A review by cassiealexandra
A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin

funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

“What?” you’re saying in surprise. So am I. If you know me or have followed my reading in the last couple of years, you know that modern regency romance is not my genre of choice. I admit I haven’t given it much of a chance, feeling protective over my love of Jane Austen and the like. (But I enjoy period dramas on television, so why my hesitation about historical romance?) 

In any case, this is my second regency romance written in the modern age. The first didn’t hit for me, but instead of giving up, I asked for recommendations. This one delivered!

The bottom line: This was a lighthearted romance full of humor and hi-jinks, restrained desire, and a look at social status. 

Here’s what I enjoyed: the interactions between Kitty and Radcliffe/James were humorous and made me smile and chuckle. They could see right through each other and somehow felt seen because of it. The painful backstories of K and J fleshed out their characters but were not presented with extreme heaviness. This stands at the airy end of my fluffy to dense scale, but that’s exactly what I need sometimes. I’m not sure if “matchmaker/dating coach” is a trope, but if it is, I’m in. This had a Pygmalion/My Fair Lady aspect where James helps (even if he’s blackmailed and coerced into doing so) Kitty pass in society as above her class. I loved that it was only with each other that they could drop the mask. Both of them are changed in the process. 

The restrained desire was PERFECT when it came to stolen glances, gazes across ballrooms, that scene when Kitty is so flustered she can’t get her gloves off and James slowly unbuttons them for her! (equivalent of the 2005 P&P Darcy hand flex imho), and the final waltz. 

My frustration, and it’s a tiny one, is that this same restraint applied also to the characters’  third-person thoughts. Kitty and James wouldn’t trifle with the idea of catching feelings, so I was left wanting more admission and less denial on page. Because so little was expressed, not to each other but to themselves, about their developing feelings, the ending felt a little abrupt to me.
 
When my main complaint has to do with wanting more from the ending/epilogue, I know it was a book I overall enjoyed.

  — NOTES — 
Genres: regency/historical romance
POV: third-person
Content: past war; past death of parents
Romance: kissing

 — MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS — 
(all out of 5)

Pace: 4
Enjoyment: 5
Craft: 4
My Gut Feeling: 5

Total Stars: 4.5
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