A Daring Pursuit is a well-written, exciting story of enemies to lovers that I really enjoyed. Bateman treats us to the steamy relationship between Carys Davies and Tristan Montgomery, whose families have been feuding for years.

Carys and Tristan realize how well-matched they are once they let their walls down and prove there is a thin line between love and hate.

Bateman adds some political intrigue to the mix that results in a book you won't want to put down.

Another Davies/Montgomery couple with a lot of steam, witty bickering, and FINALLY the ultimate happily ever after that is oh-so-hot. I love that the author can give you a strong female character to admire while also having a strong male who can dominate her in the right circumstances but is able to follow her lead in others. The issue with her and Howe, his reaction to it ultimately when he learned the truth showed what a great man he was. Gosh this was a fun story and I'm sorry it's over. Waiting anxiety for the next! #netgalley #ADaringPursuit

This was an absolutely delightful romantic novel. I hadn't read the first one, and easily followed this one. Highly recommend

Oh I love this one! She is a fiery red head and he is a serious stoic one. They are enemies from a long term family feud. Yet she finds him intriguing. I like the relationship and the drama of pretense. How can you love your enemy? The book was just so yummy I was up into the night finishing this one. Loved this book and the series.

I loved it! This was fun, exciting, and a quick read. I need to go back and read the first book for sure!!

If historical romance, enemies to lovers (but secretly been crushing since childhood), and smart characters is your thing… then this is the book for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my free copy in exchange for my honest review.

This such a fun book. It’s an enemies try o lovers with a smart hero and heroine with repartee plus protective family, a detestable antagonist, corvids and other loose creatures


This is a quick, fast paced read that had people asking why I was laughing.

Kate Bateman just continues to impress me with how perfectly she writes banter and sexual tension between her characters! This is the second book in the Ruthless Rivals series where enemy families seem to have found their match in each other finally…

I loved Carys so much. She’s got such a fiery spirit but is also super thoughtful and caring and compassionate. She fit so perfectly with Tristan’s more stoic, cold demeanour. The banter between the two of them is some of my absolute favourite! Carys just loves pushing his buttons and he loves shocking her by doing the same and it was *chefs kiss* a delight!

The teaching her how to make love pact between these two? One of my favourite tropes of all time so mixed with Kate’s excellent passion and tension— I absolutely loved and devoured this book. I cannot wait for more of this series!

If you like historical romance with feuding neighbouring families, a friendly bear, banter and a sex pact — get this one immediately!

5/5⭐️

Based on the sneak peek of this book at the end of the previous one, and on the first few chapters, I was expecting this to be one of my one of my favorite new historical romances. Unfortunately, it just missed the mark. I liked this one, I just didn’t love it like I thought I would.

The romantic and tension between Carys and Tristan was delectable and i thoroughly enjoyed every single time they were together. But whenever they weren’t together and were left to their own devices, the story just fell flat to me.

I loved the chemistry, the romantic and sexual tension, and the interactions between the characters but I couldn’t bring myself to care much about anything else that was happening. And I really didn’t care for the intrigue subplot.

The romance itself was great though and that’s primarily what I read a historical romance for so Bateman excelled in that respect. And I’ll still be picking up the next one in the series because Bateman’s made the side characters interesting enough to have me itching to read their romance so she definitely knows what she’s doing! I think ultimately the plot of this one just wasn’t for me personally.

“I don’t need light to see you. I know what you are: a beautiful, infuriating force of nature.”

Our heroine, Carys Davies, presents herself as an outgoing, flirtatious, scandalous debutante who refuses to settle down. Deep down, however, she is insecure and lonely (and hiding a big secret). She has always had feelings for our hero, Tristan Montgomery, who doesn’t give her the time of day. He returns from his grand tour around the continent and the two find themselves in each other’s proximity a lot more than normal, due to their siblings getting married to one another. Tristan thinks Carys is an airhead who doesn’t care about anyone or anything, but as the two of them grow closer, he begins to learn more about the real Carys Davies and that maybe she isn’t at all who he thought she was.

I absolutely loved the relationship development between these two characters. It was so believable considering they have been frenemies and have been bickering back and forth for years (but also secretly lusting after one another). I loved every interaction between these two and I loved seeing our starchy hero fall for someone who was his complete opposite. I love how protective Tristan is of Carys, both physically and with her reputation. She really deserved a good man and a good relationship after what she endured.

Additionally, I loved seeing all the animals and Carys’ menagerie. It was such a unique plot point that I haven’t seen a lot in historicals. All the animals really had a personality all their own.

I loved seeing snippets of characters from the first book, but I liked that this one stood on its own without relying much on the first book. The plots were so different that each story really felt unique. All of Carys’ brothers are so funny and I loved scenes that included them. I can’t wait to read more about these feuding families.

Kate Bateman’s books are so well-balanced with romance and plot. There’s never a moment of boredom, in my opinion. The plots are fast-paced and the romance naturally progresses in a way that you don’t even realize how long you’ve been reading. This book, in particular, focuses more on the romance and characters, but the plot really picks up at the end.

I highly recommend you check out this series if you haven’t yet.

Part two of the Montgomery and Davies feud was as enticing as I thought it would be. Tristan and Carys have poked at each other for years and now they have an agreement for a different type of poking 😉.

I wasn’t sure how the enemies to lovers was going to work, especially since the bridge was drawn between the two families with the first book. But this worked. It was a slow burn and we learned what was really behind the adversarial relationship.

Loved the animals. They became secondary characters and actually saved the day. The villain got off too easy though. For all that he had done, more should have happened to him. But oh well. Minor issue.

Can’t wait for Morgan and Harriet.

I received this ARC from SMP in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a highlight of my 2022 reads!

Kate Bateman is a new to me author and I also had not read the prior book in the series. However I didn’t feel like that impacted the story for me at all, and she did a good job of establishing the world of these characters and the feud.

One of my favorite parts is seeing the house and Carys noting he used her favorite color for the bedroom, upset that his future wife will share it; then later Tristan confirming to her that he painted it with her in mind.

I loved their partnership and that there wasn’t really a big miscommunication at the end. I loved Tristan’s set down of Howe and the “well she’s my wife” and Carys is like “wait what?!”

I can’t wait to read this again, which I’ll do after I read the first book.

This was a fun romance with the vibes of a 1930s silver-screen caper. Carys was a strong and independent heroine, and Tristan was an excellent foil for her.
Carys has been hiding a secret she feels is shameful for several years beneath the disguise of an unbound flirt while amidst London society. Her neighbour from Wales, a member of a rival family, Tristan, is also in London, looking for a proper wife to boost his profile and aid in his efforts to become a society architect. When Tristan discovers her secret at a ball, they enter into a sex pact for their mutual pleasure. The story moves from London to a Welsh house party, and includes a delightful menagerie featuring a bear and mimicking ravens, a travelling circus, and a nighttime bear hunt that brought to mind Katharine Hepburn's Bringing Up Baby.
Through all of this, Tristan endeavours to teach Carys that sex is in fact pleasurable, and although their families have historically been at odds, the two develop genuine feelings for one another. Carys's sexual history is never a problem for Tristan, although he has to work through his belief that he needs a polite society wife for the sake of his career. The third act dark moment was resolved quickly and involved more external factors than internal ones for the two MCs.
This was an engaging read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Carys's family was wonderful. Although this was a stand-alone romance, it felt like it would have been beneficial to have read the first book in the series, because the protracted enmity between Carys's and Tristan's families was often alluded to, but never quite explained. In spite of that enmity, the book wasn't to slot itself into the enemies-to-lovers trope, and any 'rivalry' between the two MCs was all in good fun.
This book was a celebration of the power of steadfast family ties, and also provided some unexpected but welcome commentary on (bad) European zoological practices of the period, and also critiques pastimes that were historically more working-class, like bear baiting, without falling into classist judgement. Carys's passion for animal rights was also used to highlight the strictures of women.

CWs:
- sexual manipulation of the FMC in the past by the villain
- blackmail plot
- animal abuse

I received an ARC of the book for review, views are entirely my own

Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: blackmail, gender essentialism

This is the second book in the series it can be enjoyed entirely as a standalone

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f historical romance
-rival families
-frenemies to lovers
-mutual pining
-sex pact/sex education
-this is just a hookup
-opposites attract

I really enjoyed this one, and just love the premise of these two rival families falling in love, sibling by sibling. I really appreciated Carys and Tristan's dynamic. Frenemies at times, they both respected the other and saw each other so quickly. They had wonderful chemistry that had me turning the page. And that they had crushed on each other for a long time,

Add in a bear, and a blackmail plot and this was the right combination of just a bit of excitement and a wonderful romance story. Can't wait to see the rest of this family accidentally fall in love with each other.

Steam: 3.25

Now that was a lot of fun. The two families are still at odds, for the most part, but that doesn’t stop Carys and Tristan from longing for each other. Their antagonistic relationship was very funny, and their intimacy was very spicy. Looking forward to book 3!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

'TWO ENEMIES
Carys Davies is doing everything in her power to avoid marriage. Staying single is the only way to hide the secret that could ruin her—and her family—if it was revealed. For the past two seasons she’s scandalized the ton with her outrageous outfits and brazen ways in a futile bid to deter potential suitors. Outwardly confident and carefree, inside she’s disillusioned with both men and love. There’s only one person who’s never bought her act—the only man who makes her heart race: Tristan Montgomery, one of her family’s greatest rivals.

ONE SCANDALOUS BARGAIN
Wickedly proper architect Tristan needs a respectable woman to wed, but he’s never stopped wanting bold, red-headed Carys. When she mockingly challenges him to show her what she’s missing by not getting married, Tristan shocks them both by accepting her indecent proposal: one week of clandestine meetings, after which they’ll go their separate ways. But kissing each other is almost as much fun as arguing, and their affair burns hotter than either of them expects. When they find themselves embroiled in a treasonous plot, can they trust each other with their hearts, their secrets…and their lives?’
____________________

4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 stars.

A Daring Pursuit is the second book in Kate Bateman’s Ruthless Rivals series and is a historical romance. This book could serve as a stand-alone, but I think it’s better if you have the backstory of the rivalry between the two families.

I was curious as to how the author would carry the feud between the families into the second book after the marriage between Maddie and Gryff bridged the gap. It was done nicely, as the feud was a barrier in a different way for them than it was for Tristan and Carys.

I thought Carys was so great. She uses her daring as armor and is the darling of the ton, but it’s all a front. Tristan strives to be measured and follow all the rules to pave the way for his career in architecture. The two are quite opposite, so despite harboring an attraction for one another, they find they frequently annoy one another. Tristan especially I found to be a bit quick to judge in his annoyance with Carys, so I was really glad when he was later proven wrong about a quite rude snap judgment (that admittedly derived from some pretty damning looking evidence).

I stayed up later than I should have while reading this book. I loved the blend of tension and humor between these characters. It wasn’t so much enemies-to-lovers as it’s frenemies-to-lovers and that added to that dynamic because as the saying goes “better the devil you know…” The only thing for me with this book was that I didn’t find the resolution with the villains to be that satisfying.

I really enjoy Kate Bateman’s books and I’ve loved the series so far so I’m really looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
_____

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing an eARC of A Daring Pursuit by Kate Bateman. This is my honest review.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes!
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine’s perspective

(These are all personal preference on a scale of 1-5 (yours ratings may vary depending what gives you feels and how you prefer you sex scenes written, etc) except the Steam Scale which follows our chart from The Ton and Tartans Book Club )

Should I read in order?
It’s not necessary for this one, but you’ll get a better background of the family and characters if you read book 1, A Reckless Match. Plus it’s delightful so I think you should read it!

Basic plot:
Scandalous and enticing Carys Davies is doing everything she can to avoid marriage. Long term rival families, she never lets go of an opportunity to bait proper Tristan Montgomery. And when he finds out her dark secret and they strike a bargain about lessons, things really heat up.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (didn’t see a year listed, but book 1 took place in 1815)
- Ex soldier hero (fought against the French for 2 years)
- Mid steam - 3 full scenes
- A bit of enemies to lovers feel (They don’t come off as true enemies but are long term rival family members so there’s lots of baiting banter)
- English hero, Welsh heroine
- Small part with heroine disguised as a lad
- Lessons – hero and heroine come to an agreement on lessons for Carys to decide what she’s missing on by not getting married

Ages:
- Hero is 27,
My thoughts:
With an opener like


While kicking and biting, love develops…


HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE IT??

I just really want to yell repeatedly “This book is f***ing perfection!” repeatedly for my review. Seriously. It’s so amazing. HOW does Kate Bateman keep getting better? I didn’t think it was possible after reading and loving so many of her novels. But not this takes the new spot as favorite.

Her characters have such heart and depth. I just fall into their entire world and want to stay there. They are bright and funny and wrap their way around your heart and don’t let go. You’ll cry for them. You’ll love them.

Carys is such a wonderful character. Hurt and betrayed early on in her society exposure, she has taken to acting outrageously to protect herself. But she has a heart of gold – the way she cares for her family and her rescue animals just made me melt. To see her with Tristan’s love is so beautiful.

Tristan is amazing. Steady, proper, he needs Carys to rile him up and mess up his perfectly tied cravat. He knows he has loved her but refused to admit it. This enemies to lovers is truly unrequited love at its core.

I adore books with lessons in them – Carys and Tristan strike a bargain to be enemies with benefits when Tristan realizes she was treated wrongly by her prior one night stand. And it gives them lots of reasons to be together and exploring each other and I just gobble that up.

This book was funny, the banter delightful, the steam and tension breathtaking. Bateman is officially an autobuy. So, so good.

Overall, I liked the story. I liked how the couple didn't want to admit their feelings for each other because their families were enemies but once they did the chemistry was explosive. I liked how there was a mystery that they solved together. I also thought the pacing of the story was good.

Wow, this is one of the best romance books I've read this year! The historical tidbits are so very detailed and accurate. I loved Carys and so could relate to her wanting to remain single and be her own individual but yet also drawn into a very deep love and the course she takes to finally awaken to love. I also really loved Tristan and I loved that this tale is about just everyday folks, not always dukes' or earls'. Such a joy-filled read and I'd most highly recommend this! Kate Bateman can weave one of the most magnificent tales, a truly masterful storyteller!

The feuding Montgomery and Davies clans are just wrapping their heads around two of their family members marrying in book one and now two others are in danger of falling in love. Wild and scandalous Carys is only (or mostly) acting out to deter suitors. She's no longer chaste due to a wretch of a man who she thought was going to marry her but ghosted her instead. Now she doesn't want to marry and have her husband find out her secret. The scandal would ruin the family. She's always had feelings for Tristan Montgomery but he's the enemy! He tells her that her first experience wasn't typical and he'll show her true seduction. Throw in blackmail, two mischievous ravens, and an escaped bear, and you have an adventure you won't forget.

I love Carys. She lives her life the way she wants to, not how society dictates. Tristan seems so staid, but underneath, he is fun loving. They seem opposites but are good for each other. There is the whole feud between the Davies and Montgomery families. They have been adversaries for so long, can they be anything else? Carys sure hopes so. She has had a thing for Tristan for a long time. She could bring scandal on his and her family if her secret is revealed. Carys is hoping she will never marry and can control her own life. Can they find a way to love each other amidst all the obstacles?