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

4.0

Kitty Talbot has three months to catch a wealthy husband before her father’s debts are called in. Unfortunately her attempts to manipulate the kind but naive Archie de Lacy have been foiled by his older brother, Lord Radcliffe. Radcliffe knows a fortune-hunter when he sees one, and is determined to keep Kitty away from his family at all costs. But can he protect his heart as well?

This book was completely contrived, full of manufactured scandal, and saccharine to the point of making my teeth hurt — it was fantastic! I appreciated the main characters’ darker edges. They’re more complicated than the typical romance characters: Kitty is actually mercenary and has strong feelings about male hypocrisy, and Radcliffe is working through the trauma caused by his involvement at the Battle of Waterloo. I alternated between rolling my eyes, giggling, and posting dramatic “squee!” gifs in my book club chat. I think it would have been just as good were it a little bit shorter, but overall it was a delightful time.

This one’s a perfect light-but-not-too-light read for February.