A friends-to-lovers, military hero, “pretend” romance from a New York Times bestselling author: When Major Bartholomew Blackpool learns the girl-next-door from his childhood will be forced into an unwanted marriage, he returns home to play her pretend beau. The one-time dandy knows Society demands perfection—and he’ll ensure his old friend finds just that.Miss Daphne Vaughan hates that crying off … that.
Miss Daphne Vaughan hates that crying off will destroy Major Blackpool’s chances of finding a real bride. She plots to make him jilt her first. Who cares if it ruins her? She never wanted a husband anyway. But the major is equally determined that she break the engagement. With both of them on their worst behavior, neither expects their fake betrothal to lead to love…
Regency-set Historical Romance Novel
The Dukes of War historical romance books in series order:
- The Viscount’s Tempting Minx
- The Earl’s Defiant Wallflower
- The Captain’s Bluestocking Mistress
- The Major’s Faux Fiancee
- The Brigadier’s Runaway Bride
- The Pirate’s Tempting Stowaway
- The Duke’s Accidental Wife
- A Dukes of War Holiday Reunion
more
Major Bartholomew Blackpool lost a leg in the war, as well as his twin brother. When Daphne Vaughan pleads with her childhood friend to become her faux fiancee so her new guardian will not marry her off – or send her to Bedlam, he agrees since he doesn’t feel he’s good for much else. They only need to keep up the charade for a short time, when Daphne will receive her inheritance on her birthday and will not have to worry about her guardian anymore. Of course, they both begin to have second thoughts about the faux engagement and it was fun to see how they figure out a way to resolve the situation. I liked both of the main characters and was glad that they came to realize what their priorities really should be. I look forward to more stories in this series, I’ve enjoyed them all very much so far.
Daphne and Bartholomew are people I find that I have something in common with – for different reasons. Daphne is strong-willed, opinionated, has a plan for her life, but grudgingly has to bow to the will of someone who has authority over her – not so different from me and my unwillingness to tell my mom off. What I have in common with Bartholomew is the unfortunate tendency to see myself as so imperfect that I cannot possibly meet other people’s standards so I stop trying. It does my heart good to see two people who have similar challenges find their way to their happy ending; it encourages me to hope and work for my own.
Slow paced but interesting. Not really sure how they fell in love as they don’t spend much time together. Ending was romantic though.
Delightful, Wonderful & Romantic
A Wonderful Story with the characters who feel they are unworthy of anyone’s attention.
Daphne’s character could seem so caught up in her head, you want to shake or smack her. Tell her to get out of her own way.
Bartholomew is a broken man who feels guilty for not saving his twin brother at war. He feels inadequate since he lost part of a leg at war.
These 2 characters are so Adorable together.
Again a Wonderful ssf tory.
A delightful story…great for kicking back and enjoying a good story!
Excellent and compelling .
Enjoyed it was a fast read between more in-depth novels
Loved it!
I enjoyed reading this book. It kept me entertained and interested the whole time.
Strong heroine shows pure love to hero — Ah, dreams!
Good read
Light reading with little action and well-developed characters.
Not for me, the heroine Daphne quite irradiated me with her constant martyrdom, I liked the Honorable Major Blackpool.
Daphne has devoted herself to causes and trying to help those in need because she believes herself unlovable. Bartholomew has lost a leg and his brother. He enlists his high society friends (with money), and convinces her to accept their help to do even more, and she convinces him that his damaged body does not detract from her love for him. Of course, getting to the end has many stumbles and funny & touching moments.
I enjoyed reading (Mills & Boone) really about sorting out and expressing our hangups and feelings
The Major’s Faux Fiancee, by Erica Ridley, became available at booksellers in June of 2015. Fiancee is book 4 in the Dukes Of War series. I’m sorry to say that 2 stars is all I feel able to award this story. I didn’t finish the entire story but did read the ending to know there really was a HEA. The heroine irritated me. She believes since everyone left her that she’s destined to be alone. In that case, she doesn’t have time for those around her, the masses must be saved. It’s her duty and her legacy. I think she was actually selfish, not selfless.
The hero isn’t any better. He lost part of a leg in the war and now isn’t a man anymore. He has a nifty prosthetic, state of the art for those times, but he’s still in a funk. Our lady does get him out of the house, for the sake of a childhood friend, but he’s kicking and screaming about it. He goes on and on about how he’s not worthy, he’s no longer a man. It’s tiresome. They do eventually straighten up and get happy but it was too late for me to become invested.
#TheMajor’sFauxFiancee #DukesOfWar #EricaRidley
Complete Dukes of War fourth book
This is a truly amazing story of two people that grew up together but have been given a hard life to live. They come together and help each other heal and learn to love at the same time.
Such a fun and romantic story!
I loved, loved, loved Daphne and the way she stood up to her guardian – a pirate, no less! – and stood her ground with regards to her plans for her life. This girl’s been hurt, a lot, but she channels that hurt into helping wherever she can, and she’s really making a difference.
Bartholomew is just starting to climb out of the darkness and guilt that threatens to consume him since he lost both his twin brother and his leg in the war. The author pulls no punches in helping us understand his trauma as well as his subsequent journey back to wanting a life worth living. The fact that Daphne needs him to hold back the threats levied upon her by her guardian gives him the first feelings of usefulness and purpose that he’s felt in months, and his confidence only compounds from there.
There were quite a few true laugh-out-loud moments, and writing that was so brilliant I had to stop and read sections out loud to my family so they’d understand why I was cheering and laughing and so completely enjoying this story. This entire Dukes of War series has been wonderful, but this one is my favorite of all.
Excellent plot with extremely interesting characters.