Miss Thornfield’s Daring Bargain was an interesting read. I loved the premise of it but wasn’t all the way sold on the reasons for the marriage. However, I did find it enjoyable even though it was slow moving. I loved that it was a diverse cast of characters and can’t wait to read the next in the series.

This was my first book by Addy Du Lac, and it won’t be my last! It reminded me why I love historical romance—the charm, the slow burn, and the escape into another era.

The story follows Ada, the daughter of a wealthy merchant family, eagerly anticipating her London season. But when her brother goes missing, everything changes. Her brother's best friend, Basil, is the only one who can help her. To secure her family’s wealth and save her brother, Ada proposes to a temporary marriage with Basil—one that he can annul once the crisis is over.

I really liked both Basil and Ada. Their dynamic felt fresh, and this book put a great twist on the marriage of convenience trope. Ada’s boldness stood out—she goes after what she wants despite society’s expectations, which made her such a compelling heroine. The quick road trip added tension and heat to their relationship, making their growing connection even more engaging.

I also loved Ada’s best friends! They were fun, supportive, and I can’t wait for their stories. As someone who reads a lot of interracial and diverse romances, I appreciated the representation across classes and cultures in this historical setting.

A very interesting and somewhat steamy story of Ada and Basil. What I found interesting was this author took on interracial topics and issues in a period where cultural differences were truly very unique and segregated. Ada makes friends with other racial girls so it's very much a wide scope. Basil, helps her as they marry for convenience and to help save a family member.

I really enjoyed the different plot and outlook

One can only sympathize with folk born of mixed marriages where racial prejudice is rampant. They have to work harder than any other person to earn respect and acceptance, and even then they hardly ever fit in as reflected in this novel. Ada is fortunate in that she made good friends at school and that her brother had protected her, but when he goes missing, it is his close friends who come to her rescue. Basil's marriage to Ada may have been the easiest and quickest solution to keep her safe, but it created even more complications when it came to explaining themselves. Through it all, there is suspense, wit and romance that kept me entertained to the successful conclusion. I received a copy of this book as a gift through Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

I first read this author last year and routinely check to see when her next book is coming out. I’m so happy to see that she has a series now! This was very a steamy read. I really enjoyed how the romance and the story of the kidnapping was interwoven. I thought it was the correct amount of both and neither took away from the other. I liked Basil more than I remember liking the other books MMC. But I love when there is a strong female friend group and this book does have that. I love when the MFC has strong bonds to relay on when she is going through it that is not just the MMC. But is there for her and I loved that he stood up to his family when it came to their criticism of their relationship. I think the next book will be her brother and friend; I’m excited.

Note: This book does not ignore the race of the MFC and there is some derogatory terms around race used.

The romance between Ada and Basil was excellent. A lot of tension and longing. I don't know if I vibed with the rest of the story though. The bad people were really bad, maybe too bad?
Thank you to Dragonblade for the copy of this book. Opinions are my own.

** 3.5 stars // review contains content warnings **

Ada is resourceful, courageous, and loyal. She asks for and goes after what she wants - even if that means she has to talk her brother's best friend into eloping with her for a marriage of convenience in order to stay safe. Basil is a kind, caring, steady, and protective hero who's fighting (amongst other things) his inner demons to remain married to his wife and not see their union annulled. 

I found some of my favourite tropes in Miss Thornfield's Daring Bargain: road trip, older brothers best friend, found family, marriage of convenience, forced proximity, only one bed

We definitely need to see more diverse characters in historical romances and this one delivered on that point with diversity across classes and cultures.

I didn't much care for the couple of short chapters where neither the hero or heroine were present. I understand the purpose of these chapters but I’d have preferred there to be more focus on the couple developing their love for each other instead. 

This is the first in a new trilogy with a few teasers or unanswered questions after a hard fought for HEA that I hope will be addressed in the next book. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for allowing me to read this romance ahead of publication date. 

Content warnings for: derogatory language, racism, sexism, classism, assault, kidnapping, open door scenes

I would like to thank Netgalley and Dragonblade Publishing for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

An adventurous romp to save the heroines brother. Enjoyable and I love that the heroine and her friends are mixed race. Can’t wait for the next in the series.

Go ahead, and read the blurb – there’s no way I could summarize this thrilling story any better.

Ada & Basil
She’s the daughter of a wealthy English merchant and his Chinese wife, and he’s the discarded spare of a haughty earl. They’ve known each other forever, but never quite moved in the same circles – he’s her brother’s best friend from school and almost a decade her senior.
She learned early on to deal with Society’s bias and found a safe haven with her two best friends who are also from mixed descent. He quickly understood he would have to make his own way in the world, and that there was more to people then the colour of their skin.
They were never supposed to mix and match, but fate and a nefarious fiend had other plans...

With its multicultural cast of mains and the sizzling fast-paced flow, this book had a very strong Bridgerton vibe – the series, not the books – but the prejudice, snobbery and downright racism made it feel a lot more realistic. It’s thoughtfully written and all of it is wonderfully entwined with found family, strong friendships, and a wide variety of love in all its shapes and sizes.
Both MCs are strong and sensible people, fiercely loyal to each other even though theirs is supposed to be a marriage of convenience with an expiration date, and way in over their heads when it comes to love. It takes them by storm; he spooks, she fights – a passionate and lively dynamic with some witty nudges from her brother and friends.

It was a very entertaining and delicious read – different, fresh and captivating – and while the couple had their happily ever after, the book ended rather abruptly with a few loose ends, so I can only assume these will be nicely tied up in the coming two tomes of this trilogy.
I, for one, cannot wait to find out what happens next!

As the daughter of an old wealthy merchant family, Ada Thornfield was looking forward to this London season but then her beloved older brother, Richard goes missing. Basil Thompson is the only thing standing between herself, what remains of her family and a life of isolated humiliation. They will marry long enough to find and secure her brother, then Basil can seek an annulment and leave her behind. Between Gretna Green and London their feelings are changing faster than they can plan for or protect against.
A well written series starter, which made me smile. I liked both Basil & Ada & liked their journey to a HEA. I do like the brother’s best friend & road trip tropes. The characters were interesting & not your usual characters as Ada is half Chinese, so it was different. A well paced book that kept me turning the pages
I voluntarily read and reviewed a special copy of this book; all thoughts and opinions are my own

—brother's best friend

—historical romance that isn't all about standard issue caucasians

—nooooooooooo don't grow up and turn into a sexy person my honor can't take it

—marriage of convenience

Heat Index: 6.5/10

The Basics:

Ada was supposed to have a fun season; unfortunately, her brother Richard just had to go missing, and now she needs his friend Basil's help to find him and save her future. But like, the easiest way to do this is obviously to marry Basil. They can always get an annulment once they've completed the mission? Right? Right? Riiiiiight?

The Review:

If there's one word I can use to describe Addy Du Lac's approach to historicals, it's "charming". She writes with a light hand in a manner that mixes the modern and the classic.

Which, speaking of, this is obviously going to get comparisons to Bridgerton because it's a diverse historical romance (Ada and Richard are of Chinese descent on their mother's side; but they're not alone, and Du Lac has tended towards diversity in her historicals so far, which is lovely). But Miss Thornfield's Daring Bargain is more rooted in reality, which means Ada does racism, and the world in which she lives isn't the postracial utopia that is Netflix's Bridgerton. As a disclaimer, I'm a white woman, and I can't speak as to how well Ada and Richard work as representation; nor can I speak much as to how race is handled in this book in general. I can say that it seemed well done to me, and I find Du Lac's approach to diversity in historical romances preferable to what Bridgerton does. It's never super heavy, but it does feel more... aware? A midpoint between harsh reality and "nothing wrong ever happens anymore it's fine don't worry about it".

Like, don't get me wrong. This is a fun, frothy book. And it know what the reader wants. When Basil gets all hot and bothered on waking up to Ada being just A Little Too Close? Delightful. His general dismay at her not being a skinny little girl anymore? Hell yeah. That's what we're here for. I don't know if they necessarily like... desperately needed to get married to find Richard? But to be real, the fact that they were like "Seems legit, I'm sure an annulment will be easy" made it more fun for me.

But Basil, bro—if you're gonna get this thing annulled, you kinda need to NOT bang her. Just a note. I know it's challenging.

If there's one thing I can say, it's that Basil and Ada are both genuinely kind people whose relationship progresses fairly quickly, in part because they are nice people. Really, why shouldn't they be together? They're nice and they're hot. Let's do this. Du Lac writes lovely people in a lovely way, and I do enjoy it; but I'd kind of like to see her writing people who are a bit harder to enjoy in the future. Not constantly, write your heartsong, but as a treat?

Like I said, Ada and Richard aren't the only people of color in this novel, and I look forward to seeing the stories of Ada's friends, also biracial women, down the road. This was a fun setup for what looks like a romp of a series, and I'm very interested to see what comes next.

The Sex:

While it takes a bit for Basil and Ada to fully give in, when they do—well, Du Lac writes a good sex scene. It's nothing super over the top, but the connection between Basil and Ada is palpable, and I was very "good for Her" TM about it.

Conclusion:

Any historical romance fans looking for something on the lighter side will definitely like this. And frankly, I'm always happy to see historical authors who branch away from the usual cast of white characters. While this is very classic in some ways, it branches out in others, and I had a good time!

Thanks to Addy Du Lac, Dragonblade, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A well developed racially diverse book, which portrayed the biases of the time realistically.

Ada is on a mission to rescue her brother and recruits his friend Basil to help. Their relationship of the course of the mission develops but is thwarted on every front, since Ada is half Chinese. The conversations and interactions between the protagonists, but the romance could have probably had more build up time.

Ready to read book 2 and 3.

#netgalley #MissThornfieldsDaringBargain

This is the first book in the Troublemakers Trilogy set in Victorian England. We meet the heroines of each book in the prologue, when Ada, Ellie, and Gigi become friends at school, bonding over being on the receiving end of racist bullying. Ada, the heroine of this book, has a Chinese mother and an English father, but after their deaths she's left in the care of her older brother, Richard. When Richard is mysteriously kidnapped, Ada enters into a marriage of convenience with his friend Basil so that they can work together to get him back.

What worked for me:

-The diverse cast of characters - I'd really like to see more of this in historical romances.
-Ada's friends tagging along for her and Basil's elopement to Gretna Green cracked me up.
-Both Ada and Basil have fleshed out friends and families.
-That Addy Du Lac was able to pull off a hero named Basil - not the easiest feat!
-The steamy scenes. I mean, do I believe she came three times the first time she ever had sex? Not really, but it was fun to read anyway.
-The lovely cover!

What didn't work for me:

-I felt like the justification for Ada and Basil's marriage didn't really make sense, and I don't know how realistic I find their plan to just get it annulled after rescuing Richard. I mean I guess romance reasons, but.
-The romance felt pretty insta-lovey in a way that wasn't very compelling for me. They knew each other through Richard, but it didn't seem like they'd really had any previous conversations or interactions, so it wasn't like they were building on much. And then throughout the course of the book they barely spend any time together at all before we see them thinking they're in love. I would've liked to see more of the emotional progression of their relationship.

Overall, I'm glad I was able to read this and I'm interested to see what the next one in the series is like! It seems like with first books in romance series it can be tricky to balance setting up all the characters with devoting enough time to the first couple's romance, which might have been what happened here.

Miss Thornfield's Daring Bargain opens with a prologue set in a Victorian Era girl’s boarding school. One by one, we are introduced to the three young girls whose stories will be told over the course of the trilogy. Miss Thornfield, also known as Ada to her friends, and A’Wei to her beloved older brother, Richard. It is Richard’s kidnapping that sets off the chain of events that leads Ada to propose a marriage of convenience to Richard’s good friend, Basil. We all know how well those kinds of marriages go, right? So easy to walk away from all those FEELINGS.

Most of the conflict in the story comes from outside forces, and if I have any issue with the book, it stems from the MCs being so darn NICE. Both were sweet, and kind, and thoughtful. They were so gentle with each other physically and emotionally that I was surprised when it turned out to be an open-door romance. If you are a reader looking for a story where the love interests are truly good people, this could be a perfect book for you.

Also, let’s hear it for hatpins! Such lovely, stabby things.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Miss Thornfield's Daring Bargain by Addy Du Lac is a third person multi-POV historical interracial romance. Ada and her older brother, Zhen-Yi, are wealthy merchants and members of Victorian society but are ostracized due to being half-Chinese. Zhen-Yi leaves Ada at a boarding school, she meets Regina and Elodia, two other biracial women in Victorian society (South Asian and Black, respectively) and becomes their friends. When Zhen-Yi is kidnapped and taken to a debtor’s prison so their uncle can take control of their estate, Ada enlists the help of Zhen-Yi’s friend, Basil, and convinces him to marry her so she can keep her brother’s assets.

One of the things I really appreciated is that racism and the biracial experience are not brushed aside in favor of the romantic Regency fantasy. We don’t get page time on where so much of that wealth comes from, but we do have discussions on orientalism and how East Asian young women would be viewed as obedient dolls or treated with disgust. Ada is cut off from her culture as she has never been to China and was raised away from her family, which adds another layer to her experience that the narrative directly acknowledges.

Basil doesn’t exoticize Ada and is shown to be sympathetic to her and brother’s experiences even if he is ignorant to some of it. He has some knowledge of Mandarin but does refer to Zhen-Yi as ‘Richard,’ which I assume Zhen-Yi asked him to do at some point. It’s nice to read an interracial romance where differences are acknowledged without fetishizing those differences and making it uncomfortable. Basil being friends with Zhen-Yi does help sell the fact that he has genuine affection for Ada.

Ada has a lot of anxiety and apologizes a lot to Basil in the early days of their marriage of convenience. She pushes the relationship half of the plot forward while Basil takes care of getting her brother out of prison. In many ways, I think Ada is a bold character because she does go after what she wants and takes risks, but she’s still held back by societal norms and not wanting to force herself on others.

Content warning for depictions of anti-Asian and anti-Black racism and sexism

I would recommend this to fans of Bridgerton looking for more explorations of racism and biracial characters and readers looking for an interracial Victorian romance

Ada has to deal with prejudice and difficulties when her brother goes missing.
He has friends that are trying to help find him including Basil.
Ada also has friends that she developed in school that share some of the same issues that she herself has faced.
Basil and Ada slowly come together in their quest for her brother.
A love story that overcomes differences.