This book is a treat. Carys and Tristan are the perfect rivals, and I LOVE a grumpy/sunshine trope. It was a fun and fast read, and I think it’s one I’ll reread again and again. Thank you SMP Romance and Netgalley for my advance copy!

A Daring Pursuit is book 2 in Kate Bateman’s Ruthless Rivals series. After book 1 jumped onto my favorites list of last year, I could not wait to dive into this book. And this enemies-with-benefits was such a great time! The Montgomery and Davies families have been feuding for centuries, but it is a thin line between love and hate…

Carys Davies has spent the past two seasons doing everything in her power to avoid marriage. Known for her outrageous outfits amongst the ton, Carys has actually been trying to hide a secret that could ruin her and her family. With her scandalous outfits and carefree, confident attitude, Carys has been able to keep potential suitors at bay. The only one who seems to see through her act is Tristan Montgomery, her neighbor from her rival’s family and also the man who makes her heart race. Tristan has spent years trying to appear cool and indifferent to Carys, but he’s equally as aware of her whenever they’re around. So when Tristan finds Carys in a scandalous position, he makes an assumption that leads to a proposition…he will show her every delicious thing she’s missing out on by denying herself a marriage. For one week they’ll give in and explore their mutual attraction and then go their separate ways. Because enemies-with-benefits is definitely the way to go! But when blackmail and a treasonous plot try to get in their way, Tristan and Carys have to have trust in one another.

This book instantly grabbed my attention and I had the best time reading it. I really enjoyed Tristan and Carys’ chemistry, their banter was so fun and how much he loved her wit and sass was great. We also really get a sense of the history they share of growing up next to one another and I loved when they reminisce about childhood moments in their past. I really loved how they both were pining for one another over the years and come to realize just how deeply they have wanted one another in their life. Carys shares her secrets with Tristan pretty early on and the amount of trust between them was so nice to see. Other moments I enjoyed: Carys and her love for animals, Huginn and Muninn the ravens, the week-long house party in Wales, Tristan is an architect and building a new house, Buttercup the bear, a celadon green painted room, meddling aunts and their poison, costume parties, we see Gryff and Maddie (from book 1, A Reckless Match), and Carys’ other brothers Rhys and Morgan.

Thank you to the publisher (St. Martin’s Press, SMP Romance) for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts in this honest review are my own. A Daring Pursuit has a publish date of May 24, 2022.

This is a second in a series and while the first one is still my favorite this was a lot of fun. Uptight Tristan meets his match in wild at heart Carys.

I saw homages to old movies like Arsenic and old Lace and Bringing up Baby. This is a madcap story that brought a smile to my face.