Ally Blake

Matilda and her three sisters get an unwelcome surprise when their father dies. To inherit his vast Australian estate, each daughter must be married within a year of his death; otherwise, it will go to their family rival. None of the women are currently involved in romantic relationships. Complicating matters, Matilda is technically already married, though she has no idea where her husband is.

The backstory of Matilda's marriage was interesting and a bit sad. She fell in love with a young man she met while traveling, and they married without sharing any real information about themselves. When she learned of her mother's illness, she rushed home, leaving Henri behind and hoping he'd follow. He never did, which broke her heart. She has since moved on with her life. But with this complication, she knows she must find him, and returning to where they met is her only option to begin her search.

Matilda didn't know that Henri was a prince in disguise, taking a summer off before beginning his duties. He fell for Matilda, her vivacity, and how she made him forget his troubles. When she left, he tried to put her out of his mind and moved on to take up his royal duties.

Their reunion was pure chance. Matilda was happy to see him again and explained her reason for seeking him out. She was shocked to find out who he was. Neither expected the sparks between them to be as strong as before. When Henri invites her to stay at the castle while they figure things out, Matilda agrees.

I liked Matilda. She is a mostly upbeat person with a fascinating career. She's up for the prospect of getting to know Henri. I could feel a little frustration from her at the lack of time she initially spent with him but she understood the press of his duties. I had a more challenging time with Henri. Thanks to his upbringing, he seems to be an odd combination of control freak and insecure.

As they spent time together, they discovered that their connection was still there. There were some sweet scenes of their activities and how Matilda fit into his life. However, Henri's issues with his past complicate his vision of Matilda becoming a permanent part of his life. He tended to project his fears onto what he thought she felt instead of talking to her about her feelings. Matilda wasn't much better about being honest about her feelings.

Things come to a head when they finally talk about their past. I never understood why neither went looking for the other sooner. Matilda's delay was somewhat logical because she knew so little about Henri. Henri did not have that excuse. For heaven's sake, he's a prince with plenty of resources that would make finding her reasonably straightforward, but he couldn't be bothered. The method of their separation ticked me off, but was redeemed in the end. I liked Matilda and Henri's "aha" moments, and his big moment at the end was well done.… (mehr)

3.5 Stars. This is the second book in a trilogy, characters from the first book make brief appearances here, so you get a quick little catch up with the couple from that book, but this one can easily be enjoyed as a standalone, something I’ve always appreciated about Harlequin Category series.

I know there are word count limits for these books so its probably tricky to include much beyond the romance, but I was interested in Sawyer looking out for his mom and siblings from a young age, and Petra feeling like the odd duck in her family wanting to prove herself to her parents by reviving an art gallery, so I kind of wished there had been room for a few more family interactions.

I also thought the conflict could have been a little more defined, it’s one of those situations where a conversation would mostly resolve things, but I did really like Petra and Sawyer’s chemistry, it never feels forced and they have that good mix of sweet and snappy that you can almost always count on in an Ally Blake book.

Obviously given the title of this one, there’s a fake engagement in this story, I wasn’t convinced that Petra and Sawyer’s circumstances really required a fake relationship, but right now tropes seem to be the main marketing tool for romances so its understandable why a trope is kind of shoehorned in there even when the story could have just as easily been told without it.

Personally, when I pick out a romance to buy/read, tropes are the last thing on my mind, I’m not interested in what makes this the same as other romances I’ve read, I’m looking for things that make each novel that little bit different, memorable details like I found here in the pink feather that’s mentioned really early on that has a swoony callback moment later, and similarly the aluminum tab, that kind of stuff isn’t picked up on by algorithms but it’s what sells me on an author and the couple.… (mehr)

This had a fun concept, a young woman is accidentally booked onto a cruise full of elderly couples and falls for a crew member on board the ship, beyond the concept though, this felt somewhat underdeveloped.

I tend to like stories where an older character shares their wisdom (in a non-preachy way) with a younger one. While the senior citizens actively wanted a happily ever after for J.J., they were mostly used for humor (much of that humor about their continued interest in sex), which I didn’t mind, but I was a little disappointed that there weren’t a few more moments of substance for the elderly characters.

Setting isn’t always a big deal to me, but when the setting involves something relatively unusual like a cruise ship, I do want the experience to feel a bit more vicarious, a bit more descriptive than I found this to be.

As for the romance, while there was chemistry, there wasn’t enough of anything else. What little tension there was between them wasn’t strung out for very long (or at least not very long by the standards of a reader who prefers a slow burn), in addition to that the conflict keeping them apart wasn’t all that apparent, and although each had baggage (Kane suffered a great loss, JJ had an extremely brief marriage) those didn’t really fuel goals or growth arcs or a concrete plot of any sort.

There are plenty of books by this author I’d recommend like Faking It To Making It, this one though just fell a little bit shy of what I was looking for at the moment, but if you’ve read a bunch of romances lately that felt too plot forward or too angsty, this one, without much drama, may feel like a good palette cleanser.… (mehr)

I didn’t love that a major plot point is revealed in the title and it’s not like it’s a plot point that comes early in the novel either. I get that it’s a marketing thing to put that in the title, that tropes are for some readers a big selling point at the moment, I just would have preferred to have that turn of events come as a surprise while reading rather than knowing it was coming long before it did.

Although at times it felt like there was a little too much emphasis on Ted’s size that had me picturing a giant wrestler, personality-wise, I liked both Ted and Adelaid, for the most part there was a maturity to the way they handled their relationship that will be appreciated by any reader who isn’t fond of unnecessary melodrama.

It was good to see a heroine who’s navigating life with ADHD, it’s something I don’t know a ton about, so it was interesting to learn how it affects Adelaid and how she makes it work for her. This was also where Ted’s most appealing quality, his respect for Adelaid, shone brightest, I loved his desire to understand her behavior rather than correct it.

If you’re a fan of classic movies like I am, you’ll also enjoy the mentions of Katherine Hepburn, Grace Kelly, etc. sprinkled throughout, they add a fun touch to the story well-matched with the author’s effervescent voice.… (mehr)