Title:  The Major’s Faux Fiancee
Series:  The Dukes of War #4
Author:  Erica Ridley
Genre:  Historical Romance
Published:  June 1, 2015
Publisher:  Intrepid Reads
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Synopsis:

When Major Bartholomew Blackpool learns the girl-next-door from his childhood will be forced into an unwanted marriage, he returns home to play her pretend beau. He figures now that he’s missing a leg, a faux fiancée is the best an ex-soldier can get. He admires her pluck, but the lady deserves a whole man—and he’ll ensure she gets one.

Miss Daphne Vaughan hates that crying off will destroy Major Blackpool’s chances of finding a real bride. She plots to make him jilt her first. Who cares if it ruins her? She never wanted a husband anyway. But the major is equally determined that she break the engagement. With both of them on their worst behavior, neither expects their fake betrothal to lead to love.

Read on for my thoughts on The Major’s Faux Fiancee.  No true spoilers, promise.

Daphne is in a bit of a bind.  Upon her father’s death her horrid guardian has plans to either marry her off in the fastest method possible or if that won’t work he’ll send her to an asylum because she must be crazy if she won’t listen to him and marry…immediately, the man of his choice.  Daphne had no intention of marrying – ever, so she wrote to her old childhood friend Major Bartholomew Blackpool.  She only had to get to her birthday to claim her small bit of money and freedom from her odious guardian – surely Bartholomew could pretend to be her intended husband for that short period of time.

Bartholomew returned from war a far different man than when he set out on that journey into mayhem, chaos and madness.  The death of his twin brother and the injury and subsequent loss of his leg has turned the once charming, man about town into a quiet, subdued recluse.  He wants nothing to do with the world, and would prefer if society at large simply forgot his existence.  That was before the letter from a childhood friend arrived.  It was unthinkable that Daphne would be forced into marriage.  He might not be, in his opinion, a whole man any more but he could come to the rescue of a friend for a short period of time.  After all, neither intended to marry, ever, so a farce for a few months would harm no one and benefit Daphne.

But you know what they say about best laid plans…

I enjoyed the latest addition to Erica Ridley’s The Dukes of War series.  While The Major’s Faux Fiancee was dark in many ways, as it addressed several subject usually not found in historical romances, still it was not so dark as to not be enjoyable.  I did find both Bartholomew and Daphne to be a bit selfish and self-centered which is usually something left to the villains or secondary characters to provide.  It is true that circumstances changed the lives of each of them, yet their single mindedness of seeing only their own situation and rarely any other was a bit to get used to.  That’s not a bad thing, mind you, it is simply a bit of a different reading mindset to become accustomed to, in my opinion.  But it worked, and in the end that is all that truly matters  Slowly their actions begin to move from the self centered to affection for each other to putting the other ahead of their own needs.

I love when characters grow within the story, it adds another layer to an interesting tale.  I would recommend The Major’s Faux Fiancee to any Historical Romance reader or to anyone who simply loves a good love story.

*I received an e-ARC of The Major’s Faux Fiancee from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

~Any review is just one person’s opinion. You might feel the same or totally different. The only way to know for certain is for you to read it. This was my opinion of this particular book.~

The Major’s Faux Fiancee is available for the Kindle