In Search of a Hero

Finders Keepers #1

by Terri Mackenzie

They have just one don’t fall in loveForced into an engagement to save her destitute family, Lady Theodosia (Theo) Beaumont gives up her dreams of romance and a husband with all his teeth. Thankfully, her friend Nathanial Hardinge proposes a a marriage of convenience. He’s no romantic, but he’ll grant her freedom, an alarmingly handsome husband, and the title of duchess.All she has to do is not fall for him.To Nathanial, marrying Theo makes sense. They’ve agreed not to let emotions complicate matters; his life can continue the way it always has. There’s just one problem—now she’s in the picture, his old life no longer appeals.When his cousin and heir attempts to woo Theo and destroy the marriage, Nathanial sets out to save her, and learns there is nothing convenient about marriage, love, or desire. And Theo finds that her husband might have more than just his teeth—he also has her heart.A slow-burn, steamy Regency Romance perfect for fans of Julia Quinn and Stephanie Laurens.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical Fiction, Friends To Lovers, Marriage Of Convenience, Regency, Historical

316 pages, ebook

Published April 22, 2023

About the author

Terri Mackenzie is the author of steamy historical romance featuring willful heroines and (usually) emotionally complex heroes.* She loves strong coffee, stronger shoulders, and a slow burn with plenty of spice. She lives in England with her dog and her sadly redeemable husband.

*Sometimes she loves nothing more than the most depraved, most irredeemable rake because (she swears) "I can fix him".

Reviews

[Becky (romantic_pursuing_feels) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: Some of my goodreads shelves can be spoilers

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine and a decent amount of page time perspective for both villains as well
Cliffhanger: No
Epilogue: Yes I couldn’t really peg when it took place? It called her the ‘new duchess’ but while reading the book it felt like a lot of time had passed with them married. I’m assuming it’s within a year of the start of the book? and the author has a bonus steamy epilogue available ;)

(These are all personal preference on a scale of 1-5 (yours ratings may vary depending what gives you feels and how you prefer you sex scenes written, etc) except the Steam Scale which follows our chart from The Ton and Tartans Book Club )

Should I read in order?
I believe this is Mackenzie’s debut?

Basic plot:
Two friends decide on a marriage of convenience to solve their problems.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (my assumption)
- London setting
- hero needs a wife
- marriage of convenience
- you’re okay with other woman/other man drama
- mix of relationship development and villain/danger scenes
- hero nurses heroine back to health AND heroine nurses hero back to health ;)
- medium steam – 3 scenes but the scenes are not overly explicit and a touch more flowery on the prose
- friends to enemies to lovers
- masquerade

Ages:
- Hero is 28, I believe heroine is early 20s

First line:
Nathanial Hardinge, The Duke of Norfolk, was not usually in the habit of receiving visitors before noon, a fact his butler knew well.

My thoughts:
This book had some things I liked about it, but sadly a lot of it relied on some themes and tropes that aren’t my favorite. I did like the characters for the most part, but do think they suffered a lot from miscommunication and wanted some more relationship focus for them.

Overall this is a pretty gentle romance that has a nice unfolding of unexpected longing and feelings between Nathanial and Theo. I really enjoy marriage of convenience and masquerade themes so those aspects made my heart happy. I think the masquerade scene was my favorite of the whole book because there’s definitely some levels of longing and painful angst between them that I appreciated.

My issues are just personal preference, so I don’t think it will bother most others! I’ll go into some details below

I tend to struggle with villain focused scenes and there was quite a bit in this story. The villains even get sex scenes and page time in their perspective, which I really dislike unless it’s really integral to the storyline/understanding their motives.

So after establishing their marriage of convenience, Nathanial sets the ground rules with ”I intend to continue the lifestyle I enjoy now, largely.” Alongside the obligations that a wife would necessitate. “And I have no objection if you find...distraction elsewhere, as long as you are discreet.”. I’m totally good with this mindset because we all know he’s going to realize what he wants by the end of the romance...but in this one I felt like he kept the heroine at a distance while still demanding she behave a certain way. The classic I get to do as I want and you do as I want as well. Later, the judgment He had just not supposed she would do it, and especially not after he had kissed her. Yet she had. It was not, logically, a choice she was obligated to regret, but he hated that she had made it.

The whole thing just got a bit weird for me how the relationship between the heroine and one of our villains almost felt more developed than with her husband. He had a pet name for her and there was even some tension building scenes between them but still keeping him on the ‘cruel’ side. Overall, for me, there was too much time spent on this when I wanted more relationship development between Nathanial and Theo. It got so far between Theo and the villain that she starts to feel jealousy when the villain pays attention to her sister.

I just wanted a bit more from Nathanial I think. For example, after the heroine literally almost died of poisoning, I was hoping for a better reaction from him than ”Now,” he said, “what were you trying to kill yourself to find?” “Water,” she croaked. “You might have said.” He lit a candle, placing it on the table beside a large jug.

Also, I might have missed it, but I don’t think we even know what happens to end the female villain? It just felt like a bit too nice of a wrap up for her to just be deceased.

The love scenes were a touch too tame for me. I wanted a bit more emotional pull and details, though I did really appreciate the masquerade scene. That entire scene was my favorite.


Quotes

And she was cupping his face in her hands and kissing him with such desperation he might have believed she was starving. Which suited him, because he’d been starving their entire marriage, and she was the feast, the antidote to his hunger.


Content warnings:

- Hero has a mistress after he proposes to the heroine
- Lots of other woman/other man situations and jealousy
- Scenes of danger/violence – poisoning, gunshot wounds, scenes of shooting others, stabbing



Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex? Not really. The hero is with his mistress, who is also with other men. The hero and heroine don't use protection but they are married and monogamous and wanting chidlren when it happens.
15% - a very light/short sex scene between the hero and his mistress
26% - sex scene between the two villains (it’s quite short and no details)
33% - kiss
41% - 🔥kisses and fingering a against a statue in the garden for the heroine
65% - 🔥kisses, fingering for her
79% - kiss
81% - kiss
97% - 🔥 kisses, her on top (V loss for heroine)
100% - epilogue has a kiss but you can also get another full scene 🔥 with a newsletter sign up!

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱]

His mother didn’t scowl—she never did anything so uncouth—but she allowed her dark brows to descend forbiddingly.

I rolled my eyes so hard I pulled something. What is she doing if not scowling????

This is like the second page but I just know this sort of nonsensical description will put me in an awful mood.

[Pam Bereznak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brand new author for me. I am always looking for new authors to read, especially when I am in between my regular authors new releases. I am very picky so I do a lot of research. Since I am in a few steamy FB groups, I see recommendations from there that I can follow up and research on. This is one of those authors. It helps that she is KU. I am sometimes reluctant to try a new author that isn't KU because I don't want to buy a book that I don't know if I'm going to like or not. Well I didn't have to worry with this book.

This book had be from the beginning. I loved the concept of this story. I really loved Theo and Nathanial. I loved their personalities. Their chemistry was really good too. Sex wasn't super hot but there were some scenes that fit with the story. I didn't even mind that it wasn't hot and heavy because the story was really good. I can't wait to read book 2. I'm glad it's already out so I don't have to wait to read it. Sad she only has the 2 books out. Looking forward to reading more of hers in the future.

[Sarah L · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful tale from Teri McKenzie focuses on childhood best friends Theo (Theodosia) and Nate. Both in need of a quick marriage to get bothersome mamas off their backs, they decide to marry each other, solving the issue of being married to pay off her father’s debts or being married for their money alone.

It’s really interesting thinking back from where the story started to where it ended. Whilst it starts out with this concept of a marriage of convenience, the expectations of both the bride and the groom start to grate on one another as distractions and past fascinations seem to fall in their paths.

This is no simple Regency bodice-ripper romp- there is intrigue from an almost Shakespearean villainous pair and a slow burn romance as the couple slowly start to explore their feelings beyond their childhood japes. There were points when I just wanted to bang their heads together but having resurfaced from a book slump, it was a wonderful feeling to be so invested in two characters. The dialogue between them was realistic and animated and their interactions with others so wonderfully detailed.

Whilst I was initially surprised by how quickly I was thrown into the story and its characters, this style of writing allowed me a very quick access to a wonderful tale that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Reach for this book if you enjoy hotheaded friends to lovers, strong female leads and devilish villains.

I was sent this ARC by the Booksirens team in return for an honest review.

[Gigi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got an ARC of the book and it was a quick and easy read. Pacing of the book was decent so I liked that.
Not a big fan of the miscommunication trope. Felt like if the characters just had an honest conversation a lot of things would've been solved quicker.

[Izzie (on pause) McFussy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Life is too short. DNF at 51%. My suspension of disbelief snapped, boomeranged through outer space, then plunged into a cavern of despair. Theo is is none too bright, and considering she and Nate are supposed to be longtime friends, they continually argue.

[Nadia · Rating 2 out of 5]

What did I just read????? This has more drama than I could ever manage to comprehend

[Fatiha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my friend’s book and so I’m a little biased but I’m so so proud of what this book has become. I really loved reading this book so much and if you need a sign to pick it up then this is your SIGN!!!
In Search of a Hero was the exact book that I needed to read right now. I loved it in so much that I binged it in a day, in two sittings only because I couldn’t pull myself out of the story and needed to get to the end. It’s such a healing, wonderful book.
Nathanial Hardinge and Theodosia Beaumont marry in a match of convenience rather than romance. They agree on an open marriage where both are free to seek romance outside of each other, but SURPRISE, they end up falling in love with each other as certain events pull them closer together.
There were so many scenes that I especially loved in this regency romance! The first kiss was so precious and soft, the masquerade scene filled me with glee and the last third of the novel where Theo and Nate were on the same page emotionally and facing the following events as partners was really wonderful to see. I honestly thought this book was absolute perfection.
I love both the main characters, Theo and Nate. Theo is vivacious, full of life and flirtatious whilst Nate – dear, sweet Nate – is so precious, soft and indulgent. He has a spark of humour and was really refreshing and wholesome on the page. Theo and Nate banter even as friends, but as their romance begins to bloom that banter becomes deliciously layered with jealousy, anger and yearning. Terri Mackenzie has done an amazing job at portraying the natural development in their romance.
I fully recommend reading this novel and anything else Terri Mackenzie writes in the future because she’s such a wonderful writer and her regency romances are really top tier!

I was sent an arc from booksirens for an honest review!

[Terri Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm the author, so of course my rating is biased, but I know how much work, research, blood, sweat and tears went into writing and producing this book. It's everything I love to read, with a marriage of convenience, angst, and a slow-burn, gently steamy romance. If you're a fan of Julia Quinn and Bridgerton, this very well might be for you.

[The Blind Editor · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun read! Witty, sexy, with a dash of intrigue, and a swoon worthy villain that I can crush on from the shadows. It has a bit of everything I love and kept me in my toes.

[Morgane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome! The story was so original!!! A marriage of convenience, where the H (Nate) tells the h (Theo) from the beginning that he won't be visiting her bed anytime soon, and that as long as she's discreet, she can have lovers. All is fine until she starts flirting with his cousin, who stands to inherit if something happens to Nate. He starts feeling jealous, and begins to see his wife in another light... Similarly, Theo starts to realize maybe a hero can be found at home...
Fret not, there is no cheating in this book, just light flirtation...
Theo was very endearing, and I rooted for Nate to show his love for his wife the whole time! I love how they went from friends, to husband and wife in name only, to more... I only wish we had gotten an epilogue a few years down the line, but otherwise it was perfect!
I recommend this book to any fans of Regency romance!

[Serena Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bien y con unos Peros...




•Mi opinión puede contener Spoilers.
•Esta destinada a ser un descargo personal no para que alguien más lea pero si lo haces y te ofende, me disculpo porque sé lo que es que te guste un libro y otros lo critiquen.




In search of a hero de Terri Mackenzie Serie Finders Keepers libro 1

Argumento:

Tienen una sola regla: no enamorarse

Obligada a comprometerse para salvar a su familia indigente, Lady Theodosia (Theo) Beaumont renuncia a sus sueños de romance y de un marido con todos sus dientes. Afortunadamente, su amigo Nathanial Hardinge propone una solución: un matrimonio de conveniencia. Él no es un romántico, pero le concederá la libertad, un marido alarmantemente atractivo y el título de duquesa.

Todo lo que tiene que hacer es no enamorarse de él.

Para Nathanial, casarse con Theo tiene sentido. Han acordado no dejar que las emociones compliquen las cosas; su vida puede continuar como siempre lo ha hecho. Solo hay un problema: ahora que ella está en escena, su antigua vida ya no le atrae.

Cuando su primo y heredero intenta cortejar a Theo y destruir el matrimonio, Nathanial se propone salvarla, y descubre que no hay nada conveniente en el matrimonio, el amor o el deseo. Y Theo descubre que su esposo podría tener más que solo sus dientes: también tiene su corazón.



Mi humilde opinión:

Romance histórico de regencia de amigos a amantes y matrimonio por conveniencia.

La historia comenzó hasta que se volvió en partes sorprendente.

Theo era una joven decidida e inteligente, tuve que cuestionar lo último cuando tomó la decisión de ir a encontrarse con un extraño cuando ya intuía que era una trampa. No entendí su lógica en eso.

No me terminó de gustar Nate. Sobretodo porque tenía una amante y pensaba mantenerla. No solo eso, le pidió a Theo que tuviera un amante también. WTF! Que tenga un ella un amante no dejaría en dudas de quién sería el padre si quedará embarazada? Como Lord debería asegurar un heredero primero. La verdad Nate tenía unos pensamientos que me enojaban. Por ejemplo, en un momento del libro hace un comentario que me dejó sorprendida. Cuando Theo se va sola a buscar pistas y la secuestra el primo. Él dice que hubiera preferido que se fuera a encontrar con otro caballero para que pueda estar a salvo y regresar a casa? Qué cosa más estúpida por decir cuando ya descubrió que la ama. Parecía estar decidido a tirarla en brazos de otro hombre.

Si bien la historia de amor fue dulce y los protagonistas se enamoran lentamente, con drama y un villano queriendo arruinarlo todo, me pareció que podrían haberse ahorrado la tonta falta de comunicación.

[Becky (romantic_pursuing_feels) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: Some of my goodreads shelves can be spoilers

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine and a decent amount of page time perspective for both villains as well
Cliffhanger: No
Epilogue: Yes I couldn’t really peg when it took place? It called her the ‘new duchess’ but while reading the book it felt like a lot of time had passed with them married. I’m assuming it’s within a year of the start of the book? and the author has a bonus steamy epilogue available ;)

(These are all personal preference on a scale of 1-5 (yours ratings may vary depending what gives you feels and how you prefer you sex scenes written, etc) except the Steam Scale which follows our chart from The Ton and Tartans Book Club )

Should I read in order?
I believe this is Mackenzie’s debut?

Basic plot:
Two friends decide on a marriage of convenience to solve their problems.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (my assumption)
- London setting
- hero needs a wife
- marriage of convenience
- you’re okay with other woman/other man drama
- mix of relationship development and villain/danger scenes
- hero nurses heroine back to health AND heroine nurses hero back to health ;)
- medium steam – 3 scenes but the scenes are not overly explicit and a touch more flowery on the prose
- friends to enemies to lovers
- masquerade

Ages:
- Hero is 28, I believe heroine is early 20s

First line:
Nathanial Hardinge, The Duke of Norfolk, was not usually in the habit of receiving visitors before noon, a fact his butler knew well.

My thoughts:
This book had some things I liked about it, but sadly a lot of it relied on some themes and tropes that aren’t my favorite. I did like the characters for the most part, but do think they suffered a lot from miscommunication and wanted some more relationship focus for them.

Overall this is a pretty gentle romance that has a nice unfolding of unexpected longing and feelings between Nathanial and Theo. I really enjoy marriage of convenience and masquerade themes so those aspects made my heart happy. I think the masquerade scene was my favorite of the whole book because there’s definitely some levels of longing and painful angst between them that I appreciated.

My issues are just personal preference, so I don’t think it will bother most others! I’ll go into some details below

I tend to struggle with villain focused scenes and there was quite a bit in this story. The villains even get sex scenes and page time in their perspective, which I really dislike unless it’s really integral to the storyline/understanding their motives.

So after establishing their marriage of convenience, Nathanial sets the ground rules with ”I intend to continue the lifestyle I enjoy now, largely.” Alongside the obligations that a wife would necessitate. “And I have no objection if you find...distraction elsewhere, as long as you are discreet.”. I’m totally good with this mindset because we all know he’s going to realize what he wants by the end of the romance...but in this one I felt like he kept the heroine at a distance while still demanding she behave a certain way. The classic I get to do as I want and you do as I want as well. Later, the judgment He had just not supposed she would do it, and especially not after he had kissed her. Yet she had. It was not, logically, a choice she was obligated to regret, but he hated that she had made it.

The whole thing just got a bit weird for me how the relationship between the heroine and one of our villains almost felt more developed than with her husband. He had a pet name for her and there was even some tension building scenes between them but still keeping him on the ‘cruel’ side. Overall, for me, there was too much time spent on this when I wanted more relationship development between Nathanial and Theo. It got so far between Theo and the villain that she starts to feel jealousy when the villain pays attention to her sister.

I just wanted a bit more from Nathanial I think. For example, after the heroine literally almost died of poisoning, I was hoping for a better reaction from him than ”Now,” he said, “what were you trying to kill yourself to find?” “Water,” she croaked. “You might have said.” He lit a candle, placing it on the table beside a large jug.

Also, I might have missed it, but I don’t think we even know what happens to end the female villain? It just felt like a bit too nice of a wrap up for her to just be deceased.

The love scenes were a touch too tame for me. I wanted a bit more emotional pull and details, though I did really appreciate the masquerade scene. That entire scene was my favorite.


Quotes

And she was cupping his face in her hands and kissing him with such desperation he might have believed she was starving. Which suited him, because he’d been starving their entire marriage, and she was the feast, the antidote to his hunger.


Content warnings:

- Hero has a mistress after he proposes to the heroine
- Lots of other woman/other man situations and jealousy
- Scenes of danger/violence – poisoning, gunshot wounds, scenes of shooting others, stabbing



Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex? Not really. The hero is with his mistress, who is also with other men. The hero and heroine don't use protection but they are married and monogamous and wanting children when it happens.
15% - a very light/short sex scene between the hero and his mistress
26% - sex scene between the two villains (it’s quite short and no details)
33% - kiss
41% - 🔥kisses and fingering a against a statue in the garden for the heroine
65% - 🔥kisses, fingering for her
79% - kiss
81% - kiss
97% - 🔥 kisses, her on top (V loss for heroine)
100% - epilogue has a kiss but you can also get another full scene 🔥 with a newsletter sign up!

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good parts + TSTL parts = 3 stars
It started out well and then there were misunderstandings because they wouldn’t talk to each other until 60%. Then when you think they are going to work together. She does something stupid on purpose and gets kidnapped to advance the plot. Not my favorite tropes.

[Lwalalba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friends to lovers with a twist

This was a great friends to lovers story with a twist. What started as a marriage of convenience with no strings soon became much more. With a jealous evil cousin and a paramour working together to separate them, the story moved along at a strong pace. The first I've read from this author but won't be the last.

[Gerda · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was a typical Regency plot heroine must marry rich to save her family because the father squandered the money by playing cards. Luckily the heroine didn't have to marry an old earl but secured a proposal from a young duke who was talked into marrying by his mother and sisters.
So far so good that occured often in those times, family in debts and hero having to secure an heir to ensure safety for his mother in case he died.
But this author apparently forgot the most important rule: the titled Lord always married a virgin to ensure a male baby would be his heir; after the wife had given birth to a second son, the spare, she might have had her affairs. Here the duke plans to keep his mistress and encourages his wife to seek her pleasure. That would never have been an option as the current heir might question the fatherhood.
Second fault: the heroine's brother, only son of the earl, and a distant cousin as the next in line joins the army. As a member of nobility he would not start as a simple soldier. He would buy a commission as an officer, quite an expense neither he nor the family could afford.
An author who claims to be a fan of Georgette Heyer and Julia Quinn should be familiär with these rules.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable Read!

This book was a Friends to Lovers with Marriage of Convenience romance involving villainous ex-mistresses and heirs. Lightly steamy with three steam scenes, the scenes themselves are more flowery in nature.

Overall I thought this book was an enjoyable read and look forward to reading more from this author.

Mackenzie did a great job making me fall in love with her characters. I even felt for her villains at certain points. Something about her writing style really had me routing for the H and h and feeling fully committed to their story. I loved that there was a bit of action (injuries and nursing back to health) and I love how the characters feelings for each other developed over time. It felt honest and believable. I’m also a big fan of strong h’s which Theo definitely is. I loved her personality, how she was bold and a bit unpolished and said what she was thinking without hesitation (it helped make it feel like her and Nate truely were old friends). I also loved that she had no trouble standing up for herself. I really loved Nate’s character and found him quite charming, he felt cinnamon-roll to me but with a backbone ready to defend his woman. The only part that got me were the miscommunications in the book. I dislike those plot lines so that part wasn’t my cup of tea. I also prefer more/spicier steam. Lastly, the pacing was a little off at some points for me. It felt like back to back intense scenes happened too close together which made it feel a little unbelievable to me.

[Bea Tea · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 48%

To be blunt, I fucking hated this. A 'friends to lovers romance' we are told, except they are not friends at all. Oh sure we're told they grew up together and were smashing pals as kids, but in literally every scene we have with these two in the present day they act like they despise each other. It's non stop lies, deception, cheating, jealously, more lies, shitty death glares, arguments, insults and avoiding each other endlessly. I mean I'm almost halfway through the book and they have been avoiding each other for the entire first two months of their marriage.

Not a single kind word or gesture is exchanged, and ZERO evidence of these two having ever once been good friends. This is NOT a friends to lovers romance.

There is a whole heap of OM/OW drama though. I hate it. He's got a mistress that he's keeping on the line, and she's hot for another man that she is scurrying around after.

They also never speak to each other, so we also have a heaping shit-pile of misunderstandings that are quite frankly off the charts stupid. The whole business with the masquerade ball, and pretending not to recognize each other while thinking they themselves are unrecognized was infuriating, then respectively thinking the other cheated in sprit with their own spouse, and that she knows but he he knows but she thinks he doesn't know and he thinks she doesn't know, but we know... jesus christ. Unbearable.

In short, every trope I despise and the characters are both dickheads.

[Alexandra G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the many books that has been lingering on my kindle for far too long, and bearing in mind this was a debut novel, I will say that while it wasn’t perfect, I really liked it and could barely put it down.

Theodosia & Nathanial
Childhood friends who grew up on neighbouring estates; she the daughter of an impoverished nobleman, he a duke hounded by his mama and sisters to find a wife and secure the family line lest his despicable cousin inherit the title.
Desperate to escape her father’s highest bidder, she confesses her predicament to her longtime friend while hiding behind the same plant at his ball. He, desperate to escape his mother’s endless parade of witless debutantes, sees an opportunity and offers her a marriage of convenience. They’ll be friends who married, no fuss, no muss and no marital obligations. Surely a win win for the both of them, or is it?

This is a very slow burn, mostly because once they marry, they just stop talking to each other, and that does get a little frustrating after a while. They’re both so set on honouring the terms of their agreement, and not be the one to give in to that simmering attraction, they leave the door right open for his cousin to swoop in and wreak havoc.
And this title greedy villain comes with a nifty sidekick in the form of Nate’s former and very jealous mistress. Add a little kidnapping, a hunting accident, a splash of poison, some mutual nursing back to health, naughty masquerade shenanigans and a whole lot of I-love-you-more-than-life-itself-but-I-won’t-tell-you, and you get a solid and captivating friends-to-lovers romance.
The style and pacing are like an incoming tide; slow at the start, but it steadily picks up, culminating in a beautiful and well-deserved happy ending.
As I’ve said: not perfect, but I liked it - a lot!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.something.

For the first half or so, I loved it and couldn’t stop reading. But then the misunderstanding/miscommunication just go too far, culminating in a climax where the heroine decides to lie to hero about planning to do something she *knows* might get her killed, after they’ve decided to be a true couple, to “protect him”. So rather than talk to her now beloved partner and husband about what to do, she chooses not to tell him and just write him a letter in case she dies, because he might otherwise hurt himself 🙄

I’m also completely confused about the heroine’s age. They were supposed to be close childhood friends who got into mischief together. He’s established to be 28. Her age is not given, but you’d assume she’s at most three years younger than him for them to be getting into hijinks together as children - I assume a 10-year-old boy isn’t running around climbing trees with a 6-year-old girl. Yet she’s presented as marriageable, save for no dowry, and never once mentioned as being on the shelf etc.

[Gloria Pastorino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mackenzie is a promising new author and I really liked this book, that I gather it’s her debut novel. The story was captivating and I couldn’t put it down, even if I would have trimmed it a little bit. In my opinion there were too many irons in the fire, so to speak. The marriage of convenience, the villain (or should I say villains?), too many nursing-back-to-health moments, a constant on-again, off-again relationship between the main characters and a very slow burn. And I must confess that I didn’t like the outcome for the main villain of the story. But I enjoyed the book all the same and I would certainly recommend it.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Martha B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

He's always been her hero

Discarded by her family, Theo has been searching for her hero.
Still denying his need for a wife, Nate only wants to be her partial hero.

In Search of a Hero by Terri Mackenzie is a long read that occasionally is bogged down by marital angst caused by poor communication. However, it is still an engrossing and well written tale. The author has knitted together just the right balance of dialogue, thoughts, action and description. The added element of danger kept me reading well into the night.

I was disappointed in the ending because there was not an epilogue, but I still enjoyed Theo and Nate's story.

Content 411: This book mild secular and religious swearing, as well as passionate kissing and lightly described marital sex.

[HAL · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Well written HEA

Though a skilfully told story with interesting main characters and and happy ending, I cannot recommend this as a clean novel. It's a shame but several parts focus on sexual elements and arousal that some readers would rather not read. Other than that there is nothing to say except the bad man loses. When Mackenzie offers a clean novel that young teens can read then maybe I'll try another.

[Dyanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ 🔥🔥sort of
I love a friends to lovers, marriage of convenience story but this just seems to be lacking. It takes too much time for the friends to become lovers and it’s not so much a slow burn as much as almost an indifference to each other. The author relies on too many standard cliches and I absolutely hate a 3rd act kidnapping by the villain to make the MCs realize how much they love each other.

[Audrey Starkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

childhood friends turn lovers

Enjoyed this story of two childhood friends marrying for convenience sake with “no strings attached,”. But slowly and completely falling in love despite a cousin attempting to ruin her s he could inherited the title of duke.

Characters were developed well as was the story. Enjoyed it

[Juleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the writing, and look forward to more Terri Mackenzie books. The Villain was an interesting one, as he fooled her. As always, both do not want to let the other know of their love, so time goes by before they figure it all out.
5s I own, 4s I might read again, 3s didn't suck, 2s need a re-write and 1s are terrible.

It was a quick, easy read.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

arranged marriage

competent reworking of the arranged marriage to lovers trope. Kidnapping, poisoning. a male and female villain. The villains do not reform. The main characters change in a pleasant way.

[Janet Griffith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uncertainty to love

Being pushed to marry agents her will Theo pushed her friend towards a marriage of convenience. Unbenonced to either of them danger lurked. Both were nearly killed in the first few months of their marriage. Could they survive all the trauma?

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nat grew up running wild on his estate with Theo, who li Ed in the bordering estate. He is being pressed to marry and her father is read to marry her to an old man. So he marries her as a convenience but as it turns out neither one of them wants to stick to the arrangement

[Danette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got to chapter 9 and just had to stop. Boring. No steam. Hero has a mistress and plans on resuming after marriage. Encourages his betrothed to look for a lover since theirs will be a convenience marriage. Yuk. I. Don’t. Care. How. This. Ends.