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

4.0

A slow-burn, enemies to lovers Regency romance.

Kitty Talbot is the eldest of five orphaned girls. Her cottage in the country was mortgaged by her father to cover his gaming debts and now the debt-collectors have given her only a few months to pay up or she will lose everything.

To save her sisters being cast into the street she makes an audacious plan to visit London under the chaperonage of her late mother's actress-friend and secure herself a rich husband.

Her sights are set on a young puppy who easily falls for her charm. Problems arise when the young man's elder brother Lord Radcliffe realises Kitty is basically a gold-digger and warns her off. They make a deal where she leaves off her flirtation with the brother and in return Radcliffe helps her entree into High Society, ostensibly for Kitty to make a different match.

The two are circling each other at balls and parties for weeks. They tease and banter, all the while becoming unlikely confidantes. The pressure mounts as time draws near to the moneylender's deadline. Kitty has many men on and off the hook throughout the story, but none appeal to her deeply.

Kitty's methods are conniving, but her motives are pure. One minute I didn't like her, the next, I felt a great deal of compassion for her situation, and was impressed by her nous; so it was a bit of a roller-coaster read for me.

The romance is very mild and slowly builds to a kiss finale.

This is a sweet romance with no descriptive love scenes.