Felicity Cabot Sells Her Soul

by Aydra Richards

A deal with the devil...

Ten years removed from the love affair that destroyed her, Felicity Cabot wants only to live out her quiet life as a school teacher. But when her school is jeopardized by a devastating financial blow that threatens to see it—and her beloved friend and mentor—ripped away from her, she knows there is only one person who can save them both in time. Her former lover, Ian Carlisle.

Nobody holds a grudge quite like Felicity Cabot. Ian Carlisle has waited years for an opportunity back into her life, and now it is in his hands at last as the brink of ruin brings her to his door. Without any other options, she takes the deal he financial salvation, in exchange for her hand in marriage.

But the love she once gave to him freely cannot be bought back. It can only be earned. Now, as their tense marriage begins and old spectres of Felicity’s past loom in the shadows, can Ian show her that he’s no longer the man who broke her heart?

Genres: Historical Romance, Second Chance, Historical, M F Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Marriage Of Convenience, Slow Burn

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2025

Reviews

[Lucy!!!!!!!!!!! · Rating 5 out of 5]

so I love Aydra Richards, and I LOVE a second chance romance. 7 minutes ???? HE REALISED HIS MISTAKE AFTER SEVEN MINUTES!!!!
oh my lord what a gorgeous book

[Serial Romance Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this angsty, slow burn romance. Imho Felicity held onto her grudge for way too long. He never left, why didn’t she just hear him out!? He tried to make it right. They missed out on 10 whole years because she wouldn’t communicate with him!

I wish the actual betrayal part would’ve been fleshed out more. It didn’t seem like he ever truly rejected her? He was just busy! I really liked Ian’s character. That level of devotion: swoon!

[Natalie Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Read in one sitting (finishing at 3:30am). Basically, one long grovel.

[Mina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a really weird book. It felt unbalanced, too much missing backstory for too long. It feels like the story needs its sharp edges filed down and filled out. The villain was very flat and there wasn't enough payoff for the degree of suspense conjured at various points.

[Jing · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was not fully fleshed out and because of that, Felicity didn’t quite deserve Ian.

[canvas.and.chapters · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good! This is peak Aydra Richards. A pining hero, groveling, growth, a well done sub-plot and great family/found family dynamics. No complaints - oh except I feel like I missed a physical description of Ian but I filled in the blanks in my head.

[*CJ* · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I missed you,” he said softly, and his fingers drifted across the bed toward her—halfway and no further. “Ten years. That’s three thousand six hundred and fifty days, more or less. I missed you every one of them.”

"Felicity Cabot Sells Her Soul" is the story of Felicity and Ian.

What happens when you fall in love with your soulmate at 18 and 21. And then you spend years planning a future, when things take a turn. A careless vocation shatters your happiness, and you realize your mistake in seven minutes.. But in that time, you have hurt your significant other, who leaves you..

Thus the story begins ten years later, when the hero schemes to get the heroine back. A wounded, rightfully hurt, feisty heroine with her own secrets. A yearning, repentant hero who is madly in love, seeking forgiveness.

Rather than slip out onto the pavement, she bent toward him, still well-concealed in the shadowy interior of the carriage, and kissed his cheek.
​For a moment, Ian wished it was possible to peel it off his cheek and put it in his pocket, to turn it into a token he might pull out and admire when he had need of it.

This is a book about small gestures of love, about silent acts of devotion. We have mature characters engaged in a one sided battle of wills, loads of angst and a happy, satisfying ending. Familiar faces return, and new ones are introduced. I loved the hero so much that this will go into one of my all time favorite reads.

“I told you once,” he said, “that I love you enough for both of us. But as it turns out—as it turns out, I love you so much more than that. I love you enough to let you go.”

A beautiful love story.

Safe
5/5

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Related to Mercy Fletcher - Felicity is the younger half sister Mercy discovers in her book, who had been sent off by eldest sister Charity Nightingale to school under an assumed name to escape the repercussions of Charity’s life as a courtesan. Felicity learns that Nellie, the school’s mistress is about to go under in debt after being fleeced of all her funds, and potentially looking at debtor’s prison, beyond losing the school. In desperation, Felicity seeks the financial rescue of Ian Carlisle - her former love she now considers her enemy- which he offers at the cost of marriage. Ian’s 10 year mourning of his past mistakes with Felicity keeps revealing until you feel quite bad for him. While Felicity’s difficulties with trust are explained, it does feel like she drags it out a bit far, when even her sisters (who shared the same horrible unfeeling mother) can see how much Ian loves her.

[Ash · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started off well and the first couple of chapters were great, but then it just got really repetitive and nothing was going on. By the end, Felicity would say something to Ian and then immediately have inner monologue saying the EXACT same thing TWICE more, just in case I didn't catch it the first time. It really got on my nerves in the last 50 pages.

I didn't care for the placement of what broke them up 10 years ago - by this point, the reader feels sympathy for Ian, so Felicity's hurt just doesn't resonate. I would have preferred for this to have been told in a flashback in an early chapter or something.

This book also had a lot of missing words - I spent a lot of time going back to re-read because my brain was like "is it supposed to read like that?" and I'm sure it's missing words.

The secondary extortion plot was not an exciting reveal at all and it had so much potential. All in all, I found this book underwhelming and disappointing.

[Amanda Gayhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite (thus far) of this series.
It reminded me a *lot* of Conrad from "The Summer I Turned Pretty."
"I changed everything about myself but the only thing I didn't change is how much I love you."
The yearn is REAL.

I absolutely ADORE Ian. He's definitely got an edge to him that I find incredibly sexy but the way he melts like a puddle for Felicity? *swoon* I can't get enough. Honestly. He doesn't force himself upon her, doesn't force her into her "wifely box" but lets her get all of her anger out and allows her to realize that when he says he messed up, he means it. In earnest. The redemption is AMAZEBALLS.

I loved a lot of things about this story: Yearning, angst, redemption, extortion, lost-loves, humor, found-family, etc. It's just a really REALLY good book. It's a solid 4.5 / 5. It didn't *grip* me from beginning to end, like a 5-star would, but I did genuinely enjoy this book.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll admit I did not think the MMC could be redeemed for his actions at the beginning but I think the author got us there. The most egregious part was his manipulation and that was tackled head on, and more importantly - the FMC recognized it and was angered by it even late in the book.

I also felt like the book could’ve covered the FMC’s long grudge a bit better, there are viable reasons for why she felt the way she did 10 years prior, but the reader is kept in the dark until much later. By the time everything is revealed, we’ve been exposed to the MMC’s many grovel attempts, so the original issue is not as emotionally impactful as it could have been.

[Thistakestime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book completes my reading goal for the year and I couldn’t have asked for a better book. I couldn’t have imagined someone writing my very heart, struggles and desires in a book but this did it.

“I always expect people to leave me,” Felicity admitted in a whisper. “I always expect to be abandoned, to be left behind—even by those closest to me. I don’t think I’ve ever truly trusted anyone in the whole of my life.”

Excerpt From
Felicity Cabot Sells Her Soul (Scandalous Sisters Book 3) - Aydra Richards

This broke me and Ian (MMC), he groveled for YEARS! That’s how you do groveling. He never gave up. He loved patiently from afar.

[Anna]

Seriously disappointed by that first sex scene between them. I guess the problem is me: I just don't have the same taste for angst in romance anymore. Instead of the author giving us a passionate and delicious romp, she gave me a very angsty, half failed attempt of Felicity's at being domineering. I wish the author had just let the scene be hers. Let her succeed at dominating when she clearly needed it. Instead, Felicity miserably failed halfway through (which, btw was totally unrealistic) and accepted his help. Ugh, indeed, it irked me. I dnf'd afterwards.

[CMB · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a fan of this writer, and I wasn’t disappointed. An entertaining read with all the romance beats. I enjoyed the reunion and the resolutions for the sisters’ story.


*Romance is subjective, and ratings systems are not conducive to that, but because writers depend on reviews, I rate as such:

Five stars and an extra ⭐️ for an exceptional book that blew me away in all ways.
Five stars for a well written book I loved
Four stars for a book I liked
Three stars for a good book

Writing is damn hard. Readers like what we like. Not all books are for everyone. Be kind.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

While the story started with a good premise, discovering the reason behind her grudge was quite disappointing. I expected something more serious than what it turned out to be. If you dislike miscommunication tropes, you might want to avoid this book.

Furthermore, Felicity is a difficult character to like. Although she’s described as a good leader for her students, she often makes emotionally driven and foolish decisions.

[Renata Rukavina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, angsty, touching story about young love getting a second chance. The main characters are strong and real in all their human imperfections. There is also a mystery plot, which complements the story of two young tormented souls. But without revealing too much, with a perfect writing style and a beautiful story, I recommend reading this wonderful book.

[Denise Tocci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read everything Ms Richards has written,and the stories just kept getting better. This story has a lot to handle it tends to become an emotional roller-coaster, but always comes back to her characters, to make them better and stronger. Really enjoyed this book. Thanks for the great read

[tinny · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 🌟

i had fun but it was just okay and got a little boring towards the end

that being said this does include my favorite dynamic which is angry & unreasonable fmc x patient mmc who just tries his best to understand her

[Char · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aydra Richards could write about farts and it would be my next favorite romance.

[Aspoon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadfully slow and boring. Felicity Cabot was wearing on my nerves...this chic was bitter until the very end of the book...I just couldn't warm up to her. Ian was lackluster.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a good read! Ian’s grovel was *chefs kiss* the best i’ve ever read. Couldn’t put this one down!

[M. Carolina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felicity Cabot goes to extreme of being a petty and self assured martyr. Thanks gods Aydra makes sense of the mess she is and to the end of the book I could even sympathize with her plight.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just okay not sure I bought the romance tbh

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this was SO GOOD. Ian was absolutely PATHETIC for Felicity and we LOVE to see it. All the angst and yearning had me like 😮‍💨

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was SO good, and I loved the hero in it, but I took off one star just because the backstory went on for so long. Otherwise SO good though, and super romantic! 😍💖

[Alb]

Ehh. It was just an okay.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

So of course I didn't think I was going to like this because I hated the MMC right off. I didn't think he could be forgiven. I liked it by the end and cried a lot. Very well done.