I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Really enjoyed this book. The cover is beautiful.

Oh my goodness! What a wonderful books. Who doesn’t enjoy a great friends to lovers trope? Priscilla and Charles have been friends most of their lives. One day Pricilla realize she’s in love with The Duke (Charles) but only after he’s engaged. The mission? To win Charles! Excellent writing. You won’t want to miss this segment of :Never The Bride” Series

Emily E. K. Murdock writes wonderful stories that are equally enchanting and enticing. I’ve read most of her book and fall in love every time. Always the Rival is no exception.

I appreciate the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion and honest review.

This book didn't work for me. I didn't find any chemistry between Priscilla and Charles. By the end of the story I had lost all respect for both characters. I also felt that Priscilla had to much freedom to come and go with out a chaperone, and this doesn't hold true to the time period.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This was the next addition to the Always the bride series. I just wasn’t a huge fan of this one. The story was just okay I just wasn’t a huge fan the lead male. He was such a jerk and just wasn’t a huge fan.

Thanks to Dragonblade Publishers, Netgalley and the author for an Advance Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have read all the books in this series and enjoyed them all. This new installment sees Priscilla and Charles go from childhood sweethearts to lovers. Just when they realise how much they mean to each other he is engaged to marry someone else. If Charles breaks his engagement to marry Priscilla he will disappoint his overbearing mother and be unable to rescue his estate. Torn between obligation and passion Charles is faced with a difficult decision. This one is filled with angst and quite a bit of steam! I always equate these books with a strong shot of espresso - able to be consumed quickly and highly satisfying.

This book is so good. Charles and Priscilla have been friends all their lives along with Charles's younger sister Mary, who they lost to a freak accident when they were younger,. Charles is engage to be married to a woman who was hand picked by his mother to save the estate. At a wedding of a friends Pricilla and the girl who Charles is suppose to marry plan a way out of the engagement, make Pricilla a rival for Charles.

This story is delightful. Charles' overbearing mother has engaged him to a young woman, Miss Lloyd, with a much needed dowry. Problem is his childhood friend Priscilla is in love with him. You'll find yourself cheering on Priscilla, sad for Charles...and for me loving Miss Lloyd!

Emily Murdoch always delivers engaging characters and excellent happy endings, and Always the Rival is no exception. Regency romances can often feel recycled and trite, but Murdoch transforms the childhood friends to lovers trope by making it more about their personal paths to maturity and independence as well. Smart, fun read.

I loved it! It is written very smoothly, I was drawn to reading in one sitting.
I really liked the pact two ladies made, based on description is was sure it was all made by Priscilla, but miss Frances is the real heroine all along.

I recommend it, it's well paced and intriguing to read.

I enjoyed Priscilla, she was a fun character. Charles was good too but a little dense. It was good to have him grow into his role more as the book went on. Taking on his responsibilities instead of letting others handle them.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable story about a young woman in love with her friend, whose friendship was tainted by past hurts. She believes she has a small but respectable dowry, and his family swears by arranged marriages.

But truly, this was a good story. There are lots of things I would love to go into detail over, but as they are major parts of the plot, I won’t. But, if you have read any of the other books in the series, and were even mildly interested in this one- get it. There are few things better than finding a good series but finding one you want to see more of? Totally worth it.

Because ....now I want to see miss Frances Lloyd with her £20,000 dowry. As well as miss Emma Tilbury, the former mistress. Also, can we get a spin off with the matchmaker?

This book is the worst kind of friends-to-lovers or rival romance I've read. There's no reason for the readers to root for Priscilla and Charles to be together since everything happened so fast without gradual realizations and developing feelings for each other. Priscilla's realization about her feelings for Charles is so surface level and abrupt, I can't believe she came to the conclusion that she has feelings for him. And it happened before we even get to know either of the two of them. I also hated that there's no proper reason for her not to tell Charles her feelings right away, and I hated that she goes into this plan of being Miss Lloyds's rival when in fact she could just talk to Charles and have a proper conversation with him. She just complicates the whole situation, and I hated that. Another thing, I hate that Charles has no agency for himself and still lets his mother dictate his life. In my opinion, Charles and Priscilla are better off as friends than lovers, I truly cannot see a romantic connection between them that isn't forced by the author. I would want for Charles to end up with Miss Lloyd because they have the potential of developing something more, but I feel bad for Miss Lloyd for having a mother like Charles' and a husband without a backbone so I'm still happy they didn't end up together. The premise of this book is very interesting, however, the writing and characterization in this book didn't live up to the expectation and just lead to utter disappointment on my part.

Charles Audley, Duke of Orrinshire has allowed his mother to arrange a marriage for him and now he can't get an old friend out of his mind.

Miss Priscilla Seton has been friends with Charles all her life. Why wasn't it until after he announced his engagement that she really noticed him.

Friends to lovers can be a complicated road to take. For our protagonists there is a lot more at stake. All the characters are lovely. We have met some of the secondary ones in previous books and hopefully will in future ones. I have read and enjoyed each book in the series so far and look forward to more.

Very good fun.

They Love Each Other, So Why Did It Take Them So Long to Know It?

What if you find out you are in love with your best friend, and he is about to get married? Why did you not know this before now? What about the man in question? what happens when he finds out he is in love with his best friend, too? Charles and priscilla are in a bind, indeed. Charles had his marriage arranged for him, a perfectly reasonable option, as far as he is concerned. Then, things get very complicated. He can break up his engagement, surely. Then, he finds out something that changes everything. There are challenges ahead, and hearts might be broken. Could Charles and Priscilla find their way out of the quagmire in which they find themselves? I enjoyed the story and would recommend it to those who like historical romance.

I was unable to connect with the characters in this story. The Duke of Orrinshire, Charles, is a mama's boy and pretty spineless. He doesn't like to attend Parliament sessions and doesn't keep track of what is going on with his dukedom, so what exactly does he do all day? Priscilla Seton is his best and oldest friend, who discovers that she loves him only when he becomes betrothed to another. Coincidentally, Charles discovers that he loves Priscilla at exactly the same time. She enters into some half-baked scheme with his fiancée to win Charles away when the fiancée confesses that she feels nothing for him. The plot drags along, with the H and h each hoping that he/she loves her/him. Even the love scene is ho-hum. And, what of Mary, the (presumably) dead sister of the Duke? Her name is brought up as the reason the Duke's mother is uncharitable toward Priscilla, but no details of her demise or WHY Priscilla is to blame are mentioned. I would not buy this book or recommend it to another to read.

Priscilla Seton and Charles Audley have been friends since childhood. They were rivals at everything and have always been there to support each other. Odd that they should realize that they just might love each other a month before Charles’s arranged marriage. As it happens, Charles’s fiancé is not in favor of the marriage either. With the help of his fiancé and a cheery matchmaker, Priscilla sets about a plan to become a rival for his attention, and to make him a rival for hers. This is a short enjoyable story with likeable characters. There are some misunderstandings, secrets and surprises. Priscilla is determined, and Charles is confused, but they find their HEA. This is a good read and a lovely addition to the series. I recommend it.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

"Orrinshires have depended upon arranged marriages for generations," Charles mother said. Oh yes, the great Orrinshires needed an influx of funds and that was the way of it. Charles could see the love matches made, but no, he was to have an arranged marriage.

Priscilla Seaton and Charles had practically grown up together, and with the loss of his sister had grown even closer. She could not believe he was to be married.. An arranged marriage! She missed their walks and in an odd moment, she had a vision of herself and Charles at the altar. Wait... her marry Charles? But she realized she did have feelings for him!

She sets out to get his attention and oh yes, she does! A delightful story of being great friends but not realizing until it is almost too late, how much more they could be. Fantastic!

Priscilla Seton has known Charles Audley, Duke of Orrinshire her whole life and now all of a sudden he’s engaged to be married. She realizes her feeling when she attends a friend’s wedding for Charles and decides to become a rival for his affections especially now that his when his mother is pressuring him to marry a rich heiress. She hopes Charles will begin to see her in a different light, not as friend but as a young desirable woman he can’t live without and defy his family. I have voluntarily read and reviewed these excellent story.

Always the Rival by Emily EK Murdoch is number even the Never the Bride series, which has been a very satisfying set of books. In this book Priscilla Seton is at a wedding and has just discovered that she is in love with her lifelong friend, Charles Audley, Duke of Orrinshire. It was not only an amazing feeling, but a total shock to her. She had known him forever. From whence had these feelings come? The bad news was that he was to be married in less than a month . . . an arranged marriage . . . one she had known about for months. She immediately sought out the bride only to discover that she was really not interesting in marrying Charles and would happily allows Priscilla to become her rival. Well, that started things moving and a strange and exciting way.

Priscilla is a fresh and happy character. She was not shy and was happy to begin her campaign to win Charles' heart in the most outrageous ways. Charles, I thought, was a bit of a milque toast that let himself be toadied around by his mother, and soon his wife. He discovered he was in love with Priscilla about the same time she discovered her feeling for him, but really wasn't going to do anything about it except rage internally. The steps she took were entertaining and sometimes, embarrassing. The only support she got was from Charles' fiancée, but that didn't stop her, until it did. This was a funny story, seen from a distance. Probably not much fun for Priscilla. I recommend it.

I was invited to read a free ARC of Always the Rival from Dragonblade, through Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #alwaystherival