachelor, and Diana, a strong but poor young lady wanting to take care of her family. Thiers is a marriage of convenience that turns out to be inconvenient when emotions get involved. What I loved most about each story was how quickly they flowed and came to their HEA conclusion. Great stories!