This is a good story with interesting insights to what life was like for women in the time period it takes place.

Such a wonderful romance and what enjoyable characters. I liked the chemistry and I hope to read more by this author very soon

This book was amazing and exactly what I dreamed it would be after reading the description! I was immediately swept up and engaged in the story from page one. Sophie Barnes has done a wonderful job crafting a love story that feels fresh and unique, has great pacing and is peopled by thoughtful and intriguing characters. Barnes weaves together some of my favorite tropes and packages them in a fun and fresh way. I was rooting for the two lovely love stories that we encounter in the novel, and I was captured while watching the growth of our main Hero's understanding of the world and his perceptions of good and bad.

This book is mainly focused on Wilhelmina and James, who are both older characters, who both have children and who both have had complicated marriages. Wilhelmina starts the novel on the journey of divorcing her husband, who is her best friend and who is in love with someone else, so Wilhelmina hatches a plan to get them divorced so she can return the favor of his kindness he offered in his youth. Their divorce proceedings take two years and Wilhelmina's reputation lies in tatters at the end. James Dale, who is a barrister, has been witness to the entire ordeal, and his thoughts and ideas on Wilhelmina are tainted through the eyes of his failed marriage. Wilhelmina and James met two years ago at the start of Wilhelmina's downfall, and they both felt a spark of attraction and interest (which then have never felt before) and then they are thrust back into each other's company when it comes to light that James' son (Micheal) is in love with Wilhelmina's daughter (Cynthia) and they both want to get married. James thinking that he knows what is best for his son refuses to give his blessing and is working hard to separate the two. When Micheal and Cynthia decide to elope to Gretna Green, James and Wilhelmina strike up a truce in order to pursue the couple. Thus we embark on a road trip that brings forth many eye opening discoveries. (Content Notes for sexual assault and rape).

I absolutely love a road trip style romance, and I think Sophie Barnes utilizes it in the perfect way by putting our hero and heroine in forced proximity which leads them to slowly open up and examine each other in a way they would not typically be able to. This is the perfect way for Wilhelmina's true nature can shine and where James can question his understanding of the woman she has been presented as in her divorce dealing and recon that with the woman in front of him. This novel is very character drive in which both our hero and heroine must learn to grown and fight for what they want. Wilhelmina is strong and independent and has sacrificed a lot, she must learn to trust and that it is okay to seek someone's help and comfort. Wilhelmina learns how to be open and speak her truth to James, she also learns that she likes working and finds a way that she can support herself. James must learn to see past the black and white/right and wrong world that he has taught himself to live in, because of his work in upholding the law. Through Wilhelmina, James is able to see that the world is full of gray, and sometimes wrongs are not what they seem. I really love that both James and Wilhelmina want what is best for their children, and they want to protect them (even if they don't always know what is right). I love watching Wilhelmina and James' attraction grow as they learn more about each other. This novel is very sweetly sensual, it is not overtly explicit and not closed door, and I think it worked really well with conveying the gentle and mature romance between these two. I also love that both Michael and Cynthia can help their parents to grow and get a better understanding of romantic love, and that if that love is true it is worth fighting for.

This is really just a delightful novel that has such lovely character growth for all our lovers, I absolutely love the way Barnes walks us through this story from beginning to end and my heart was filled with so much joy at the conclusion. I so highly recommend this novel, it is a wonderfully fresh historical romance that I will definitely revisit and I am looking forward to the rest of the novels in this series!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. This book was beyond amazing! It starts with MIna, who is in her late 30s, asking her husband for a divorce. She asks because theirs is a marriage of convenience among friends and she knows he has fallen in love with another. He once saved her from ruin and now she wants to do something nice in return. Unfortunately, a divorce in 1820s England is not as straight forward and basically, she has to be proven to have taken lovers which brings about a big scandal on herself. Before the storm hits, she meets James Dale and they share an immediate attraction. However, when the divorce proceedings happen, Dale is revolted by her because his wife cheated on him through their marriage. They are forced together because of their children, but the slow slow SLOW burn in this book is so worth it. Sophie Barnes is a new for me author and I cannot wait to read her backlist!

took a little bit to get into this book. I wasn't a fan of Mr. Dale at first. Very judgy. His son had better sense than him. poor Wilhelmina what she was willing and did endure for the sake of her husband. I'm glad everything worked out.

3.5 stars.

It has a very interesting premise and the first half is quite intriguing but then it goes down the hill. Too much focus on the details and too many dialogues that are neither witty nor interesting so I started skipping pages just to finish the book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first historical romance I have read where the heroine is a divorcee - it's an interesting premise and works really well in this book. When Mina Hewitt was younger, she found herself pregnant and alone. Her best friend saves her by marrying her and they have a 20 year marriage that's happy, if platonic.

Aware of the great sacrifice her husband has made she realises she must let him be happy with the woman he truly loves and offers him a divorce. But it's not that easy in Regency England to obtain a divorce and for a woman to keep her reputation. It's at the beginning of Mina's reputational descent that she meets Mr Dale, a barrister with a stellar reputation. He is drawn to Mina but repulsed by the rumours about her behaviour towards her ex-husband.

Despite their mutual attraction, the pair try to avoid each other - until their children get themselves into a spot of bother. Mina and James Dale must now become allies to help them.

It's refreshing to read about protagonists who are a little older than the norm for books like these. There's plenty of chemistry between the James and Mina, and the fact that they have life experience gives them depth.

There's also some interesting history in the book about women and how they were viewed in society after divorce, whether blame lay with them or not.

It's a great start to the series and I am looking forward to the rest.

An enjoyable book to read. There was love , excitement and plenty to enjoy. It was easy to keep reading and see if they get together. Recommend it is read.

Love, gossip, misunderstandings and excitement abound in this story. It keeps you turning the pages to see what happens.

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley.
It is a wonderful love story. The misconception that James had of Mina at the beginning of the book and after getting to know her was touching. I loved the way the story was interwoven with her first husband and her daughter and James's son. Definitely a five star read.

**I received this at no cost from Netgalley as an early preview in return for an honest review. **

Oh dear. The premise was promising. I really wanted to read about a lawyer hero character, but it was just dressing. Unfortunately, this book didn’t hold up to scrutiny. Very cheesy and in desperate need of an editor. The scaffolding holding the story together was rough, barely operative, and lacked finesse. The craft of storytelling simply wasn’t at the level to persuade me to divest myself of disbelief and dive in. Many incessant, unnecessary rambling explanations, and very little presented. Amateurish narration, all that telling and not much showing. Take away the voluminous narration and explanations, and the skinny remnants of dialogue and actions show the lack of substance to the story. Reactions materialise from nowhere, knitted together like non-sequiturs to clumsily advance an obvious plot purpose. Strange, stilted turns of phrases that were not-quite organic patterns of speech, whether for the era or otherwise. Needless dwelling on the rare occasion some detail was proffered. I felt constantly nudged into recognising an unsubtle attempt at demonstrating an effort at historical research. The purple prose parts of teasing, romantic banter, sexual tension taken in isolation and in contrast, was much better written than the rest of the book, if a bit tame and dated. Those flashes of evocative descriptions should have been a sustained effort throughout the tale.

Characterisation was flat and inconsistent. George, Wilhelmina’s soon-to-be ex husband, is supposedly her sweet best friend in a long-standing platonic relationship. He demonstrates jealousy at first sight of Mr Dale (James) salivating over Wilhelmina. So are they platonic or not? For Wilhelmina, In Chapter 1, she is benevolent and encouraging of a divorce with George so that George may pursue his romance with Fiona and prevent their love child from the tar of illegitimacy. By Chapter 3, fast forward two years, Wilhelmina is all tears and self pity, as the divorce is underway. What? Why? She’s a martyr. Now for James, the most we learn about him was that he’s a barrister. There is a myth of a barrister personality and a solicitor personality. Simply, there are histrionic solicitors and soft-spoken barristers, and certainly incompetent examples of both. Invoking such a myth does not a character explanation make. There is no substitute for characterisation other than showing us James in action, for us to know what kind of man or barrister he is. What’s James like? Err… irrational, inconsistent, inexplicable like the other characters. He has some feud with George over a passing remark in chapter 2, and swings between having rage, lust, etc “passing through him” on the occasion. He watches the divorce trials despite only ever having knee conversation with George and Wilhelmina (why?) and is apparently shooting daggers with his eyes at Wilhelmina the entire time (why?).

Plotwise, the premise made no sense. Is it realistic for a woman in 1818 to petition for divorce for no real benefit and much terrible consequences to herself? It is up to the author to give us a plausible explanation, and there was none. Bastardy in a foreign land doesn’t sound like the grave consequences in England. This story did not need to happen. Nobody forced her to get a divorce, she consented to it. There were solutions around the problem not explored, such as adoption of said love child. Next, no explanation was afforded for the romance. James and Wilhelmina are in their late thirties and early forties. With that pegged, I had an expectation that their romance would be more seasoned, intelligent, and founded on something more than insta-lust, insta-grudge, insta-judgment, insta-epiphany etc. On occasion they behaved no different to teenagers with little forethought, and in the same breath they were severe and authoritative on their adult children. The characters kept doing things they seemed fully willing to do, just to suffer amnesia or some personality affliction to melodramatically decry their decision in the next paragraph and vacillate between polar behaviours. I had character whiplash numerous times of a hitherto unseen magnitude. There were truly inexplicable moments eg. near-rape, just for other characters to insert an anger reaction and a feud out of nowhere, with utterly canned lines. I really don’t know what I’m reading. There were also other couples in the book who primarily served as distractions.

Factually, there were grave inaccuracies that some readers may find impossible to sustain the story. At least, I did. I’ll go off on a tangent because on top of struggling with this read, I had a recollection from my undergraduate professor on divorce law. The one that started it all is the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, which finally allowed for divorce as we know it - secular divorce with a coherent procedure. Before this Act, the subject was like dark matter. Lawyers didn’t have much to do with it, instead, the clergy did. So I had to look it up.

Bizarrely, James appears to have a divorce practice in 1818, well before the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, and at a time where divorces were extremely uncommon, and subject to the ecclesiastical courts under canon law, and the granting of which were not solely dependent on adultery of the woman. There were two types. The story is premised on the wrong type of divorce that won’t achieve the outcome the characters are after, and was probably unnecessary in the first place. Wilhelmina and George were in the middle of a divorce on account of her alleged adultery to protect George, but that type of divorce only results in separation without right of remarriage (a mensa et thoro). On adultery alone, the church courts had no basis to grant a divorce permitting for remarriage. The recognised grounds of divorce allowing for remarriage, (a vincula et matrimonii) ie. nullification, were for non-consummation within two years of marriage, frigidity, impotence, lunacy, and desertion. Not until 1858 or thereabouts did the divorce courts emerge to consider adultery as a valid basis for divorce (decree nisi) permitting for remarriage. So the story of Wilhelmina having her adultery revealed and suffering scandal so George can remarry is simply not possible - after revealing all that adultery, he can only get a divorce granting separation in perpetuity (a mensa et thoro), nonetheless he or she still cannot remarry. Annulment from non-consummation, or a petition of frigidity would have served their purposes and they would probably have succeeded, and at least be allowed to remarry.

Notwithstanding the church courts, divorce alimony and damages on account of adultery of either party were pursued as a common law action of “criminal conversation” in the judicial courts. But again the crux is procuring the divorce, which had to be first obtained from the ecclesiastical courts. After having somehow met the first or two requirements, they would then have to proceed (as per George’s dicta) to petition Parliament with three readings of the private divorcement bill and succeed at doing so. All this when George already ran to Massachusetts with his Fiona? He’s already living his best life in a distant land. Why bother?

Sigh. I can’t help but get caught up on historical details when the story gets so baffling that verifying the historical research becomes more interesting than the story itself.

A reader simply looking for some basic writing showing some attraction, affection, family drama and sexual tension in a mature couple stitched somewhere into a pastiche of confusing dialogues ambling along with nearly no sustained plot or purpose might find the tale charming. I was looking for a lot more.

Wilhelmina Hewitt was married a touch over twenty years, But she felt he should have a chance at love and he never would if he stayed married. They loved each other but as brother and sister. He had helped her out of a bad situation and she was going to help him.

George Hewitt was a furniture designer and Manufacturer. He made beautiful stuff and it was in high demand. But if they did this then he was going to America. He had been seeing a lady called Fiona and she was in a family way actually his family way. It took them two years to finally get the divorce.

James Sebastion Dale, he was from a very nice family. His parents loved each other. His wife was dead but he had his son. He also was a Barrister, here in London. He loved the law and found it to be a big challenge. He found Mrs. Hewitt absolutely lovely but she was taken.

I loved this wonderful story. She was George's friend and would do anything for him. She willing made her life hard so he could find his happiness. James hated her.

It was a mesmerizing tale. Her kindness, strength, and beauty stayed with her. But she got lonely sometimes and thank goodness she had her daughter. She also missed George. They had grown up together. There were some twists, it was exciting but also encouraging. The characters were excellent. Once I picked the book up I could not put it down, It seemed like a fresh look at things.
I received this ARC Review from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

I sat down and read this book over 2 days. It captured my interest and I thoroughly enjoyed the characters. There were 2 romances and both were well done. The main couple are Wilhemina and James the parents of the young lovers that elope. The main couple are mature and I could relate to finding love again after the hardships that life has given them. A road trip commences to catch the eloping couple and I could feel the attachment grow. I recommend the book as I think it has something that all romance readers can enjoy. A few racy love scenes but not graphic. I received an ARC from NetGalley and thank you.

A cautionary tale which brings to light the need to look below the surface. Mr. Dale, although attracted to Mrs. Hewett/Lawson from the first, allows his opinion to be influenced by his previous experience as well as what he sees on the surface rather than what he sees beneath. As a result, he interferes with his the happiness of his son. It will take an unexpected trip and forced closeness to change the way they both feel.
A very enjoyable read from Sophie Barnes.
Thank you Sophie Barnes and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest feedback.

I had not intended to read this book all in one go, but once I started I could not put it down! The pacing and writing are perfect and the characters are complex and interesting. It's understandable why James felt so strongly about Mina and didn't want his son to be associated with her in any way, but I just kept yelling at Mina to just tell him the truth about her divorce. That being said, it was probably better that everything unfolded the way it did. I liked that James came to realize something was up and that Mina wasn't like his deceased wife as he had thought for so many years. Their romance came about so naturally and they were so perfectly suited for one another. I really wanted to smack James for not letting Mina finish explaining about George and stomping off in a huff. He wasted so much time sulking that could have been spent with the woman he was in love with. I like to think that she would have still gone to him to tell him how she felt about him and to finish her tale even if fate hadn't brought her to his door for another reason. It was also refreshing that he was the one who gave up his career rather than forcing her to give up the independence she had started to establish.

My heart broke a little for Cynthia when Michael called off their elopement when he found out she was barren. I forgave him for this lapse in judgment when he came to realize he loved her more than he wanted to have children of his own. For that reason I was okay with Cynthia proving all those doctors wrong. The scene where Michael goes to see her was perfect. He realized he had to make it clear to her that he decided to marry her before finding out about the baby and showed her that she was it for him.

A great start to a new series!

This was a second chance romance in that both of the romantic partners had previous relationships. In Mr Dale's case with an unfaithful wife who seriously put him off marriage; and in the Divorcee's case a long marriage to a friend. the reason for which marriage was far from hidden although not officially revealed into late in the story. But this was one reason I was not 'in love' with the story. The rationale for both was too obvious.
The historical period seemed accurate and certainly it was extremely hard to obtain a divorce then and yes, ex-wives were usually the culprit, and usually also left destitute, as all the marital assets were the husband's. Which of course was one of the major pitfalls for heiresses at that time.
Whilst competent, the storyline did not gel well with me neither did the writing style.

He's a respectable barrister...
She's the most scandalous woman in England...
Wilhelmina Hewitt knows she's in for a rough ride when she agrees to help her husband get a divorce. Nothing, however, prepares her for the regret of meeting Mr. Dale on the eve of her downfall. No other man has ever sent her heart racing as he does. Unfortunately, while she'll soon be free to engage in a new relationship, no upstanding gentleman will have her.
James Dale would never pursue another man's wife. Or a woman reputed to be a deceitful adulteress. Furious with himself for letting the lovely Mrs. Hewitt charm him, he strives to keep his distance. But when her daughter elopes with his son, they're forced into a partnership where passion ignites. And James soon wonders if there might be more to the divorcée than meets the eye.
James and Mina are just the right couple. This book is a 2 romance story in that it is the story of love between the daughter of Mina and the son of James and Mina and James.
Sophie Barnes is a favorite author of mine.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Wilhelmina Hewitt (Mina) loves her husband, George. She loves him like a brother. Due to a pact they made when she was 18, they married and have never had a conventional marriage. George has lovers, like most men in England during this time. The only problem, he has fallen in love with one and wants to marry her. He cannot unless he divorces Mina which is an issue since divorce is quite scandalous in these times.

James Dale is a widower that spends time alone, devoted to his son and his job as a successful barrister. He would NEVER entertain the scandal of going after a married woman.

When their two worlds collide, first at a ball prior to the divorce, and then afterwards when their children run away to elope with each other, they need to set their differences aside for the same goal. However, along the journey, more is revealed and James realizes, he knows nothing about the scandalous woman he shares his carriage with.

Once again, Sophie Barnes has created a novel I could not put down. I look forward to the remainder of the books in this series.

This was a free copy of an ebook provided by NetGalley for preview and this is my freely given review of it.

I think this may actually be the first Sophie Barnes novel I have read, even though I am aware that she is well established in the Historical Romance world. This is a first book in her new Brazen Beauties series and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was different from many of the genre because it was about mature love, and definitely about second chances at love. Another recent read, Josi Kilpack's A Valet's Secret was along that theme too and it also was a charming and enjoyable read for myself, as a fellow mature woman on the downward side of my 40s. It also showed how difficult divorce was at the time, and it would certainly be understandable why some couples may have chosen to live separate lives and take lovers versus trying to divorce!

Mina is a woman who ended up married to her best friend, George, when she was very young. It was obvious from the beginning that she was pregnant and he chose to marry her to prevent her child from being born a bastard. They loved each other very much, and made a good life together and parented her daughter Cynthia, but it was obvious from the beginning that their love, while strong and loyal, was that of close siblings, never as lovers. Because she felt George sacrificed his potential happiness in love to save her, Mina always encouraged him to have lovers. For the past couple of years, he had been seeing Fiona, a widow, outside of his marriage, with Mina's encouragement. However, he ended up falling in love with her and wishing to marry Fiona. As their daughter reached maturity and became wedded herself, Mina felt it was time to release George so he could marry for love. The only way to do that in the early 1800s is to seek a divorce, blaming the woman, or man, for adultery, and being tried in court three times, in order to grant the type of divorce whereby George would be able to remarry. This involved castigating Mina quite publicly as having had adultery, and shredding her reputation, which she was very willing to do for George. Remember the double standards of the time; it was far more acceptable for a man to have affairs than for a woman to do so publicly.

On the eve they were to start the actions leading to the divorce, Mina meets James Dale, a barrister at a ball, he has an overwhelming attraction and liking for her. But on discovering that Mina is an adulteress, he becomes disgusted with her. He follows her trial, and all the sordid details that come out about her affairs reinforce his anger and disgust of her.

When Mina and George's divorce is finalized, he leaves England with Fiona so they can marry and start fresh in America, and George tries to make sure that Mina is taken care of. Mina suffers severely socially from the loss of her reputation, and even her funds are frozen while the courts investigate to see if she actually owes damages to George because of the divorce, and he is not there to counteract this. During the course of the divorce, which took years to achieve, her daughter Cynthia becomes widowed... and also falls in love again. Her new beau, who likewise is desperately in love with her, is Michael. Michael turns out to be James Dale's son. He seeks his father's approval to marry his love, the widow Cynthia, but because James thinks she is the daughter of a notorious adulteress, he refuses and seeks to turn Michael away from Cynthia. It does not help that James is widowed, and his memories of his wife are heavily tinged with anger and disillusionment, and this colours his perceptions of Mina, as well as Cynthia and Michael's relationship as well.
This is how James Dale and Mina reunite, in conflict over their children. Through their various endeavours over their children, they learn to respect and like each other, and James comes to realize that perhaps she is not as she was painted in the media and the courts.

The friendship relationship between George and Mina is beautiful in that they were and are such good friends that they were willing to sacrifice so much for each other. Even though Mina knew the consequences of being a divorcee labelled as a scandalous adulteress, she was still willing to make that sacrifice for George to be happy with Fiona. Perhaps she did not realize the extent of the consequences, but it was not something she was completely blind to. Then the more you find out about her history, you really learned to appreciate her strength of character, emotional fortitude, and loyalty. At first, I felt that James was overly judgmental and seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with following their divorce and carrying such anger against her, but then you find out about how his past colours his perceptions and start to feel sympathy for him. These ended up being two protagonists who you really root for to have a happily ever after.

So this was a lovely novel that was well paced, about mature love, and second chances at love, as well as the loyal love of friends. Four out of 5 stars for me... and I look forward to reading more by Sophie Barnes, including the other stories in this new series!

This was charming and I’m a total sucker for a mature romance. An older woman who knows what she wants and a hero who wants an age appropriate partner, sign me up. Could have used a little more in the bedroom scenes, it was very chaste and nondescript. Otherwise, lovely,