The Unexpected Bride

by Rachel Martigan

Too big and too ordinary to be strictly fashionable, Lady Frances Molesworth has always survived in the fringes of society. She spends her days with spinsters and matrons and is content that this is all her life will ever be. When her neighbour Lord Daniel Fitzwilliam suddenly offers her marriage to appease his social obligations, Frances knows she should say "yes".

The Honourable Hugh Fitzwilliam, a Captain of the British army, returns from the Peninsula war just in time to attend the wedding of his brother Daniel to Frances, his childhood best friend. Or at least, that is what is meant to happen. Instead, the bridegroom goes missing, leaving instructions for Hugh to become both the heir and the new bridegroom.

Frances wants to know why Daniel has left. Hugh refuses to let his brother’s actions hurt his friend. And the two sudden allies need to discover what exactly they feel about each other.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance

394 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 26, 2022

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the premise but an editor is definitely needed. There were unnecessary commas and dashes, as well as stuttering thoughts. The characters each repeated themselves in their thoughts in each sentence. The misunderstanding could have been cleared up pretty early on and still had sufficient drama. With good editing of both grammar and content it could have been cut by at least a third and been more interesting. It took days for me to read because I got tired/bored very quickly when reading because it felt like slogging through the editing issues. The mystery surrounding the brother was probably the only thing that kept me going although I did like the main characters. This is closer to 2.5 stars in my opinion. Would re-read if edited.

[Monie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was hard to get through-too slow and repetitive. I got so tired of them thinking and being in their heads about whether they liked each other and could express it. The search for Daniel was exhausting. I couldn’t make it through.

[Ti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great plot and character building.

- Some editing errors (name swaps primarily)
- why isn't the cover photo nice and sexy with a cool guy like the others? Its a story about a sexy and fun lady. The cover should be sexy and fun.

[Dani · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a frustrating read. I felt that it would have benefitted from sharp pruning because a good chunk of the book was devoted to the hero and heroine wondering over and over why the hero's brother -- who was meant to marry the heroine -- had left her at the altar. I know that is the big mystery in the story, but I don't feel that 392 pages needed to be devoted to it. The hero and heroine spend a lot of time in their heads instead of talking to each other. Some of that is fine, but it was so repetitive that I skimmed a lot. There were glimpses of the heroine being cheeky and clever in the last third of the book, and I wish the author had leaned into that more.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this story. It was sweet, romantic, and had some danger/action.

I LOVED that the heroine is fat. I'm not sure how big, but I made the decision to make her much bigger than plus size heroines usually are.

The reason it got 4 stars instead of 5 is because holy god, it was full of unnecessary exposition.

This book could have been edited to cut out, easily, a third of the length. TRIM it up!!!!

[Laci · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most angst-y book ever

Dear Lord, this book could have been half as long. The doubt and self-loathing were just too much from BOTH the main characters. But it was like a broken record... over... and over again. And this is a series... NOPE