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An Advantageous Marriage

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Member Reviews

The scheming Turvilles never liked each other. Lady Turville has a niece who comes to visit. Since Eugenia's family is in trade, they don't believe she's good enough to marry someone of the ton, but since she is so very rich, she might do for one of her sons. Eugenia or Ginny as she likes to be called, hears Francis Turville and Peter, his friend talking about her. When she gets to her aunt's house, she decides to pretend to be the most uncouth person that she can be, even speaking with an unacceptable accent. Once she is there for a while, people start to figure out that it is all an act. Peter Martyn, the friend and neighbor and Ginny have definitively noticed each other. Then Lucilla, a widow and Peter's former betrothed, who thru him over for another man. She wants Peter back and will be underhanded and try to cause problems to get him.. This is a great story with likeable characters. I received this book from Net Galley and Sapere Books for a honest review. I voluntarily read this book.

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I am a fan of Regency romances so I was looking forward to reading An Advantageous Marriage.

The main character is Eugenia, brought up in Yorkshire with a grandfather in trade. She visits her cousins, the Turvilles, a family of gentry. Eugenia learns that her family believe her to be a country bumpkin but her cousins are prepared to marry her for her money so she decides to play a trick on the Turvilles.

This is a sweet, easy read but lacked any real depth. I was disappointed by the lack of character development and it felt rushed and improbable.

Still, it's a nice read.

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Eugenia's grandfather is in 'trade' and she grew up with him in Yorkshire. Now she is about to 'come out' in London and is visiting her uncle, aunt and cousins on the way there. Overhearing one of her cousins at an inn on her way speaking of his mother's plan for one of her sons to marry Eugenia to secure her fortune, 'Yorkshire pudding' though she be, she is understandably annoyed and decides to behave in such a way that the family will no longer desire the match. Putting on a strong Yorkshire accent and talking non-stop, she succeeds as far as her aunt is concerned, but her cousin Francis sees that things are not what they seem. Love seems to be in the air, with a few potential matches around, but who will really end up with whom, and who be disappointed?

I admit that I wasn't sure anywhere along the way how exactly this book was going to turn out, and at least some of my guesses were definitely wrong - which suggests to me that more relationship development would have made it feel more realistic. However, though I enjoyed the writing, I did find the ending a bit disappointing (and abrupt). Bits of it reminded me quite strongly of Heyer, especially The Unknown Ajax, but definitely taking a different twist. Not my favourite of her books, but still an enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more by her in future.

Characters: Well-drawn and felt realistic, but more time with Peter in particular would have been nice.
Storyline: Interesting and good as far as it went - but I would have liked to feel a bit more confident a bit earlier who she would marry because they actually interacted more.
Content and language: Clean, no issues noted.

Note that I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review and this is my considered opinion of the book.

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This was a cute, short Regency romance that was a lot of fun. Eugenia comes to stay with her socially superior cousins the Turvilles. Her aunt has schemed to have one of her sons marry Eugenia for her money. When Eugenia gets wind of this shortly before she arrives, she decides to defend herself by acting like a true "country cousin," brash, ill-spoken, and forward, with the most annoying accent she can muster. It works. Her aunt is horrified. Meanwhile, Eugenia starts to develop feelings for a handsome neighbor. Trying to sustain her dual personalities becomes something of a challenge; also, she discovers that there is more to her cousins than meets the eye.
A very entertaining, easy read! I thought it was funny and I liked that Eugenia's cousins Aubrey and Francis have a little more depth than is first suspected.

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I'm a fan of Georgette Heyer and was very happy to read this book.. It's a a very good historical romance, fun to read and entertaining.
I'm happy I discovered this author because I really enjoyed this book.
I liked the characters and the style of writing. The plot was lovely and kept me hooked till the last page.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Sapere Books and Netgalley for this ARC

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