When we love someone it doesn't mean that they will return your love, and if you love someone who is wealthy and you are not, then that is another stumbling block. These are issues we face no matter what day and age we live. Some people find their love and others never do.

I enjoyed this story and would love to read more from this author.

If I had to describe this book with one word it would be SWEET.
I liked the romance in it the most. It made me feel mellow and relaxed.
There was no tragic moments but one pure love plot.
Light and fluffy I would say.

Marianne Timperley has been in love with Justin Crail for as long as she can remember.
But he is heir to an earldom, and she had been taken in charitably by his family at Purford Park – with no dowry and no title. Justin promised his late father he would wed Lady Selina Wilkhaven, the most eligible daughter of the Earl and Countess of Sessay. And Marianne now feels she must end their close friendship to protect her heart. When disaster strikes, Justin seeks the support of his most trusted confidant. But to his dismay, he finds Marianne cold and distant. Can Justin and Marianne rekindle their friendship?
This was a decent read.I really liked Marianne and Justin was ok. The plot was pretty standard but I liked the author’s writing enough that it didn’t bother me. I was happy when Marianne finally got her HEA. I recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Sweet romance about poor and orphaned Marianne who comes to live with her cousin when her parents die. Grace, Duchess of Purford is stepmother to Justin., and mother to his half sister Jocasta. Marianne and Justin have always been close friends and confidantes, but they also are secretly in love with the other.

Justin has had his betrothal arranged to Lady Selina since she was a child, reluctantly, he has finally offered for her in her second season, he had held off hoping she would find another suitor. He is unhappy as they don’t seem to get along very well, but he knows he has a duty to his name. He has asked his father to marry Marianne when he was much younger, but had been told she was not of the right station to be a Duchess. Marianne is.upset at the thought of Justin being married to someone else, and what that will mean for her.

Her cousin Grace is a weak and self indulgent woman who has delegated most of the work of being Duchess and chaperoning Jocasta to Marianne.

When Selina elopes with a soldier, Justin is manoeuvred into proposing by his sister and his aunt’s machinations, but distraught at being in a convenient marriage with someone she loves, Jocasta refuses. There is a lot of misunderstandings and angst, as well as selfish behaviour from Grace, and a helping hand from Alex, Lord Darrow, cousin to Justin, before Justin and Marianne discover their HEA.

Elizabeth Bailey is a good writer, and her books are always enjoyable, I liked Marianne and Justin as characters, but I did feel the “will they won’t they” shenanigans went on for a bit too long for me. I would have liked to have a bit more action allocated to after they realise their feelings for each other.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book and all opinions are my own.

Also posted on Goodreads

The characters are engaging and the story keeps you reading.
Marianne, who was taken in charitably at Purford Park as a child, becomes best friends with the oldest son and heir, Justin. As they grow their feelings change, but Justin's father forbids him from marrying Marianne. There has been a betrothal agreement between himself and Lady Selina, an Earl's daughter, for many years. Justin promises his father on his death bed that he will honor the betrothal and offer for her. He begins to court her, but at the end of the season does not make an offer for he does not realize that he has left his heart is at Purford Park with Marianne. He returns home after a time and announces that, after spending a few weeks with her family, he has finally forced himself to proposed to Lady Selina.
Marianne is heartbroken. She has run Purford Park since she came to live there, pretty much an unpaid companion to Justin's step-mother. She knows that she can no longer remain once there is a new lady in residence. Her heart also can not bear to see Justin and Lady Selina together.
After a comment made by Justin's aunt she begins to think about the possibility of marriage to someone other than Justin. Although it would be a marriage of convenience, she has resigned herself to it. Justin does not like the idea of Marianne marrying someone other than himself, but he is already spoken for.
Will Marianne and Justin find their happily ever after? I recommend purchasing this book to find out!
You will not be disappointed.

Received this through Net Galley thank you! Really enjoyed this story of Love,forgiveness and drama! The characters were somewhat blizzard on the parts they played. You think you know these people before It's all over with! Only thing I got frustrated with was the story just moved at a turtle pace where I hate doing this but skipping through the story to hurry it up! Not very often! Anyway you will like this book and want to read more of the books! History and the time era this takes place in I love that time in history. I liked the cover of this book,this was done beautu!

#AChanceGoneBy #NetGalley

Publisher description: Will Marianne ever be able to confess the secrets of her heart…?

1803, England

Marianne Timperley has been in love with Justin Crail for as long as she can remember.

But he is heir to an earldom, and she had been taken in charitably by his family at Purford Park – with no dowry and no title. Justin promised his late father he would wed Lady Selina Wilkhaven, the most eligible daughter of the Earl and Countess of Sessay.

And Marianne now feels she must end their close friendship to protect her heart.

When disaster strikes, Justin seeks the support of his most trusted confidant. But to his dismay, he finds Marianne cold and distant. Can Justin and Marianne rekindle their friendship?

Will either fulfil their hearts’ desire? Or will they find their chance for love has gone by?


Hello modern day Jane Austen! Bailey's writing was incredible, almost like she lived in the eighteen hundreds. Most authors make mistakes and insert modern words, or modern features in their writing of the 18th century, but Bailey does not. It was a wonderful story that fans of Austen will love! Marianne is a great character and the story is sweet and frustrating and fun!

I received an advance reader copy for a fair reveiw.

Marianne has been in love with Justin for years, and she thought it hopeless. Justin promised he would wed Selina. When the engagement is scandalously broken, will Marianne have her chance or will misunderstanding consign her to spinsterhood forever?

This was a delight to read. I enjoyed seeing Marianne and Justin. Of course, I would have liked to see better communication between them but the story would have been over before it began. Nevertheless, they both were lovely characters.

Though a lot of their getting to know each other happened before the beginning of the novel, their attachment was obvious. They had time to know each other and that made the romance so much sweeter.

The rest of the cast was amusing. The pace of the plot was slow at times, especially when the miscommunication happens between Marianne and Justin.

I would recommend this to fans of sweet Regency romance.

This is a pure, lovely romance. No mystery, no shocking revelations, no major scandals for our heroes. Just misunderstandings, interfering family members, and love.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a lot of Georgette Heyer novels except that where I find GH incredibly frustrating to read (due to her overuse of slang without any hope of working it out), Elizabeth Bailey got the balance absolutely perfect.
While I didn't always completely identify with the motivations behind Marianne or Justin's actions, it didn't matter. The tension between Marianne and Justin was so well crafted that it kept me turning pages continually.

Surprisingly I think my favourite character was Alex - funny but actually pretty smart. And ultimately it felt like he was the one to really get things moving when everything seemed hopeless.
I would love to read more books by this author.

This ARC was courtesy of netgalley - all thoughts and opinions are mine and unbiased

This is one of my favourite genres

Well written, good characterisation and story telling

An enjoyable read

This is Marianne's story - the poor relation, who behaves in accordance with the rules governing society. She loves her cousin's step son, but does not speak out. Will she get her happily ever after?

I liked the fact that Marianne observed the rules of her time - too often novels like this have the heroine behaving outrageously, which jars terribly with the setting. I also liked that the plot wasn't too ridiculous either, it felt realistic.

However, although I liked Marianne, I couldn't find much about Justin to either like or dislike, he was a very two dimensional character. I only cared that Marianne married him because she wanted him, not for himself. This spoilt the romance a bit for me. And generally, I found the story a little stifling, a bit too much dwelling on what they don't want/can't have and not quite enough positive action. By the time Selina's news was broken I was pleased that someone was prepared to act on what they wanted! Oh and I found the timeline in the first few chapters very hard to follow at first, jumping around from the ballroom to the past until I was surprised to be back in the ballroom again.

Well written historical novel, that fell a bit flat for me.

Such a delightful story told more in the words of times past that was really wonderful. Two friend's who secretly admired each other but expectations and promises stood in the way.
Marianne, a poor relation that had been taken in by her cousin, Grace, Lady Purford when she had been orphaned at twelve. Grace's stepson Justin, the now Earl of Purford, became good friend's with Marianne and she had secretly loved him from the first. When she got older she hoped he would offer for her.
Justin had promised his father he would marry someone in his class so that he could sire a heir and carry on the line. But he did not love her and he secretly has feelings for Marianne.
But sometimes fate steps in the way and seems to alter the course of love. I really enjoyed this story so much and truly cannot wait to read more from this author. Her descriptons and characters made me feel I was back in Regency England and I could only smile as I turned the last page! I cannot wait to read more!!

This was overall a nicely written Regrncy romance. There were fairly "typical" romances elements in this story, but I felt that Marianne and Justin were both good characters, even when you as a reader wanted to smack their heads together in frustration at their lack of communication. The telling of their history was nicely done, you could tell how close they were. I liked the majority of the secondary characters and even became sympathetic toward Selina. Grace was a suitably obnoxious foil. I thought the book ended a bit abruptly but that might just be me wanting to see the happily ever after a little bit more. All in all, this didn't reinvent the wheel but it was an enjoyable read and if there's a book 3, I'll be reading it!