A review by una_macchia
A Proposal to Risk Their Friendship by Louise Allen

4.0

I really enjoyed this one. I liked how Melissa and Henry's friendship was developed -- there are hints at physical attraction early on, but they are genuinely friends before they fall in love. What didn't work as well for me was the pileup of Melissa's friends (heroines of previous books). Because practically every woman who gets more than a couple lines is mutually in love with her husband, Melissa's understandable reservations about marriage come across as a little wish-washy because it's so clear that she's going to overcome them despite the bad example of her parents' relationship. I mean, this is a romance novel so of course she will anyway, but the fact that every single one of her friends is in a happy love match (with a titled, very rich, very powerful man of course) makes it feel like even more of a foregone conclusion. This is a problem I tend to have with historical romance series in general, though. If the characters are going to consider/discuss having a "standard society marriage" where the spouses may get along fine but live largely separate lives and find love elsewhere, I would like to see at least one example of a couple like that in their social circle instead of everyone having a marriage worthy of a romance novel.