Fake dating?

Yes please.

Fake dating, plus a historical rom-com?

You had me at fake dating. The historical rom-com is the icing on the cake.

Alright friends, get ready for a laugh out loud, fun romantic historical fiction novel that readers will eat up like a favorite dessert. It may follow the same story-line of aristocrat bachelor in need of a bride but in no way wants one, but it’s the fake dating that makes this a fresh and fun romantic interlude in the mid 1800’s. And how the Earl of Fareham comes up with his own charade of a tale to keep his doting mother at bay from marrying him off is absurd as it is hilarious. Though, it seemed unlikely that Minerva would agree to pretending to be an Earl’s fiancée until he makes an offer she can’t refuse.

With only a few concerns about how plausible Hugh and Minerva could keep up their act without his parents finding out the truth and a chapter that was confusing on the logistics of where the characters were and how they got there (the ball chapter is the one I’m referring to) I enjoyed Heath’s story.

Filled with absolute laugh out loud moments and a thimble full of steamy romance Virgina Heath’s first book in a series dedicated to the Merriwell Sisters will enchant readers from the opening page.

Lastly, I loved how she created three very unique women who carry themselves in their own way. I cannot wait to read Dianna’s story as she seems the most feistiest of the three. And my hope is that the youngest sister of the three has a character arc to rival her sisters.

Never Fall for Your Fiancée is a hilarious romp of a book.

Happy Reading ̴ Cece

3 stars for this light hearted rom com. The bright cover caught my eye and drew me in. Some parts were really entertaining and gave me a little laugh. Minerva’s sisters and the hired actress to play her mother add some extra drama. The storyline was of course very predictable, but it was still a fun read.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in return for my honest review.

This is a classic case of I was enticed by the cover (again) and I was mildly disappointed.
The plot of it sounded so intriguing and different, but (again) the point of a romance novel is to be convinced of the characters chemistry and honestly I was immensely underwhelmed by the lack of chemistry between these two characters. I personally did not feel convinced by their relationship at all. Or their chemistry because the relationship was not built up well in this book.

However, I did enjoy the character Hugh. He was very charming and funny and was a saving grace in this book.

Hugh and Minerva are endearing leads. Almost all the issues the characters face stem from bad decisions and miscommunications. The story has a clean and comfortable ending. I enjoyed the humor, the wit, and the fun.

Scenes describing Hugh’s nerves at turning out like his father were too on the nose, and more subtlety in this would have made for a better book.

Hugh created a fake fiancé to stop his mother from meddling with his love life. But it seems to have backfired when his mother and her husband jump on a ship from America to meet his future bride. Did Hugh do what any sensible person would do and come clean? Of course not. Where would the fun be in that?

Enter Minerva. A young artist trying to take care of herself and her two younger sisters. When Hugh asks Minerva to be his fake fiancé, she was morally against it; but financially, it would change her and her sister’s lives. She just has to pretend to be in love with a rich, handsome, caring, charismatic gentleman. Whatever could go amiss?

Hugh’s elaborate lies keep trying to unravel and the secondary characters do an excellent job of helping them come to light. Minerva brings her sisters with her as a caveat to their arrangement. One sister is immature and keeps throwing fits while another sister is cynical and believes Hugh will either kill them or seduce her sister. The actress he hired to play the girl’s mother is very method and very much a drunkard. And his best friend is watching the wreckage in complete rapture waiting to tell him “I told you so!”

The plot was predictable and I loved every minute of it. Of course these two would end up falling for each other and have many misunderstandings on the way. But the journey was fun. It was funny and sweet and I have a feeling there will be a sequel. Perhaps with Hugh’s best friend Giles and Minerva’s sister Diana? I sure hope so, because I’ll read the heck out of that.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for releasing this ARC to me in exchange for an honest review.

Plot: This book made me laugh! The moments when their plan tries to fall apart were hilarious, and I loved the interaction between the characters, because the communication (and miscommunication) were so funny!

Characters: All of the characters were great! I think Hugh was possibly the biggest idiot I've read in a book in awhile, but his relationship with Minerva was delightful. His mother and her husband were probably my favorite characters in the book!

The Cover: I think it's fun!

Overall: This was a fantastic beginning to a new Historical Romance series, and I will definitely be checking out the next in the series! Overall, I would absolutely recommend trying this book!

I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher.

This romantic comedy was endearing and often hilarious. Hugh Standish, Earl of Fareham, needs a fake fiancee to convince his matchmaking mother that he is ready to settle down. He’s spent two years lying to her about his betrothed, Minerva. Coincidentally, right when his mother writes that she’s sailing from America to meet Minera, High comes to the rescue of a real Minerva. Minerva Merriwell and her sisters, Diana, and Vee are poverty stricken after their father abandons them. She warily accepts Hugh’s offer to pose as his fiancee for 40 pounds. Once she and her sisters are moved into his country house, Hugh finds his plot is not so simple. His plan to have Minerva pretend to elope with his best friend Giles is foiled the night his mother arrives and soon all his carefully planned lies begin to unravel.

Minerva is a strong female character who quickly teaches wealthy Hugh what it means to have no money and be abandoned by family. He finds himself enamored with her, but believes his father and grandfather’s infidelities have made him unable to commit. In some ways, I enjoyed the secondary characters more than Hugh and Minerva. While their romance was sweet they did not provide the humor. I didn’t warm to Minerva’s sisters right away, by the end of the book I was eager for their prospective books. Diana in particular is hilarious in her angry protection of her older sister. The actress Hugh hires to pose as the “mother” for the Merriwell sisters steals every scene she is in with drunken ramblings of her stage days and atrocious singing. Hugh’s mother and stepfather have their own secrets and by the close of the book, readers will be happily surprised with the plot twists. I look forward to the next book in the series!

I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book, but the hero and heroine's sisters were completely and utterly ridiculous. While I liked that the hero was actually nice and loved his mother - he came across as completely unbelievable and one-sided. I finish the book, but it was pretty close to being a DNF for me. The only thing saved the book was the hero's friend the Duke.

I enjoyed this start to a series introducing the Merriwell sisters, with Minerva, the eldest, agreeing to play the part of Hugh's fiancee, made up to discourage his matchmaking mother. Both have secrets in their past. While Hugh is an Earl, Minerva works as an artist/woodcut engraver to make ends meet for herself and her two sisters, living on the edge of true poverty, A romantic comedy with sometimes absurd situations, the characters are likable and I look forward to the next installment.

Never Fall your Fiancee is very Bridgerton-esque and, like Bridgerton, I didn't love the book. Hugh, an earl, happens upon Minerva when she is trying to get payment owed to her for artwork she'd done. This is quite the coincidence for him since he had told his mother he was betrothed to a Minerva that he'd invented to stop her meddling. Minerva desperately needs money to support herself and her two younger sisters as her mother has passed and her drunken father has disappeared. Minerva and her sisters move into Hugh's estate, along with an actress he has hired to play their mother as his mother is on the way from America. The girls need to learn how to act like a gentleman's daughter and the details of the ridiculous story Hugh had written his mother regarding Minerva. The story was a bit ridiculous, but funny. It wasn't as steamy as Bridgerton but the actual romance between Minerva and Hugh was more realistic. I probably would have liked the story better and been more involved if the copy I received worked better with my ipad. The font was very small and took up the entire screen, but I was unable to change the size of the font with settings and could only change the type (which was how I made it larger). I did like the characters and got into the story more once Hugh's mother arrived. I would read the next book in the series (hopefully following Minerva's middle sister and Hugh's best friend) if I could download a better copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

This was another fun book. Historical romance with less steam and more funny moments than a typical romance of this genre. Once again, I loved all the characters. I especially have a soft spot for the butler 😉 Hugh and Minerva were great together. I loved their banter and how they were together. All the characters were great though, which is what made this romance so enjoyable. I can’t wait for the next two books.

This was an adorable modern romance set in a historic time period.

Fans of Bridgerton will love this cute romance. The dialogue was sparkling and I loved the main character Minerva. The only issue I had was one of the sisters (Vee) was awful, This is a perfect summer read for fans of modern and historical romance.

I adored this book. Hugh and Minerva are fighting an attraction to each other since the beginning of their game.

Although Hugh gives the impression of a man whose main goal is to fool his mother so he can be responsible free. He is very clearly way more than that.

Minerva has had way more responsibility than she should at her age. She Jaded and doesn't trust easily

I loved Hugh and Minerva's easy banter. The sisters, best friends butled were all funny addition. Even the mother and stepfather brought some lightness and joy to this read.

It was just good fun to read and I can't wait for more

The fake dating/engagement trope isn't a particular favorite of mine. I didn't mind it too much here since the story itself is so predictably silly. I enjoyed it for that reason, but it won't set any bars or break any barriers.

Hugh and Minerva, the fake fiancee, are a cute enough couple. Their banter was...Banter. It didn't sizzle but it didn't fizzle, either. Minerva is likable and appropriate in her role where she needs to be. I think Hugh could have been nailed down a bit better. He jumps between rake and Very Nice Boy, a combo that doesn't quite work; since the character is already both things, he can never complete much of an arc.

As you can surmise by now, this was a middling novel for me. It would be fitting for a lazy Sunday.

Fake dating but make it historical fiction!

This was such a fun book to read! If you love your historical fiction and the fake dating trope, this is definitely for you! Or if you love to see a character feel they aren't worthy for the love of a wonderful women but are proven to be wrong, this is also for you! I had the best time reading this and for the character's to mention the new Mary Shelley book coming out about a monster. It's nice to be able to feel like a part of the history while reading, to travel with it in time.

This is the first book of the series so I'm just here hoping that the next book is about Diana and Giles because I NEED to see that happen!! I can tell that'll be a witty and banter filled book already!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the earc in return for an honest review.

Despite numerous editing issues and some anachronistic language, this story was enjoyable, the characters were likable for the most part, but the male lead was too much of drip for me. It’s nice reading for those of us in need of a respite after heavier titles and a heavy year in general, this is a screwball comedy at heart and best enjoyed when viewed through that lens.

This was a very entertaining read, full of ridiculously funny situations and lots of heart. I enjoyed the progression of Hugh and Minerva's relationship, through all their ups and downs. All of the supporting characters were delightful, especially Giles and his witty banter. This was a great Regency romantic comedy that will make you smile.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this arc.

I love a good historical romance, and I really, really, wanted to like this book. And I guess overall I did like it, but it definitely wasn’t the book for me.

In this book you meet Hugh, a “rake” A.K.A a man who goes from bed to bed and wants no commitment with women. I’m completely fine with this aspect. Hugh is a charming, funny, gorgeous man who has created this over-the-top lie to keep his mother from interfering in his love life. As in, he has created a fake fiancée named Minerva and spun detailed tales all about her just so his mother would leave him alone. And then he gets a letter from his mother that she is going to be arriving. Of course, he is stressed and overwhelmed, because how could he explain this? And then he meets a woman on the street and helps her, only to find out her name is…. Minerva.

Minerva is a kind, realistic woman who has been giving the short end of the stick. At a young age of nineteen she was left to care for her two younger sisters while her father disappeared and her mother has long since had passed. They are barely scraping by and can hardly afford a roof over their head. When she demands payment from someone who hired her, she is helped by a charming man. Who then offers her something she can’t refuse—pretend to be his fake fiancée and he’ll pay her handsomely. She accepts, because what could go wrong?

So much happens. Two sisters who hate the idea—one of the sisters who can’t seem to face reality, a hired actress to play the mother, a made-up story that keeps changing….
It was a lot.

Overall, the story was enjoyable. I loved watching Hugh and Minerva fall in love, but it was so back and forth. It wasn’t until almost the very end that things got figured out.

This book does have some sexual content, but nothing too extreme.

Overall, a good book, just not the book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

3.75 starts rounded up to 4 for this adorable book! Seriously, what a fun read!

Set in England in the 1880's we meet Hugh, an Earl who is dodging his mother's relentless matchmaking attempts and Minerva, who is desperate for money to help support her family. The meet cute involves Hugh coming to Minerva's rescue and realizing that she can help him by becoming the fictional fiancee he invented to appease his mother. What follows is a hilarious attempt to pull off this farce and with both parties desperately trying NOT to fall in love with each other.

If you love British period works, then this is for you. I knocked off a star because it wasn't quite British enough and did not completely feel authentic to the period. That being said, it was a fun book that I looked forward to picking up each time. It's a great little escape that is extremely well written, humorous, engaging and just all around fun.

* I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. *

Honestly, I stopped reading this pretty early on. It's set in 1825.. and the language used is just too... pretentious? posh? for me. I couldn't get past the writing/language style to get into the story.