3.5/5

Maybe it's because I went into this book with super low expectations but I was super pleasantly surprised by this book. What I thought was going to be just a trashy romance set in the 1800s was romcom meets period piece.

Was fun. A little disappointed that the banter that was promised in the beginning of the book did not stick around. Cecilia's character also is a bit weak imo. Felt like the author had trouble balancing the wry sarcastic charm (which was mostly forgotten until she remembered and so it was mentioned and then immediately forgotten again) with her innocent pure sweetness. ( )

Cecilia Harcourt traveled to the colonies when she received word that her brother was injured in the course of his duties serving in the war in the colonies. However, when she arrived in New York, no one seems to know where her brother is. Instead all she can learn is that her brother's friend and comrade in arms, Captain Edward Rokesby, second son of an Earl, is injured and unconscious in the hospital. In order to provide her aid to Edward, and hopefully learn when he awakes what happened to her brother, she pretends to be his wife. Things get more complicated though, when Edward awakes with no memory of the last three months. As Cecilia helps Edward recuperate, she's left with the question of when to tell him that the wedding he doesn't remember never actually happened.

A fun riff on the plot of While You Were Sleeping, this historical romance is everything one would expect of a Julia Quinn romance. Sweet, swoon-worthy, a healthy dash of humour. Recommended to fans of the genre and Julia Quinn's writing in particular. ( )

2.5 stars.
This would have been much better if there was a focus on the mystery. ( )

I really enjoyed this but did not realise it was book two in a series so will have to read book one soon. They tend to be stand alone stories featuring a cast of characters so it should not be a problem for me who doesn’t normally like to read out of order ( )

It kind of dragged. I liked the concept but the execution kind of fell flat. There was too much drama around the whole situation. Cecilia spent a lot of time whinging about how bad she felt and how she couldn't tell Edward that they weren't really married. She had plenty of opportunities she just didn't want to. ( )