I really enjoyed this story! As usual Erica Ridley has written a story that kept me enthralled in the plot and had me falling in love with the characters. This book is able to be read as a standalone. There is plenty of chemistry between the H/h, slight slow burn, and when they come together (pun intended) the story added a layer of explosive passion!

Absolutely loved!

Thank you for providing a review copy of “The Affair by the Sea” - all thoughts/opinions are my own.

5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 4 Flames 🔥🔥🔥🔥

An absolutely heart-warming romance about two people dreaming of different lives, that somehow find each other. John might be no Dread Pirate Roberts...er, Captain L'Amour (iykyk), but he'll absolutely steal your heart. Allegra is a wonderful character, and I love how vivid her imagination is. Together, they make for an unforgettable duo. In a time when things are ruled by expectations, these two are definitely aiming to break the mold. The perfect romance to take with you to the beach this summer!

When an imagined, pirate lover shows up in the flesh (sort of) a determined spinster begins to live the life of her dreams. It’s a charming read! I hope to see the heroine’s spirited cousins in their own romances soon.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well written, and the plot was engrossing. I would recommend this to any romance readers.

Erica Ridley does it again! This series is fantastic, a great escape into the regency world. I loved the location change- most books are set in London, so the chance of scenery was refreshing and exciting. The partnership with Grace Burrows was also fun- I would love to see more collaborations in the future.

Allegra is a poor relation, chaperoning her two cousins and waiting for her 30th birthday when she's to gain control of her dowry. She's made up a fictional suitor, Captain Hamish L'Amour, and told her cousins tall tales about him for years. John is a solicitor who wants to become a chef. When Allegra's cousins mistake him for L'Amour he plays along. Allegra and John are attracted to each other but she wants to gain her financial independence and does not plan to marry. He is all about plans and recipes and fears disasters if things deviate from the routine. She is a great pianist, adept at improvisation. Are their plans for life compatible? This is a fun and delightful tale that I finished in one sitting.

An Affair by the Sea was a wonderful read featuring a romance between a spinster and a man who is mistaken for her made-up suitor.

Allegra Brown is only months away from receiving the inheritance that will allow her to live her life on her own terms. But first she'll need to assist her two cousins with their come out and help them find good matches. When her cousins express their desire for her to marry as well, specifically to her fiction fiancé Captain Hamish L'Amour, Allegra doesn't know how to put them off. While on holiday at the Siren's Retreat, Allegra meets a man who is her fake suitor brought to life. Mr. John Sharp is the perfect man to play her beau and with his help, Allegra may be able to stall her frailly long enough to gain her inheritance. Now if she could just get rid of the attraction she feels for the man.

I was intrigued by the premise of An Affair by the Sea as I was quite interested to see how Allegra would manage to convince John to play the role of her fake suitor. I liked how that came about and that after it happened, John decided to help Allegra rather than expose the truth. Neither Allegra or John are part of the ton and I liked that they were two regular people as I don't see that too often in historical romances. Allegra has been her cousins' governess since her parents died when she was twelve while John worked hard to put himself through school to become a very successful solicitor. The connection between the two develops pretty quickly and I loved how they came to understand each other so well in such a short time. Their chemistry was fantastic and I I thought it was great how her cousins helped them find time to be alone with each other. The ending was very well done and I loved that the two were able to achieve their dreams together.

Overall An Affair by the Sea was an enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series, A Spinster by the Sea, soon.

A very entertaining romantic adventure. Characters are likable and the storyline keeps you reading. A definite winner!
Thank you Erica Ridley, WebMotion and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest feedback.

John Sharp is a London renowned solicitor, but secretly has always wanted to be a chef. So he has recently left his steady job, took over a tea room in London and subsequently burned it to the ground! Shamed and embarrassed, he ended up in the seaside town, hoping to open his own tea room where he could control and plan for everything, so there would be no disasters. John realized early on that he was praised for doing things correctly and as an orphan he craved that praise, so he developed an compulsive need for perfection and control in everything he does.

Allegra Brown lives with her uncle and two cousins who she basically raised since they were infants. Her parents died when she was young and she was sent to live with her uncle. Almost like a Cinderella story, her uncle made her basically an unpaid servant. She became a governess and chaperone for her two cousins, just biding her time until her 30th birthday when she will receive an inheritance and she can afford be on her own!

Allegra has made up this gentleman pirate who is madly in love with her and someday he will return to her and they will live happily ever after! You can imagine her shock when, on an outing with her cousins, they almost run over a man fitting the exact description of her pirate!

John haphazardly agrees to go along with the charade and slowly they start to develop feelings for each other. It is the sweetest thing to watch them both open themselves up to the possibility of love and find solace in each other. I really enjoyed this book and I like that this series is standalone; it is refreshing to read a book and not have to focus too much on what I am already supposed to know and flag things I'll need to know for future books!

Highly entertaining, emotionally thrilling, action packed romantic adventure filled with interesting charters and landscape, desire and passion. A riveting and exciting journey from beginning to end.

I receive an arc from the author. This was a fun historical romance that actually produced quite a few laugh out loud moments. I loved the premise of a make believe suitor who actually becomes a true suitor, though not the fictional pirate our heroine originally created. But a solicitor turned chef.

Allegra will finally have possession of her inheritance when she turns 30, she just needs to hold off marrying and he money is hers, not her spouse's. SO she makes up a fictitious suitor who is traveling overseas. But then her cousins see a man that fits his description and John (said man) goes along with it. What starts out make believe turns into true love.

It's a quick read with a very satisyfing HEA where we understand why our heroine doesn't want to marry, why our hero is in this town, and how he can possibly be mistaken for her make believe fiance.

I enjoyed this historical romance story with all of the characters. The two main characters were Allegra Brown and Mr. John Sharp.

Allegra Brown is an poor relation that lives with her uncle and his two daughters. Her uncle is now her ward. But when she turns thirty she will have her grandmother money but until then she has to live off of her uncle. With them getting older she has become a governess to her younger cousin. When her uncle decides to go to a sea side town to find husband for his daughter she goes to. But she never expected that to see her fictional fiance there. Now she will have to try to explain it to her cousin's.

Mr. John Sharp has been working in London as a lawyer. He doesn't want to do this anymore and instead he want to become a chef.   When he tries to be a chef things go wrong. He leaves and go to a sea side town to get a way from London and the disaster that happen. He never expected that he would have to pretend to be a pirate captain for an unpredictable spinster and her cousin's after almost being ran over by a carriage.

This was a fun story to read. It has action, adventure, drama, and secrets within. It also had a few laughs and giggles throughout.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinions.

Thank you for letting me read this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought Allegra and John made a great pair. I could have boxed Uncle Townsend's ears. I can not wait to read more from Mrs Ridley.

What's not to love with this story line! Our heroine, Allegra says she is engaged to the amazing Captain L'Amour. Gotta love this already. Anyway, he totally made up. Fortunately... mistaken identity propels innocent-minding-his-own-business-bystander-who-just-wants-to-be-a-chef John Sharpe into the story as our Hero, destined for love in an HEA. Loved it!

This story was so fun, sweet, and sexy. Allegra and John have such a beautiful relationship and I love how they complement each other. I just loved how they encouraged each other to pursue their dreams. I also love how John just jumps into Allegra's life...but I don't want to give anything away.

I loved reading the story of these two unlikely love matches. Fun tale!
Many thanks to WebMotion and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This just might be my favorite of Erica Ridley. The way Allegra and John turned their unexpected meet-cute into full blown, all consuming love made me smile from ear to ear, turning the pages to see just how they will navigate all she has been through.
But what sold this story for me is definitely her ability to ease all his worries and made him see that not everything needs to be done in particular in order for it to be perfect. It took him some time but at the end of it all he saw that he can do just about anything with her by his side.

I don't read HR as much as I used to but when I do and it's a story like this one, it just shows how much I miss going back in time to find a beautiful HEAs.

I have enjoyed this author numerous times in the past, but this book is by far my favorite. I was taken on a swashbuckling fantasy that spun into a tale far larger than anyone could spin. There was romance at every turn and a bunch of fun in every corner. Living in the regency era has just turned fun up many notches. Book provided by NetGalley.

I do love Ms Ridley's books. While I preferred her previous series this is a good book to lose yourself in this summer.

I liked that this didn't feature high society main characters it's a nice change of pace to have two middle class characters get a chance at a happy ever after.

I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you're a lover of classical music or cooking/baking love stories, this historical romance could be right up your alley!

For such a short book, this really dragged. The couple was sweet together but there were too many moving parts, and really flowery, over the top language (like the author had a list of Scrabble words she was trying to use) that just made their story a little too dense.

I'll definitely be checking out other books by this author, but this one just wasn't the one for me...