A delightful historical romance! This used to be one of my favorite genres to read, but I have fallen off of it lately. Luckily, St. George was able to get me back on!

Illegitimate Cora and her 2 sisters have come into a windfall - an incredibly large dowry for each of them. The catch? They have to be married away from their father’s real family in New York. Thus the Dove sisters head to England to find a husband. It is there that she meets the handsome, and incredibly penniless, Leopold, Earl of Devonworth.

Filled with steamy scenes between Cora and the Earl, a great cast of characters and nods to the women’s rights movement, this was a quick and lovely read!

Ahhhh this was so good. There's nothing like a love story between 2 highly intelligent idiots. I love a good marriage of convenience, and this one takes place pretty early on in the book. Then the rest of the story is a slooooooooow burn of Leo and Cora realizing the other is their completely perfect match and falling in love, while also being dumb about moving past their "brief marriage on paper" deal.
The story is relatively low angst with pretty decent communication, except for the part where they keep lying to themselves. It moves quickly too. I think I would have actually preferred a little longer book to go more into detail with their developing relationship or get some more scenes with them working together.
Either way, this was really great and I really enjoyed it. I would recommend for fans of Evie Dunmore or Courtney Milan.
While this was the first book I've read by Harper St. George, I definitely want to go back and read her previous series now!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkely for the preview. All opinions are my own.

Harper St. George has become one of my favourite historical romance authors so I was very pleased to see this spin off series from her previous books! Lots of interesting historical details, well rounded out characters, and lots and lots of pinning and longing looks; The Stranger I Wed was highly enjoyable.

<i>ARC Provided by NetGalley<i>

3.5 stars


Fans of Evie Dunmore and Sophie Irwin should check out this Victorian era novel about an American woman forced by circumstances to seek a marriage of convenience among the ton of England.

Cora Dove is the love child of one of the most wealthy men in New York. Along with her mother and two sisters, she is kept hidden away from the upper crust of society as to not any inconveniences for her father. They have not seen him in year, and he provides very little for their welfare. When Cora’s grandmother passes, she leaves a large inheritance for each of the girls. However, they will be forced to marry titled English aristocrats in order to have access to their funds.

Once traveled to England, on the last of their money, Cora is able to meet Lord Devonworth, an earl in desperate need of funds. A marriage or of convenience ensues, but is soon develops into more.

I very much enjoyed Cora’s work with the suffrage movement and discussion of Lord Devonworth’s work in parliament for the betterment of society and how much the two main characters learned they have in common. It was one of the highlights for me. I also loved how they learned to trust each other and share their past.

I loved how we got a small glimpse into the politics and societal issues of the day without it becoming a full on history lesson. I thought it was balanced very well and was used to move along the plot in an effective way.

Unfortunately, some parts felt a little rushed to me, but it did not take away the enjoyment I had while reading. St. George is a new author to me, and I will be checking out more of her books for sure.

Of note, the spice level was a bit much for me. I quickly flipped through those parts, but sensitive readers should beware.


Highlights:

-Marriage of convenience
-Victorian era politics
-Women’s suffrage
-Honorable, trustworthy MMC

Harper St. George is back with a new series! Imagine HBO’s 'The Gilded Age', AppleTV’s 'The Buccaneers' and throw in Netflix’s 'The English Game'. Fused together, you get ‘The Stranger I Wed’. The Doves of New York are here to shake up London Society. In ‘The Stranger I Wed’ we follow Cora Dove an illegitimate daughter of a wealthy founding family of New York. Along with her mother and two sisters, Cora travels to London ready with a plan to marry a man with a title in exchange, she’ll be able to access a large inheritance.

Cora has no illusions about love, but alas enter Leopold Brendon, Earl of Devonworth champion of a stirring social justice campaign in Parliament. From there, we follow two characters that explore feminism, classism, and poverty. While they discuss these social causes, they also reveal long held secrets and grow to have respect and love for one another. Characters, Cora and Leo slowly melded together and I found it to be well thought out. I also appreciated the appearance of past characters, it's always nice to have continuity and check in with previous characters/series.

The teaser for the next book was also very intriguing!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.

THE STRANGER I WED was an engaging historical romance. Cora Dove and her sisters Jenny and Eliza are illegitimate and existing on the edges of society. When their father's mother dies and leaves them generous dowries, Cora thinks things will be better for them. However, her father, who controls the money, has put strings on it. He wants the girls to marry before they can inherit. He also wants them to live far away from New York so as not to embarrass his wife and legitimate children.

Inspired by the many American heiress who have married into the peerage, Cora, her sisters, and mother travel to England to look for husbands. One of the earlier American brides is willing to help them find men who meet the qualifications they have outlined for a husband.

Leopold Brendon, Earl of Devonworth, is on the list. He needs money to repair his home and get his younger brother clear of his gambling deaths before he can go back to what he really loves: serving in the House of Lords and passing a Water Quality Bill. The fact that he is handsome is actually a strike against him on the girls' list.

After some negotiations, Cora and Devonworth marry expecting a relatively short term marriage in name only. Cora eventually wants some of her inheritance and her freedom. However, she finds herself falling in love and realizes that they have a lot in common including women's rights. He falls for her too despite having had a bad experience with love in a past romance.

But the two have to face his political rivals and her many secrets before they can have their own 'happily ever after.'

As illegitimate daughters of a wealthy American businessman, Cora decides to take her mother and sisters to England to exchange big dowries for men with titles. Leo is attracted to Cora and needs the heiress’ money to save his crumbling estate. As long as neither falls in love with each other, they should be safe. They must overcome their fears in order to have a real marriage. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Berkley for my honest review.

The Stranger I Wed is a captivating blend of Gilded Age New York and Victorian London. This novel is a powerful and feminist take on a historical marriage-of-convenience romance, making it a must-read for fans of the genre. St. George's writing is engaging and compelling, keeping me hooked from beginning to end. I found myself unable to put it down.

I love this series, so I was really disappointed in how much of a slow burn/basically no burn this was. The premise was great, but it fizzled sooooo many times. Too many times. It lost its effect after a while.

<i>3.5 stars </i>
I love Harper St George's writing. This new series starts out well, with American heiress Cora hunting for a titled husband in order to access her dowry.
I loved every bit of interaction between Cora and Leo. So much that I felt there needed to be more of that. Indeed, the romance kind of takes a bit of a backseat, as Leo is concerned with Parliament, and Cora with the suffrage society. Their interests find common ground, which gives both of them opportunities to spend time together.
I love a good marriage of convenience. However, I felt that the romance between Leo and Cora lost some of its sparks as the story grew along, and picked back up at the end.

As usual, the author and her team has done an excellent work with the cover!

Thank you to the author and PRH for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I’ve loved Harper St. George’s books, but it’s hard to live up to The Heiress Gets a Duke, for me. I wanted to like this story more and while I enjoyed it fine, it felt a bit rushed and like it could have used more fleshing out and character development. The timeline was fairly short and the conflicts seemed to resolve pretty quickly and not turn into higher stakes. I’ll definitely keep reading this author, but I’m hoping the others in the series are a bit stronger.

Thank you Berkley Romance and PRH Audio for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely adored every book of Harper St, George’s Guilded Age Heiresses and I was so thrilled to have a brand new series!

First of all, how gorgeous is this cover? The covers are what originally drew me to St. George’s books but the stories are what kept me coming back for more.

Cora Dove receives a letter from her late estranged grandmother notifying her and her sisters of an inheritance. Unfortunately they are illegitimate and their father who controls the funds stipulates they must find suitable marriages outside of the East Coast to inherit the funds. Cora decided to seek out a peer and takes her mother and sister abroad to England in search of one. Thanks to an acquaintance with Duchess Camille, a party with introductions is held and Cora quickly finds herself wed to the Earl of Wentworth.

This seemed a little slower in parts than the previous series, but I enjoyed the marriage of convenience between Leopold (Wentworth) and Cora. There is lots of will they/won’t they including some not so friendly gossip columns. I liked how he valued her and encouraged her to help him write and to support the causes she believed in. I loved seeing Camille and other characters from the previous series. I can’t wait ti see what will happen with the rest of the Dove sisters.

The Stranger I Wed is a fabulous start to a new series by one of my favourite historical romance writers.

I love Harper St. George for her witty banter, swoon worthy romances and fantastic main heroines. The Stranger I Wed exceeded all my expectations and is my new favourite by her. We’ve got Cora Dove, a bastard to a wealthy man who needs to marry in order to come into her inheritance and save her family from destitution, and the noble and stoic Leo, who needs money to help save his estate and his family. Cora sets out to marry an englishman with the help of some familiar faces from past series. Leo is on her list, and when she runs into him (literally) she is very interested in getting to know him better, if you know what I mean. Eventually their needs (both financial and physical) lead them to a marriage of convenience. And then the fun really begins.

Cora and Leo may be my favourite couple of 2024 so far. There’s angst, and longing. There’s shades of Pride and Prejudice, with some misunderstandings, Leo’s stoic nature and well-to-do and judgy mother and Cora’s wild family, led by an impish mother who likes her drink and has been an actress during her spotty past. Cora and Leo are a fantastic pairing. I just kept wanting to see them on the page. They are two smart characters, and support each other. Their agreement to keep the marriage superficial until Cora can leave him and be her own woman rachets up the tension as they dance around getting to know each other and resist each other. They both have secrets that they try to keep from each other, which leads to some mystery and intrigue and to an exciting climax of the story. There is no third act break up here, but you still get some excellent declarations of love.

Harper mixes fact and fiction in her series and explores women’s rights of the time of the Victorian age and the conflict between the nobility and trade, old money and new money and the role of women in a rapidly changing society. Led by Cora, this is going to be an excellent series and I can’t wait to spend more time with the Dove sisters and the men who fall for them.

I loved the author's other series - The Gilded Age Heiresses so I was pretty excited to dive into this new one too! Historical romance books with marriage of convenience are like catnip to me!😍

Cora Dove and her sisters are the illegitimate daughters of a wealthy and powerful man in New York and they've never been acknowledged. When their grandmother gives them all a considerable sum as inheritances, it looks like their situation might turn around, but their father puts forth a condition - to access the inheritance they'll have to be married. So, Cora sets off to London with the hope that she'll be able to find titled husbands for herself and her sisters.

Leopold Brendon, the Earl of Devonworth is in need of funds to save his dwindling estate and pay off his brother's debts. He's also working on a Public Health bill that's facing some opposition. Marrying a wealthy heiress could solve many of his problems, so Leo and Cora decide to enter into a marriage of convenience to solve each other's problems! But, neither of them expected to fall for the other or discover some of the secrets that they've been hiding!

Cora and Leo were both such interesting characters and I loved how their relationship went from strangers to friends to lovers! It's a very slow burn romance as they take their time to get to know each other! And my favorite part was the open communication between them. They discuss everything while ironing out the terms in a very business-like way but they slowly develop feelings for each other 😂 it also had some funny moments like how Cora didn't remember his first name correctly right after their wedding 😂 They were also quite passionate about their respective causes and I loved how they helped each other out!
The supporting cast was quite fun too - especially Cora's mom and her sisters! I'm quite excited to read Jenny and Eliza's stories in the upcoming books!

If you're looking for an enjoyable marriage-of-convenience story, I'd definitely recommend this one!❣️✨

*I was provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

The Stranger I Wed is the first book in an interconnected, standalone historical romance series set in the Gilded Age from author Harper St. George.

I was immediately grabbed by the premise for this one: an illegitimate daughter of a wealthy New York man is offered means if she’ll find an English husband. Cora, determined to do right by her family and gain her means, departs for England in search of a titled husband to help her gain access to her inheritance funds.

In England, Cora finds herself colliding with impoverished, titled Lord Devonsworth. The two agree to a marriage of convenience, but quickly find that more may be developing as their relationship grows.

I actually really enjoyed Cora as a character and was interested to learn more about her and Leo’s backgrounds. I liked that it was a slow burn romance- that seemed more realistic and fitting given how the two came to be linked.

I found Cora’s family to be of interest - which is good since obviously the series is following the sisters 😊 I am eager to see what happens for Eliza.

While there were a few bits that dragged a little for me, overall I found the story to be interesting and cute. Definitely one I’d recommend for fans of the genre / time period and author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for the opportunity to read an early copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own and freely given.

Now that’s some high-octane UST. (Unresolved Sexual Tension)

The Stranger I Wed has a piping hot central couple, a great romance, and sets up the series in a solid, interesting way. I liked everything about this one, and had a lot of fun reading it.

The three Dove sisters were born into scandal – quite literally. The illegitimate children of the mega rich Charles Hathaway, the sisters live in shame on the fringes of society, never officially claimed by their image-conscious father and a burden on his upper-crust family. Cora, the eldest, confronts him with material evidence that she and her sisters are his biological daughters, stepping out of the shadows to claim the money their guilt-laden grandmother has left them. Hathaway, deciding to avoid scandal, promises each of the girls their financial due – as long as they all marry and go to live far away from New York. But if they don’t score a wedding ring, they don’t score the cash.

Cora takes the family to England to hunt up a husband. She wants one in name only; her goal is to get the money, not to find true love. Leopold Brendon, Earl of Devonworth is in search of a wealthy wife whose money will grease the wheels to fund a bill he’s trying to get through parliament which will provide clean water to the working class.

Cora and Leo look at one another and immediately see a way to make their dreams come true. They strike up an on-paper marriage and become friends. Surely desire and love won’t intervene in their marriage, oh no!

You know the song but the tune is quite different, and in the case of The Stranger I Wed, the difference is the chemistry between Leo and Cora. It’s electric, fantastic, sensual, and brilliant. This is a fun ride and St. George knows how to stretch out that longing and make you feel like you’re balanced atop a ninepin waiting for the final shoe to drop.

I liked both of them. Cora and Leo are good people who deserve the love story they end up with. The author, as always, does a good job with her research, properly portraying London and New York and the social whirls there in all their complexity, and manages to make the other two Dove sisters appealing as well.

In the end, there’s a lot of fun stuff happening, but the name of the game in The Stranger I Wed is chemistry. And that, in the end, is what we get here in spades – and what every single page of the book promotes. And that makes it one of the best romances of the year.

As always Harper St. George packs a lot into her novels with the continuation of the FMC Cora helping fight for woman's rights to the MMC Leo's attempts to pass a Public Health bill in parliament. And when it comes to any kind of politics, we all know that secrets in the past have a way of coming to light and effecting everything.

I admired Cora's determination of character in order to secure a future for herself and her sisters in the wake of her paternal grandmother's death. Even if it meant making a deal with the metaphorical devil that her father appeared to be. To not only endeavor on a journey across an ocean but to put herself in a tenuous position such as a marriage of convenience. I loved her instant connection and banter with Leo and although this was very much a slow burn those moments of steam were crackling. I will forever have the window ledge scene emblazoned in my mind with Leo's "Leave us!" as well as the chase to the bedroom scene when Cora was technically "caught" by Leo after having gone to the rally.

I love an MMC that finds that he will risk/give up everything to protect the person that they love. At times I wanted him to get out of his own way, but with his past broken heart, I could see why it was difficult for him to do so. I loved how he was instantly protective of Cora, how he knew she was hiding things in her past from him, but hoped she would one day tell him. Even though that notion came back to bite him... I also adore when an MC is fighting their feelings hard/the moment they come to the realization that they love the other. And Leo's moment was *chef's kiss*

The Stranger I Wed is a great first novel in a series that I am very much looking forward to continuing to read. Harper St. George writes some of my favourite fictional men and I am collecting them all as book boyfriends. Welcome to the club Leo!

The Stranger I Wed is a fun historical romance that approaches a marriage of convenience trope in a unique way. I loved how Cora examined the merits of her options before agreeing upon a marriage, and how her character has a penchant for supporting women's rights. Devonworth -- or Leo, as she endearingly comes to call him -- is her compliment in many ways. He is honorable, forward thinking, and understanding of her circumstances (her need to marry AND later familial details that come to light).

Their romance is a slow burn that unfolds naturally. I appreciate that Cora's view of Devonworth progresses to a level of friendship with very little angst and secrecy between them. Their openness and transparency with one another comes naturally with their deepening intimacy.

Content note: this is an open door romance with 3+ scenes of detailed intimacy. There is also some use of profanity from mild to strong expletives throughout.

This novel was entertaining and kept my attention with the wonderfully written humor and banter between the characters. I loved how Cora and Leo came together, and how Cora is simply relentless and stubborn.

Cora’s strength in the mess of family dynamics only made sense — I’d only imagine getting swept away easily otherwise. Learning of her lineage and everything else, it was for any lack of a better word, a mess.

I absolutely loved how Leo and Cora’s chemistry was almost instantly there. The build up between interactions only fueled the tension. The dual pov only helped to solidify their feelings and the added bits of politics did not put a damper on any of the goings on. If anything the amount of politics truly did belong here and in my opinion, can be hard to sell.

Overall, I really enjoyed this period romance, it’s easy going pace with a solid plot has me wanting more from this author. This delightful tale had me smitten from the beginning, and I’m still thinking about it as I write this review!


Thank you to Netgalley, Harper St George, and Berkley Publishing for the eARC!

I enjoyed Harper St. George’s previous series immensely so I was very excited to start this new one, but unfortunately The Stranger I Wed was a bit of a miss for me. It had a very promising start with an adorable meet-cute and a marriage of convenience, my favorite trope, but somewhere along the way I became bored. The romance was a very slow burn that didn’t quit hit the mark for me once they were together and at times the plot felt very bogged down. Overall, this wasn’t my favorite from this author but I do plan to continue the series, I think it still has a lot of potential.