Honestly, really enjoyed this book!

Loved the gradual build up of the couple going from hating to liking each other. Alot of the time my annoyance with historical romances is that the leads just suddenly fall in love with each other (I guess its more of a love at first sight kind of thing), like they wont have talked or communicated or anything and SUDDENLY the only person for them will be other lead. DONT GET ME WRONG I completely get when the couple has an arranged marriage and zero communication before because in that case the book is focused more on their life after marriage, and how they develop feeling for each other then. Some HR books just give nothing to work with and really no chemistry between the actual couple.

Sorry for that... now back to this book

I think it was great how the book hinted that characters although not knowing each other very well, had a sort of history, in the sense that she was his grandmothers companion and he was always vary of her. I actually enjoy it when they give us something like this, because then it moves up the pace of the story, then we dont have to go through the entire build up of their first few meetings and stuff. This kind off gives us a little background on why they have certain opinions about each other and also gets rid of the whole insta love thing I described above.

Moving on...

The characters were great. Molly was not an obnoxious and overwhelming heroine, she wasnt a very shy and submissive individual either. She was strong and bold in the best way without coming off as rude and annoying. Aside from being a little oblivious to Harts actual feelings (but this in some ways added to her charm) she was a great character.

Hart on the other hand also had a strong personality and he was much like HR males
that are in other books (not a bad thing). His little escapades trying to detter Molly from showing up for the marriage and his confusion at Mollys true character I think somewhat formed the base of this book (and this is besides the fact that his reasoning for whatever he was doing was slightly flawed... however we do get a justification at the end). ALSO something I appreciated about Hart is that once he settled on what his feelings were he didnt give any room for miscommunication, whatever Mollys concerns were he didnt drag them out like it was something that left them with no hope, INSTEAD he blatantly told her that they infact do work well together and all her concerns about society and her station really DONT matter. (This may have also been due to the length of the book and there wasnt much of it left when the confession came but either way it was good)

Another thing I liked was how short and quick this book was but it didn't feel like it was missing anything. ALSO it was a clean romance (Loved this! So hard to find books like this... there honestly NEED to be more because books with all of that do not make the love and attraction feel genuine AT ALL... its always so surface level. Glad this book was without it!) The development of this cute romance was nicely tied together. Would definitely recommend if someone is looking for a nice quick read where you dont have to wait too long to get into the actual story! :)

2.5 Stars, a perfectly fine afternoon read.

Easy to read "traditional" style regency. Nice way to pass an afternoon. "Regency" setting is a bit more window dressing than important to what's going on.

Regency romance is one of my favorite genres. I enjoy Debbie's writing style, the emotion she evokes and her distinctly drawn characters. Loved the battle of wits between Hart and Molly. I was hoping there would be a book about Hart's cousin, Thorpe. I haven't yet seen if there is one or not. Definitely recommend.

Molly Conwell's life has been quite unremarkable - until she learns the startling details of her late employer Lady Woodhart's will: the sum of 30,000 pounds will be divided equally between the deceased's grandson, Viscount "Hart" Woodhart, and Molly if they wed. If one or the other fails to appear, then the present party receives the entire fortune. Molly has no intention to wed Hart, but if she inherits the money she could help her brother regain his proper place in Society. Besides, she's convinced that her prospective groom, who has always accused her of being a fortune hunter, will not present himself. As Molly embarks on a daring charade, she discovers a fierce opponent in Hart - and an even fiercer desire for this dangerously handsome man who may prove impossible to resist...

Fortunately, this story features likable characters, as the plot (and the heroine's and her brother's repentance for their greedy ways) seems a bit sketchy, improbable and formulaic. This book came out in June 2005, and I purchased it at my local used book store.

2.5/5

Sweet clean regency romance but it lacked substance

Pretty predicable, but still a good read. Sometimes one needs a light read as a change of pace from a very busy life.

short and fun

Lovely funny sweet story! Loved it!

Loved it! Fun story to see them go from enemies to their HEA. Very entertaining and funny. I really couldn’t put it down. I loved the monkey! Yes there was a monkey in the story (like all good books should in my opinion). I loved the fire in Molly’s demeanor and how she fought for what she loved. This was a battle of wits on who could outsmart the other and come away with the inheritance. The marriage clause made it all the more interesting. Once I finished this book I wanted to read it again!
All the characters were so well written and complex. The only problem is that I fell in love with the lot of them and I want to know more about the other characters stories and future. But I can’t find any sequels or other books to this series. Disappointing!
Rating: PG/PG-13, clean romance

Quick, clean, enjoyable read. I read the version that was published under the name Alexandra ivy.

Oh I love and have a weakness for a good clean traditional regency era romance where the hero and heroine go at it sparring in battle back and forth with determination because of their erroneous prejudices about each other and stubborn pride to only fall in love with just as much strength. This one definitely fit the bill *sigh*! This is a Zebra Regency Romance republished as an eBook under one of Debbie Raleigh's other pen names of Alexandra Ivy that she usually uses for her steamy titles.

Sensuality content: Clean traditional regency era romance. Kisses only. The hero invites an courtesan to the theatre as part of one of his plans to intimidate the heroine. The hero ignores the courtesan and she leaves before the performance starts, because of that among other events that evening.

Source: My purchased library. Read the sample and couldn't help myself.

*Update- Just saw this has been republished and is now available for Kindle (under authors other name Alexandra Ivy) yay! **Not sure if the new versions are clean. I’ve heard they are not, but haven’t had a chance to look into it.

I really enjoyed this one. It started out great, lots of tension between Molly and Hart. I actually would have liked if their dislike for each other was stretched out a little longer. It was entertaining seeing how they were trying to get the other to back out of the marriage contract. Hart comes across very heartless when the story opens, he slowly warms up though and ends up being a great leading man. Molly was pretty consistent throughout the story, very likable. I liked that she had high morals, very loyal and kind. I also liked that she had spunk and didn’t back down from Hart. Again, I would have liked more of their “fighting” before their feelings change. I enjoyed that this was lighthearted fun, the story moves along quickly and the characters are engaging.

Content: Clean romance. Some swearing.