Never Fall for Your Fiancée: A hilarious and sparkling fake-fiancé historical r

Extremely well-written and very fun Regency romance. This was my first Virginia Heath, but I will definitely read more!

This has to be one of my favorite books by Virginia Heath. Minerva Merriwell and Hugh Standish, Earl of Fareham, are an odd couple, but it works. Hugh has been lying to his matchmaking mother, who is on her way from Boston to call him on it. Through a series of circumstances he meets Minerva. He talks her into portraying his fiancee for a fee. Since she is extremely poor with two sisters to raise, it is tempting. An agreement is reached, and Minerva and her sisters Diana the cynic and Vee (short for Venus) the high-strung teenager, are on their way to Standish House.That is where the story really begins. I loved the humor that is ever present. Hugh has dug himself in so deep in his outlandish story about his fiancee, the humor comes from him thinking on his feet to get around his problems. He has help, he has an entire script, and for the sake of the fee, Minerva buys in to it.Then there is Giles, Hugh's best friend who adds his mite to make things even more confusing. My favorite is Payne his butler and confidant. Some of the best lines and looks come from Payne. He just has to appear on the page and I start smiling. My favorite scene with Payne occurs when everything, and I do mean everything, falls apart:The butler returned, glared at Hugh, and then stalked to the fresh decanter of brandy he had only minutes before placed on the sideboard. He gripped it by the neck, pulled out the stopper, and swigged directly from the bottle. "Payne?" His mother took a regal sip of her rapidly cooling tea as if such a sight was commonplace.There is so much more - Hugh's mother, his stepfather, and an actress. Towards the end it gets quite sad and serious, still there is a HEA, and two more books to come. Can you tell I loved it?Ms Heath's books are always engaging, the characters are well developed and there are a lot of characters. Her writing just flows, it is nearly impossible to put down. It loses one star for steaminess, but other than that I highly recommend it.Many thanks to Ms Heath, Amy the Assistant, and NetGalley for the free copy. I have given a true and honest review. And so it is.

Virginia Heath is an excellent writer. Witty, not the least bit dull, doesn't focus on all the things no one cares about, gets right to the interpersonal exchanges which is why I read. This book would have been a keeper, had she not gone into so much detail with the physical encounters. I thoroughly enjoyed most of the book. But I wish there had been a rating on it as they have for movies, indicating there are explicit scenes which actually serve to drop the book down to street level, when the rest is definitely aloft.

A thoroughly funny and delightful book to read. I found the yarn that Hugh was able to spin worthy of the theater. Hugh was an Earl who did not want to get married. He had a big heart that he tried to hide with deflection in a quick wit and an easy smile. He had a co co-conspirator in his friend Giles. Together they got up to pure mischief. Minerva was an artist and responsible for her two younger sisters. She was fierce and protective with a keen sense of right and wrong. This is just an all around wonderful story. The characters are marvelous right down to the butler who seems to keep everyone in their place. But from a farce comes a beautiful love that sees the couple making plenty of dreams come true.

I found this story incredibly cute and funny. Especially with Lutecia's singing.. but the main thing though is how it started out fake and blossomed into something real. I loved how well Minerva and Hugh clicked. His mother was a charm and turned out to be down to earth. It had a few surprises for me and overall it was definitely worth my time. I recommend ❤️