A review by bookishlynomes
The Arrangement by Sylvia Day, Minerva Spencer, Kristin Vayden

4.0

The Arrangement is a wonderful anthology of sweet, heartfelt historical romance novellas. It includes Mischief and the Marquess by Sylvia Day, The Duke's Treasure by Minerva Spencer and The Inconvenient Countess by Kristin Vayden. While each story may be short, they certainly pack a punch and I absolutely loved each one.

The Mischief and the Marquess is a story of second chances and choices. Justin, the Marquess of Fontaine, has been in love with Lady Sophie since they were young children but things didn't work out. Now all grown up, fate (and meddling family members) have other plans for the recently widowed Lady Sophie and Justin as they attempt to prove how ill-suited they are for each other. I loved Sylvia's writing style in this story and enjoyed Justin's pursuit of Sophie immensely. It was a novella that didn't feel like a novella because it contained quite a lot in so few words. A solid 4 stars!

The Duke's Treasure was incredibly delightful! Josephine Loman may consider herself plain but the lovely woman is anything but. She has been in love with Beaumont Halliwell, Duke of Wroxton, for years but he has unfortunately been smitten with her "friend" and therefore never paid her any attention. Now circumstances have changed and the two become wed for their own personal reasons, thus beginning the process of starting over. I think this story was my favourite of the three. I found Josephine to be so sweet and down to earth despite her hardships growing up and loved the way she and Beau really talked things out to ensure they made the best of the marriage. Communication is one of those things that can be lost in many books these days but Minerva really tackled this so well! 4 stars!

I adore the marriage of convenience trope and The Inconvenient Countess delivers in spades. Miss Diana Lambson is the eldest in a poverty-stricken family and needs to marry to help her loved ones. Despite his scoundrel reputation, Miss Diana enlists the help of Charles Brook, Earl of Barrington, and a sweet relationship blossoms. This story was by far the shortest and I wished there was more but I thoroughly enjoyed what I read. I adored Diana and Charles so much and loved their relationship's development. There was no insta-love and it didn't feel rushed at all which can often happen in short stories. Another 4 stars!

If you enjoy regency romances and want some fun, fast-paced stories, I highly recommend The Arrangement!

Disclaimer: Thank you to Kensington Books and Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.