The title definitely caught my attention, as did the cover itself. It felt very similar to the Wisteria Society books by India Holton. The book was both refreshing but definitely had some Jane Austen influence. It was a simple concept and plot, and though there is a time and place for crazy murderous plots, this isn't one of those books. I liked the concept of it, of Kitty being unapologetic about who she was and what she set out to do. I'm not sure about the character trope but it's the overburdened eldest daughter who has to take care of her family through a wealthy match. Usually in these books the male main character is very supportive or is proposing that she become a mistress (I'm looking at you Simon Hunt from the Wallflowers series), and James, the Earl of Radcliffe is most certainly not. It was most certainly a slow burn but you get so caught up in the story and of Kitty's endeavours, that in the end if comes together so suddenly, in terms of their realization.

**Spoiler alert**


Other things I liked:
- the sheer ingenuity of Kitty. She is not badass in a traditional sense but I could see her being a young Lady Feathering ton from the Bridgerton TV series
- The feeling of loss of their parents and the weight of responsibility from both Kitty and James
- that James wasn't super broody in terms of being a tortured war hero
- the Dowager and Aunt Dorothy... I love when the older ladies are strong and supportive

Things I would have liked to see:
- more background on Aunt Dorothy and her mom...
- their happy ending felt a bit rushed To the end ... Especially the declaration between the two... It was a long time coming but still felt quite sudden
- how clueless they were about their feelings.... A lot for denial though I guess Kitty didn't have time for pining
- oh how I wanted an epilogue!!

Also what will happen with Ceciliy and Lord Montagu?!

I'd definitely recommend this read to friends. It was fun and I read it in practically one sitting!

Spice: 🔥
Heart flutters: ❤️❤️❤️

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the advanced copy of this book!

Read through NetGalley, opinions my own.

Enjoyed this book, a light read with a classic Regency feel.

Some typographical issues in the Kindle version I read, but will doubtless be fixed once properly released.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting is Sophie Irwin’s debut novel, and may I say, a most excellent debut it is. Kitty Talbot is on a mission to save her family and their home. Things have not been going her way; her parents died, leaving mountains of debt, and her erstwhile fiancee has decided to marry another. The only solution, it seems, is to travel to London and find a wealthy husband. Her mother's best friend is delighted to sponsor Kitty and her sister Cecily in London for the season; however, her social status is middle class, and Kitty hopes to find a husband in the ton. Step by step, Kitty overcomes the obstacles in her way and is on the brink of a proposal from the very wealthy Archibald de Lacey but then his older brother James de Lacey, Earl of Radcliffe, steps in and threatens to reveal family secrets, she threatens him right back, and they come to an uneasy truce. Kitty will end her pursuit of his brother, and he will help her get invitations to suitable balls and parties. James has never met anyone quite like Kitty, with her formidable will, unflinching honesty, and utter devotion to the family she has left. Sparkling banter, strong supporting characters, intriguing adventures, a nasty villain and a delightfully hard-won HEA made this book one of my most enjoyable reads this year. I highly recommend reading this novel. Steam Level: Kissing is mentioned. Publishing Date: July 12, 2022. #ALadysGuideToFortuneHunting #SophieIrwin #PenguinRandomHouse #HistoricalRomance #DebutNovel #HistoricalRomanceReader #RomanceReader #NetGalley #Bookstagram #Bookstagrammer #HistoricalRomanceReview

While I have not read the Bridgerton series, and this is not my usual type of read, I do believe this would be akin to a PG version of events. It's Earls and Lords, Ladys and Countesses but it's also enemies to lovers and a little bit of comedic relief. It's a light read, which at times I did find to be little lacking for my liking. Overall, a nice summer read for those who enjoy a historical romance!

Perfect for those who love Jane Austen. Well developed characters and an intriguing story had me staying up late to finish.

I really wanted to like this book but I found it very bland. I wasn't invested in the characters or the plot, and I knew exactly what was going to happen after about 10 pages.

It's not actively bad but it's not good either.

Well, that was a fun ride! Sophie Irwin's debut novel is a perfect summer read. A well-written bit of froth, it is laced with humour and all the twists and turns you'd expect of a Regency tale. In spite of the traditional set-up and plot, Irwin keeps us reading with precise dialogue and romantic tension. She uses language of the era; even if I wasn't familiar with a term, I didn't stop turning the pages to find its meaning. It became clear in context.

I would love to put in some quotes, but I don't want any spoilers to be out there. Just trust that the humour is clever and clear. Jane Austin, Irwin isn't, as she's writing in an imitative style, and the era she writes of is not hers to satirize, still it's a bubbly romantic read that doesn't come across as vapid or cloying.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Faced with the loss of her home and being unable To keep her sisters together, Kitty Talbot faces the daunting task of marrying for money amongst the Ton while not giving away the secret of her parents scandalous marriage.

Kitty Talbot is determined, smart and beautiful and has set her sights on Archie, the wealthy brother of her sister Cecily’s school friend. She has almost accomplished her goal when Archie’s older brother the Earl of Radcliffe discovers her secret. However Kitty finds a way to get the older brother to aid her in finding a different man to wed in exchange for leaving his brother be.

A Lady’s Guide was an enjoyable read. More interaction between Kitty and Radcliffe would have made the book even better but it was still a good book that I read quickly and enjoyed the whole way through.

I was able to read an ARC thanks to NetGalley.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Very enjoyable read. Loved Kitty and her straight-forwardness and pragmatism.

Here’s a cure for Bridgerton withdrawal. Step 1: see Mr. Malcolm’s List (in cinemas July 1), the Jane Austen-inspired comedy with colour-blind casting and racially blended aristocratic families about the upper-class mating rituals of Regency-era England. Step 2: Stretch out on the chaise lounge with this delightful comedy of manners, a debut by a former assistant publishing editor that’s a whirl of high-stakes scheming social climbers and barbed bon mots. I was delighted to include this title in ‘Summer Reading,’ my latest round-up for Zoomer magazine’s Books section highlighting guaranteed great beach pleasers.

A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin is a clever and delightful regency romance. This is more than a simple romance with the excellent dialog and colourful characters. I loved that our heroine was honest as possible in an impossible situation. A perfect first novel and here is hoping that Kitty's sisters get to tell their stories in future. A wonderful summer read.

I really enjoyed this historical romance - it was refreshing to have a heroine who was up front and matter of fact about needing a wealthy husband to ensure her and her sisters' future was secure. The banter between the hero and heroine was top notch. Looking forward to more from this author in the future!

I received a copy from NetGalley and this is my freely given opinion.

This is the debut novel for Sophie Irwin, and I was quite looking forward to reading this from the blurb. I received an ARC copy, and it was a bit hard to read physically because of some issues with broken up paragraphs and words, which I hope will be corrected in the final published book, but did break up the pacing for me.

On saying that, it is different from most historical romances. Kitty Talbot is the eldest of several sisters, the orphaned daughter of a gentleman ostracized by his family for marrying beneath him. Kitty and her sisters lost their mother years prior, and recently lost their father. Unfortunately he had a gambling problem, and left them with crippling debt and the likelihood of losing their home, and being separated if Kitty does not do something to rectify their situation. She thought she had done so, having had a match set up with the wealthy son of a local baron, but he quite suddenly broke things off with Kitty.

Kitty takes one of her sisters, Cecily to London, to visit with their "aunt", a friend of their mother's, who helps them with their endeavours by helping them debut in local Society. Kitty has higher aspirations than the men they are steered for, especially with the hopes of getting rid of the debt and having a better future for her sisters, and knows that she must marry a wealthy man, even if it means sacrificing herself, and sets her sites on Mr. Archie De Lacey, the younger brother of the Earl of Radcliffe. She is smart, and cunning, despite not having the knowledge, privileges, and and opportunities of young debs of a higher class, and manages to inveigle her way into his affections.

However, the situation is brought to the attention of Radcliffe and he works to separate the two of them, knowing that Kitty is fortune hunting, rather than having any real affection for his brother. Kitty is open with him about her need for a wealthy husband for her family's sake and essentially blackmails him into helping her gain some entry into higher society and to help her find a suitable husband. Radcliffe is openly disdainful, but agrees to help her to keep her claws out of his brother.

This is a bit of an enemies to friends scenario, because despite the fact that Kitty is quite calculating in her fortune hunting and open with it with Radcliffe, imposing on him and forcing him to help her, she is not really doing anything different from others in the Marriage Mart. The difference may be that she is more honest about it, and not wrapping it up in niceties, and that she also does not have the privileges of others in her class. At first I was tempted to dislike her because she seemed so coldly calculating, and singularly focused on her goal. But she has a deadline and a genuine care and worry for her family and circumstances, which are strong motivations. Radcliffe seems to despise her at first, but considering how he wants to protect his own family, they come to have a grudging appreciation for each other that ends up developing into a deeper understanding and caring, especially as they, through their misbegotten trust and honesty with each other open up about other things. However, they don't trust their own deeper feelings for each other either, since Kitty wants to keep her aspirations realistic for the sake of her family, and Radcliffe knows she is below him in status, and neither one has any confidence in how the other feels.

To add to their complicated feelings, they both have issues with their past relationships with their parents/relationships, which they share, but also are barriers to their feelings, and current family issues, which are are distracting complications in their present time.

This was a very slow build in their relationship, and quite a dry read initially. I have to admit there was a point where I was tempted to give up on this, but I started to enjoy the development of the depth of character of Kitty and Radcliffe. It was a slow build, but added layers, and that contributed to my enjoyment of the slow change of their relationship from enemies, to grudging appreciation, to realizing they care for each other and truly see each other beyond the superficiality of relationships and expectations in Society.

However, after the slow build, there was just not enough time spent, IMO, on the romantic relationship when Radcliffe and Kitty were together, or even the relationships (romantic and familial) of others. The build to the HEA was slow and long, but the actual HEA was short and rather abrupt, which I personally found emotionally unsatisfactory. But all in all, pretty OK for a debut and I would like to see more from Ms. Irwin in the future.

3 stars out of 5.

Loved the characters and their banter but wish their story had more been the focus. Not sure why all the extra details involving Archie were so important but maybe future books will explain.

I unfortunately had a very hard time reading this book - I went in convinced I was going to love it ardently but it ended up falling a bit flat for me. A lack of cohesive writing and plot maybe?

This novel was just OK for me. It was a bit bland. I liked the concept overall but it was just missing that spark.

I won't mince words here: this was a very, very bland book, not a single shred of personality to be found anywhere. The characters' personalities and motivations are painfully simple: Kitty is the Scheming One Who Needs to Find a Husband, Lord Radcliffe is the Uptight One Who Wants to Foil Her Plans, Arthur is the Lovable Idiot Who Feels Abandoned by His Brother. And I would've forgiven it its simplistic characters if it maybe had some interesting character interactions or dynamics, but no, that's nowhere to be found either. The plot is just kind of...there, moving us from one scene to the next, with little tension or excitement or literally anything that would make you invested in what's going on.

A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting tries to be a historical fiction and a romance, and succeeds at neither. It's nowhere near immersive or detailed or atmospheric enough to really evoke its historical setting (Regency London), and its romance is so lackluster and poorly developed that it can barely even be called a romance. (The extent of the romantic development we get here is like two scenes where the characters talk about Deep Stuff and then next thing you know, they're in love!) Altogether, my fundamental problem here is that this book lacks any kind of depth; it's a very paint-by-the-numbers Regency "historical fiction" with a romance thrown in, and you can really feel that reading it. It feels very perfunctory, like it's just going through the motions of its already very conventional plot. And I don't mind "predictable" stories, but this one just gave me nothing to work with; no life, no layers.

Thanks to PRH Canada for providing me with an e-ARC of this via NetGalley.