Elizabeth Windham is only a few years away from being able to settle into a comfortable spinsterhood. But first she and her sister must attend a house party in Wales. She is reconciled by the rumor that the Duke of Haverford's library contains 30,000 books. It does, but the last several generations of dukes beggared the family acquiring those books. The present duke is trying desperately to dig the family out of the hole, but it will take decades. His financial advisors have told him that trying to sell any of the books--some of them quite valuable--would expose the extent of his debtedness and bring the whole house of cards crashing down. So Julian is not in a position to marry, and Elizabeth emphatically does not want to. Of course they fall in love.

Wonderful characters and a tricky situation make for a very satisfying romance.

Thanks Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and netgalley for this ARC.

Only Grace Burrowes could make this romance work in the time frame of a country house party. They have everything going against them or so they may think, but will love conquer in the end. The is a awesome romance that will have you up all night reading with a smile the next tired day.

Enjoyable and witty with a cast of lovable and charming characters. I loved every word.

The next Windham adventure takes us to a three-week house party (man sometimes I wish I lived in that era with the Season, house parties that lasted weeks rather than hours, and all other events the aristocracy got up to). We are dealing with Charlotte Windham and Elizabeth Windham, daughter of Tony and Gladys, can’t recall whether they had their own book. They are cousins though to my favorite group of brothers from The Heir, The Soldier, and The Virtuoso. Elizabeth is an on the shelf spinster and she hates that she has to go to this party whose sole purpose is to put marriageable young ladies and bachelors together in hopes that marriage might come about. Julian, the Duke of Havers, really doesn’t want to put on this house party for one it costs too much and he really can’t afford it and two he isn’t looking for a wife. His sister though has set out to get him married. When he meets Elizabeth her frankness and blunt speech about not wanting to marry and that she will not be setting her sights on him is a breath of fresh air. He finds with her he can simply be himself, speak what is on his mind, and not worry about being trapped into a marriage he doesn’t want. She finds him appealing for the same reasons, so they strike up a friendship and in each other’s company can let their guard down. This, of course, leads to frank discussions about wants, past deeds, and opinions. The more time they spend together the more they come to like each other, and when they give in and kiss they come to see the benefits of a sort-of friend with benefits type deal, friends are allowed to kiss friends. Kissing leads to other deeds and love blossoms. The co Flickr was decent, the villain shows up uninvited and ingratiates himself into the house party. The villain hates Julian and wants to ruin him. Julian owes him a lot of money and when his sister's engagement is announced he calls in his debts. The story was enjoyable. I did think that Julian fell in love a bit too quickly or realized too soon that he loved her, but that small detail doesn’t detract from the enjoyable read. The different types of characters at the house party and the events that did for entertainment was interesting to watch and made me wonder if this is house the house parties back then progressed. Overall enjoyable story and strong main characters.

I really tried hard to stick with this one all the way through but it was so dry, there were so many characters, and the heroine and hero were so unfailingly formal and polite to each other that I just couldn't. I had to skip great chunks of descriptive narrative and many, many scenes with secondary characters I simply didn't care about just to get to the interactions between Elizabeth and Julian! I liked Burrowes's writing, I just think she lost focus of the love story. It was missing that excitement, passion, and witty dialogue that I need in order to really enjoy a romance novel. I ended up skimming through to the end.

Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Ms. Burrowes never fails to delight. GOod historical feel to the book. SOlid romance

DNF @ 9% of the book

I just found all the different people being thrown around the beginning of the book extremely confusing.

I'm always happy to receive an invitation to visit the Windham family through the novels of Grace Burrowes. In this book, we are invited to tag along as Miss Elizabeth Windham and Miss Charlotte Windham attend a three week house party in Wales! I find Wales fascinating, and yet very few books are set there. This book starts slower than the other books in the series, but by the end I had tears in my eyes. And there are old books - lots and lots of old books! As the book opens, Miss Elizabeth Windham and Miss Charlotte Windham are in a carriage on their way to the house party in Wales, accompanied by their aunt. The house party is hosted by the (young and single) Duke of Haverford and his (young and single) sister, Lady Glenys. It's the idea of Lady Glenys, who believes it is past time her brother married and produced an heir. Her brother is in serious financial trouble due to debts inherited from their father, and winces at the expense of a house party - but he thinks it is past time his sister married and had a household of her own, and he decides to ask a raft of eligible bachelors to the house party in the hope of getting some return for the expense. The two youngest Windham sisters have recently married (in the earlier books in this series) and their father Lord Anthony is determined that Elizabeth (the oldest sister) will marry soon. Elizabeth is disenchanted with men and determined to be a spinster with her own household. Her passion is setting up lending libraries. Her sister Charlotte, along on the trip simply to keep Elizabeth company, points out that the Dukes of Haverford are famous for their family book collection. Little does she know that the current Duke despises and resents this famous book collection. Put together one book lover and one book hater in a castle in Wales and you have catnip for readers of historical romance novels. I liked this book a lot.

Another charming and heartwarming story about the Windhams from this amazing author. I adore how she spins these beautiful tales with incredible characters that just pull us into their stories and worlds. I really enjoyed both Julian and Elizabeth's wonderfully written characters and their utterly romantic story. I also enjoyed the side romances and felt that each character had an integral part of the story but still didn't take away from Julian and Elizabeth's core story. This is book three in the Windham brides series and I cannot wait for Charlotte's story.

* I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review*

Love Grace Burrows and she always leaves me wanting the next book in the series! Her characters are always fun and such a relaxing read!

We always buy Grace Burrowes for our library. Her books have great characters, story and romance.