A confusing mix of emotions throws a wrench into the Dowager Duchess's wedding plans for her son Charles. Charles, Duke of Orrinshire is set to wed a woman he has no feelings for but he doesn't want to buck with tradition. Priscilla Seton and Charles have been through the tragedy of losing his sister and her best friend, Mary. They have always been there for each other until things change. Charles is engaged and the wedding is looming closer when they realize he is making a mistake. Charles seems to have been going to through life on auto pilot and it has caught up to him. He has no choice in the future he wants. I love a great best friend to HEA story and this was it.

I´ve read all the books in this series and this one is my second favorite!
Priscilla Seton and Charles Audley, Duke of Orrinshire, have been friends for almost twenty years. Now, he is engaged with someone else and they suddenly realize that have feelings for each other. But his marriage was arranged for him, and the family honor is at stake.
Priscilla had always assumed that Charles would stay the same forever, but bowing to familial wishes he is now engaged - and Priscilla is determined to sabotage the match, ready to rival any woman that comes into his life. Seduction isn’t the problem - it’s the pressure of family and commitment that threatens to destroy everything.
Now they have to learn the importance of love above everything and fighting for their right to be happy together…or it’s too late for them?
I really like Priscilla, she is strong and sure of herself. Charles, on the other hand, is weak and bendable. His mother is a dragon and he is almost terrified of her. There a couple of times I really dislike him. But Priscilla loves him, and we can see that he is honorable, sweet and considerate. The perfect Duke.
If you have like the previous books of this series, you are definitely going to enjoy this one! I did.

Priscilla is in love, but there is a slight problem. The man she is in love with is betrothed. Charles was not sure how it happened, but he is to be married to Miss Lloyd, but his thoughts keep straying to his childhood friend, Priscilla. As the wedding day moves closer, Priscilla gains an unexpected ally in her quest for Charles. As a man of honor, Charles cannot break his betrothal, or can he-as he and Priscilla have professed their love to each other. But no, his mother has a secret and that secret is one that will put an end to a happy marriage to the woman he loves.
But will an unexpected announcement give them a chance for happiness?

Charles is a duke whose mother has arranged his marriage to a woman he barely knows. Five months into their six-month engagement, he still has not had the chance to be alone with her and get to know her in a meaningful way.

Priscilla, his best friend from childhood, suddenly realizes she's in love with him. When she learns that his fiancée is no more eager for the match than he is, Priscilla sets herself up as a rival for his heart.

At first, I was charmed by this book. But the pace was slow, and the characterization weak. As a duke, Charles is one of the 30 most powerful men in the kingdom. And yet he allows himself to led around by his mother, and to be scolded by her as if he's a child. It seemed like the only obstacles were Charles's passivity and Priscilla's lack of a large dowry.

Priscilla also seems rather weak, and isn't very clever in her pursuit of him. Her tactics are socially inept and draw censure on her. There's no sense that these two have been longing for each other for years, but have been kept apart by the difference in their social station.

The book is competently written, but it doesn't live up to the promise of a charming story set up in the beginning. Heroes should be heroic, and Charles just isn't.

I received an ARC from NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

This book has one of my favorite tropes, friends to lovers.

Priscilla and Charles have been friends for 15-20 years. I felt like we came in on the middle of their story, because we never really got to see them as friends. Charles is a Duke whose estate is going bankrupt. He's a mama's boy and is going along with an arranged marriage to save his lands. His betrothed, Frances, isn't too keen on Charles, she doesn't even like him, and at a wedding she and Priscilla conjure up a plan to have Priscilla be a rival to Frances for Charles' affections (even though Charles and Frances never really talked and had never been alone together for their entire betrothal.)

This is where the insta-love happens. Charles and Priscilla go from "oh, we're like brother and sister" to "oh, hello, how YOU doin'?" in the course of a few paragraphs. There was no build up. No tension. One of my least favorite tropes: insta-love.

This whole book was too easy. While the story was good, like other books I've read in this series, there just seems to be some depth lacking to the plot and the characters.
The characters, though most were likable, lacked depth. Charles was whiny couldn't make up his mind. He was annoying. He came across as very immature. I wanted to him to have some grand gesture of redemption at the end, and I wanted him to have a big confrontation with his controlling mother. Nope, nothing. We didn't really learn much about Priscilla except how she suddenly wanted Charles. And the betrothed, Frances. She only shows up again at the end.

If you want a low angst, quick read, easy book with a guaranteed happily ever after, this is for you. I think this author has great bones, I'd just like to see a bit more substance and nuance to the plot and characters.

Always the Rival is book seven of the Never the Bride series. It can be read as a stand alone. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions are my own.

This was a story that is very well written. It is about the heroine and hero that grew up together and they never even think of marriage. Until the hero visit's his man of business, realizes the dukedom is in debt for 30,000 pounds and he has gotten engaged to another person. That is when the crap hit the fan. Our heroine is mindless in her realization that she is in love with the hero. But she has always loved him. This is just a step up. And the hero loves her, but has to get married for money. The fiance doesn't want to marry the hero, so the heroine and fiance decide to make the heroine a rival. So she does what she can to deflect the hero's attention to her. She arrives at his engagement party, over dressed, she pops up at his house for various reasons all the time and it is so bad his mother has her banned from the house. The hero is just confused. Since his little sister died, his mother turned onto a control freak and he allows it because he loves his mother. The dukedom needs mother, they have always had arranged marriages and, dang nam it, she will do her best to arrange his marriage also. What a conundrum.
This story was one of a series, but it is very much independent of the rest. It doesn't depend on the rest of the books to support ot. It was a continuous story, with no grammatical errors. The character development was evident and the characters were likeable. You wanted them to have an HEA. I give this book 5 stars. I recommend reading it.

A friends to lovers romance, Charles, the Duke of Orrinshire needs a wealthy bride to appease his bankers and his overbearing mother. His objective is achieved, but at what cost? Just when he thinks everything is settled, in walks his best friends Priscilla Seton, whom he has known since he was a boy, but suddenly he sees her with new eyes. I have read all the preceding books in this series and enjoyed them. However, I was unfortunately unable to lose myself in this novel as it seems to be missing an essential spark. I found Charles to be rather immature and under his disagreeable mother's thumb and despite his obligation to the family name, his concern is more about his lack of finance than a life partner, arranged or otherwise. The story fortunately does come to a happy conclusion and all ends well. I received a copy of this novel as a gift through NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

I really enjoyed this book. I've read several novels by Emily E K Murdock and so far this is my favorite. The characters were realistic and intriguing. I was swept away by the plot and fell in love right along with the couple. I can't wait to read the next book by this talented writer.

I redirected a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion and review. My comments were in no way influenced by the author or publisher and are entirely my own.

I requested an ARC of this novel in order to provide an honest review. I didn't realize at the time that I had already begun reading the first story in the series and never finished it. As with the first, the storyline sounded interesting, but the execution was lacking. The characters were likable, but their development and the plot development were insufficient for me to feel fully invested in the story. The idea that two lifelong friends suddenly decided that they were in love with each other because they happened to look at each other in a different light one day was a little hard to accept. And, while I understand that romance novels have a basic formula, this one could have been written by an artificial intelligence computer given the uninspired plot line and trite, repetitive language. I have read worse books, but I certainly wouldn't recommend this one.

I love a friend's to lovers theme. Priscilla and Charles have been friends since they were children. Priscilla thought that would never change. Then Charles became engaged.
It's funny how it takes something like this to learn your feelings are deeper than you thought they were.
Shorter read

Always the Rival book 7 in the Never the Bride series is another gorgeous story by Emily Murdoch.

Priscilla and Charles are lovely together. They have known each other since children, great friends - until Charles becomes betrothed in an arranged match and then feelings that were never considered like attraction, burning chemistry, passion and love start emerging between them.

Can she stop the match? Can he stand up to his family and pressures of securing his family estate?

This was a very engaging and oh so steamy regency romance.

Miss Priscilla Seton has been friends with Charles Audley, Duke of Orrinshire, for most of their lives. So why is it that she didn't figure out, until after he became engaged, how much she really cared for him? When Priscilla presents herself as a rival for his affection, Charles can't help but realize he feels the same. But getting out of a betrothal with the wedding approaching might not be as simple as he thinks.

This is the seventh book in the Never The Bride series. It can be read alone. I liked that, almost right away, the book surprised me and didn't proceed like I expected. I liked the main characters and I connected with their relationship.

Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Arranged Marriage

* I received an ARC and this is my honest review. #AlwaysTheRival #NetGalley

A tale of friends to lovers.
Priscilla and Charles grew up as best friends. It never occurred to them that they could be more to say other.
This is an amazing story. The characters are just so great.

Charles and Priscilla have been best friends since childhood. When Charles is set for an arranged marriage, Priscilla soon realizes her one true love is Charles. Now to make him see that he thinks the same way of her. Emily EK Murdoch writes wonderful romance that readers won't be able to put down.

Priscilla and Charles are best friends. They never realize they should be a couple until Charles becomes engaged and Priscilla has to fight for him. I though Charles was a little weak, letting his mother tell him what to do all the time. I think Priscilla’s rival for Charles may well be his mother! I received an ARC from NetGalley and Dragonblade Press for my honest review.

Priscilla is best friends with Charles! Then as they get older Lord Charles is betrothed in an arranged marriage that is truly an archaic society arrangement his family has done for years.
Priscilla figures out she is in love with Charles! Now she has to somehow get him to realize that he has been in love with her as well. He has to look at her as a woman and not a childhood friend! But, she has a meddling overprotective mother to deal with and that is not going to be easy!

The author does a great job in keeping the readers enticed to see where the book will go and when Charles will wake up! The adventures are about to begin and Priscilla goes all out!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
💋💋

A really good story that will have you addicted in no time. Emily has added another wonderful book to the series.

Priscilla doesn’t realise how she feels about her best friend until he’s engaged and a month from marriage.
Charles is unhappily betrothed to a woman he doesn’t love and his strange affection for his friend are complicating matters.
With a controlling dowager Duchess and know it all Matchmaker and a wedding day looming . This book just about has everything.

Very enjoyable read and I loved the characters.

I received an Arc copy of this book and chose to post this review

Although not my favorite in the series, this installment was still an enjoyable read. Priscilla and Charles are best friends who, after Charles becomes engaged to another, find they have feelings for each other. Thus begins a roller coaster ride of misunderstandings and poor decisions that culminate in an emotionally charged conclusion.
Thank you Emily E K Murdoch, Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest feedback.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Always the Rival sees a young lady realise her jealousy over her best friend's marriage not only be because their relationship will change, but because she is in love with Charles, Duke of Orrinshire. For Charles, he's not excited about the wedding, but all Orrinshire's before him had arranged marriages, and his mother is imploring him to marry the rich heiress, Miss Frances Lloyd. They've never really spoken, but the marriage is in a couple of months, and he's honour bound to see it through. While at the wedding of close friends, Priscilla discovers her own feelings for Charles, and plots to be a rival in his affections, and hopefully make him see her not as the young girl he's been friends with for years, but as someone who he desires, and wants to be with. Can Charles overcome his familial pressures to be with the woman he now knows he loves, or will he bow to tradition?

I have really liked the previous three books in this series, and while I was self isolating, and off work, this instalment became available to review, and I spent an entire morning reading it. Both Priscilla and Charles were enjoyable characters - we've previously met Charles in Always the Bluestocking - and their own histories, and shared experiences helped to cement their romance in my mind. Being neighbours, the two of them, and Charles' younger sister, Mary, were always together, and were inseparable, even more so after Mary's early death, while the two were grieving. I think because their friendship was so important to them both, they had never really considered their feelings towards the other, until the pressures began, and it seemed it might be too late. Both recognised their love for the other during the book, and the moments of revelation were a joy to read, especially when Charles realised he was in love with Priscilla, and not Frances. I found the inevitable moments of angst a little repetitive, and could've been avoided, but the conclusion was heartwarming, and all in all, another fabulous instalment of a wonderful series.

Where was the chemistry? Where was the romance? Where was the connection? I was terribly confused on how this couple even came to be. Obviously there is a two decade relationship between Priscilla and Charles, and for them to miraculously develop feelings for one another over night is truly baffling. It was so instant and rush, that it just didn’t make this relationship nor romance believable. Plus what you would even consider romance in this historical novel was dull and fell completely flat. I have not read characters so bland in my entire life. This couple just wasn’t working for me and overall it felt more like a chore to complete.