Three Weeks to Wed - Ella Quinn

I've been meaning to read one of Ella Quinn's books for quite some time now, but my ever growing to be read list meant that I just hadn't got around to it yet. I was lucky enough to win a book in a giveaway she did recently and with no other reviews due urgently, I thought I'd indulge myself a little and dive right in...

Three weeks to wed

Lady Grace Carpenter is ready to seize the day—or rather, the night—with the most compelling man she's ever known. Marriage would mean losing guardianship of her beloved siblings, and surely no sane gentleman will take on seven children not his own. But if she can have one anonymous tryst with Mattheus, Earl of Worthington, Grace will be content to live out the rest of her life as a spinster. 

Matt had almost given up hope of finding a wife who could engage his mind as well as his body. And now this sensual, intelligent woman is offering herself to him. What could be more perfect? Except that after one wanton night, the mysterious Grace refuses to have anything to do with him. Amid the distractions of the Season he must convince her, one delicious encounter at a time, that no obstacle—or family—is too much for a man who's discovered his heart's desire…

My review

One of the many reasons that I've wanted to read one of Ella Quinn's books, was the hope that it would be very historically accurate. Ella runs a facebook group for readers and writers of Regency Romance and has been doing a regular series of posts about regency trivia. I'm not a writer of Regency Romances, but I am a reader and I may have mentioned this before, but my degree was history (although the Regency was never my period) and I've always had a fascination with all kinds of history. I like my historical books (be they romance, mystery, or some other genre of novel) to have a real historical feel and make as few modern slip-ups as possible. There is always the danger that when you're expecting one thing, you end up being slightly disappointed when you do give it a go, fortunately, this time that was not the case. The novel has a real feel of the time and there were not the nasty little anachronisms that suddenly throw you out of the flow of the story that I've found in other books recently.

A well-researched background is always a good start for a romance novel, but obviously, it needs more than that.  I enjoyed this story immensely.  Our two leads, Grace and Matt were both very likeable and I enjoyed their growing romance as the book unfolded. Grace is an interesting character, on the one hand, she is clearly very strong, having taken on the guardianship of her brothers and sisters and fought for the right to do so. In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, she cannot handle surprises and lives in fear of a scandal. 

Matt is delightful, he falls for Rose almost instantly. I know that some people don't like the whole instant love storylines, but for me, in this book it works. He clearly adores Grace from the first night that they spend together. They sit and talk for a whole evening and discover that they have lots in common. On Grace's part, this isn't a romance born of a chance encounter and an evening together, but she has held a candle for Matt since she first came out years previously. I think that they make a good couple and I enjoyed reading about their growing love.

There are of course obsicles to overcome, but something else that I particularly enjoyed was that it didn't fall back on the rather too well trodden path that many romance novels do; the misunderstanding. There was no sudden fall out or confusion that pulled them apart for a while. There were things to work through and problems to overcome, but on the whole they tackeled them together. 

I enjoyed this well writen, well researched, and in parts fairly steamy romance immencely. I'll be definitely checking out more in the Worthington's series very soon.