Thank you to NetGalley, Andrea Duke, and Historical Hearts Press for the opportunity to read this intriguing story!

Harry Fitzwilliam, the carefree Viscount Harcourt, is caught between duty and love. With his family’s earldom in financial trouble, he’s pressured to marry a disgraced duke’s daughter for her dowry. But Harry’s heart belongs to Lady Claudia de Rossi, a strong and independent woman without a fortune. Will Harry sacrifice love to save his family? And will Claudia marry someone she thinks is only after wealth?

This slow-burn regency romance offers refreshing diversity and LGBTQ representation, but it falls short in its balance between dialogue and description. While I enjoyed the characters, particularly Claudia, I wish she had been given more challenging conflicts to navigate. It’s an enjoyable read, but I wanted a bit more depth from the plot.

#FlirtationandtheFortuneHunter #NetGalley

What a truly unique and original love story. It was full of drama, intrigue, suspense, and mystery that had me extremely entertained throughout. I enjoyed the delightful characters and the beautiful romance that occurs despite so many obstacles to end very happily. I highly recommend reading!

I always enjoy Ms. Duke's variations on Pride and Prejudice, and this was especially fun to read since it is more of a prequel than a variation. The story centers around Colonel Fitzwilliam's parents and their courtship. Harry Fitzwilliam is the heir to an earldom and returns from his travels to learn that the earldom is in dire financial states, thanks to his father. To save them from financial ruin, Harry's father has arranged for him to marry the disgraced daughter of a Duke, Dorinda, for her generous dowry. But he is already in love with Claudia. But his parents would never allow him to marry her because it would seem she has no dowry. Harry must decide whether to fulfill his duty or be true to his heart.
I enjoyed this easy, quick and sweet read with its charming and delightful characters. It was nice to get a glimpse of the world before Darcy and Elizabeth. It looks like this is the beginning of a series, so I am really looking forward to reading more!
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

:: Frustration roiled through her. The time had come for honesty. Harry had promised to make her his.
Yet that could have been in the heat of passion. Could she trust him? ::

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Andrea Duke and her publishers Historical Hearts Press for allowing me to read this amazing piece of art in exchange for an honest review.

This beautifully written piece of fiction is woven around our main two characters Claudia and Harry.

We first meet Harry as he is coming back home, on the word of his father from a three year long break away, but before he goes to see his family he goes to a ball as a plus one where he meets the beautiful Claudia.

He is so taken with her he meets her father the next day to ask for his permissions to court her and upon his approval heads home to visit the family.

That is where he finds out that his father due to reasons he can't quite fathom has chosen to marry him off to another woman for the 'good of the earldom'

Claudia hears of this in her own time and is heartbroken. They both are.
As the world closes in on the lovers who are destined, it seemed not to be together, another blow is about to rock their very thinly stretched relationship of sorts. Claudia is keeping a secret.

Torn between the man she loves and the mother she trusts she becomes twisted up in a path of betrayal and deception fueled by fear and confusion.

Can Harry forgive her and can he be the man Claudia needs him to be?
Will our two lovers ever get the life and love they dream of?

This story was absolutely beautiful. I was so enthralled from the moment I began reading I just could not stop and oh my it was so had to put down. I felt all their their emotions and by the end was a sobbing wrench myself. It was a lovely read and I'm so glad I was able to read it.

FlirtationandtheFortuneHunter #NetGalley

An historical romance in the style which we love, whereby the person hunting a fortune gets 'caught' unexpectedly.
He needs a fortune as his father has bankrupted the family and he falls in love with a woman who has no fortune.
So let the fun begin.
Ai enjoyed this storyline but the solution to the conundrum was always evident. Didn't spoil the fun though..

A quick read featuring Henry Fitzwilliam and Claudia.

Henry returns from the continent to find his father has bankrupted his estate and to save face he is to marry a ruined daughter of a duke. But before he comes by this knowledge, he finds Claudia and is totally smitten and gets an agreement with her and her family to court her.

There is a house party, where they all gather to sort out the mess created by 2 fathers with no thought to their children happiness.

Henry is s sweet guy, he tries so hard to find a solution that works for everyone. His unwavering admiration for Claudia and resolve to win her was such a major winning point for him.

Claudia on the other hand seemed a bit too interfering and really could have put Henry put of his misery if she was not so influenced by her mother. She is portrayed as a strong, take charge personality, but I just found her a little devious.

The writing was very modern and seemed a bit too unrealistic for a historical b9ok. However, the storyline was intriguing enough to keep the audience engaged.

"This sensual Pride and Prejudice variation is the first in a series featuring Darcy’s Fitzwilliam cousins. This prequel is the story of Darcy’s uncle’s courtship in his youth. A novel-length historical romance, it has a happy ending and no cliffhanger."

The book's description and the allusion to Pride and Prejudice created a reader expectation that, for me, fell short. It is a historical romance told with a modern sensibility and I found that the pieces of the story didn't always connect in a logical way. I did like the premise of the story and found the story problem interesting and believable -- Harry is an earl whose father chose bad investments and blew their family's fortune. He wants to marry for love but needs an heiress to pay off the family's debts. Claudia has a fortune but for her own family's reasons will not disclose the existence of her dowry for fear of her falling victim to a fortune hunter. However, the story choices and how it unfolded did not always work for me. As an avid reader of historical romance, I found this one fell short of its promise.

I received an advanced reader copy through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The title is a little misleading but the author brings you around with the story, even though it's a little convoluted

Harry Fitzwilliam, the carefree Viscount Harcourt, is summoned urgently to save an earldom in financial distress. His mother has a solution: marriage to the disgraced daughter of a duke with a generous dowry. The only problem is Harry is smitten with Lady Claudia de Rossi, the sister of an Italian count. And common knowledge is she is without a dowry.
Harry must fulfill his duty to the earldom. Will that mean giving up on love? Claudia may desire Harry, but she won’t marry a fortune hunter. Where does this end?

Thoughts:
It is a clean, slow-burn regency romance with a strong female lead. The LGBTQ representation and the ethnic diversity in characters were pleasantly surprising.
However, the dialogue-to-description ratio was off. While dialogue richness did help us relate more to the character, the minimal description failed to establish a sense of place.
Claudia is a strong woman who could have handled a more complex situation. Putting her in this puny trouble, with the solution coming so easy, I felt she wasn’t challenged as a character.
I did enjoy the book, but I wish Claudia had done more.

I thank NetGalley and Historical Hearts Press for the eARC of this book.

What an original story line. I was caught up with the plot from the first page. Harry Fitzwilliam, Viscount Harcourt comes home to a big problem with the earldom. His father has put the family into bankruptcy. and entered him in a marriage contract to a woman with a large dowry. Dorinda, the disgraced daughter of a duke, a long time friend of the family is the pawn. Neither of them wants to marry the other. Harry meets and falls in love with Lady Claudia de Rossi, she has no dowry. The dilemma is does he marry for love or money, Harry and Claudia spend their time trying to find a way out of the mess so they can marry. This is the beginning of a funny, sometimes emotional and surprising journey to their HEA. The wonderful cast of characters helps to keep you turning pages and rooting for the couples. I was surprised and delighted by the twists and turns of this book. It is well written and a great read. I recommend this book.

TG

I received an ARC of this book and I am giving this review voluntarily.

1780. A Pride and Prejudice prequel where Henry Fitzwilliam, Viscount Harcourt, is recalled home from his Grand Tour by his father, the Earl of Matlock. Who has virtually bankrupted the Earldom meaning that Henry must marry an heiress, and not the recently met dowryless Lady Claudia de Rossi.
Can he have his happy ending with the intelligent Claudia, and save the Earldom.
An entertaining and well-written historical romance with its very likeable main characters supported by a cast of varied personalities.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I did enjoy this story, it moved along at a good pace and had likeable characters. I did feel for Harry, Viscount Harcourt, having such dreadful, selfish parents. However, Harry was his own man and knew what he wanted. Lady Claudia de Rossi was a beautiful woman and she and Harry were very attracted to each other. However, her mother guided her and warned her about certain types of men. Harry and Claudia are determined to be together but other people have different ideas. There is a secret that may also make a difference to how they feel about each other. There are a number of interesting secondary characters.This is the first in a series and I will look out for the next book. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Oh my gosh, I loved this novel. This novel touched my heart. From the first chapter I was captivated. I could not and did not put this novel down. It kept me on the edge of my seat reading what was coming next. The chemistry was so good! I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say this novel made my heart beat for them, hoping they will find their HEA.

This story is marketed as a Pride and Prejudice prequel but I consider it more of an original story as it's pretty much all original characters in situations that don't owe anything to Austen. Darcy's parents are minor characters here (their courtship may make an interesting story as well) and Lady Catherine de Bourgh is mentioned but does not make an appearance. The main couple are Colonel Fitzwilliam's parents.

Harry Fitzwilliam, the hero, is the heir to an earldom that is in financial difficulties. To save their finances, his parents have arranged for him to marry lady Dorinda, a well-dowered young woman who may be carrying an illegitimate child. But Harry is in the process of falling in love with Claudia. Claudia's mother wants to keep her financial situation a secret to stave off fortune hunters. Harry is willing to marry Claudia without a dowry but his parents announced his betrothal to the other lady. They need to find another solution that lets Harry out of the contract and solves Lady Dorinda's dilemma as well. I enjoyed this quick read.

LGBTQ representation as well as ethnically diverse characters.

Steam level: A brief wedding night scene that is not anatomically descriptive.

I received a Netgalley copy and this is a voluntary review.

Flirtation and the Fortune Hunter
Written by Andrea Duke
Read as an ebook courtesy of NetGalley
Genre: Regency Romance

A Pride and Prejudice variation following a man who returns from his travels to find that his father has bankrupted his earldom, leading to a battle of wills as his parents wish for him to marry for wealth and he fights to marry for love.

The story was easy to follow and the writing had a good flow to it. The regency era setting added a layer of opulence to the story, and both justified the characters’ reactions to their problems and helped move the plot along without being obstructive to the story the author wanted to tell. The morality did come off as a little modern at points, but I didn’t think this detracted from the story.

This book is extremely dialogue heavy at points, and I sometimes found myself wanting more in the way of description and exposition rather than having details inserted into the characters’ conversations, though this improved as the book progressed. That said, I did really enjoy the characters and their relationships, and found the main couple to be witty and charming. It was an easy, light read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Historical Hearts Press for this ARC. This is my honest review.

A story of taking fate into your own hands. 4/5