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Kate, Lady Elmswood, is delighted to receive a note from Lord Fearnoch accepting her invitation to call and meet her ward, Miss Eloise Brannagh, to discuss marriage. If he and Eloise are amenable to one another, then they must be married by 30 June or Lord Fearnoch will forfeit his title and estates which would then pass to his odious cousin.

Both Eloise and Alexander grew up with cold parents. Eloise and her sisters ended up nearly penniless when her parents died, which is why they now live with their uncle’s wife, Kate.

Kate, Eloise, and her sisters Phoebe and Estelle, assume the man to be old and ugly, but when he arrives, they are quite wrong, for Alexander Sinclair, the Earl of Fearnoch turns out to be quite handsome indeed. As they discuss the terms of the marriage, Eloise learns it will be a marriage of convenience. They both agree and Eloise travels to London where she and Alexander are married. They then move into his spacious London townhome.

As Eloise learns her way around and gets to know Alexander more, she is quite delighted. The plan is that Alexander will spend most of his time working overseas in a rather vague government position.

Ah, but the best laid plans of mice and men…you know the rest. Knowing they are not to become attracted to one another is difficult for them to maintain because they are falling in love. But Alexander is determined to do his duty and Eloise tries to support him.

Can they be apart with the feelings they have gained? Is there a chance that this marriage of convenience can remain that way? This book is beautifully woven together with some extra intricate knots. The characters of Eloise and Alexander are complex, and vulnerable. The conversation is clear and jovial. I loved this story! Don’t miss it!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is the first book in a new series for Marguerite Kaye. It starts off, necessarily, with a lot of “telling” by Eloise and Alexander. They are trying to get to know each other to see if they would suit for marriage. They assure each other that this is to be a platonic arrangement. Both have their reasons to avoid an emotional entanglement. There are few obstacles until they both start having feelings for the other.

The characters are well developed with introductions to Eloise's sisters and aunt who will probably figure prominently in future books in the series. I enjoyed the obvious naivety of Eloise and even Alexander. I thought the beginning a bit of a slow start but once the marriage took place it became a page turner.

It isn’t always easy to write a review of an average or sub-par book, and it’s even less so when it’s an average or sub-par book by a favourite author, so I’m sorry to say that The Earl’s Countess of Convenience, the first in Marguerite Kaye’s new four-part Penniless Brides of Convenience series is a – fortunately rare –misfire.

In it, we meet Eloise Brannagh, her twin sisters Estelle and Phoebe and their aunt-by-marriage and guardian Kate, Lady Elmswood (in whom I was immediately more interested than the heroine, which wasn’t a good sign), with whom they have lived since the deaths of their parents some five years earlier.

The book opens as Kate has received a letter from her absent husband (the girls’ uncle) in which he suggests that Eloise may wish to consider a friend of his, the Earl of Fearnoch, as a prospective husband. Fearnoch needs to marry quickly in order to secure his title and estates – and with no dowry and no social position to attract suitors, the sisters are not likely to be inundated with suitable offers of marriage, so the possibility of marriage to an earl – albeit a marriage of convenience – is not something to be sneezed at. Eloise agrees to meet the earl and to see if she thinks they will suit; she’s not prepared to sacrifice her life to misery and even though such a match would enable her to support her sisters and attain a degree of independence, she won’t go consent to it if she and the earl don’t get on.

When Alexander Sinclair arrives at the appointed time, Eloise can’t help but wonder why such a gorgeous man would need or want to marry a nobody like her – surely there must be ladies of quality queueing around the block to marry someone so eligible and handsome! Alexander quickly dispels that thought, and the conversation he and Eloise engage in here is refreshingly frank, which I liked; after all these are two complete strangers contemplating a lifetime arrangement for purely practical purposes, so I was pleased that they were both upfront with each other about their plans and motives. Alex explains that the nature of his work – he’s a Victualling Commissioner at the Admiralty – means that he spends a lot of time out of England, and he is adamant that Eloise should realise their relationship will never be anything other than a convenient arrangement for them both. He doesn’t expect or want them to develop feelings for one another, and children are categorically out of the question. Having seen her own parents’ marriage implode because of her mother’s infidelities, her father’s desperate love and their frequent rows, Eloise has absolutely no wish for love or intimacy, so doesn’t see those stipulations as in any way problematic. And because she has no experience of men and her only female role model is a woman living in a loveless, sexless marriage who hasn’t seen hide nor hair of her husband in the entire six years since they wed, she has no idea what those tummy flutterings at the sight of Alex’s smile might mean.

I’m a huge fan of marriage-of-convenience stories, but this one just didn’t work for me for a number of reasons. Firstly – and to get this out of the way – I was disappointed that Ms. Kaye, whose research is usually impeccable, chose to base the story on an erroneous premise, namely that Alex would lose his title and inheritance if he wasn’t married by his thirtieth birthday. British inheritance law doesn’t work like that. Add to that Alex’s insistence that he and Eloise should act like besotted newly-weds in case his dissolute cousin worked out the real reason for their marriage and then moved to challenge Alex’s right to the earldom… again, nope, for the same reason. But okay, taking that as a springboard for the rest of the story and moving on, I found the characters hard to warm to, especially Alex, who is too blow hot/blow cold towards Eloise and doesn’t seem able to make up his mind and then stick to his choices. Eloise is a very down-to-earth kind of heroine, but I have problems with characters – and to be fair, it’s normally heroes – who eschew relationships because their parents were miserable together, so I found it difficult to believe that an intelligent young woman would decide love and marriage weren’t for her because she didn’t want to turn out like her mother, a self-professed “slave to passion” whose selfishness wrecked her marriage.

There’s a sub-plot concerning Alex’s relationship with his mother and his suspicions about his birth which is resolved in the blink of an eye; his secret job isn’t secret at all given all the times we’re told about Alex’s ability to lie – the nature of Alexander’s real endeavours required him to be an accomplished fabricator – or that in his line of work he wasn’t even supposed to have a wife; and the past mistake which has him so dead set against falling in love is anti-climactic when finally revealed. There’s so much going on here that the story quickly loses focus. Eloise’s conviction that romance isn’t for her melts away fairly easily; and the introduction of Alex’s boss, who drags Eloise off for a private chat at their first meeting and then proceeds to drop all sorts of heavy-handed hints about Alex’s job while at the same time making it clear it’s – shhhh! – a Big Sooper-Seekrit, was just really, really odd.

The best part of the book – and the reason I’ve not gone lower with the grade – is the way in which the author allows Alex and Eloise time to talk and get to know each other, both before and after their marriage. Apart from one thing (Alex’s not-so-secret job) they’re honest with each other about their expectations and I liked the way in which they entered into their bargain with their eyes wide open – even though their belief that they would be the same people with the same wants and needs ten, twenty or thirty years down the line was perhaps a little naïve.

I’m a big fan of Marguerite Kaye and have given a number of her books DIKs and high grades, but sadly, The Earl’s Countess of Convenience isn’t among them. Even the best of us is entitled to an off-day, so I’ll chalk this one up to experience and hope that the next book in the series, A Wife Worth Investing In, sees the author returned to form.

When Eloise Brannagh accepts her uncle's recommendation of a marriage of convenience, she expects her new husband to be old, deformed in some way, or to be completely unappealing. She doesn't expect him to be virilely handsome, young and strong. Why would a man like him choose to marry in such a fashion, when women must be knocking down his door to have a chance with him?

Alexander Sinclair never wanted the earldom, but when his brother dies he must marry by his 30th birthday to secure his inheritance. His job requires complete dedication, so a marriage for love is out of the question. He chooses instead a marriage of convenience with his co-worker's niece. He's sure he can withstand any pesky attraction. He can't risk falling in love because the distraction could kill him. He also can't risk leaving a child behind, and with the father he had, he has no wish to be a father. When he meets his bride, however, Eloise is far different from what he expects. Her beauty grabs him, but it is her agile mind that ensnares him. Can he keep his heart intact, and still do his job?

I liked this historical from Marguerite Kaye. The main characters were fun, engaging, and so very clueless about matters of the heart. Neither had grown up in a home where their parents were loving or caring in any way, so neither wanted to put their hearts on the line. Some of the situations they get into are pretty funny - how many Regencies have you read where the female lead likes to climb trees?

If you like Regency-era romance, pick this one up. The marriage of convenience is well done, as is the mystery surrounding Alex's job.

Terrific start to the new series. Eloise and her twin sisters, Phoebe and Estelle, have lived with their aunt ever since their parents and brother died. Eloise is a practical young woman, and when her uncle informs her that a friend is interested in a marriage of convenience with her, she gives the offer serious consideration. The promise of the freedom of a married woman without the downfalls of the intimate side of marriage is very appealing.

Alexander never expected to inherit the earldom, and to fulfill the conditions of the inheritance he must marry by age thirty, just a few weeks away. Otherwise, everything goes to a cousin who is well-known for his profligate ways. It would also leave Alex's mother in dire financial straits. He hadn't planned to marry at all, his work as “Victualling Commissioner for the Admiralty” keeps him busy and frequently out of the country. There are also other issues that cause him to insist on an in name only marriage, issues that have haunted him for years.

I loved the first meeting between Eloise and Alex. Neither is what the other expected, which throws each of them slightly off-kilter. However, they are open and honest about their expectations, and a deal is quickly reached. They also didn't expect the sparks that flew between them, ones they tried desperately to ignore. To protect the public illusion that their marriage is a love match, Alex and Eloise must spend time together. As they do so, they discover that they like each other, and that liking adds fuel to the attraction that continues to grow. Every time that attraction flared to life it made keeping their distance even harder.

I loved seeing Alex and Eloise get to know each other. Both of them have excellent observation skills and quickly learn the little things that please each other. I especially loved the gift that Eloise made for Alex and how it showcased her understanding of him along with a sense of humor. Alex also demonstrated his understanding of Eloise and what makes her tick with the unexpected gift near the end of the book. One thing they have in common is their cynical views of marriage and their determination to avoid those pitfalls. But the time they spend together has each looking upon their pasts with different perspectives, and their feelings begin to change. But not everything is as it seems, and Eloise starts to suspect that there is more to Alex than he shows the world. I loved the scene where she confronted him with her suspicions and ached for them both as he finally confessed the events that had such a significant effect on him. I ached for Eloise as she finally admits her feelings, first to herself and then to Alex, only to realize that he won't return those feelings. There are some eye-opening twists and turns on Alex's horizon, and I loved seeing them each come to pass. His big moment at the end was fantastic as he let go of his fears and opened his heart.

I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Eloise's sisters are as intriguing as she is and I look forward to seeing how their dreams work out. I expect that one of the books will be Kate and Daniel's story. I have a feeling that, like Alex, there is more to Daniel than Kate knows about. I also hope to see more of Eloise and Alex in the later books.

This was truly a delightful book to read and although I hadn't planned on reading it all in one day, I did! Eloise Brannagh agrees to a marriage of convenience to Alexander Sinclair, the Earl of Fearnoch, and they each have their rules....the marriage is to be in name only, no falling in love and no kissing! Well, the kissing part falls to the wayside pretty quickly!!!

Eloise is such an innocent but has a strong character and vows to never fall in love because of what love did to her parents. Alexander is hiding a secret regarding his work and he also vows not to fall in love because of something that happened on his last mission.

I loved the tender moments between them, as well as the confrontations, this author knows how to weave her story to make it very interesting!

I was given a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Rachel McMillan's review Apr 23, 2019 · edit
really liked it

I love smart romance with intelligent heroines. Throw in a marriage of convenience plot ( my favourite catnip) and you have a paint-by-numbers into Rachel's heart.

This is a lovely and well-told romance with a slow burn union that leaves the reader more than satisfied. Both Eloise and Alexander are well-matched in their strong personalities and brains. The twists and loops that keep the two at bay, as well as the slow-earned trust against growing attraction, at a Scarlet Pimpernel cadence for me ( another favourite catnip!)

Kaye is a winsome writer who knows how to turn a phrase but also how to keep the reader breathless in hopes of the well-earned reconciliation. The characterization packs a punch, the themes are deft and inviting, this is the thinking person's historical romance and I loved every second.


With thanks to Netgalley for the review copy.

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I hate it when authors do this. When they take characters with amazing chemistry, have them fall in love despite the fact that they were both at the onset found the idea of marriage objectionable, and then forget to have them communicate! It does not add drama to your story, all it does is aggravate the reader! *deep breath* Ok, so its likely I'm in the majority with that opinion as I know there are plenty of people out there who do enjoy just the exact thing I have spoken about, and for them, this story will likely be a four or five star read.

I can't say I don't understand why Alexander won't reveal what he truly is - he can't. But the fact that these two repeatedly show they have feelings for each other, just to then argue, insist that its not true or its somehow wrong, its tiresome. I expected his cousin to be more of a threat than he was as well - it seemed as though he just accepted things at face value without doing any research of his own. I would have been much more interested had he tried to prove their marriage was false. But no, its just round and round these two characters go. Even when they finally do get their happily-ever-after, I just rolled my eyes.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

Alexander Sinclair, Earl of Fearnoch, is in need of a wife before his thirtieth birthday else he’ll lose his inheritance. But he doesn’t want a true marriage, so when his friend Daniel suggests marrying his ward, Alexander is intrigued. Eloise Brannagh also has her reasons for not wanting a real marriage, but she would like the freedom being a wife would offer her. When the two of them meet, they instantly get along, so what harm could there be in a marriage of convenience? None, so long as the two don’t fall in love…

The Earl’s Countess of Convenience is a slow burn romance that I found incredibly charming. Eloise and Alexander are both likeable characters and they complement each other so well that it’s easy to root for them to fall in love. Eloise is a talented designer and honestly the descriptions of fashion and fabric in this book are divine. She’s also not used to sitting around being an idle lady of the manor, so it was fun to see her awaken her new home. She also awakens Alexander, a rather stoic hero who comes to life with Eloise. Alexander’s secrets are held close to his vest, so it takes a while to unspool his motivations and the reasons why he resists the pull toward Eloise.

Eloise and Alexander may have agreed upon a marriage of convenience, but they still have to convince society that they’re wildly in love, which means close quarters. And close quarters plus simmering attraction equals danger to their agreement. I will admit, I did at times get a tiny bit frustrated with the push-pull between Eloise and Alexander. I did grow weary of Alexander’s “I want you, but I must resist because of [secret reason],” but that’s personal preference. That aside, I found Alexander and Eloise to be a charming couple. There are some genuinely sweet and delightful moments and gestures that made me smile and the ending was definitely worth the wait. The Earl’s Countess of Convenience is the first book in Marguerite Kaye’s Penniless Brides of Convenience series and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the quartet (I’m particularly intrigued by the possibility of Eloise’s aunt and uncle getting a book).