The definition of a wallflower, Emerald is extremely shy & hates Society with all those people looking at her, judging her, pointing and gossiping about her family. She is hardly a debutante anymore, however, and her contrary ways forces her mother to make a desperate agreement. Emerald will attend ten more balls this Season…and then no more. She’ll be freed from her obligation to her family to marry, and that will be an end to it. Following a humiliating divorce, he’s just about managed to keep quiet. Robert Ainsworth, Marquis of Swindmore sees something in Emerald that no one else does.
The third book in the series & it could be read on its own. I really liked both Robert & Emerald & thoroughly enjoyed their road to a HEA, which wasn’t easy with her shyness & him wanting to keep his divorce a secret. Both don’t want a scandal but maybe their actions may just cause one! A well written easy to read enjoyable romance
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

This is exactly the type of light and engaging read I love. The story was fun, the characters interesting, and the plot compelling.

Emerald is an extremely shy debutante in a family known for scandal. Robert sees her for who she is. When the divorced Robert falls in love with her, scandal is sure to follow. I look forward to the next in this de Petras saga. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for my honest review.

This is a wonderful read! Emerald De Petras who hates society and vows never to marry and Robert Ainsworth, Marquis of Swindmore who recently divorced meet at a ball. Robert is captivated by her and asks her to dance. She refuses and the chase is on. It was very entertaining to see how they came to trust and care for each other. This is the third book in the series but can be read as a stand-alone. Can't wait for the next book.

She’s determined not to get married. He is just looking for a diversion. But there is no ordering one’s heart from doing what it wants to. Witty, steamy and romantic read all the way through!

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and leaving my review voluntarily.

Emerald de Petras is the middle daughter in this unusual family. She has made a compromise with her mother about her attendance at society events. For a woman who gets extremely anxious, these events will be torture.
Robert Ainsworth, Marquis of Swindmore has managed to keep his shame secret from society. Now to enjoy the available delights of the social whirl.
Staying away from scandal and out of the public eye seems to be impossible for our characters.
The differences between this family and most of society are best understood by reading the series in order, but you can still enjoy each book on it's own.
A historical romance that's very different to the norm, and lots of fun. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
Great fun.

Emerald hates balls and crowds and chaos and gossip and has absolutely no intention of marrying. Her mother has convinced her to attend ten more balls with the promise that she will not bring up the subject again. Emerald meets Robert, who finds her absolutely refreshing. While recovering from his own divorce from an adulterous wife, he plans to seduce Emerald, but of course falls in love with her along the way.

This is an absolutely adorable book by Ms Murdoch. Being rather shy myself, I could put myself in Emerald’s shoes and feel her strong panic when going out with people. The auth writes a very believable character in her. I also felt Robert’s extreme embarrassment over his issue and would have loved to have seen Isabel get a more thorough set down, but I guess that says a lot about my vindictive streak. I can imagine a family with so many personalities and an upside down reversal of roles to be very confusing. I can understand Micah’s belligerence!
All in all a very delightful read!

With a strong aversion to crowds, Emerald de Petras is intensely reserved and dreads social interaction. She would have been packed off for therapy in our modern age, but as a Regency Miss, she has to suffer through her family's expectations for her but comes to a compromise that she will attend just 10 balls and after that, she is free to do as she pleases. Although a huge challenge, Emerald nevertheless pushes through and faces the obstacles in her path. The de Petras family is riddled with scandal, but Emerald does not know half of it. The Marquis of Swindmore, on the other hand, is facing his own scandal, namely that of setting his errant wife aside and divorcing her. Even though it is becoming more common to find divorced couples in Regency times, there is still enough dirty besmirching the couple to make them pariahs of society. Robert discovers that despite all his protestations, Emerald is the perfect woman for him, but keeping secrets almost results in him losing the one woman who could bring him healing, faith, and trust. I loved the main characters and the de Petras family as a whole makes this a lively story. However, the constant repetitive phrases from snippets of conversation were rather disruptive. The novel comes to a good conclusion on the couple's own terms, leaving the door open for the next de Petras to find their match. I received a copy of this novel as a gift through Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

A Perfect Match!

I’ve been looking forward to Emerald’s love story and I have to say I loved it!

Emerald had decided years ago never to marry and Robert newly divorced wanted some fun and vowed never again to marry. Emerald had agreed with her mother that she would attend 10 more balls and then she would be free to live her life as she wanted to. She hated the attention at balls and dreaded attending them. Robert seeing her at the first ball he had attended in years thought he was saving her from a sticky situation couldn’t believe it when after asking her to dance she refused him!

He had nine more balls to get her to dance with him and as he told her to seduce her. Here starts the fun and steamy cat and mouse chase which turns into love. Emerald, trying her very best to resist him and Robert who couldn’t help himself starting to have feelings for her but not wanting her to know about his divorce.
I loved how all the characters from her family got involved and how you get a little insight into another love story about to happen. Full of fun, romance, steam, and laugh out loud moments.

Another perfect and recommended read from Emily and I cannot wait for the next story within the family.

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

Reviewed on Goodreads and Bookbub will review on Amazon once released.

Another enjoyable story and romance in the De Petras Saga series. I quickly became engaged with Emerald and Robert's love story. Not an easy journey when you have one contrary debutante or shall we say wallflower that wants to stay firmly on the shelf and one newly divorced Marquis whose lost his faith in love. Well crafted with plenty of sparks and passion that lines the way to an enduring happily ever after.

Synopsis: Wallflower debutant Emerald never wants to marry, divorced lord John lacks belief in love due to circumstances.due to an agreement with her mother Emerald has to attend the last 10 balls of the season. And then she is free to live her life however she wants. She has no desire to marry, Lord John encounters the wallflower and asked for a dance only to be turned down. Something about this draws him closer to her. She wants nothing do with him. But he’s up for the challenge in the Contrary Debutant.


I loved this book! Here lately I have felt that the romance category had become lacking. Not because there was a lack of talented authors. But a lack of ideas, most stories follow the same formula over and over again and it becomes boring. But this novel was something unique if not rare. It told a story from a different perspective. While I don’t know how many novels in this historic genre actually touch on divorce and finding a new love. But in my opinion this book was amazing it was well written and you actually felt for the character’s. I finished this book the same day I was approved for it from Netgalley. This is a page turner for sure. If you love romance novels and you love stories that are different and unique then you need to read this book. I look forward to reading other books by this author.