I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I did not know what to expect when I picked up "Never Fall For Your Fiancee". I will be honest, the beginning was slow for me and I was considering stopping only a few chapters in. I am glad that I didn't!

Hugh Standish was apposed to getting married. With his mother always meddling and trying to find him a bride, he came up with a fake fiancée named Minerva. For two years, Hugh held onto this lie when one day he met Minerva Merriwell and devised a plan that she would be his Minerva. I enjoyed reading the blossoming relationship between Minerva and Hugh. And that spicy chapter...wow.

Overall, a great read!

A lighthearted and funny historical romance. Hugh and Minerva had okay chemistry, and secondary characters were endearing. Readers who enjoy a fun, silly, fake-dating romance will enjoy this breezy read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Never fall for your Fiancée by Virginia Heath was my first time read for the author and I quiet enjoyed it. It was witty, light, funny and silly all at once. With a bit of steam of course.

I'm a sucker for Fake engagements and in a historical romance ? Yes please!

Never Fall for Your Fiancée is the first book in The Merriwell Sisters by Virginia Heath. A historical romance with a fake engagement premise and the sizzling attraction between the couple can explode the entire regency era! The storyline is simple and intriguing. Hugh Standish is charming. A flirting gentleman who has commitment issues, who thinks he inherited his father’s philanderer tendencies. But his mother Olive, who lives overseas, wants him happily married, which means Hugh must fake engagement. Then the tough, outstanding, witty damsel named Minerva enters the picture. She takes care of her two sisters alone at her young age. He sees this as a sign and offers her to be his fake fiancée with handsome compensation. The characters are well-written, with lots of banter and undeniable chemistry. Never Fall for Your Fiancée is truly entertaining!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The bright colorful cover really caught my attention and the synopsis sounded so fun. My review will contain some spoilers. The story was a little predictable with the don’t fall in love with the person you are faking you’re in a relationship with. You know the main characters will end up falling for each other. The lies will be unearthed. They will fight but then realize they love each other truly and then end up in a real relationship. I really liked Hugh and Minerva’s relationship progression and their banter. It felt natural and made me hope they would end up together. Even though I knew they would. The beginning of the book felt a little slow. I would have liked the preparation for Hugh’s mother’s arrival to be shorter. Once she arrived it felt more fun knowing the whole lie could unravel at any minute. The ending felt a bit rushed and I wish there had been an epilogue to show us a bit of Hugh and Minerva’s real future together. Overall I enjoyed this book. It was a fun romcom and a nice lite quick happily ever after read.

I grinned during this entire book. I adore Minerva and Hugh…the darn cutest names in a regency romance novel. And all the sisters named after Roman goddesses…how wonderful.

Hugh acts completely carefree (act is the correct word) and Minerva is all that is proper, all while trying to do what she can to support her sisters.

I’ll be honest, friends to lovers is not my favorite troupe. But pretending to be engaged/dating/in love is one of my favorites, so…I was in.

Minerva’s sisters are hilarious, and Payne, Hugh’s butler, is excellent at putting Hugh in his place.

The entire book is witty and silly and completely delightful. I cannot wait to see what will happen with Diana! (Maybe Giles—they seem to despise each other so many I will get my enemies to lovers story!!)

This book had promise but ultimately was not for me. The premise was too far out and the connection between the characters seemed forced.

A fresh, fun and witty romance!
Hugh and Minerva find themselves in need of one another for a fake engagement ruse - which of course is a terrible plan and when you add Menerva's sisters and Hugh's mother into the mix - of course, a fake engagement is going to be a disaster and yep, a recipe for falling in love....
A great read if you enjoy books by Julia Quinn and Lisa Kleypas!

This was a fun and ridiculous story! The wild concoction of a story, the actress, the sisters, the best friend… it was great! I was a little disappointed in how the ending came together. It seemed slightly forced and pulled from thin air.

I was provided with an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this e-ARC from Netgalley and the publisher for an honest review!

This story felt like a romance historical novel where drama exploded. I could totally see this book being made into a movie. It had one thing after another which kept me wanting to know what was going to happen to Minerva, her sisters and Hugh. Would there be a happy ending? Would Hugh and Minerva get caught?

Characters: At first I did not really like Hugh's mother, she seemed a bit of a pushy person. Towards the end she seemed a bit better character in my eyes. Giles, Hugh's best friends had one of those personalities that you could bag him for a bastard or for a gentleman? He could go either way. I would be interested to see where his story goes. Hugh's stepfather comes into play which seems like a good guy. Even Hugh's butler is a great character! I liked that man quite a bit who has his head on his shoulders and seems to know everything. All the characters come into play to give a great story.

Hugh and Minerva's interaction with each other seems to run hot and cold. Sometimes it was great, other times I'm like trying to figure out what's up. They are both stubborn at times too. Overall they do match for each other nicely. I wished there was a tiny bit more connection between them. I loved the tender moments they had together especially where Hugh takes Minerva to the beach.

There were some parts where I gasp because I was not expecting that at all. The beginning was well set, the middle did take me some time to get through and the ending was well done.

It's a great story for a historical, lighthearted, romance fiction book. I did like the book and I am so looking forward to see more from this author.

A pretty woman, Minerva, who is down on her luck, is saved by a rake. Hugh is being pressured to find a wife by his meddling mother, who is in America. The glib Hugh does not feel he is worthy of a wife. He writes to his mother of a (made up) fiancée that has not been able to marry him yet. When Hugh gets a letter his mother is on her way home to England, he decides to pay Minerva to pretend to be this fiancée. However, her family threatens the farce and his mother is determined to see him happily married. I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my honest review.

While this book was fairly entertaining, I didn’t feel the chemistry between the two leads, Minerva and Hugh, and I thought the whole premise was pretty convoluted. The latter 15% of the book felt VERY convoluted- plot points were way too convenient and unrealistic. I did enjoy about the first half of Never Fall Your Fiancée, I was just overall disappointed with the rest of the story. The characters seemed underdeveloped.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a digital review copy of this title via NetGalley. The cover art and design is what originally drew me to request this title!

Thank you NetGalley for sending this arc for an honest review!

I love these sort of classical romance. This felt like a mix of pride and prejudice sort of combined with little woman. A typical man and woman not intrested this much in idea of marriage but are being pushed upon it. They don’t start off on the right foot but was than able to find a common ground in which they both can benefit from, that being creating a fake engagement. With the terms of not falling for each other…. But we know how that goes. It seems their fake becomes real.

I adored the main charcaters, especially the female lead because she reminded me so much of Elizabeth from pride and prejudice, I aspire to be as strong such as these woman. The story was articulated and written perfectly I juda couldnt put my hand down.

This is a historical romance with a madcap setup reminiscent of Georgette Heyer's most ridiculous tales. Hugh has been telling his mother for two years that he is engaged to a young woman named Minerva. But now his mother is arriving from Boston and expects to meet his fiancee. He thinks the jig is up until he meets a beautiful, young, well-spoken but down-on-her-luck woman on the street - who happens to be named Minerva.

The book has an almost sitcom feel to it, with Minerva's two younger sisters, Hugh's BFF Giles, an actress hired to play the girls' mother, and two years of backstory to learn - and then (of course!) Hugh's mother shows up. This is a romance, so it's no surprise when Hugh and Minerva fall for each other (fake relationships always turn real in the end, don't they?) and the fun is how they get there. Hugh's ultimate internal conflict is a bit too forced and easily solved, but this is an enjoyable romp with appealing characters, fun dialogue, and even a drop of true pathos along the way.

As an escape from reality this book is an excellent choice. Although the plot was fairly predictable and the characters prone to making their own trouble, I still enjoyed going along for the ride.

This may be my very first Virginia Heath novel, but it most certainly won’t be the last! I found her writing to be absolutely delightful - full of fully fleshed out characters who continue to grow and evolve throughout their time in the novel, a well paced story rich in detail and action, and the best part? A wholly satisfying Happily Ever After. Bravo Ms Heath! You’ve got a new fan in me!

I really liked this one!

It's the first time reading this author and I liked the story from the get go, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

Hugh meets Minerva when he comes to her rescue as she's trying to get a payment from a client who doesn't want to pay. When he finds out her name is Minerva, he hires her to be his fake fiancée to show off to his mom.

It's a well paced story with an enticing setting and great characters. Hugh and Minerva are well suited (even when they think they don't), and I also liked her sisters, Hugh's butler, and his mother and stepfather.

Sexual content (not too much, but it's there).

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Virginia Heath is a powerhouse historical romance author. I always look forward to their work, and this one is no exception!

I love the fake fiancé trope but this one was a little frustrating. The storyline is really good but it just didn’t come through fully. The lie from Hugh felt overwhelming and frustrating, the sisters never seemed to be on the same page even at the end and the ending.. well it just ended.
I wanted more from the ending and less BS during the middle.

This was a light and fun read. Minerva and her sisters, along with Hugh and his staff, provided much entertainment. I’m always up for a good fake dating trope however this one fell short of expectations. I found the storyline slow to progress and the writing a little hard to follow. I felt like a lot of things kept getting repeated making the plot seemed dragged out. Overall, it was too slow for my liking but had a good storyline.