Print Length: 288 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Historical (May 24, 2022)
From Goodreads.com: Her plan to marry well…
Has backfired spectacularly!
Miss Betsy Fairfax must marry to save her family from financial ruin. Only, her mother’s overzealous efforts to find kindhearted Betsy a suitable match have made her society’s most undesirable debutante! She’s ready to give up and become a paid companion, when she shares a spine-tingling kiss with James, a charming steward. Hardly the way to catch a viscount, unless he’s not entirely whom he seems…
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My Rating: 1 star out of 5
This book was hard to connect with for a number of reasons.
To begin with, there is no whiff of scandal attached to Betsy's name as the synopsis suggests. It wasn't that she was undesirable because of what she had done, but more due to her mother's actions while the family was in London, and then due to the fact that her mother looked down upon absolutely everyone when they were at home in the country. The fact of the matter was that Betsy simply had no suitors.
And honestly? With a temper like hers, prone to go off like a powder keg at the slightest provocation (either real or imagined), I'm not surprised. Seriously, instead of coming across as a strong, independent woman which I am sure was the author's intention, she came across as an absolute shrew. She is constantly sniping at James, getting mad at him after she (in a fit of pique) tells him (without context) how she kissed someone else in an attempt to trap him, but then doesn't ask him what he thinks about it, simply sees his expression, decides he hates her and leaves without giving him a chance to respond.
Then later on, after they have had time to get to know each other, she decides that she wants to marry him. To the point that she even suggests they elope because her mother wouldn't approve of him. When he admits that he wants to marry her as well, but is in fact a Lord and not a mere Mister - she takes offense to that as well, accuses him of lying to her, and not only turns down his proposal, but takes off to the exact place she had been threatened with.
Of course, he follows her, eventually. And then makes a muck of things again, until finally he meets up with her and explains his reasoning for everything. She gets mad at him again. Gets snippy with him again (notice a theme here), but true love (or lust, as I feel, was the case here) prevails and she eventually agrees to marry him.
Which we don't get to see. Nor do we get to see anything of their married life. It just ends rather abruptly with her agreeing to marry him, leaving the whole thing (for me at any rate), feeling very unfinished.
However, on the whole, I think what didn't work for me in this one with no doubt work for other people.
DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.
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How to Catch a Viscount is available from Amazon.com
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