This was my first Harper St. George book and I loved it! The writing is so elegant and beautiful with still a touch of modern. Leo and Cora have a slow burn that really simmers for so much of the book, I love that Leo and Cora got to know and respect each other as people first before jumping into bed, despite how much unresolved sexual tension there was. It made the climax (pun intended) that much better! I can't wait for the rest of this series!

Not gonna lie, there were a few scenes that even had me blushing which does not happen often in a historical fiction romance.

This was a fun marriage of convenience historical romance from Harper St. George.
Cora, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy American, must marry well to receive an inheritance. So she sets her sights on titled British men in need of funds, and comes to an agreement with the handsome Earl of Devonworth. However, she hides the truth about her illegitimacy.
Of course, sparks fly between them and they both struggle with secrets of their own and how much they can trust one another.
I enjoyed this one, especially as it felt slightly different with an American FMC/British MMC, but to me I felt like the two leads lacked chemistry and it was lower stakes than it should have been. Everything was resolved very quickly in the last few pages.

I love romances, historical in particular!
But... not Americans.

I see differences with the naked eye. Americans are more direct, more frank and behave kinda differently.
And I'm more into British, their lifestyle, double meanings and being affectionately in more sensitive manner.

Here, we have an American rich girl and poor British aristocrat. They get married cause she needs a title, he needs a money. But marriages are not so simple as business contracts and their face something that they not expected.

It was good, fine, but not spectacular.

BOOK REVIEW: The Stranger I Wed by Harper St. George
Series: The Doves Of New York | Book 1
2024 Publication Date: April 23

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Historical Romance
T.I.M.E. Most Anticipated Books Of 2024

Pages: 364
Genre: Historical Romance
Sub-Genre: Gilded Age Romance | Steamy Romance
T.I.M.E. Jalapeno Rating:️ 🌶🌶🌶 (Hot Spicy)
Time Period: Gilded Age
Location: London (England)
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

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All my book reviews can be seen at This Is My Everybody | Simple Living | Denise Wilbanks at thisismyeverybody.com/blog/what-book-should-i-read

♡ Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Harper St. George knows how to write a rich and satisfying story with characters that are entertaining and interesting. I loved this enchanting historical story set in the late 1800’s so much, I never wanted it to end.

Cora, the eldest of the Dove sisters, must marry a titled gentleman to gain her inheritance, so she and her two sisters travel to England to find a groom. Once Cora arrives in London, she meets an assortment of potential husbands, but as soon as she sees Devenworth, she doesn’t notice anyone else.

Devenworth needs a rich bride to save his ancestral home. Although he is attracted to Cora, he ultimately marries her for her dowry. They marry first and slowly fall in love as they become acquainted with each other. The more they learn about each other, the deeper they fall. However, they are afraid to let down their guard and trust each other completely.

I loved Devenworth and Cora together and enjoyed all of their encounters. Sparks would fly whenever they were together and I found myself immediately immersed in their story. I felt like I was right there with them and I easily connected with all the characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait to read future stories featuring the two other Dove sisters.

A marriage of convenience turns to love in this first book of the series about American heiresses finding husbands among the English aristocracy. The Dove sisters have always been a subject of gossip in New York for their illegitimacy. Life is getting desperate when Cora is notified of an inheritance. The grandmother she never met has left the three sisters a large amount of money and she confronts the father who never acknowledged them about its dispersal. He sets some conditions she can't fight being a woman without rights. He'll disperse the money to their husbands when they marry. Also, they can't live anywhere where he associates, leaving them no option but to search for husbands out of the country if they want their money. Cora contacts a wealthy heiress she met as a child (Camille, from the Gilded Age Heiresses series) to help with finding potential husband candidates. She quickly meets Leo, the good-looking Earl of Devonworth. Leo is in need of funds and they strike a bargain. They'll stay married for two years with Cora insisting it's a marriage in name only. Leo is an upstanding Member of Parliament working to pass a bill that will help the poor. He doesn't need any scandal to thwart his efforts. Hmmm. Cora didn't mention her illegitimacy, her scandalous writing for a women's rights magazine, oh yes... her mother is an uninhibited divorced actress, her sister an opera singer. What else doesn't he know? I loved their relationship. Both insecure because of their backgrounds but supportive of each other and the quirks they discovered as they got to know each other. I'm looking forward to the next sister's story.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance, PRH Audio, and Netgalley for providing advanced copies of this! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

I really enjoyed Harper St. George's debut series and was excited to check out this spinoff. Historical is definitely not my most read subgenere, but I loved interconnected series like this.

Unfortunately this one wasn't my favorite. However! I actually quite liked the romance aspect itself.

In this we are following a young woman who needs to marry someone with a title in order to get an inheritance from the father & family that never claimed her as their own. So she strikes up a deal with an Earl who needs the money she can bring to the marriage.

I love a good marriage of convenience romance. The forced proximity aspect just brings such good tension to the romance.

And I really enjoyed this couples chemistry together. I loved the stolen nights in her room, faking the consummation, tense carriage rides... all of it was top tier.

But this book had - quite literally - zero plot. There was nothing driving this story forward. Instead it was 300+ pages of these 2 characters getting to know each other.

They are together from the very beginning. No big drama, just a quick marriage of convenience. And from there it is sharing secrets, meeting the family, attending dinners, and long talks.

While I love a slow, character driven story, this needed something. Because at the end of this book I was left feeling like there was no point to this story. There was no end goal they were working towards. Nothing they needed to overcome. It was just... a play by play of the first few months of their marriage.

Not sure if I'll continue on with this series. Not because I think it's bad. But because it's a genre I reach for so infrequently, and I don't think this series will intrigue me enough to reach for in the future.

Cora is a girl bastard bc her mom is a Victorian ho (the best and most dangerous ho to be). Cora’s dad is loaded but pretends she doesn’t exist. When her grandmother kicks it, she gives Cora and her sisters a shit ton of cash with the caveat that they get must married to get the dolla bills. Daddy Whorebucks ships the girl bastards to England so they don’t embarrass him in NYC and Cora immediately finds a strapping Earl who is strapped for cash and looking for a rich bride. Poor Cora- she has to marry a smoke show, feminist, consent king with a big ass house, servants, and rock hard abs. The suffering she must endure is too much to bear***

***editor’s note: she only suffers 5% only bc Earl Hotpants keeps seducing her and then tells her it was a mistake…until he stops doing that and makes her the Countess of Bonetown. And they all live happily ever after.

Smut- 2.10 stars
Romance- 4.32 stars
Story- 3.98 stars
Marriage of convenience when he is conveniently a delicious snack- 12.78 stars

"Leopold Brendon, Earl of Devonworth, a no-nonsense member of Parliament whose plan to pass a Public Health bill that would provide clean water to the working class requires the backing of a wealthy wife. He just never expected to crave Cora’s touch or yearn to hear her thoughts on his campaign—or to discover that his seemingly perfect bride protects so many secrets..." This is a good romance. Leopold and Cora are meant to be together.
I received this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book.

Harper St. George never disappoints! It was wonderful being back in this world with a new set of Gilded Age Heiresses looking for their happily ever afters.

I loved Cora and Leo together. They had fantastic chemistry and a nice foundation of friendship that made their love story very enjoyable. There were some third act misunderstandings that I'm usually not fond of, but in this book, I didn't really mind them. They fit well into the story.

Overall, this was a great start to a new series, and I'm eagerly awaiting Eliza's story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

“Cora knew what love felt like. She
had known her mother's love as well as that of her sisters. It felt like warmth and security. It was acceptance and approval Their love hadn't prepared her for what it felt like to be loved by Leo.”

Cora & Leo’s romance reads like a mashup between a marriage of convenience and a friends-to-lovers arc. Their adorable meet cute sparks an easy {if still secretive} friendship that slowly builds into something more which made it easy to forget that they are virtual strangers in the beginning.

I am a big fan of a great backstory and I loved the set up for this book and series. The author wastes no time giving us a heroine {& future heroine’s} to root for, someone to pin our distaste on and a hero bound to responsibly who we can get excited about defrosting.

The burn between these two is slow, but if you have the patience and inclination, you’ll really enjoy this tender, heartfelt romance.

As far as spice, the author pulls off two of my favourite tropes; the interrupted solo session and a steamy bathroom scene.

Thank you to @netgalley & @berkley for this free eARC in exchange for my honest review. The Stranger I Wed by Harper St. George is available now everywhere books are sold!

"The Stranger I Wed" by Harper St. George is a delightful Regency romance that combines the allure of a marriage of convenience with the complexities of societal expectations and personal secrets. Set against the backdrop of New York and England, the novel follows the journey of Cora Dove, a woman burdened by the scandalous whispers surrounding her family's legitimacy, as she ventures across the Atlantic in pursuit of a new life and a husband who values her independence.

At the heart of the story is Cora's arrangement with Leopold Brendon, the Earl of Devonworth, a pragmatic politician with ambitions to enact social change through legislation. Their marriage is born out of necessity rather than affection, yet as they navigate the intricacies of their relationship, they find themselves drawn to each other in unexpected ways. St. George skillfully portrays their evolving dynamic, showcasing their initial wariness and giving way to genuine affection and mutual respect.

What sets "The Stranger I Wed" apart is its exploration of deeper themes beneath the surface of a traditional romance. Cora's passion for women's rights adds a layer of complexity to the narrative, highlighting the challenges women face in a society governed by rigid patriarchal norms. As Cora and Devonworth confront their secrets and vulnerabilities, they are forced to confront the actual cost of love and the sacrifices necessary to pursue happiness.

St. George's prose is elegant and evocative, transporting readers to a bygone era filled with grand estates, elaborate balls, and whispered intrigues. The vividly depicted settings serve as the perfect backdrop for the unfolding drama, while the well-drawn characters breathe life into the pages of the novel.

The story is a delightful slow burn romance between two people who never expected to find love. I quickly became invested in the characters - and am curious about the potential stories of Cora’s sisters.

From PerfectionistWannabe.com.

I am going to be honest with you. I was not expecting the spice. I was expecting some sort of historical fiction romance taking place in the Gilded Age with zero spice. I mean, honestly, historical romances are not known for any spice in the bedroom. These stories have been historically known to be absolutely boring. Did women even know what an orgasm was until the Feminist Movement?

Well, maybe Asian women did because men were taught the importance of making women orgasm so that it can increase the chances of pregnancy. But English men during the Gilded Age knowing how to pleasure a woman? I think that is the fictional part of this story.

Ok. So the market today is to add spice to any sort of romance story. Women want their eggplant and peaches stories that fall more under the pornographic end of the spectrum. I was in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee, listening to the audiobook going into detail of their first encounter. I literally stopped what I was doing, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Oh, we're going there with this story?" Totally unexpected from Berkley Publishing. But alas, tis the market these days.

That spice was a signal to me that I am not allowed to listen to the audiobook or read the book in public. And the Maine Coon better be asleep because I feel embarrassed when he looks at me. Oh, these are things I don't want going on in my mind in any setting where the cat or a human can sense I must be reading something super spicy.

So now that I have clarified this book is spicy, most of you will have already headed to Amazon, Bookshop.org, or whatever your favorite retailer is to purchase this book. For the rest of you who need more than the spice, keep reading.

This is for the people who love Gilded Age/historical fiction stories. What intrigued me about this story is that the book shows another angle to the New York debutantes with money looking for an English title. Cora Dove, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy NY businessman, does not want to marry. She just wants her inheritance. But since her father doesn't want her mixing with people in American society (to save his wife and legitimate daughter from embarrassment), he's made the caveat that she (and her sisters) must marry if she wants her inheritance. So she decides to marry someone with a title in England.

Her father agrees, so she, her sisters, and their mother (a former actress), sell their home and head to England in search of a husband with the help of one of her friends who married a gentleman in England.

As they are doing their reconnaissance, Leopold Brendon stumbles upon Cora. Literally. And that's all it takes for their story to begin. He needs her money and she needs a husband. Works out just fine.

But what happens if this business deal could be more than just a business deal that would allow her to divorce him in a couple of years? What if they were to fall in love? What happens then?

This story is also the beginning of women's rights in England, when women are seeking their freedom to own their own property. There was a time when women could not access their money or their property without a man. Their fathers, brothers, husbands, etc. were responsible for their property. Women were not allowed to handle their own finances, have bank accounts, own property, etc. without a man. At this juncture of the Dove sisters' stories, giving women the right to their own property is set to a vote.

The Stranger I Wed is the first book in this Gilded Age series featuring the Dove sisters as they navigate English society, and being a woman looking for a husband so they can access their own inheritance. They will be met with suffragettes and their rights to vote, and so many more stories affecting women in their quest to be free.

Oh, and just to clarify, I think I'd put this as NC-17 on the spice scale. Not quite X-rated, but definitely spicier than R.

3.5 Stars

Tropes: Class Differences, Marriage of Convenience, Delayed Consummation, Women’s Suffrage

Illegitimate Miss Cora Dove receives a windfall: the promise of a dowry from her dying grandmother. But her father will only release the funds if Cora and her sisters can find suitable husbands far, far from his family in New York.

Earl of Devonworth, Leopold Brendon, needs the backing of a wealthy wife to advance his plans in Parliament. But, once wed, Cora and Leo’s “loveless arrangement” isn’t what either expected.

This is the first book in The Doves of New York series, featuring Cora and her sisters: unlikely American heiresses seeking marriages in London. Cora begins her husband hunt with the assistance of Camille, Dowager Duchess of Hereford, from the book The Duchess Takes a Husband. I liked how the story began, with Cora scoping out potential grooms before a planned house party. She and Leo share a bit of a meet cute which sparks an attraction and convinces him to attend Camille’s gathering.

This is a slow burn, and, in my opinion, it had a bit of a pacing problem. While the pining and hot-cold emotions from the characters usually work in a marriage-of-convenience story, it just fell a little flat for me personally. I liked Cora and Leo’s chemistry, but I thought his commitment issues were a bit of a cop-out and detracted from the relationship rather than adding a layer. Their common goals with Parliament and the Suffragette movement could have been a bigger unifier, but by the end I thought it just lost the momentum. I hope the next one brings back the spark I’m used to from St George’s books.

~ Leslie

For fans of Ms. St. George, you will fall in love with this sweet couple. It's a true love match from the first time they meet. If they both can get beyond their insecurities about life circumstances, they will be happily ever after.

##bookreview what a wonderful read 📚 !
Review-
Cora and Devonworth start off new series in this book. The gilded age rife with American heiresses and poor aristocrats is the premise of the books. As always, @harperstgeorge writes a well researched slow burn!

I liked the meet cute at the football match where Cora is 'researching' the prospective suitors and meets the hero. He as good as tackles her on the field to save her from a ball. This starts a low attraction that becomes very strong and yearning over the course of the book. See the highlights.

I also loved the historical references to the health act bill and how Devonworth is fighting for it, the way Cora gets involved, and also the ladies' suffrage society mention. These details enrich the premise imo.

The best is the yearning. They finally come together as they should, and it's a satisfying journey to watch.

Thank you, @netgalley and @berkleyromance , for the reader's copy.
All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an advanced digital copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

This is book one in Harper St. George's new Doves of New York series.

The Dove sisters have been shunned by the elite of New York their whole lives due to the fact of their less than desirable parentage. Being born out of wedlock to one of New York's most influential peers did them no favors. When their paternal grandmother dies, leaving them each a sizable inheritance on the condition that they marry, it's like a lifeline for the three young ladies. Their biological father, however, adds the caveat that they must make appropriate matches. So, where do disgraced heiresses in need of a distinguished husband go?

Why, to London, in search of British aristocrats with titles and low coffers.

Cora Dove and her sisters are introduced to eligible candidates by characters from St. George's previous series, The Gilded Age Heiresses. She quickly determines her "match" and enters a contract marriage in name only, to the Earl of Devonworth - Leo. They both agree that their marriage will be dissolved in due time, leaving them both with the funds they need to survive.

What happens when a marriage of convenience suddenly seems very real? FeEliNgs. That's what.

I really enjoyed the author's previous series, and really wanted to enjoy this book.

Knowing her writing style, though, I couldn't help but feel this book was a bit bland. It lacked a layer of depth I am used to getting from her writing. She really could have used one more round of edits to add texture beyond surface level expectations. She hit all the historical fiction beats you'd expect, but none of it really sparkled. It felt like maybe she had a looming deadline and the result was rushed.

I'm still looking forward to the rest of the series, but this one just didn't quite do it for me.

This is a story about how love grows when watered with kindness, patience, and friendship. Cora needs a title to gain her inheritance, Leo needs money to save his earldom. it's a perfect marriage of convenience until they realize that they ACTUALLY kinda like each other.

There isn't a HUGE plot here which is usually more my style. But I did enjoy all the politicking going on in this story and how they fall in love because of their shared interests. And once they do come together it's fevered, it's stumbling, and it's awkward but beautiful. If anyone could make me love a story with a more subdued plot, it'd be Harper St. George.

If you love marriages of convenience, friends to lovers and a more romantic subdued plot in your books, definitely read this one.