A new historical fiction romance from an author who has written many books but is brand new to me. Lady Jaqueline (Jack) Peabody is livid at her childhood friend James Haven, the Duke of Stone. He has become a match maker in the ton and his latest couple is her sister who he pares with a second son vicar. They’ll be happy but now Jack must marry for money for her family when she never had plans to marry at all. She’s never been on the marriage mart and instead has happily been studying music in Vienna from the masters.

James decides to find the perfect husband for Jack but of course he stumbles and bumbles on the way. And there is a wicked man with a title that wants Jaqueline for himself because she is different from other ladies. James is willing to coach Jack a little on what is pleasing to gentleman. There is a lot of humor and interesting situations in this childhood friend to lover adventure. Together Jack and James are sweet. And Jack’s family add with their romances as well. For a formula romance I thought the author added some surprising twists and turns. I expected James lessons to go further but Jack is properly chaste on her wedding night. The wedding night is the only steamy scene and I was a little disappointed that while Jack gets her pleasure she doesn’t get a chance to be an active participant. She was never shy or hesitant before this moment.

Overall a fun romance with a sweet HEA. And now I have a new author whose previous books I can discover. Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. (3.5 stars)

James Haven is a titled gentleman and a match maker. :) Lady Jaqueline needs help finding a wealthy husband and she's his best friend's sister so he offers his service.... They fall in love....

It's a witty historical romance. From semi- friends to lovers.. I love both characters. Jaqueline is wonderfully spirited and Haven is hilariously delusional about his real feelings for her. A fun book with wonderful characters.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

This was the first time I’ve read a book by Eva Devon and I have to say: this was SO good. The synopsis is really appealing and I was really happy to see that the book is as great as it appears to be.

The story is about Jaqueline, a young woman who is in need of a husband after James, a well-known ‘matchmaker’, matches her sister with a poor man. Desperate, she goes looking for James, and demands him to find her a wealthy man so then she could save her family. The problem is, he is her brother’s best friend, and he is having trouble with finding a man worthy of her. The feelings Jack has had for him since childhood start getting harder to avoid, and because of circumstances of life, she knows they can’t be together.

I thought Jaqueline would be the classic annoying “i’m not like other girls” character, but surprisingly, she wasn’t. She certainly doesn’t fit that time’s society, but she doesn’t constantly make a big deal out of it. While she was being quite enjoyable, James just made me mad. Don’t get me wrong, he is not a horrible character and I get his trauma, but he was SO confused that I couldn’t help getting mad at him all the time.

Jack and James were the sweetest but I must say, Olivia and Alexander got me so hooked that I couldn’t focus on the main couple whenever they were mentioned. Definitely looking forward to reading their book!

Even though the book has its flaws, like the fast paced ending and some James’ scenes that annoyed me a bit, it’s a good read. Eva just got a new fan!