I was captivated by the story and characters. While the cover made me expect something similar to Bridgerton, this book surprised me with its depth and excellent characterisation. Not that I dislike Bridgerton - but this book ended up ousting all my doubts. Probably one of the best historical fiction books I've read thus far!

A Lady’s Promise by Ranee S. Clark is a sweet love story in New York during the Gilded Age.
Isabella is in need of a husband. Preston, her long-time friend, offers to marry her in name only so she will be taken care of for life. The other piece to the story is that Preston is dying and does not have much time. Before he dies, he wants to see his estranged brother, Prince, mature and make wise choices. This story is full of understanding how past hurts impact relationships and that many times, there is more to the situation than originally thought or understood. Each character has a lot to learn about the past and moving on. Grief and forgiveness are explored. I was a little nervous about a love triangle involving brothers, but it is actually not like that. I enjoyed how all the relationships played out in the end.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

A Lady’s Promise was such a fun read. I can’t even imagine the situation that Isabella is put into. Raneé S. Clark does a phenomenal job keeping your interest thought out the book until the very last page.

I always a big fan of marriage of convenience stories, but this book took a variation of the trope to the next level. Instead, it was a mix of an engagement of convenience, forbidden love, and deep familial rifts in need of mending.

As well, most of the historical romances I read take place in the British Isles, so it was so refreshing to read a book that took place in New York. In some ways it felt similar to what I'm used to, but the overall tone of the story felt so much more unique to me.

I also loved how human the characters were. Bella and Prince both make mistakes, but I love how they come back from them and the effort they put into repairing them. It made the story feel very relatable, even though most people will never be in the sticky quandary of having feelings for your fiance's brother.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and can't recommend it enough.

Happy reading everyone.

This book was definitely a unique storyline. I have mixed feelings about it. I liked that it wasn't quite as typical of a route for a romance, but at the same time felt the premise was a little hard to enjoy. Flawed characters (intentionally so, Ranee Clark did a good job) will do that to you. I think this one is worth a read, just be prepared to have mixed feelings about the overall path. It's not all sunshine!

I just love regency romance books. This was just the perfect little pick for me. This was light and airy and completely engaging. I didn't want the story to end.
I just reviewed A Lady's Promise by Raneé S. Clark. #ALadysPromise #NetGalley
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A tender love story, of helping others and returning the favor.
Isabella's father helped Preston build his business to a successful level. He never asked for anything from Preston in return.
Preston's younger brother, Prince, doesn't understand a budget. He spends money like there is no end to it.
Preston wants to help him learn responsibility, before he passes away. But if he can't, he has a plan to marry Isabella, keeping the fortune away from Prince. As Preston's health declines, so does his ability to think clearly. How long will he be of 'sound mind' to see his plans through?

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

This book had potential that it, unfortunately, didn’t reach, in my opinion. It was a light, easy read, but it lacked the depth that could have improved it.

While the characters are generally likable, none of them was particularly well developed. For example, Isabella (20) was kind, considerate, and proper—and somehow she had enough engineering knowledge to create things like water heaters and self-rocking cradles, among other things. How did she come by this knowledge? No idea. Preston (35) and Prince (25) were mainly characterized by their unfriendly relationship towards each other. Preston was dying of cancer and wanted to make sure Isabella’s future was secure while giving his brother motivation to be better. Prince was just confusing, and I think he was rather confused, as well. Was he genuine or false? His intentions were shady, but was he? He went in circles about so many things. All of the other characters were just kind of there in the background.

My favorite part of the book was the numerous flowers at the end. It was sweet. But I still had a hard time really buying into the romance.

Note: Cancer and death.

This was an interesting marriage of convenience story. Isabella is a sweet ingenious woman. I really liked her character. Her relationship with Preston was so different than the one between the brothers. I enjoyed seeing how good he was to her. Prince was a character that grew on me as he grew and changed. This was a wonderful emotional story.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through Netgalley and this is my honest review.

Trigger warning: if your mental health is not at it's best, maybe you should wait for a little bit because the main characters deal with death and a lot of thoughts about death. Maybe it wasn't a fun book, which I thought it would be given the blurb, but it was still very good book. If you have time, you can read it in one sitting.

A Lady's Promise takes place in what was known as The Gilded Age of New York Society in 1895. It's always nice to read a romance set in a chapter of history I haven't read as much about.

I loved Isabella, the orphaned New York Socialite, who was raised by her uncle and aunt. Isabella is such a lovely character that all people are drawn to. She is caring, kind, and intelligent. When Preston, a dying old family friend offers her a marriage of convenience to Isabella, she accepts. Preston doesn't want to leave his inheritance to his immature younger brother Prince, unless he changes his ways.

This story is told from Isabella, Preston, and Prince's POV. This was great to get a richer perspective of what was happening and how everyone was feeling. Though this is a slow-burn romance, it's well worth your effort to jump in and enjoy the ride.

I wish that Preston and Prince could have resolved their differences in this story before Preston's inevitable death from cancer. Though Prince and Bella grew to know one another better with the stories the brothers spoke of. In some ways remembering the past was healing for the brothers. This sweet romance is full of emotional and maturity character development. There is flirting between two people destined to fall in love but truly there is no love triangle between Preston, Bella, and Prince. I believe things in the long run worked out the way that Preston had hoped for.

I don’t recall reading a Historical Romance from this author. I have read some of her romcoms and they are sweet and fun, so I was intrigued to read the story. This takes place during the Gilded Age in New York City Isabella had been orphaned as a young girl, and was sent to live with her aunt and uncle. She is now in her third season, and her aunt and uncle are pressuring her to get married. Preston is approximately 15 years Isabell’s senior, and had always acted like an older brother, there estates in the country were quite close. Preston has a younger stepbrother Prince, that had moved to Paris with his mother after the passing of his father, he has now come back to New York City. The tension between brothers is quite intense. Preston is a no nonsense, frugal heir to the estate. Prince, has been doted on, and allowed to live a very frivolous life by his mother, who has now passed away. This begins a very unique sort of love triangle. I thought the characters were quite well defined. Preston was not easy to like, but I also could see where he was coming from. He had worked hard and wanted to teach his brother how to be a wise businessman. He also had a very sisterly love for Isabella, and wanted to make her life easier. The story was unique with lots of tender teaching moments. it wasn’t a swoony Romance, but more of a friendship union that turned into a lightbulb Romance. It made for a pleasant afternoon read. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This novel has a unique premise that worked well for me! I loved watching Prince's character arc. Also him growing with Bella's help was beautiful! It got a little slow for me in the middle, but the way it concluded was a sweet end!

Preston is dying. He has cancer and he's been given months to live. He has amassed wealth that he knows his younger brother will not deal with responsibly based upon previous actions. Prince has been known to be extravagant. His mother was the same, and Preston cannot in good conscience leave his fortune to his brother knowing that it might help him down a path to destruction. So when his best friend Isabella asks him to help her find a husband, he offers up himself. It takes some convincing on his part. Isabella loves him as family, but she has to be careful navigating the rumors that will surely come calling her a fortune hunter when Preston unfortunately passes. Isabella agrees, but only under the condition that they proceed in a way that garners as few rumors as possible.

Prince has struggled with his relationship with his brother. When Prince's mother left for Paris taking him with her, he assumed it was due to Preston cutting her off financially. She too was a bit of a spend-thrift. Prince harbors animosity towards Preston for the state of their relationship, for leaving him alone during the hardest times of his life--dealing with his mother's loss. And he feels like Preston hordes his money. Prince does find a cause to champion that opens his eyes to how spoiled he truly has been and how needy others are around him.

I took a long time to write this review because I was all kinds of conflicted. Isabella and Preston's relationship was sweet. They have so many memories and such a genuine love and connection for each other. It isn't romantic at all, but anyone who witnessed them together would know there is love shared between them. Yet Isabella and Prince have a romantic connection. Due to Isabella being engaged to Preston, Prince and Isabella can't really explore what they feel for each other. And due to Preston and Prince's difficult history, I hated to see what these brothers had to go through and how Prince often got looked down upon even when he was proving himself.

This book was emotional, and I do believe I either cried to teared up while reading it. I can't fully remember since I'm writing my review more than a month after finishing it. A Lady's Promise gets 3.5 Stars from me. Have you read A Lady's Promise? What did you think? Let me know!

Isn’t this cover gorgeous? That’s what first drew me to this book. I also loved the Gilded Age setting. The unique romance though is what kept me turning the pages. It’s the story of two brothers and the woman caught in between. Before you cry “please no love triangles,” be assured there’s no love triangle. It’s the heartfelt story of overcoming past grievances, finding love, and recognizing what’s truly important.

Isabella De Vries is a sweet, inventive, kindhearted socialite in need of a husband after being orphaned. Her good friend Preston Baxter is dying and in need of someone to leave his inheritance to other than his wastrel younger brother. He proposes a marriage of convenience to help both Isabella and himself.

Prince Baxter resents his older brother for the way he treated him and his mother. He’s angry with his brother’s heavy-handedness when it comes to money and his inheritance. Now an orphan himself, he’s trying to find his way in the world. When Preston announces his engagement to the much younger Isabella, Prince is suspicious and sets out to charm his way into Isabella’s good graces. But, when he spends time with her, he finds a beautiful, intelligent, delightful woman who gradually wins his heart.

The road to love is never easy and there’re quite a few twists on the way to happily ever after. Isabella is such a an admirable character. Taking care of a dying man isn’t easy and she did everything possible to make Preston happy and comfortable. While she isn’t in love with him, she still loved him as a good friend. Prince completely captures her heart, but her loyalty to Preston makes it impossible to do anything about it. Isabella helps Prince see his potential and gives him a purpose and I loved that about this story. Isabella also learns to stop caring so much about societal expectations.

I loved all the witty, fun interactions between Prince and Bella and only wished there were more of them. Preston at times frustrated me, but many of those frustrations stem from things out of his control. The reconciliation between the brothers was a major source of angst throughout the story and its resolution left me wanting more. I do hope there will be more books in this setting. I loved Miss Darlington and would enjoy getting her story!

Highly recommend the audiobook version! Noah Wall is a fabulous narrator who really brought this story to life.

All in all a sweet, at times heart-wrenching romance that’ll tug on your heartstrings. I received an advanced complimentary ebook from the publisher, but also purchased the audiobook version. All opinions are my own and voluntarily provided.

A tender, slow burn novel. A Lady’s Promise is more than just a story of love and loss, but also a story of discovery and complex family relationships. It moved me to tears, and was able to evoke a great sense of emotion, grief, and yearning from me. The nonlinear character development felt natural and realistic. Each character had many layers and were quite dynamic throughout. Though, I would have loved to dive more fully into Isabella’s innovative brain, as well as the setting descriptions. This historical fiction novel read through as such, with its accurate diction and prose - I truly felt immersed in these courting times.

Half rating: 3.5, (rounded to 4 stars for full star rating)

I confess: I cried throughout the book, as much as there was a love story unfolding the backdrop was also a bit sad. Till now, idk how I feel about the hero and heroine’s love story, it was a bit messy which is to be expected but I love the fierce way in which the heroine loved. I understood the hero’s pain and I loved his redemption story. I liked the twist with the “socialite” who turned out to be more thank a pretty face.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

To be sure, the story had its sweet moments that made me smile, but that was the strongest reaction it was able to illicit from me. Even when Preston died, I didn't feel distraught or the magnitude of that event. I did consider that the issue may be on my end. Perhaps I have had a calloused heart the last few days.

My issue with the story was the cut scene feeling to it. Jumping in time, which I understand could've been employed for the progression of Preston's illness, but it left me a little empty. It was hard to care about the story with things jumping around so much.

I feel there was a missed opportunity with the romance between Prince and Isabella. I missed the part where they fell in love. It seemed to go from friendship to love in the blink of an eye without the supporting interactions or dialog. They had sweet moments, some flirting, but it fell flat. Perhaps that 'blink of an eye' development was due to the cut scene feel of the book, or merely not to my taste in regards to romantic development.

I did enjoy Miss Darlingtons dynamics with both Isabella and Prince, and I expect her story will continue.

I also appreciate the storyline with the tenement houses, opening my eyes a little bit to the struggles people were faced with during that time period.

This was a sweet and good book. I sort of wished I could get the backstry for one of the brother's own life before but genearlly I liked this.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I enjoyed it. I appreciated how Preston cared for Isabella and wanted to help her with her situation. Isabella cared for him deeply but I felt she should have come to have even greater love for him. It reminded me a little of the movie “First Knight” where Guenevere is set to marry King Arthur even though her heart yearns for Lancelot.

The best part of the book was Prince trying to flirt with Isabella. He brought a needed lightness to the book. Another interesting part was seeing how women who felt a little trapped by convention found a way to bring meaning into their lives.

Thank you to Covenant Communications for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.