I enjoyed this clean Historical Romance, Kitty Talbot is a unique heroine in this amusing, yet serious tale of an older sister shouldering the responsibilities of four younger sisters when their parents die, leaving them in debt. Kitty knows the only chance she has of saving the home over her sister's heads in a five month time-frame is marriage, and not just anybody will do, they must be wealthy enough to pay off her parents death, but also willing to take in, and support her four younger sisters, including any doweries that her sisters may need. The problem is the first family she meets in this other world, the ton, has an intelligent, war weary aristocrat, Lord Radcliffe, who sees straight through her, he isn't taken in by her, not just a little bit! What's worse than being poor in ton circles? Not coming from blue blood of course, our intrepid heroine goes forth armoured with courage, fortitude, and unlimited optimism, knowing that she has a bigger secret than being poor!
It is an enjoyable book, and I wish the ending had been deeper.
I highly recommend if you are looking for a clean Happy Ending Romance. 3.5 Stars
Thank you #Netgalley #PenguinBooks

This book was so fun! As the oldest sibling, Kitty is so relatable, and the way that she tackles romance is so fresh. I devoured this book!

Regency, sassy romance. It's light, YA and pretty cute. I liked the MC even if I wasn't sure she could really be that bold or sassy. Her navigating the social expectations while trying to save her family was interesting and I liked the sisters. The story was cute!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I started A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting with low expectations. I'll admit I'm not a period piece reader, and I rarely go for a regency romance. However, something about Kitty and her family swept me up in a story of balls, tea and the London ton. I found the storyline charming, the characters witty and the drama engrossing. I couldn't put the book down and finished it in just a few hours. Overall a truly enjoyable read. I give Sophie Irwin's book 3 out of 5 stars.

A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting is a super fun historical romance in the vein of Bridgerton or Bringing Down the Duke. In this one, Irwin cleverly evades a miscommunication trope in favor of a heroine who lays it all on the table.

Kitty has to marry rich and fast to keep a roof over her four sisters' heads. She goes to London for the express purpose of fortune hunting, and she immediately catches the eye of the Delacey family-- way outside of her social league. Kitty uses her wits to try and manipulate a match, but the elder Delacey brother sees through her. From there, an enemies to lovers plot ensues.

I loved the characters, the plot twists, and overall fun of a London season. This will scratch the itch of waiting for the next season of Bridgerton!

love love love love this historical fiction romance. I'll be rereading it when it comes out in paperback as this was absolutely charming and just what my bridgerton-loving heart was desiring.

Kitty is the eldest sister of five. After the death of the girls’ parents, it’s up to Kitty to secure the means for the family to pay off their debts. With her beautiful bluestocking sister by her side, Kitty ventures to London to spend the Season there in order to procure a wealthy husband. Kitty and Cecily stay with their mother’s dear friend, and while there are eligible bachelors on the comfortable outskirts of society, It’s Society with a capital S that draws Kitty’s eye. With her sisters’ needs on her mind, Kitty flirts her way through London, but Lord Radcliffe, the elder brother of her first target, sees right through her. In order to spare his brother from Kitty’s scheme, he agrees to help her in her quest to find an eligible, wealthy husband.

This was a super fun read – entirely G-rated, with she lightest of kissing scenes towards the end. It totally had the humor of Jane Austen, and Irwin is a great recommendation to keep in your back pocket. I’ll be looking for more from this author. I do like my romance on the sexier side, but I still enjoyed this one. I appreciated that A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting managed to be sex positive despite not including love scenes – Kitty’s mother and aunt both had a past in sex work, something that is used to blackmail Kitty, but that no one seems to have anything but neutral feelings towards.

A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin is a delightful regency era historical fiction with a heroine who wants to save her family and a hero who is not yet sure on how he wants to fill his father's shoes. Together, they end up saving each other or do they?

My Opinion:
Like almost every regency era romance, the goal for any young woman is getting married and any young man is figuring out how to spend the money or escape the clutches of the marriage mart. Kitty our heroine makes no bones about why she needs to get married. She's honest, extremely ingenious and focused on her goal. Lord Radcliffe on the other is on to her and wants to rescue his family from her clutches.
The banter between these two characters is wonderful. There's warmth, sarcasm and humor in the whole story. It's an extremely light hearted clean romance with lot of balls and chasing around. The author has done a wonderful job of showing the hypocrisy of the regency era class system with the members of ton mocking themselves. I loved both Kitty and Radcliffe's growth arc. I can't wait to see where Cecily's story goes from this story.

Thank you Penguin Group Viking, Pamela Dorman Books and Netgalley.

“I think I am quite a different person, now,” he continued, eyes not leaving hers for a second, “for having met you and . . . I like who I am, who I have become, around you.”

I just love books like this — classic enemies to lovers. They truly don’t see the feelings coming, but you do as the reader. You know exactly how it’s going to go and you just get to enjoy the ride! This book was that for me.

I absolutely adored Kitty. I love that she owned her fortune hunting and that she was so selfless in order to provide for her sisters. My heart truly ached for her, but it ached even more as she and Radcliffe slowly and really inadvertently got to know each other. I just loooved their snarky banter and the witty humor throughout. Radcliffe was historical romance hero perfection. Once he was gone for Kitty, he didn’t try to fight it. This book truly gave me all the feels. Definitely one of the best regency romances I’ve read this year! Highly recommend for fans of Heyer and Austen!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for an advanced copy. My thoughts are my own.

I'm known to dabble in reading Regency romance thanks to NetFlix's Bridgerton and found this to be charming. The bantering is fun and cute at times at best and overall, if you don't want a heavy, depressing book, this is the one for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Book Viking for the e-copy, in exchange for this honest review.

It is no surprise to anyone that the popularity of Bridgerton has elevated the Regency Romance genre and opened the door to a new audience. Having read the series myself, I was hopeful that I would enjoy this genre and eager to dip my toes further into the water with this book. The Lady in this guide is Kitty, the eldest sister of a family of orphans who needs to marry well to supplement their estate and secure good futures for her sisters. She goes to London with this aim and in the process meets Lord Radcliffe. It is the familiar trope of distant male and woman in want of a fortune. The beginning of this book was slow and it took me some time to get engaged with reading. As we rounded the corner into the second half, the pace of the narrative definitely picked up and it became much more interesting and enjoyable. I wouldn't say that it is my best read of the year, but it is a fun, quick read if Regency is your cup of tea. There were not significant plot twists, so if you are looking for a read that will keep you on your toes then look elsewhere. If you're looking for a nice palate cleanser after taking on a much more dense read, then this is exactly the fluffy treat you seek.

If you were the eldest women in a family of girls that was about to become homeless what would you do in England in the 1800s? This comedic look that that scenario is played out in this clean and refreshing book.

A historical romance with a take no prisoners leading Lady and a Lord who sees through her bullshit this romance was filled with banter and had a great enemies to lover storyline that was easy to fall in love with.

I got this excerpt as a way to measure if I wanted to buy the Illumicrate special edition. As a historical romance aficionado, I was hooked from the first chapter and knew I need to read it! The special edition was gorgeous and the book was amazing. It centers around Kitty Talbot, a young protagonist who sets out to find a husband for the Season to help pay off her deceased parents' debt. But as most historical romance readers can guess, Kitty has a steep learning curve when it comes to the ton culture and her ultimate match ends up being a very broody, very handsome, heir of the family, and former military member. Kitty has to prove that she belongs and find someone to save her and her sisters from the poor house. Looking forward to the sequels.

I thought this was such a sweet, smart, charming historical romance! It was a very slow burn but the dialogue and banter was so fresh and witty. I adored it and look forward to reading more books from this author.

Give this to Jane Austen fans. This was an enjoyable romance, clean (no spicy bits at all). It was fun. The character development was quite good and the banter was enjoyable. .

A Lady’s Guide To Fortune Hunting
BY Sophie Irwin

I enjoyed this hilarious novel so much! I love historical fiction novels that are readable and that is vibrant and engaging.
The story is about Kitty who is down on her luck and needs to support her four younger siblings. No matter what it takes, she will save her family form ruin. The predicaments and lively banter was a nod to Jane Austen and it was such an addicting read, that was very hard to stop. I cannot believe this was a debut, it was exceptionally well written and will resonate to young readers in this day and age.

Audio book was amazing! Highly recommend

This was a delightful and thoroughly charming book. Recommended for Austen fans who are looking for a modern day twist.

After both her parents die, leaving crushing debts, and then her intended breaks their engagement, Kitty Talbot needs to find another wealthy husband if she is to provide for her four younger sisters. Since she is a realist, known for ‘her quick mind and talent for practical problem-solving’, she sets off for London, where prospects surely abound. She soon finds a promising candidate, but when his older brother intervenes, she agrees to leave young Archie alone in return for Lord Radcliffe’s assistance to find a replacement.

Fortune-hunters are rarely viewed sympathetically in Regency romances (remember Lucy Steele in Sense and Sensibility?), but Irwin takes on the task with impressive results and an ironic finesse of which Jane Austen would surely have approved. On the one hand, Kitty’s adversaries are a self-centred bunch of snobbish society matrons and their foolish sons, convinced male privilege and double standards are their right. On the other, her motives are defensible, her skill and initiative admirable (as Radcliffe comes to appreciate), and she grows as a character, learning to pay attention to the needs of others and even help when it is against her own best interests. She is a heroic figure.

Highly recommended.

HNR, Issue 101 (August 2022)
https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/a-ladys-guide-to-fortune-hunting/

I love a realistic, strong woman as the main character and that's exactly what Kitty is. She doesn't pull any punches, she needs to marry a man with a fortune and she has a VERY limited amount of time to make that happen. She has a couple of strokes of good luck that put her in the path of an old friend's very available brother. Is he the man of her dreams, no, but he will do, that is until his older brother gets involved. While trying to push his brother and Kitty apart Lord Radcliffe might just have a change of heart about her after all.