This book is nice. I like Isabella and Prince grew on me. The relationship between Prince and Preston is complex and there were plenty of ups and downs. I wish there had been more reconciliation between them, but that’s life. I love how Prince apologized to Isabella with the plants. It was really romantic.

Isabella has been friends with Preston for years . He has been like an older brother to her . She is shocked when he tells her he wants to bequeath much of his estate to her so that she is cared for . She is heart broken to find out he won’t be long in the world. He has cancer. Soon he tells her he wants to marry her so that her inheritance will be protected .

Prestons brother Prince has not had a good relationship with his brother . He depends on Preston financially and loves the lavish life . Preston tells him both that he’s dying and that he’s thinking of taking him out of his will. This was pretty harsh and it made me not love Preston.
This book did a great job of discussing alot of emotions:pain , love , despair, desperate ness , defeat. , sorrow , and again love.
I do feel that Prince could have had a little more development in his character . He and Isabella spent time together every day until they fall in love.

. I won’t wreck the ending for you because there are some great twists but nonetheless there are a lot of layers in this book. Feeling and emotions and words left unsaid between brothers. A man trying to leave a legacy and care for a friend but who is dying and in incredible pain. A woman who doesn’t want to take money and prestige from an old friend but who is desperate to not always rely on her aunt and uncle.

It was a beautiful read about enduring love and becoming selfless .

I loved the characters in this book. They are all complex and interesting. Isabella is innovative, beautiful and an orphan. Preston has always been a wonderful friend and older brother figure in her life. He comes to her with an interesting proposal that will make it possible for her to be well taken care of for the rest of her life. Prince is Preston's younger brother. Prince and Preston's relationship is a rocky and complicated one. Prince tries to befriend Isabella so he won't be left out of Preston's will. Which may or may not backfire. Miss Darlington is also an interesting character full of complexities.
I would highly recommend this book. It is well written and full of interesting people and situations.

A Lady's Promise by Ranee S. Clark snags the reader into the plot immediately and doesn't relinquish its hold until the last page, leaving the reader to wish for more. Clark is a new to me author but will definitely read more of her works.

A copy was provided for my review, but all opinions are my own.

This was a basic sweet read. There was nothing really that pulled me in. I kind of felt a little bored but stuck in there and finished and thought it was sweet. This is sort of my problem because I've been wanting more adventure books and read this at the wrong time. This is a better book for someone who really wants to chill story.

"A Lady's Promise" is a romance set in 1895 in New York. Some historical details were woven into the story, creating a backdrop for the action. Isabella enjoyed creating mechanical things to solve everyday problems. Both Preston and Prince admired how she used her intelligence and skill to help others and supported her even though she belittled her own ability. I think their support of her unusual hobby was why she loved them.

Preston was a kind, indulging friend toward her but harsh in how he treated his own half-brother. Prince had been taught by his mother to waste money on frivolous things, and Preston felt that Isabella would make much better use of his fortune. Isabella mourned the coming loss of her dear friend. Through her growing friendship with Prince, she helped Prince start to genuinely care about others than himself. Prince was never unlikable, but he did start off self-centered. Prince also came to forgive his brother for perceived wrongs and decided that some things were more important than his pride.

There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable romance.

The Gilded Age in a wonderful setting for this novel from Ranee S. Clark. Preston Baxter inherited wealth and then grew it even more. He is only 35 but getting his affairs in order. His younger brother Prince Baxter has no intentions of working for a living but relies on Preston as his mother ran through her family money before she died. Preston lets Prince know that he will be cut off if he can’t show he has some fiscal sense. Prince doesn’t take it seriously until he learns that Preston is engaged to the younger Isabella De Vries. Now he’s concerned a wife and potentially an heir could take away his potential future.

Preston is a solid character with a strong moral compass. The love of his life died when they were engaged. He proposes marriage to Isabella a long time friend. She is orphaned, and Preston credits much of the accumulation of his wealth to the business deals with her father. He wants her as an unquestioned inheritor of at least half his wealth to do with as she sees fit. She gets everything if Prince doesn’t show improvement. Isabella is my favorite character as she has genuine fondness for Preston and knows how good the marriage will be for her extended family. Much is made of the fact that Preston is almost 15 years older than her in the reality of the time period that would be more the norm and not shocking.

Sadly the weak link in the story is Prince. The author gives him some growth in character but it is little and late in coming. He is still trying to charm and weasel his inheritance at almost the 70 percent point of the story. He also has no plans to work or grow Preston’s business. Isabella is attracted to him because he is younger, healthier and flirts with her. It isn’t much to base a future on. Love triangles are tricky and this didn’t work for me on a romance level. The story is okay and is on the short side at 200 pages.

Raneé Clark gives readers a unique marriage of convenience story with "A Lady's Promise". In a refreshing change of pace, the action takes place in Gilded Age New York.

Isabella De Vries, is a charming, yet unconventional heroine. Her sincere devotion to her dying husband is heartfelt, and she uses her unusual mechanical abilities for a variety of practical applications. Husband Preston Baxter is likewise committed to ensuring Isabella's future comfort. However, younger half-brother Prince Baxter experiences the most character growth. Initially a frivolous, shallow spendthrift, he was raised by his lighthearted, improvident mother.

One wonders how Prince, originally a manipulative, superficial man, can possibly redeem himself. Yet, Clark makes his positive character arc believable. His and Isabella's quickly developing relationship smacks of insta-love, though.

I enjoyed this story; however, it was too short. Characters could have been more fully developed. A more detailed backstory would have added more clarity to Preston and Prince's lack of brotherly affection. Although I read the Timeless Romance Anthology "Road Trip Collection" in which Clark was a contributor, I primarily read historical works. This author's prose is lovely, and I plan to read her other historical novels.

Thanks to NetGalley and Covenant Communications for an ARC of this pleasing tale.

This book has so much heart. I was pulled through so many emotions as I heard this book. I laughed at Prince’s teasing of Isabelle. My heart was warmed as the brothers reminisced. I cried at the heartache of death. I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

A Lady’s Promise by Ranee S. Clark, 200 pages. Covenant Communications, 2023. $16.
Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
On her third season, Isabella (20yo) is conscious of her aunt’s desire to not be so involved in society events. Isabella asks her friend Preston to help her find a husband, and he proposes himself. Preston wants to bestow his wealth on Isabella as a tribute to her late father, but he also wants to prevent his little brother, Prince, from continuing to be so wasteful with his wealth. If Prince doesn’t shape up, then Isabella will inherit everything.
The majority of conflict in this book stems from Clark’s characters hurting emotionally. I love that she doesn’t shy away from the messiness of misunderstandings and forgiveness, even without the pretty resolutions we are used to reading in the book world where everything can turn out perfectly. While there is a happy ending, it’s only possible because the main characters choose to make peace with the things they can’t change.
All the characters are English. The mature content rating is for alcohol use and innuendo.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

I really wanted to love this book, but the characters were hard to like. One was in love with someone else, and everyone seemed to be using other people or situations to their advantage. I also didn't like how worried about gossip they were. I guess that was the time era, but it seemed excessive.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

I have read a lot of Historical romances in last couple of years, but almost all of them were set in Regency or Victorian England. The setting is the primary charm of the genre for me. This was the first one I read that was set in US. The reason I mention is that the book itself caused me some confusion about the time period it was set in; it may be due to the writing, or due to my lack of awareness. For example, things like cancer, engineering, electricity set it into late 1800s while the mention of carriages, balls and reticules mapped it to older times.

The first half of the story was somewhat bland and didn't hold my interest much, but the second half was promising, though quite sad. I liked the warm friendship between Preston and Isabella, and the depiction of Isabella caring for Preston in his final days is very emotional. I did not like the hero, Prince - he is rather selfish and entitled at the start, and even his arc of redemption did not do much to endear him to me. The instant sort of attraction between the MC is not one of my favorite tropes, and it felt forced in this story. Love triangle is another trope that I am not fond of, because of the constant comparison drawn be either the hero or the heroine between the two love-interests.

This version needs a bit more of proof reading, as I found some grammatical errors.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley, and thank both for it. The opinion expressed here is entirely my own.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me an early copy of this book prior to publication.

I will always have a soft spot for historical romance, but unfortunately, this wasn't for me. I found a lot of the characters to be very lacklustre and dull, which ultimately made me uninterested in he romance itself, simply because I wasn't invested in the characters. I ended up skimming a lot of the chapters, which didn't make for the most enjoyable reading experience.

In terms of the characters themselves, Isabella's sweet and thoughtful, but was again, quite boring. Even Prince himself was unlikeable to me, as I found him to be childish and immature initially, something which his eventual character development unfortunately did not improve. Their respective characterisation and the short span of the storyline ultimately made their eventual relationship seem very insta-love and unrealistic.

However, I did quite like the portrayal of Preston's friendship with Isabella, and how thoughtful and considerate he is to her. The worldbuilding (I'm not sure if that's the correct term) was also done quite nicely, which is always nice, especially when you're in the mood to spend an afternoon in Gilded-Age New York.

A charming story and a sweet romance. I would've liked a more natural-feeling relationship progression between Isabella and Prince, but overall it was a cute story. I enjoyed the marriage of convenience and dual point of view narrative. This book is a good choice for lovers of clean, historical romances.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book and for the eARC copy. I am voluntarily leaving this review.

This was a cute, quick historical romance. I liked the story and the emotions we were trying to get at, I just think they could’ve been a little stronger. While I knew where the story was going and that Prince and Isabella would get their HEA… when we got there, I still don’t know that I believed it. It wasn’t insta-love, necessarily, but we weren’t given any of the substance to show that these two actually were actually in love with each other, or anything more than enjoying each other’s company. (And then… boom… last chapter: she’s already pregnant? And all Prince gives a cursory “she’ll be a good mom…”). I also would’ve LOVED if we went deeper into Isabella’s genius, especially since we got a glimpse into Prince’s passions.

Sometimes, nothing can beat a charming historical romance. There's something about the romance genre that makes me able to read a book in only a couple of days rather than over a period of weeks or even months like I often do. Of course, as a lover of all things historical, period romances are my favorite. They offer that exact right dose of escapism, without me ever having to question why I'm single when the girls in contemporary books make it look so easy to land a soulmate.

A Lady's Promise by Raneé S. Clark is certainly one of those novels that I sped through, eager to see how the heroine's dilemma was resolved and whether or not she landed the handsome love interest by the end. (Yes, I knew that ending was inevitable, but I somehow still needed to see it for myself.)

Isabella De Vries lives in New York City with her aunt and uncle after the death of both of her parents while she was still young. She would rather be an engineer than a socialite, always tinkering on some new contraption to try to improve the lives of those around her. However, as the next Season starts, she becomes worried that her continuing lack of a husband Season after Season is wearying her relations, who would rather focus on their new grandchildren.

A solution comes in the work of family friend Preston Baxter, who shocks her by offering to marry her himself. Similarly an orphan, he has cared for her like an older brother since he first became friends with her father many years ago and wants to leave his immense fortune to her after his death. And that death will be happening sooner rather than later according to his doctors, who have diagnosed him with a fast-acting cancer much to Isabella's dismay.

The main problem is Preston's younger brother, Prince Baxter, whose inheritance is threatened by Isabella's pending marriage. Preston believes his half-brother is irresponsible with money and threatens to write him out of his will if he doesn't prove he's turned over a new leaf. He's also determined to ensure that Prince cannot override the money he plans to leave to Isabella. But as the young woman spends more time with both brothers, will she be able to mend the rift between them and might she lose her heart to her fiancé's younger, handsomer, less serious brother?

As someone who actually enjoys a well-done love triangle, I was destined to like A Lady's Promise. It's one of the most unconventional love triangles I've ever seen; most of the angst occurs between the two brothers trying to sort out a resentment born many years ago, after the death of their father. Preston cares for Isabella as a younger sister and the friendship between them is genuine. Meanwhile, there's a spark between Prince and Isabella that can't be ignored -- and I do love any story in which a man falls hard for a woman who forces him to be honest about his feelings.

Isabella, Preston, and Prince are all dealing with lingering trauma from the deaths of their parents, and I enjoyed getting to see the three of them bond over it. But as much as I liked the scenes involving Preston, I was always looking forward to another moment of romance between the other two (despite the book being very tame and smut-free).

I particularly was interested in the project that Prince takes on to convince his brother that he has changed, which ends up actually transforming him. He decides to renovate a tenement building after hearing idle chatter amongst the upper class about the poor conditions that many workers live in. I've just been completing a project for my work about Arab-American women seamstresses who lived in tenements in lower Manhattan in the late nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries so I've lots of research on those very conditions. I thought that it was a thoughtful depiction of someone aiming to help such a terrible problem that plagued New York at the time, even though I wish we'd gotten to see a bit more of the people actually living within them as real characters and not simply a canvas for Prince's change.

Clark's style flows well, allowing the reader to get swept along in Isabella's world. She's an easy main character to like and sympathize with, even though I wish we got to see even more of her love for engineering and creating gadgets. I found some of the twists and turns of the plot difficult to predict and latched onto the characters so much that I made it through in only two days. A Lady's Promise isn't anything particularly revolutionary within the historical romance genre, but why mess with what works so well?

I was given an ARC of this book by Net Galley and Covenant Communications in exchange for an honest review.

✨🌸✨ARC Review✨🌸✨

A lovely, romantic historical fiction set in New York!

Prince Baxter, the spoiled half-brother of Preston, is used to a lavish lifestyle with a nearly non-existent work ethic.

Preston Baxter, a rich man dying of stomach cancer, is hesitant to leave his fortune to Prince, worried that his half-brother will squander the wealth in a short amount of time. He promises Prince that he will receive his due portion of the inheritance if proven that he can change and become a productive, working citizen in society.

Here enters Isabella De Vries - an orphaned socialite who has unsuccessfully tried to find a husband this Season. Preston, already well acquainted with this tenaciously smart young woman, devises a plan to marry Isabella. Their marriage of convenience will set Isabella up well upon Preston’s death while keeping most of the inheritance out of Prince’s way.

Prince, rather than proving to Preston that he deserves half of the inheritance by working as an adult should, schemes to befriend Isabella in order to convince her to assure his portion of the inheritance is guaranteed.

How will his friendship with Isabella change Prince? Will his character grow as he renovated a tenement house in attempt to satisfy Preston?

With Isabella’s loving, endearing personality and using her “unladylike” passion for engineering to help others as well as coming to terms with his brother’s failing health, we are taken on a beautiful journey of Prince’s growth into a phenomenal young man so full of love.

📚 A Lady’s Promise by (courtesy of NetGalley & Covenant Communications)

Release Date: September 5, 2023

I do not like any type of love triangle in a story. They are frustrating to no end. This book isn't exactly a love triangle but VERY close. I had imagined this book taking a different direction than it did so I was pretty surprised part way in to find that it was going in a direction I was not expecting. I really wanted to love the plot line and overall story but I just could not. Isabella is a decent character but I really like Preston most of all. Even with his faults he does what he thinks is best no matter what. He is a strong character that holds the pages together. There are some great scenes that deal with grief and caring deeply for friends. I think friendship shines a bit in this book and I love that part. The romance is what I did not care for and I didn't think it was handled in a redeeming way. This was an okay read and just not my favorite, though I am sure many will still enjoy it.

Three Stars.


"I received this book from NetGalley for free. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review."

The historical context was handled well and seemed like a lot of work had gone into it. However, the characters themselves left me rather cold and not very invested.

I really enjoyed this book! Lovely writing, great characters, some tears and laughter! I wish some things had been resolved differently but still good.

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