Note to self: Jo Beverley is just not my jam. It’s probably unfair of me to give so low of a rating because the book is definitely well written and researched and engaging. The premise was totally up my alley - an almost/spinster and the rake who broke her heart when she overheard him insulting her. But it was a letdown all around, for me. At no point whatsoever does the hero apologize for ruining her first season. He doesn’t even know what happened and does not remember her at all. The heroine spends the bulk of the book basically chasing the hero, who is in love with his dead wife. The last quarter of the book is more or less a love triangle between the hero, heroine, and the mummy-who-looks-like-the-dead-wife. There is no soothing of insecurities; the hero only ever compliments her once and avoids her for nearly the entire book. Ariana seems so interesting and unique in a lot of ways, but romantically, she is a one-dimensional masochist who doesn’t even evoke decent angst in her pages and pages of self-pity over her unrequited love (probably because she is so certain the hero should just get over his grief and love her already). And I just cannot buy the sudden “love” or whatever at the end, there is no chemistry whatsoever between the leads. Honestly all of the secondary romances are much more interesting to me than the primary one. I skimmed over a lot of what felt like filler inner monologue that had little to do with the plot.

Also I get (and regret) that this is a clean romance, but there is no steam or spark or, just, anything. (1.5 stars) ( )

As one of two daughters, I am glad that we no longer have to worry about having sons to secure a family legacy. Even Britain has changed the rules of succession so that the little princess is in line for the throne ahead of her younger brother. But this change in attitude is very recent and the change in the rules of succession is even more recent. Until recently, marrying and having sons was a very big deal, both socially and politically. In Jo Beverley’s Merely a Marriage, worry about succession, spurred on by the real-life death of Princess Charlotte in childbirth, drives the plot of this Regency set historical romance.

When Princess Charlotte dies, all of England is plunged into mourning. Her death causes many people to suddenly face their own mortality and that of those they love. In Lady Ariana Boxstall’s case, it causes her to worry about the state of her own family. Her brother is as yet unmarried and shows no signs of marrying and setting up his nursery any time soon. She badgers him about shirking his duty to the family name and he retaliates by challenging her to marry first if she thinks it is so very easy. When she concedes that this may be the only way to convince Norris to do as she wishes, she sets out for London with her mother to stay with an old family friend and to find a suitable husband. It is here that she crosses paths with the handsome, single Earl of Kynaston, the man on whom she developed a crush during her come out eight years prior and who inadvertently crushed her heart. As she works her way through her list of acceptable suitors, she cannot escape Kynaston, nor he her. He has no intention of marrying because of something in his past. She must marry to force Norris to the altar. Even though they are working at cross purposes, the attraction sparks hot.

Ariana has body image issues, being far taller than is fashionable but she has mostly overcome her humiliation from eight years ago, except where Kynaston is concerned. She is also a curious and knowledgeable young woman whose honesty and cleverness will cause her to come perilously close to scandal and ruin. Kynaston has something in his past that haunts him but since it is generally common knowledge, he feels no reason to explain it to Ariana. It’s not a misunderstanding per se, rather a miscommunication. The two of them are a good pair, both smart and thinking characters who work together to uncover the person maligning Ariana purely out of maliciousness. They are as much intellectual equals as two people driven by lust or love. As usual, Beverley doesn’t disappoint, weaving an interesting plot with likeable characters, and a satisfyingly happy ending. ( )

After reading and enjoying The Viscount Needs a Wife by Beverley, I was a bit underwhelmed by Merely a Marriage. The characters in Merely a Marriage were likable enough (as with The Viscount Needs a Wife), but I found the premise rather predictable and the storytelling lacking. I hesitate to be overcritical or harsh because I have read that this is the author's final work. If you have not yet read Ms. Beverley's work, I highly recommend starting with another title.

**eARC Netgalley** ( )

Ariana Boxstall is tall. That seems to be the most important aspect of this story along with big feet. It's unfortunate as I really wanted to like this story. It was slow and all over the place. Most of the story was from the heroine's point of view; I would have liked to have more of Kynaston's to understand his backstory as it wasn't explained until very late in the book.
Ariana is one of the most unlikable heroines I've ever read in a Regency romance. She just whines about her height, yet derides other women for not dressing properly in her opinion. She assumes that she can get any 'tall' man she wants to marry her in a matter of days, yet I couldn't even find Kynaston's attraction to her believable. She's supposed to be sensible and a bluestocking, but is given to wild flights of fancy and false assumptions about the people around her.
I really wanted to like this book. I've enjoyed many of Ms. Beverley's other books, and the fact that this one is her last is poignant, but it just wasn't for me. ( )