This book was a DELIGHT. Holy moly I'm still grinning and giddy thinking about it. Absolutely hilarious and full of wonderful characters, Never Fall for Your Fianceé was exactly what I needed. Hugh was a complete and total moron (and I loved him so much), Minerva was a selfless angel that was a saint for putting up with Hugh, their families were absolutely batshit, and the convoluted lies and webs they wove were ludicrous but I loved them and could not stop laughing at how they weaseled their way out of situations.

And GILES. Any man who gets immense pleasure from laughing at his friend's misfortune is my kind of man. I understand him.

This book was great. It made me laugh (loudly!), I definitely did not cry (I totally did), and I just absolutely devoured it. Full of heart, humor, and meddlesome family, Never Fall for Your Fianceé was a true joy from start to finish. I can't wait to read more from Virginia Heath.

I don't typically read historical romances, but I'm really glad I picked up this one! I was intrigued by the premise and fake dating is one of my favorite tropes.

Minerva is in the right place at the right time, at least for Hugh who has been lying to his mother about being engaged for two years to his wonderful Minerva. While Hugh's mother is planning to visit them, Hugh needs a fiancee right away! He makes her an offer to help until his mother goes back to America. She accepts and they certainly have their struggles, partly because of the over exaggerated wonderful and amazing things that Minerva has done.

This book was really funny as well which I wasn't expecting, but very much appreciated!

I'm really glad I picked this one up, and towards the end it hints at another couple. So I'll definitely be picking up the next book in this series.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to SMP Romance and NetGalley for a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This fake engagement trope historical romance was witty and hilarious. The story and characters were engaging and kept me turning the pages. I'm looking forward to the next story - hopefully an enemies to lovers between Diana and Giles?!

Never Fall for Your Fiancé is a historical rom-com that is full of hilarious banter and antics! The fake dating/engagement trope and one of my favorites and this book did it really well. I loved the cast of characters and found the writing style easy to digest. The storyline was fantastic and full of drama. This would make an amazing movie. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

What do you get when you combine fake dating, marriage of convenience, historical romance, and a whole lot of laughs?! The perfect intro to the world of the Merriwell sisters. The historic timeline was done exceptionally well, and the humor was perfect in making this an unforgettable read!

Read this if you love:
💕 Fake Dating
🙊 Miscommunication
⏳ Historical Romance
🥰 Family appreciation

I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I generally love regency romances, And I did enjoy this one while I was reading it. But it isn't one that stuck with me.

2.5/5 stars

While this historical romcom begins interesting with likable characters and a fake fiancé plot, there's also a very slow burn, only a bit of chemistry, and unfortunately not enough going on to maintain my impatient focus. I ended up DNF'ing this story halfway through. However, I really want to try again at a later date and will hopefully have better luck with the audiobook.

*Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a solid read. I enjoyed the premise of having to find a fake fiancé with the exact name. I do think the middle dragged a bit and it took me a bit to get through, still I enjoyed the story and felt the mcs had good chemistry! I didn’t love the side characters like the sisters and the friend, but it can’t always be helped. It had a couple laughs and good solid romance which I enjoyed overall. Solid historical romance

This was a really cute read! The premise of this book is that Hugh Standish made up a fiancee to stop his mother from setting him up with eligible bachelorettes, which works perfectly until his mother comes to meet the fictional fiancee. When he has a chance meeting with a woman named Minerva, he offers her forty pounds in exchange for pretending to be his betrothed. The plan seems infallible until real feelings start to develop between Hugh and Minerva.

My favorite part of this book was the relationship between Minerva and her sisters Diana and Vee. I loved how close they were and that they all looked out for each other. Diana especially was a fun character and I would definitely pick up her book. I also really enjoyed the banter between Minerva and Hugh. I'm a sucker for an opposites-attract romance and they really balanced each other out well.

I will say that the end did wrap up a little too quickly and neatly for my taste and I don't really understand how they are going to get around (minor spoiler alert) how they lied to literally the entire town?? Still, this was really cute and I'm interested in seeing where this series goes, especially since I'm sure the next book will be about Diana.

Read this if you like:
- The fake dating trope
- Meddling families
- Historical romances with lots of pining

Thanks so much to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the review copy!!

Read to 30% then skipped to 70% and read to the end.

I picked this up because fake relationships is fast becoming a favorite and the synopsis sounded fantastic.

I liked the potential of Minerva and Hugh. They’re both decent people, trying to make their way. There are an awful lot characters here and the butler was the absolute best of them.

Plot wise, I don’t even know. I got held up in the lengthy inner monologues, repetitive information, and all of the telling not showing. I was bored with what was happening and even though the last 20% was interesting, it wasn’t enough to get me to go back and read what I skipped.

Overall, this might be a case of it’s me, not the book, but I don’t have the ambition to find out.

**Huge thanks to the publisher for providing the arc free of charge**

a good book for a quick romance boost and regency vibes but not necessarily the most substantial one

Ideal for readers searching for a historical romance with the much beloved marriage of convenience/fake relationship tropes. There wasn’t anything refreshing nor truthy enticing about this novel—just a rinse and repeat storyline I have read time and time again, but did that prevent me from semi-enjoying it? No.

Sure there were periods where I wanted to drop this but the strong push and pull relationship between Hugh and Minerva prevented me from throwing this book against a wall and calling it quits. The chemistry and strong sexual tension was there, so I was all for it. The constant miscommunication aspect of their relationship and the drawn out story—not so much.

Another downside of this was the lack of Giles, Hugh's best friend. He was witty, humorous and ever so charming. I wished we saw more of him but I am positive we’ll see him as a main feature character in the sequel alongside one of the Merriwell sisters.

There wasn’t really anything wrong with this book. It just wasn’t grabbing my attention and I had to DNF at 20%. I want to try again in the near future though.

4.5 stars

Pure fun and joy, exactly what I needed to get me out of a reading slump. Those who enjoy witty, sensible heroines and cinnamon roll heroes, fake dating tropes, and comedies of manners, this book is for you.

There are times when the hero’s need to be a noble martyr leads to acts of idiocy that strain credulity. That air of the ridiculous, however, helps to lighten what could otherwise lead to a tense and tired ‘liar revealed’ storyline. The stakes are high for our characters’ emotions but not so high as to cause significant anxiety for the reader; the ridiculous evens the ride out, giving us a climax more befitting Oscar Wilde than Elizabeth Gaskell.

I am very much looking forward to seeing how the next books in the series will turn out. Minerva is very much my type of heroine—sensible, a realist, but with a romantic heart. Her sisters Diana and Venus were suitable side characters, but are so different from her in personality that I’m deeply curious to see their interiority and hidden depths in future books. I will certainly be following this author. The tone, narration, and tongue-in-cheek literary references of this witty little romance were all just a delight to experience.

I always love the fake boyfriend/girlfriend trope, and this one didn't disappoint. I laughed at all the antics in this comedy of errors. The side characters were quirky and fun, and I'm so glad it's the first in the series! I can't wait to read the next one.

I really wanted to love this book. I love fake dating, friends to lovers. There is a HEA. However, this book was so slow. It sped up after about 50%, but it took me 4 days to get there! Def give it a try if you love regency romances, and I hope it reads faster for you!

This book was hilarious. I loved that Hugh was such a creative story teller. I was cackling at all the crazy stuff going on in this book.

The story is told in dual POV and is a slow burn. There is so much mutual pining going on between these two.

I though that both Hugh and Minerva were great characters. I felt like this book gave us a pretty good idea of where the series is headed next and I’m very excited for both Diana and Vee’s books.

I received an eARC of this book from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I also won a physical ARC of this book from good reads.

Are you in the mood for a quirky regency romance? I can assure you reading Never Fall for Your Fiancée will give you a overload of quirkiness.
What fun characters….each one with intriguing personalities.
The humor throughout the book was the kind that made me laugh out loud.
Overall, this was a fun, entertaining and enjoyable read. Im quite excited to read the sequel…..wondering what direction the author will go in.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

Never Fall for your Fiancée

By Virginia Heath

Rating: 3/5 stars

This story has great potential! I personally thought the storyline was quite interesting and a unique situation. It gave me The Proposal movie vibes! Hiring a fake fiancée to keep Hugh’s mother from trying to be a matchmaker is a unique way for him to avoid dealing with her! The part I didn’t care for was the historical fiction realm. I tend to read more current based books, so this one didn’t grab my attention quite as quickly as I had hoped.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book for my honest review!

I love a historical romance and this one had a fun fake dating element added to it which I loved so much. the plan seemed like it wasn't going to work from the beginning so I was really looking forward to seeing everything play out! I really loved the characters also and how each of them were memorable. would definitely read more from this series, diana and giles maybe?