Loved this story. Great setting and interesting characters who learn and grow, but keep true to themselves.

I love Joanna Barker’s books! And this one, Otherwise Engaged, is thoroughly enchanting!
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Rebecca comes home from Brighton secretly engaged to Edward Bainbridge. Her plan is to uncover the reason why their families are enemies and what caused the rift. One day while riding her horse, she heard a scream. Following the sound she sees a child in the water trying to get out. Rebecca jumps into the lake to rescue the poor child. The girl isn’t grateful and neither is her older brother who was seconds behind Rebecca.
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Determined to never see these rude people again, she finds they’re the new neighbors. The lieutenant is handsome but it doesn’t matter-she’s engaged.
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Rebecca is spirited and sometimes it made it hard to like her and root for her but she always caught herself and reminded herself to do better. She never gives up. Edward is a faithful suitor and secretly writes to her- he tries to under over the truth from his mother while Rebecca tries to find out from her mother and brother. (Her brother and Juliana’s book is “The Truth About Miss Ashbourne” and can be read as a stand-alone).
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And Lieutenant Nicholas? He’s trying to figure out life and his preteen sister. I really felt for him 😂 as I was a dramatic teenager 😅
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Secrets, letters, swoon-worthy kisses and romance, improper activities for a lady and more! This book comes out October 1st! Gorgeous cover and title! The model adequately describes Rebecca as she marches outside with or without a hat. (It’s a thing in the book 😁).
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Thanks to Net Galley and Covenant for letting read the ebook and paperback early! These are my own thoughts and opinions.

#OtherwiseEngaged #NetGalley

Oh my goodness, I loved this book so much. Set some time aside, you won't be able to put this book down.
Rebecca Rowley comes home after being away, she has a secret, she is keeping from her family, she has become engaged to the son of their family enemy. Rebecca thinks Edward Bainbridge is the one for her, but she doesn't know how to tell her family.
Nicholas Avery, is a Leiutenitent in the Navy, and a new neighbor, he is the guardian of his step sister Olivia. He doesn't know how to take care of his sister, he is used to being in charge of the men on his ship. This book was such a fun read, I loved Rebecca's personality and the banter in this book.

This novel has a delightful story, quite predictable but enjoyable for a historical novel. The characters are quite believable for the period in which it is set.

Oh my goodness! This is was perfection! It was absolutely everything I look for in a romance and I loved it! I adore historical romances that feature characters with personality and humor and this one provided both in the most charming way! I’m not one for love triangles and I don’t really feel as though this one actually was, so don’t let that thought deter you from this swoon worthy romance! Nicholas was absolutely flawless. I loved his dry humor and quick wit! Rebecca and Nicholas had the best relationship and the quit witted flirting humor is what I live for! There are some heart melting kisses and a plot that kept me turning the pages! This is my new favorite from Joanna Barker! So well done!!!

First sentence: Of the many things that could be depended upon to make a young lady swoon, a love letter certainly made the list. I perched on a low rock in the center of the quiet meadow, one knee tucked to my chest, the skirts of my riding habit spread about me.

Premise/plot: Rebecca Rowley has returned home engaged--secretly. Her fiancé, Edward Bainbridge, is the son of her father's former business partner. And that partnership didn't end well. Both families are extremely bitter and unforgiving towards the other. Each, of course, finding the other family at fault. It's been fifteen years--or so--since the partnership ended. But will another partnership--a romantic one--ever be allowed to take place? Not if those two mamas are ever given a say. So her engagement is a secret--for now.

When this Regency romance opens our un-traditional heroine is riding bareback. She loves, loves, loves the freedom of "flying" that running wild and free gives her. As she's riding, she happens to come to the rescue of a young girl, Olivia, who's drowning. She jumps in and saves her...in moments Olivia's brother, a Lieutenant Nicholas Avery, has arrived on the scene. Their introduction is memorable...as are most of their subsequent encounters.

My thoughts: Otherwise Engaged is giddy-making and swoon-worthy. The romance remains clean, for the most part. (Depending on your definition of clean, I suppose. It has a few steamy-steamy kisses. But nothing progressing beyond those kisses. True, at the time in 1822, getting caught in such a steamy kiss--or even an un-steamy kiss???--might have damaged one's reputation. So as I said, it depends on your definition of clean.) What I loved was the romantic build-up between the hero and heroine. And part of that build-up of course depends on the CHARACTERIZATION of both and the surrounding cast of characters. The very fact that the novel feels fully peopled--with well developed characters in abundance--makes it stand out above the rest in the genre. And a part also depends on the DIALOGUE between the hero and heroine. And lastly it depends on the narrative voice. This one remains solely with Rebecca Rowley. And it was a JOY to spend time with her and her thoughts.

I also loved the relationship between Rebecca and Olivia (Nicholas' younger sister). Olivia added so much to the story overall!!! She never really felt like a plot device--a weak, pitiful excuse for the meeting between Nicholas and Rebecca. She always felt like a real person.

As you might have gathered, I really LOVED and ADORED this one. It was a WONDERFUL read and one that I could see myself reading and rereading again and again and again.

If I didn't already love Regency romances this would make me a fan.

“All right, then. Let us play this game. What do I want in a wife? She must be intelligent, first of all.” “Naturally,” I agreed, suddenly not certain I wanted to play, judging by that gleam. “She must be kind and compassionate,” he went on. “Someone to help me care for Olivia.” “Yes, of course.” Nicholas moved closer, dropping his arms as his gaze fixed on mine. “Good humor is important as well.” I swallowed. “The value of laughter cannot be underestimated.” He took another step forward, only a pace away from me now. Why was he so close? “I would not complain terribly much if she were beautiful,” he said softly as his eyes followed every curve of my face.

Constantly stifled by the rules of Society, spirited Rebecca Rowley enjoys finding ways to quietly—or not so quietly—rebel. But riding bareback and avoiding nosy neighbors are nothing compared to the thrilling secret she is keeping from her family.

When Rebecca’s quick thinking saves the life of a young girl, she unwittingly attracts the attention of the child’s dashing brother, Lieutenant Nicholas Avery. As that attention turns flirtatious, Rebecca is forced to tell him the truth: she is secretly engaged—to the one man her family would never approve of. Fortunately, Lieutenant Avery is a navy man with no wish to marry, or so they both assume as they enter into a friendship. Rebecca hopes to change her family’s mind about her betrothed, but the more she comes to know the handsome lieutenant, the more she wonders if she promised her hand too hastily.

After all her carefully laid plans are shattered during a family crisis, Rebecca must force her heart to decide. Should she stay true to the promise she made or fight for the future she’s only just begun to imagine?

Very cute story with relatable characters and a fairly original plotline. Was glad to have a heroine who had actual flaws to overcome; real people do, ya know! Certainly some points were a bit out of the time-period, but that's to be expected with modern stories. Would read more from this author.

A secret engagement, a bareback riding debutante, a little girl who has lost almost everything. What a mix!
While on a visit to Bath, Rebecca has agreed to an engagement after only knowing Edward for one month. But his mother objects strenuously saying there was a serious falling out between the families. With the goal of discovering the reason behind the disagreement and repairing it, Rebecca returns to her family home. Two days later she finds herself rescuing a rude, insolent girl from drowning and then being verbally mistreated by the girl’s step-brother and guardian Nicholas. Neither even thanking her for the rescue. After determining that she wanted nothing to do with either, she finds herself drawn into their presence time and time again. She soon realizes that the girl is hurting from the loss of her parents and Nicholas is struggling as he tries to adjust from being a sailor to being responsible for an eleven-year old girl. Rebecca is engaged to marry Edward but she keeps being drawn to Nicholas as he encourages her riding and teaches her to shoot. When Edward makes an unexpected arrival at her home she must face her families wrath and decide what and who she truly wants in her life. An extremely good read with excellent plot and characters. . I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Omg it must be something wrong with me. I did not love this book. It was just ok. I really liked the male Main character. I felt less about the female.main character. She annoyed med a little bit. With her inmatureness and ways i guess. But thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc

“Fate enjoys taking the best-laid plans and turning them on their heads.”
-Rebecca


Let me start with this is a top 2020 book for me. I give it all of the stars and all of the re-read praise I could give a book!

Rebecca Rowley is one to act first and think later. When she hears a scream on her morning ride nothing stops her from finding the source and jumping in head first, both metaphorically and literally.

Lieutenant Nicholas Avery and his step sister, Olivia, are new to the area and trying to find a place to call home after the loss of their parents. After an unexpected accident Rebecca and Nicholas forge a friendship with no strings attached. After all, Rebecca is hiding the fact that she is secretly engaged and Nicholas is not looking for anything more than the sea to return to. It is the perfect arrangement. Until it isn’t.

Two thumbs up, 5 stars, mic drop and any other cliche I could come up still wouldn’t begin to express how much I loved this book. It was the perfect mix of characters, challenges and all things swoony.

The banter between Rebecca and Nicholas immediately drew me into this book. Rebecca is outspoken and Nicholas holds nothing back in his rebuttals. The progression of their story is timed perfectly. The side characters are rich and woven perfectly into the main story. I’m hoping there is a book 2 in the future to tell Olivia’s story.

Every box I have ever wanted in a perfect story was checked throughout this book and I enthusiastically give it 5 stars (and wish I could give it so much more). The highest rating I give a book is that it is re-read worthy and I’m already itching to read it again.

Thank you NetGalley and Covenant Communications for the opportunity to receive an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Delightful Regency novel! This is my second Joanna Barker novel and will certainly not be my last.

Rebecca Rowley is a bit of a free spirit and enjoys activities such as bareback horse riding that would be frowned upon by most of her contemporaries. In that vein, she becomes engaged to the son of a man that is disliked by her family. The engagement is kept a secret and she is separated from her fiance geographically while Rebecca works out how to share the news with her family.

Meanwhile, a newcomer to the area where Rebecca resides, Lieutenant Nicolas Avery, sees right through her various escapades and the two become close friends. Rebecca also befriends his young sister Olivia. The chemistry and banter between Rebecca and Nicolas is phenomenal.

I had very strong mixed feelings on this one. Beware SPOILERS.

I loved the first 85% of this book. But then the two main characters crossed some lines. I lost some respect for Nicholas in the process - she had been straight with him from the beginning. Though I loved what he said, he shouldn't have kissed her. Afterward, she needed to get her head straight and decide what she wanted. And if she wanted to continue to pursue Edward, then she needed to be honest with him about what happened. The story was still redeemable to me at this point.

Then she meets him at the meadow and loses her mind, and integrity, completely. What happened there was 1000% not okay. And Nicholas tells her it's okay because the vows haven't been said yet?! Um, I think your fiance would disagree. So disappointing. I was pretty much done at this point.

Then Rebecca did something unexpected. She admitted she was wrong, declared she was committed and went home. She spent the night sorting out her thoughts and examining her feelings and she discovered that she was fickle, selfish, foolish and lacking in integrity. She said she didn't deserve either one of them and should cut them both loose. And I thought, " YES GIRL. Yes." It doesn't feel good to learn these things about yourself, but it's only then that you can change them. There is power and freedom and growth in that. I thought, "I never saw that coming. She's going to break it off with them both and develop some character in herself, spend her time rebuilding her relationships with her family. She might even look after his sister for the next several months that he is gone, growing a relationship with her and being a good role model for a change. And maybe when he returns, she will be ready. Wow. I am so impressed."

But then I turned the page. She breaks things off with Edward, who laughs and says, hey it's fine, I fell in love with someone else too! Don't beat yourself up over it. Um...? I think he would have had some different words for her if he hadn't also been unfaithful. And the fact that he was doesn't suddenly make her virtuous. Yikes.

Then she leaves, confused, and her mother comes over to drive the final nail in the coffin with some worldly wisdom: real love is strong and conquers all, and that should be a) the sign and b) enough. Ugh, . I was so disappointed. This book started so strong. I LOVED Rebecca's flawed, relatable person. I loved her and Nicholas together. And there were tons of laugh out loud moments. But that ending left me feeling robbed. I will have to try another one by this author ASAP because I had such high hopes. And this couldn't possibly happen again, right?

Joanna Barker knows how to write a swoon worthy kissing scene!!! Thankfully there are a few of them in this book. I loved Rebecca's spunky, independent and fun personality. Nicholas is amazing as well. I love how frustrated he is with his step sister, Olivia at the beginning. All of the characters are very loveable. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I will definitely be rereading this often.

In this sweet romance, the heroine Rebecca Rowley is reckless and impulsive, although she doesn't see herself that way. Her secret betrothal to an enemy's son is both. Thankfully she has her new neighbor Lieutenant Nicholas Avery to show her why she does the things she does and what it is that she really wants. She grows throughout the novel, fortunately, as she is exceedingly clueless. Rebecca and Nicholas's earlier interactions are quite humorous, with the resulting egg always on Rebecca's face.

The lighthearted tone of this book is delightful, although the childbirth crisis is rather serious. The epilogue is charming.

The novel is fairly well-written, although as a rule I dislike first-person narration. It is also clean, with few grammatical errors. However, "discrete" instead of "discreet" appeared twice.

Thanks to NetGalley and Covenant Communications for an ARC of this enjoyable novel.

This was a fantastic Romantic comedy and I say that with love. The story was mostly lighthearted and witty and I could hardly classify it as anything else. I could see this one as a movie. Rebecca is a character with fire. She is secretly engaged to Edward and finds herself befriending Nicholas. It's very Romeo and Juliet meets While You were Sleeping, though the two gentlemen do not know each other.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It didn't have the pressures of the London Season which was refreshing. Rebecca had quite the time keeping her secrets and then had a situation on her hands when the secrets came out.

Joanna Barker has weaved a lovely tale that allowed for a true escape and much of the struggle of our heroine was of her own making. Both gentlemen were truly good though my heart only knew one true winner. Rebecca was able to truly know herself and she had to overcome her own obstacles. This was written solely from her perspective which helped me not see as easily who she would choose, though like I said, there was only one choice.

#netgalley #otherwiseengaged

I absolutely loved this amazing, clean, and lovely regency romance. The characters are so engaging. They are charming, witty, and made me laugh so many times. The plot was thrilling! I I highly recommend it!

OTHERWISE ENGAGED by JOANNA BARKER is a well written historical romance novel which is highly reminiscent of Jane Austen. I enjoyed everything about it and also feel that the title is very clever. It is the first book I have read by this author and it most certainly will not be the last!
The story takes place in Hertfordshire in 1822, with Lieutenant Nicholas Avery moving into the country estate next door to Rebecca Rowley and her family. This threatens to spoil Rebecca's bareback riding in a field on his property, until they come to an arrangement. Their first meeting is dramatic, with Rebecca saving the lieutenant's decidedly difficult eleven year old sister, Olivia, from drowning in the lake.
Rebecca is quite a rebel and gets bored with tame women's pastimes and society in general, although she did enjoy her time in Brighton society, coming home secretly engaged.
The story has a fair share of intrigue, dinner parties and assemblies, and of course the gossip that goes with it all. The characters are wonderfully portrayed and will keep you entertained, especially with the witty repartee that goes on between Nicholas and Rebecca.
I highly recommend Otherwise Engaged to anyone who enjoys this genre.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Covenant Communications. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

I found myself liking the character of Nicholas much more than the main character Rebecca. She came across to me as slightly immature and annoying, although I did appreciate that she didn't back down from a challenge. And I was expecting there to be more development around the history of Rebecca's father and her fiance's father, as well as a little more drama from his side of the story once the truth came out. Overall, it was a decent read, but I just felt like there was something lacking a little bit.

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

Oh my heart! I loved this book! Where to begin?!

So I'll start by saying that Rebecca is amazing. She grows so much throughout the story but still remains true to the person that she really is. She's brave, adventurous and full of life. But she does have flaws and those cause some problems in her life. Not being completely honest with her family and with herself puts her in some sticky situations. I love how in the end she decides to be honest with herself and that is what ultimately leads to her own happiness.

I LOVE Nicholas. He is one of the best male characters I've read in a while. He's not afraid to call Rebecca out when she is doing something ridiculous but also he's not afraid to let her be herself and do the things she loves. And some of the things he says to her! So swoony!

This book could be called a love triangle but it's pretty obvious from the book summary and the opening chapters who she will end up with so I didn't feel conflicted at all about that. And I guessed about halfway through what would happen with Edward and it all works out nicely.

Olivia was a good secondary character and I'd love to see her get her own book some day. She's got...attitude. Is that a nice way to say it? But I liked her.

I appreciated the epilogue. I'm ALWAYS a fan of epilogues because it makes me feel like I get a little more closure and a glimpse into their HEA.

JoAnna Barker for the win again! I'll definitely be rereading this one!