Marriage of convenience? Yes, please! It reminds me of Bridgerton or The Princess Diaries when a woman can’t be alone with a man, otherwise, they have to wed. Friends to lovers will always be win with me.

3.5 stars. An interesting picture of late-1700s life with a beautiful romance.

The Comte of Montreau saves his friend from a disreputable suitor, but then ends up compromising her himself. Now they're focused to wed. But she needs a well-connected nobleman to help her ailing father and he wants someone to help him gain more respectability with the court. Will their forced bond become something more?

To me, the biggest strength of this book is the setting. We get a picture of the beautiful, lush landscape of Saint-Domingue (with some creative license so that our characters are not involved in slavery). Then we experience the colors and extravagance of Paris. While the story deals with some of the racism and classism that was very much a part of the late 1700s in France and its territories, it was nice to see this nuanced and slightly modernized version. We don't get nearly enough stories from either of these places (or with characters who aren't white) in historical romance, so I'm so glad to get to read this story.

I did struggle a bit more with the romance. Admittedly, miscommunication is a major issue for me. It was so frustrating to have such a lack of communication when they were friends for their entire lives. I wish we got to see more of them building on that friendship throughout the book.

Overall, if you enjoy historical romance and want something that gives you a setting we don't get very often, definitely give this one a try. It's a quick read that will make you want to visit warm islands.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Historical for an advanced copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.

This was the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it! I love reading a setting outside of Regency England, and I thought the childhood friends to lovers trope was brilliantly executed. I thought the author did a good job of balancing a fairly light tone with some weightier issues around prejudice, race, and social class - it felt impactful without dragging down the tone and making it too heavy. Overall would definitely recommend to fans of historical romance!

Absolutely adored this book. You will get hooked as you read through. Very cute story can’t wait for the second book!

This was so heartwarming and it was a reminder of why I keep going back to historical romances. They do something so well that I feel contemporary romances drop the ball on and that’s the chemistry. I really enjoyed this!

Have you read A MARQUIS TO PROTECT THE GOVERNESS? Before I review MARRIAGE BARGAIN WITH THE COMTE, I highly recommend that you read it. Both stories feature Dieudonne’ Godier, Comte de Montreau (Count of Montreau). When we meet Dieudonne’ in A MARQUIS TO PROTECT THE GOVERNESS, he is a young boy who is being raised by his uncle, Andre Godier, Marquis de Lyonnais under the watchful and caring eye of his governess after the death of Dieudonne’s Creole mother and her lover, Andre’s older brother. Dieudonne’ s background is essential to understanding the way he lives his adult life. In this story, MARRIAGE BARGAIN WITH THE COMTE, Dieudonne’ is a grown man with a title and wealth, but still wrestling with his legitimacy in French society. That is why he loves to visit his mother’s native land, Saint-Domingue, Haiti that feels like home. He also loves to visit the Baptiste family and Evena, “La Sirene”, the lovely daughter of the Baptiste family. Dieudonne’ and Evena are naturally attracted to each other, and have been since they were children. The story is set in 1769, and it explores a fascinating period of history through the vehicle of romance. I loved the ah-ha moment in the story when the resolution of Dieudonne’s issues of nobility and titles and aristocracy rests with the woman who raised him. You will get that when you read the story.

The side characters who stand out are Seigneur de Guise Elbeuf, a lord who is “interested” in Evena, and Agnes Mercier, who left Dieudonne’ at the altar. Their roles help in advancing the plot and developing the main characters . The Epilogue signals a wonderful future for our couple, Dieudonne’ and Evena. I enjoyed reading MARRIAGE BARGAIN WITH THE COMTE. It was like visiting with an old friend and catching up. I recommend it for your reading pleasure.

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

I liked a ton of things about this book. First of all, the history was on point, both the portions that take place on Saint-Domingue (the former name of Haiti) and in Paris. I absolutely loved reading about Haitian traditional food and fashion - Evena wears a tignon, a fashionable headwrap, instead of a towering wig with her 18th Century panniers - thought the depiction of Creole society on the island was super fascinating, and especially loved the use of kreyòl throughout instead of just relying on standard French. The French history was also accurate, including a courtesy title for an illegitimate child. Yes, Evena is an heiress and daughter of a plantation owner, but Parker J. Cole allows us to suspend our disbelief by making the plantation a cooperative venture without slavery.

The story is a straightforward friends to lovers romance: both Dieudonne and Evena acknowledge their mutual attraction but are set on marriage of convenience based on their own goals. Diodonne interrupts a ruination scheme only to be caught in a scandalous embrace with Evena after. Oops!

I was a little frustrated that once Evena and Diudonne are married there is a sequence of miscommunications that was harder to believe than the slight glosses of history. (Speaking of that - I do have to admit that an aristocratic romance set in 1770s France makes me nervous for the couple's future, but I realize that I just need to deep breathe through my discomfort.)

If you liked the BIPOC rep in Netflix Bridgerton but have a hankering for something more grounded in history, I definitely recommend this one!

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.