When Charlotte Grisham is saved from an out-of-control carriage by a handsome gentleman, she knows fate has sent her the perfect man. The Marquis of Hawksridge is titled, handsome, and heroic—precisely the kind of gentleman her parents want for her husband. Before Charlotte knows it, she is engaged to be married.

Daniel Weston can’t believe his identical twin brother is marrying a lady he barely knows. Moreover, he’s begging off his own engagement party. Daniel allows his twin to talk him into going to the week-long house party in his stead…just for a few days. They used to pretend to be each other all the time in their youth. What could possibly go wrong?

Charlotte immediately realizes her fiancé has sent in a doppelgänger but continues the ruse so no one will realize her fiancé has all but abandoned her. Everyone sees her as perfectly behaved. But perfect girls do not share searing kisses with men who are not their betrothed. Charlotte knows her duty, but what about her heart?

Titles in The Maidens of Marbury series include — A Perfect Engagement -♥- Saving a Scoundrel -♥- Christmas at Belhaven Hall -♥-

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  A Perfect Engagement
Series:  The Maidens of Marbury #1
Author:  Karla Kratovil
Genre:  Historical Romance
Published:  May 17, 2022
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4 stars

A Perfect Engagement begins The Maidens of Marbury series with a twin switch trope that I was delighted to realize the heroine saw right through.  I’ll always enjoy a romance where you cannot pull the wool over a main character’s eyes just because you happen to be the twin brother of the man she expects to show up at their week-long engagement party!

Charlotte has always been the dutiful, good daughter, so it’s really no surprise that when her power-hungry parents discover who exactly saved her from a possibly tragic carriage accident they immediately set about getting these two strangers engaged.  To be fair to Miles, he was a busy man, busy with his properties, his duties, and his politics, and was not unhappy with the idea of a marriage with Charlotte because it was time he settled down and would take some “burdens” off of his schedule.  And, people in his position marry basic strangers all the time.  Yeah, my thoughts toward Miles are not kind given his attitude.

Daniel (Miles’ twin brother) had thought he and his brother were beyond the pretending to be each other stage of their lives, they were adults and adults didn’t do childish pranks.  But he allowed his brother to convince him that Charlotte wouldn’t notice since they were practically strangers and that he would come to the engagement party in a few days after his important business was concluded.  Daniel is a landowner in his own right with his estate to run, so he wasn’t unaware that Miles might have important business elsewhere, but to pull this kind of stunt on the woman his brother was to marry didn’t sit well with him.  Brother loyalty is a thing, so he was talked into it with unexpected results.

I enjoyed A Perfect Engagement.  And absolutely loved that Charlotte saw through Daniel’s twin switch immediately.  She had perfectly good reason not to call him out about it publicly but had no trouble letting him know that she was not amused by his and his brother’s actions.  I was emotionally involved as it turns out that she and Daniel were more suited to each other in all the ways that mattered – but saddened when the misunderstanding arose and almost ended the romance for these two unlikely people.  There were plenty of nasty people within this story, others who I’d like to learn more about as the series continues.  There are still, for me, unresolved issues to be addressed, mainly Miles’ future story that I’m comfortable believing will be revealed in another story in this series.  There is definitely angst, some villainous-type parents, a growing love that is complicated, one heroine who needs to put herself first, and one hero who has to take his future into his own hands within this story.  I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Saving a Scoundrel which is up next in this series, hoping to have some of my questions answered… before there are even more questions I’m sure.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from Tule Publishing. The opinions expressed in this review are my own – good, bad, or indifferent. I was not financially compensated for this review and no expectation of a positive review was promised.*

**This review originally appeared on my Happily Ever After Romance website/blog.  It’s been moved here because I like to keep series together and I want the Historical Romances separated from the Contemporary Romances – and Historicals will now be reviewed here at Keeper Bookshelf, my own choice.  If you love Contemporary Romance then be sure to check out HEARomance at the link above. :)**

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