Matilda and her three sisters get an unwelcome surprise when their father dies. For the sisters to inherit his vast Australian estate, each daughter has to married within a year of his death or it will go to their family rival. None of the women are currently in romantic relationships. Matilda is technically already married, though she has no idea where her husband is and she didn't know that Henri was a prince in disguise, taking a summer off before beginning his duties. He fell for Matilda, her vivacity, and how she made him forget his troubles. When she left, he tried to put her out of his mind and moved on to take up his royal duties.

Matilda and her three sisters are shocked when their father's will stipulates that to inherit his Australian estate, each daughter must marry within a year, or the property goes to a family rival. Complicating matters, Matilda is technically already married, but she doesn't know her husband's whereabouts.

Matilda's backstory reveals she secretly married Henri, a young man she met while traveling, without knowing he was a prince in disguise. She rushed home due to her mother's illness, hoping he'd follow, but he didn't, breaking her heart. Now, she must find him to secure her inheritance.

Their reunion occurs by chance when Matilda returns to the place they met to start her search. Surprised by Henri's true identity, she agrees to stay at his castle while they sort things out. Despite rekindling their connection, Henri's royal duties and insecurities create tension in their relationship. Both struggle with honest communication, projecting their fears and assumptions onto each other.

Their past and present finally converge when they talk about their separation and their feelings. Henri's failure to search for Matilda earlier causes friction, given his resources as a prince, but their reconciliation and his grand gesture at the end redeem him. Despite the complications, Matilda's upbeat attitude and Henri's growth culminate in a satisfying resolution to their relationship and inheritance challenge.

I should start by saying that my score is more along the lines of 3.5 to 3.75 range, but I can only give whole scores. So given that, I'll lean more towards a 4-star rating because it's a better story than a 3 would be. OK, time for an actual book review!

First off, this is my first time reading from Ally Blake, and I quite enjoyed her writing. It's seamless, strong, and well-paced. I also have to give her nods for doing the heavy-lifting in setting up the story for the three other books to follow in this series. It's not easy to lay the groundwork for other authors and write your own story, but she did a stellar job doing so .

I liked the main characters, Matilda and Henri. Their motivations was clear, and they had a nice mix of insecurity and strength, neither outweighing the other in a way that would be realistic. The premise of their backstory was good, and the way they reconnected and fell back in love with each other (not that they ever stopped) was enjoyable to read.

So with all the above stated, I will say that there were parts that dragged the story out longer than it needed to be. As I said, because Ms. Blake had to lay the groundwork for a series, it did detract from the main story somewhat. If she had more time to build tension and layers in the story between the main couple without the added responsibility of setting up everyone else's arc, then this would have been a near perfect book.

I will definitely seek more books from this author, especially the stand-alone stories. And I will probably seek out the rest of the series because this author hooked me on the series.

***
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this story via NetGalley & Harlequin Romance in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to both!

Matilda and her three sisters get an unwelcome surprise when their father dies. To inherit his vast Australian estate, each daughter must be married within a year of his death; otherwise, it will go to their family rival. None of the women are currently involved in romantic relationships. Complicating matters, Matilda is technically already married, though she has no idea where her husband is.

The backstory of Matilda's marriage was interesting and a bit sad. She fell in love with a young man she met while traveling, and they married without sharing any real information about themselves. When she learned of her mother's illness, she rushed home, leaving Henri behind and hoping he'd follow. He never did, which broke her heart. She has since moved on with her life. But with this complication, she knows she must find him, and returning to where they met is her only option to begin her search.

Matilda didn't know that Henri was a prince in disguise, taking a summer off before beginning his duties. He fell for Matilda, her vivacity, and how she made him forget his troubles. When she left, he tried to put her out of his mind and moved on to take up his royal duties.

Their reunion was pure chance. Matilda was happy to see him again and explained her reason for seeking him out. She was shocked to find out who he was. Neither expected the sparks between them to be as strong as before. When Henri invites her to stay at the castle while they figure things out, Matilda agrees.

I liked Matilda. She is a mostly upbeat person with a fascinating career. She's up for the prospect of getting to know Henri. I could feel a little frustration from her at the lack of time she initially spent with him but she understood the press of his duties. I had a more challenging time with Henri. Thanks to his upbringing, he seems to be an odd combination of control freak and insecure.

As they spent time together, they discovered that their connection was still there. There were some sweet scenes of their activities and how Matilda fit into his life. However, Henri's issues with his past complicate his vision of Matilda becoming a permanent part of his life. He tended to project his fears onto what he thought she felt instead of talking to her about her feelings. Matilda wasn't much better about being honest about her feelings.

Things come to a head when they finally talk about their past. I never understood why neither went looking for the other sooner. Matilda's delay was somewhat logical because she knew so little about Henri. Henri did not have that excuse. For heaven's sake, he's a prince with plenty of resources that would make finding her reasonably straightforward, but he couldn't be bothered. The method of their separation ticked me off, but was redeemed in the end. I liked Matilda and Henri's "aha" moments, and his big moment at the end was well done.

Tropes...

I was very much looking forward to this book.
For me, I didn't feel the characters connection, but that may just have been me?
Matilda needs to wed in order to claim her inheritance.
Fortunately? She's already married. To Henri. A secret prince.
So, lots of tropes and secrets.

DNF 65%

I tried to like this book. I kept reading because I wanted to like it, but I gave up and decided to move on.

The writing was good and the plot seemed promising. Unfortunately, I did not care about the characters or what was happening to them. There was very little conflict and what conflict there was seemed so forced.

This book didn’t work for me.

The writing was decent, but I found myself not caring about the characters or the issue on hand.
The story just sort of dragged for me.

I have read many books by this author. This book never really worked for me. It seemed to drag and take me a lot to finish it which surprised me. However, I will still look out of for this author because usually I enjoy her books. I will recommend this book because it could be me.

**I received this book from NetGalley and publisher for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't really enjoy this book. The original plot was interesting enough but I found myself wanting to skip whole sections and chapters because I found it to be long and drawn out. There was almost nothing in the way of suspense or consequences for the actions of both characters.

This book contains sexual content and is not appropriate for readers age 18 and under.

Harlequin has been absolutely C R U S H I N G it lately. After reading "A Duke for the Wallflower's Revenge" in one ravenous sitting, I decided to dive in to more of the Harlequin lines, and oh boy, did this book not disappoint! Loved, loved, loved this slice of escapist fare.

DNF at 40%.

While this ticks off some of my favorite tropes (Secretly Married, Dutiful Prince, Family Secrets, One Year to Marry to Inherit), this just wasn't engaging enough for me. For every intriguing character or plot bit that is dropped, it's never fully explored. The characters also read more as in their early 20s rather than in their 30s, and as someone who is in academia, I don't believe one bit that the FMC is in academia. There were too many inconsistencies that I wasn't able to suspend my disbelief.

To be clear, I am a romance reader and grew up reading Harlequin. This just didn't hit it for me--but maybe that's just a Me Problem.