Thank you to SMP Romance and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book - all opinions are my own!

I am happy to report that I actually really enjoyed this book, which came as a pleasant surprise!

If you like:
- A charming rake of a Hero (Hugh) who falls helplessly (even if a bit resisently) to our heroine
- A quick- witted, funny, and smart Heroine (Minerva)
- Fake dating with a slow burn romance (the payoff is worth it!)
- Meddling mothers and family escapades
- A witty and hysterical servant/butler (Payne) who isn't afraid to call it like it is

...then this story is for you! I overall really enjoyed this historical romance and am secretly hoping we get additional books that follow Minerva's sisters!

Rating: 4 stars!

I was drawn in by the cute cover and description but alas, this book is not for me. The characters are oh-so-flat, the dialogue is stilted and awkward, and the writing stumbles along with almost entirely telling. Also the hero and heroine's connection is 100% 'oh no she's hot' and 'oh no he's hot.'

Hugh has lied to his mother for literal years about a fake fiancee (who is battling consumption and then in mourning for her unexpectedly dead fictional father) and now has to produce a fiancee when his mother arrives. Or, y'know, tell her the truth? But I guess not. But miracle of miracles he immediately stumbles over a woman who clearly needs money and who also shares the name Minerva with his fictional fiancee. What are the chances?

DNF

*Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an e-arc for review.

Once the story got going, it was a sweet and funny Regency romp of a book! I loved the two MC’s banter and chemistry! The character growth they both go through is great. The “mother” was hilarious and the real mother is smart and witty! It has a ton of cute moments and a spicy scene.

"Never Fall for Your Fiancee" by Virginia Heath
A Georgian Rom-Com MUST READ !!
"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."
and, Oh what fun to read as Hugh manages to continue to 'jump from the frying pan into the fire'.. and bringing those he cares for the most…. Right along with him. I do hope you enjoy this 'super change of pace' historical romance read as much as I did. I do want to share more of my joy in this story, but I fear I might spoil your joy as you discover what is around each bend in the road. Happy Reading ! !
NOTE: I received an ARC of this story from the publisher via NetGalley.
This review expresses my honest opinion.

Never Fall For Your Fiancee is a fun romp through old time England. The story was hilarious and would make a fantastic movie, so many twists and turns and deception plus then a wonderful ending. The characters were all so interesting and unique. I was sad when it ended and look forward to reading more by the author.

This was a fun addition to the Virginia Heath catalog. I do love a good fake fiance storyline and Minerva is a great heroine.

3.5/5

Never Fall for Your Fiancé is a witty, cute, historical, romantic comedy.

I really enjoyed the plot and writing style of this fake-dating trope and first of a series following the Merriwell sisters. This was a nice, enjoyable read with low spice and lots of humor. I also enjoyed the side characters as well. It was difficult for me to get into the book at the beginning and I felt like there could be more chemistry between Minerva and Hugh.

If you’re a fan of Bridgerton and want a quick, easy, light-hearted historical rom-com then definitely give this one a shot!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy.

Never Fall for Your Fiancée is a perfectly acceptable romance, but it's ultimately disappointing. It's full of one-note characters: minus her lack of riding ability, Minerva is a Mary Sue. Hugh is a rake who has conveniently tired of raking two years ago, totally incapable of monogamy because his father had a mistress which of course dooms him to disappointing anyone he'd marry with his wandering eye, and just wants to be England's Best Landlord Several Years Running in peace. His mother Olivia is a textbook overbearing mama, and Minerva's sisters are 1 - a loudmouth who tends to give more details than she should when trying to maintain a cover story, and 2 - a seventeen year old who's going on seven.

It's full of revelations made too early in the narrative arc and last minute plot additions that are meant to heighten the drama but don't function well. We're getting things resolved at 97% of the way through the book that absolutely should have been worked out before the Black Moment.

Anyways, this is an inoffensive, low-steam romance novel if you're not looking for a lot of depth or growth from your characters. Fairly frothy, very light.

Book received for free through NetGalley

An adorably cute book that was easy to get into and fun to enjoy.

What a delightful book! The author has taken historical romance to another level, combining the best of that genre with the wit of a rom-com! The characters were adorable, often hilarious, and always passionate! Minerva was awkward, clumsy, beautiful, and endearing; Hugh was charming, noble, and so nice! What I loved most about Hugh was that he had a reputation of being a scoundrel, and, haunted by the scandalous behavior of his ancestors, the last thing he wanted was to burden any woman he took for his wife with an unfaithful husband. It tore him up inside, and led to many misunderstandings with Minerva, It was great fun to watch Minerva and Hugh play out their false engagement, especially when they became tangled up emotionally. The rest of the characters brought more fun and complications to this fabulous story, and I look forward to more books in this series!

3.5 rounded up to 4
Hugh Standish, the Earl of Fareham has never wanted to get married. His mother became obsessed with playing matchmaker and in turn Hugh invents a fake fiancée, Minerva, to get her to back off. When his mother is due for a visit and he happens to meet a beautiful woman named Minerva he decides to offer to pay her to pretend to be his fake fiancée.

Fake dating, slow burn. I found myself completely unable to put this book down. The story was very compelling and I couldn’t help but devour it. This is the first in a series and I’m guessing the next books will cover Minerva’s sisters which I’m very excited for Diana’a book if that’s the case.

STATS:
OVERALL RATING - 4 / 5
CHARACTERS - 5 / 5
WRITING - 4 / 5
PLOT - 4 /5

"But the truth is, I love you and it terrifies me."
- Hugh Standish, Never Fall for Your Fiancée by Virginia Heath

Pride and Prejudice but if the main characters were Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley. It's my very first time reading historical romance and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book was light-hearted and such an easy-going book to read. I found myself laughing out loud at whatever the characters were saying because it's really hard to deny that they weren't lovable. I think above the plot, the characters were what drew me towards this book the most. Like I mentioned this is my first historical romance therefore the writing style threw me off a bit but it was fairly easy to understand as I tread on.

Some of the tropes that were made use of in this book were close proximity, fake dating, miscommunication (no matter how infuriating) and that iconic dancing-with-the-love-interest scene. I keep insisting on this but the characters, specifically the relationship between Hugh's mother and Hugh as well as Giles and Diana, were my favourite. The banter was entertaining and the tension between the latter pair is something I definitely want to read about in the future!

Maybe, I'm just biased but you should certainly read this just so you can get to know Giles.

PROS: Dual POV, a woman who stands up for herself, severely entertaining characters and several tropes
CONS: Writing style may not be favored by most
FINAL THOUGHTS: If you're into historical romance with women who stand up for what they want and have a secret admiration towards grovelling men then this book is surely for you!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with this e-ARC!

Never Fall for your Fiancee'
by Virginia Heath
Pub Date: Nov. 9th ,2021
St. Martin's Griffin
The first in a new historical rom-com series, a handsome earl hires a fake fiancée to keep his matchmaking mother at bay, but hilarity ensues when love threatens to complicate everything. ( #1 Merriewell Sisters).
Bristish humor, a fun, quick read. I enjoyed this rom-com.
Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC.

3stars

I am unfortunately DNF-ing this one at 83%.

This had all the trappings of something I would love - fake dating/engagement, forced proximity, a rogue hero, and quirky, convoluted scheming. But in execution, there was far too much telling and not nearly enough showing.

We are constantly being told that the hero is a scoundrel. He can't possibly love. He's flighty and lacks substance. But we never once see him act that way on page. And you keep getting hints of some dark family past - but for me personally, 83% is way too long to drag that out.

I also grew frustrated with vast amount of miscommunication in here. Not only are secrets purposefully being kept by all parties, but they keep having half conversations that lead to more misunderstandings.

This is told in dual perspectives, so it was crazy frustrating to read a dialogue where the main character would tell each other half truths or misinterpret statements and then think to themselves 'if only I could do something about this!'...

Unfortunately, I've just lost too much interest in the characters to put through to the conclusion.

Hilarious hijinks and mishaps ensue when Hugh, the Earl of Fareham, pays Minerva, a down on her luck artist taking care of her 2 younger sisters, to be his fake fiancée in order to appease his meddling mother. The plan gets messier when they start to have real feelings for each other.

There’s just something about regency era romances that bring the drama and the steam! If you are a fan of Bridgerton you will love this one. I was hooked from the beginning. A fake relationship – what could go wrong?? Well for Minerva and Hugh almost everything goes wrong even the fake part of their relationship. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the egalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun Regency romance with a fake dating trope.

Never Fall for Your Fiancée had a wonderful cast of characters with plenty of personality. I also enjoyed the witty banter and funny situations in the book.

I thought the plot was on the simpler side and the conflict did get tiresome after a while.

Overall, this is a great start to a fun new series. Minerva’s sisters and Hugh’s friend will hopefully make for some fun books in this series.

Never Fall for Your Fiancee by Virginia Heath is the first in her Merriwell Sisters series. Minerva is down on her luck, and trying to make a stable life for her sisters. Hugh Standish, Earl of Fareham, has invented a fiancee to appease his matchmaking mother. A chance meeting has the two agreeing to an engagement of convenience. Minerva and Hugh have fairly good chemistry, but as usual the anticipation of side characters' stories draws some focus away from the main couple. This is a strong historical romcom with likeable characters. The problem for me (and it is a me problem) is that the main conflict didn't feel like it had enough stakes. This was an enjoyable Hallmark-style historical romcom, and succeeds in those aims. I would recommend it to reads looking for a sweet, non-explicit, light historical romance. I will likely check out the next books in the series to check back in with the Merriwell sisters.

There's nothing that I love more than a historical romance with a bit of a different character arch then the society lady and this fit that for me!

Hot Takes
- I loveeeeeee a regency situation we get a character who is not a part of the ton and someone falls in love with them (re: boo boo Benedict Bridgerton). Apparently it's a hot take to like that and I don't get why! Dealing with classism is something that is still prevalent in today's society and when I can read a historical romance dealing with it, I love it. These two characters fit the bill, with Minerva having a IRL job and being like sure I'll pretend to date you for some monies.
- Hugh is quite literally the king of over dramatization and miscommunication and I lived for that chaos. He's also a super deep character and I love that for him. He didn't feel worthy and ended up just making up ridiculous stories to appease people in his life and as a terrible liar, I felt that deeply.
- The banter in this was very similar to Tessa Dare; witty, quick and smart!
- Fake dating in historical is not my favorite, since it's usually a society person and another society person trying to appease the ton but when it's a situation where one person is an outsider, I love it!

Read If You Like
- Bridgerton but mostly The Viscount Who Loved Me for some men feeling unworthy and An Offer From A Gentleman for a working class lady catching the eye of a rich dude with a bit of miscommunication mixed in.
- Fake dating!

I'm very hit or miss on historical romance and unfortunately this one was a miss for me. I just was not super interested in Hugh or Minerva. 2.5/5 stars. Not rating it or marking as read on Goodreads as I DNFed and am hoping to try again later

Hugh Standish, Earl of Fareham, creates a fake fiancé in order to keep his mother from meddling in his love life. All is going great until his mother tells him she will be coming into town to meet her future daughter in law. Hugh panics and must find someone immediately to pose as his true love. That’s when Hugh meets Minerva, coincidentally who has the same name as his fake fiancé. Minerva is a poor artist is who caring for two younger sister and money is running out quickly. When Hugh approached her with the idea of being his fiancé to deceive his mother, it was an offer Minerva couldn’t resist given her financial situation. What can go wrong??

I loved this one. It was a fluffy, light hearted historical romance for anyone that loves the fake engagement trope to read. It is such an adorable romance and will satisfy readers looking for a quick romantic escape that’s easy to digest. The story is fairly predictable, but it doesn’t take away from the hours of enjoyment that it brings to the table. All the characters are likable in their own way. This is my Virginia Heath’s book and it was fantastic. I’m going to guess it will not be my last time I read her books as I am already excited for book 2 of this series