I started out liking this book until about the middle of the book. I did not feel that the main characters had any attraction between them.
And I absolutely did not like the main male character by the end I almost hated him.
I hated that he basically treated Harriet like a lite skirt.
And the thing she did in the beginning for her nephew before Quint came back, when Quint found out I don't believe he should have reacted the way that he did.
And the very ending pissed me off big time!
They are apart for months because Quint is an ass and then all of a sudden, he shows up does not apologize and he has a marriage license to marry her right away and of course all is forgiven, and they marry!!!!! WTF

I enjoyed this story with all the characters within. The main characters were Harriet Mayfield and Quinton Burnes.

Harriet Mayfield is a twenty- seven years old woman that has not married yet. While visiting her sister home word about a accident happened is told. Her sister and her husband were visiting a school when something happened and killed both of them. Now she is taking care of the children that her sister had. While waiting on their uncle to return. The children grandmother moves back to so that she can help.

Quinton Burnes is a Colonel in the military. He has been wounded. While trying to heal he gets a letter telling him that his brother was killed in an accident. He must get better so that he can return to England. Because his brother's children and the estate need him.

This was a fun story to read. It had action, adventure and drama throughout. It had a few giggles within. It was sad at the first part. There a bit of a mystery to.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinions.

Rules for an Unmarried Lady
by Wilma Counts

Harriet has taken responsibility of her sister”s seven children when she and her husband are killed in a tragic accident. When the children’s uncle returns home he takes responsibility of the children as he is their legal guardian. Harriet still supports the children with Quint.

A reasonably well written book that follows the journey of two people who suddenly have the responsibility of the children of the respective siblings. 3.5/5

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
I am not sure what to feel about this HEA. I enjoyed that main characters but I am not sure that I enjoyed them together. I really tried.

Things that were weird: this cover, and the fact that they're in-laws
But aside from that, I did enjoy this book. You have a strong heroine in Harriet, with a strong hero in Quint and I don't think the author took apart their personalities to make them come together. What I wished happened was more emphasis on her writing and her political views, because it had moments where it was mentioned and then kind of brushed away. Pretty tame as far as the sex goes, but a good enough story that I'd read more in the series/from the author.

This story was ok. I felt there was to much mundane stuff going on and not enough romance. The romance seemed to be secondary to a lot of plot points that went nowhere. I never felt the love connection between Harriet and Quint.

Well, this was just absolutely lovely. I think I've found a new auto buy historical romance writer.

This books is definitely less melodramatic than some historical romance, not that there isn't a time and place for that too. I think, however, the tone and pacing work specifically well here given the circumstances at the opening of the novel. Both love interests have taken up their duties as aunt/godmother and uncle/legal guardian of their respective siblings seven children after both parents die in a tragic accident. This book focusses on loss, family and finding ways to support one another and communicate which I thought was done incredibly well.

The romance was lovely, with a few rocky moments but far fewer unnatural/forced misunderstandings than some romance stories. Both characters are also incredibly endearing and I could spend much more time with them together than I was able to in this book.

The text, particularly toward the beginning, was sometimes prone to large fact dumps but at the same time I LOVED the level of historical/political detail included so I'm willing to accept the former for the latter.

All in all just a really warm and absorbing story.

I am a big fan of Romance books and I found this one to be a very enjoyable read. I will be looking for more books from this author.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
An intriguing and romantic story that has a colorful cast of character especially the likable MC's.
A good read.

Thanks for netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.
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That was really disappointing...
I started that book with really high expectations, it had a strong female, a supposedly nice lead gentleman, but my hopes for a nice romance read were a little bit shattered.
The story was so dull, boring and really posh, it felt like the story was told from the pov of quint's mother!!
They didn't start to catch feelings for each other until the last third part of the book, at the first parts it was just kind of them returning the balance to their nephews and nieces.
Overall, didn't like it.

I absolutely loved the children in this novel. They had personality and made the book a fun read overall. There is a lot of great interactions between them and the heroine, Harriet. That was what made the book as enjoyable as it was.

I also enjoyed the hero and heroine for most of the novel, but I do feel the romance element felt a bit sudden. I was really surprised when she invited him to her bedroom, as it did not feel like they had progressed that far romantically. The ending of the novel also felt rushed. A lot of things happened quickly, though it does have a HEA. It almost pushed it down to 3 stars for me, but the kids keep it at 4 stars.

I have not read the other books in this series, but I do not think that impacted my enjoyment of the novel.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story had such a sad beginning but slowly the characters showed resilience and continued living the best they could, from the smallest, Tilly, to the oldest members, the great grandparents and the grandmother. The children's aunt and uncle having to take on the care of the children and the estate in the midst of their grief must have been stressful, and I would have liked to see more of that grief from them since we we privy to their innermost thoughts. However, their romance was sweet and I believe done pretty well and I sincerely enjoyed the book and have found a new author to enjoy as well! #rulesforanunmarriedlady #netgalley

Rules for an Unmarried Lady is the third book in the Once Upon a Bride series by Wilma Counts. Though the series revolves around bluestocking best friends Henrietta, Harriet and Hero, the stories totally stand alone.

This was a fun and entertaining story. Harriet was a wonderful aunt and wanted to raise the children in a way that her sister would have wanted. Quint’s mother had totally different ideas of child rearing, but Harriet stood firm in her defense of the kids. Their interaction with their nieces and nephew was totally enchanting! I especially liked young Phillip, the new earl who was trying to deal with both losing his parents and becoming an earl. It was a sweet story.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Wilma Counts and I really enjoyed the over arching story, I've seen this in movies before, but I haven't seen it in book form yet, so I was excited to read through.

Harriet and Quint are two separate people living two separate lives at the start of this book. Then they learn that their respective siblings have died in a carriage accident. This leaves seven, yes seven, children orphaned. Both make the effort to care for them but they both come from different avenues.

Harriet who grew up orphaned with her sister, knows these children and wants to raise them happy and whole, in a not so 'ton' appropriate version of childhood. This vexes the grandmother(Quint's mother) to no end. She'd like nothing better than to kick Harriet out on her ear so she can raise the children how she feels is appropriate. Harriet and the grandmother go at it a lot due to this reason.

Quint, who has been at war, has been largely absent from the family and his brother, but has returned home to do well by his brother's children, including the young heir, Earl of Sedwick. Part of that includes his schooling in particular.

Over the course of this book you see some fun family bonding, a little bickering and some sexual tension. Overall a good read, however, I don't feel the romance started until well past the middle of the book which was disappointing based on how it was represented. There was also a lot of attention to detail of the era, which was interesting, but perhaps a little heavy handed for me.

I'd read Wilma Counts again, but only to see if things picked up a little different in the next one.

My opinions are my own and freely given.

This is a well-written, well-researched, interesting novel about family life in Regency England. The pace is slow, and the romance plot nonexistent for the first half of the book. For that reason, I would characterize this as historical fiction rather than historical romance. The subplot (which is really more the main plot) regarding the orphaned children is heart-wrenching, and some of the portrayal of the lives of the working class was disturbing. The book is intellectually engaging and worth reading, but I wasn't swept away by the emotion of falling in love.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received.

Returning from war to take up the guardianship of his orphaned nieces and nephews, Colonel Lord Quinton Burnes expects life to be simpler away from the battlefield. He does not expect to butt heads with the children themselves, resisting his plans for orderly sending the older ones off to school, aided and abetted by their maternal aunt Harriet Mayfield.

At 27, Harriet is firmly on the shelf and seems quite happy about it. Independently wealthy, she’s quite prepared to devote herself to raising her dead sister’s children. Except it seems quite clear their guardian doesn’t want her there…

There were some really weird contradictions in this book which kept giving me a kind of whiplash. The Dowager Countess insisting strict mourning should be observed, so the children must not go to London… and then going out visiting and shopping, and receiving guests. The virgin heroine sleeping with the hero without even a conversation about whether they were courting or not… and the fact that he seduced her and then kept on coming back to her bed without making his intentions clear was extremely un-heroic behaviour. Upon bedding her the first time and realising she was a virgin, his first response should have been to propose, and the fact that it didn’t even seem to occur to him definitely had me not liking him very much.

Perhaps the best parts about this story were the children, particularly the oldest two, Philip and Maria. Teenage side characters aren’t particularly common in historical romance - too old to be plot moppets, maybe - and the exploration of this pair was really intriguing. Their relationships with Harriet were lovely, their grief over their parents tangible and sensitively handled in the story.

What I didn’t get was what Harriet would see in Quint. He was rigid, convinced of his own rectitude, careless of her reputation and had to be forced to change his mind about sending the older children to school by one of them getting into a serious accident, DESPITE being given multiple emotional pleas PLUS good and logical reasons for not doing so. He basically dismissed the opinions or desires of anyone who was not him. He had to be pushed into doing the bare minimum of the right thing, and to me, this really does not make a good hero. I didn’t like his ‘well this is how everyone does it’ attitude towards the mill workers either.

At the end of the day, I’m divided on this one; there are some really good bits and some parts I didn’t like at all. Some excellent period attention to detail (conditions in the mills) and some things which didn’t add up (the dowager countess breaching mourning customs despite apparently being a real stickler). I’ll give it three stars.

Harriet Mayfield is a smart and unconventional blue stocking who finds great pleasure in raising her seven nieces and nephews after her sister and brother in law die tragically.

Colonel Lord Quinton Burnes is the children's uncle (on their father's side) and has been appointed their legal guardian.

Both Quint and Harriet task themselves with helping the children in particular twelve year old Phillip, who is the new Earl of Sedwick, navigate his new responsibilites, while grieving and still being a child.

I found the story to be decent, but the pacing was just incredibly slow (for a relatively short book). The children saved the tale and I loved the interactions with the kids. The romance was incredibly light. Almost fifty percent into the book and Harriet and Quint still hadn't been alone. I learned a lot about landownership and responsibilty, but I think some of this should have been parred down to focus more on the couple.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. Thoughts and opinions are my own and given freely.

When Harriett Mayfield loses her sister and brother in law in an accident, she steps into the caretaker’s role for her seven orphaned nieces and nephews. But from the beginning, there is conflict because Colonel Lord Quinton Burnes is the children’s legal guardian and he is opposed to Harriett’s decisions for the children’s welfare. The story conflict ebbs and flows, but the rivalries are the bulwark of the plot.
The first half reads like a visitor’s guide to 1800 London. Descriptions of Vauxhall Gardens feel too stuffy and overdone. “The main show of the evening was, of course, the spectacular reenactment of the Battle of Vitoria, which involved much shooting of cannon and exploding bombs in the arena as well as incredible displays of horsemanship, swordsmanship, and other feats of derring-do.” The description goes on far too long, in my opinion, and I began questioning the plot importance of the trip to London in the first place. Too much research and not enough relationship development between the main characters. Harriet and Quinton don’t meet until chapter four. The second half of the book attempts to build a romantic relationship between them. I felt disappointed that there was very little romantic tension. However, I liked the villain. The Dowager is a formidable foe and brings just enough angst to the character to be a villain that you love to hate. Overall, not my teacup, but readers who like lots of description and history will enjoy this book.

Witty and well-read, best friends Henrietta, Harriet, and Hero know that real love is rarely as simple as a fairy tale. But with the right partner, it can be sweeter—and even more satisfying. . .

A single woman of means generally does not choose the company of seven rambunctious children over the haut ton. Yet since the tragic loss of her sister and brother-in-law, the Honorable Harriet Mayfield has found purpose and pleasure in caring for her orphaned nieces and nephews. If her unorthodox views about how to raise the newly minted Earl of Sedwick and his siblings put her at odds with their strict grandmother, well, so be it. The children's uncle, Colonel Lord Quinton Burnes, however, is a far more complicated—and charismatic—problem . . .

Accustomed to having his slightest word obeyed, Quint hardly knows what to make of the bewitching bluestocking who has taken on the role of guardian in his absence. Quint's mother wants Harriet gone, the sooner the better. She has the perfect bride in mind for him—someone not at all like kindhearted, loyal Harriet. But if he and Harriet can only withstand meddling and misunderstandings, their unconventional attraction might yet come to a delightfully happy ending . . .

Even though I wanted to I did not love this book.
It was well written story but lacked the normal misunderstandings and the dislike of each other that most historical romance are known for.
I also feel that the revelation that they loved each other was a bit boring and even when Quint went to London to declare his love, it all came down to him saying “you know I love you.”
The ending also felt a bit rushed.

Because the book was so well written I would definitely read another book by this author.

such a fun and light hearted book. Harriet Mayfield enjoys taking care of her many orphaned nieces and nephews but when Colonel Lord Quinton Burnes comes in everything changes. He is used to his every command followed and Harriet likes to push this. Very much enjoyed this book!