To Woo and to Wed (The Regency Vows)
Sophie and her sister Alexandra are both young widows, but when the latter seems hesitant to remarry, Sophie suspects it is because she is reluctant to leave her sister on her own. To reassure her, Sophie decides to enter into a false engagement with West, the Marquess of Weston. The trouble is that they were once very much in love, and they soon discover that their feelings have not really changed.
This is the familiar Regency trope of the false engagement which becomes the real thing, and here the focus is upon the irony of their situation. On the one hand, they are struggling unsuccessfully to resist their powerful mutual attraction; on the other, they are trying to convince their family that they do intend to marry, and this requires them to display loving behavior—which of course intensifies their discomfort.
This concludes the Regency Vows series, and with the appearance of so many characters from the earlier books, they can be difficult to keep track of. Amidst so many misunderstandings the plot drifts towards farce as it progresses, but readers looking for a story of second chances laced with numerous steamy encounters and embarrassing situations will not be disappointed.