The first in the Cinderella Spinsters series. Miss Emma Henley has spent her life being compared to her much prettier sister; now she's going to the last season before she can fulfil a dream of herself and two friends from school to become spinsters living together. The only high point in her life is sparring with Lord Theo, who is a notorious rake and being seen in his company could be problematic, their relationship moves to downright flirting but can they find love or is it just lust.
It was a fun read with characters that were quite good for each other. ( )

I really adored this one! Unique and developed characters, great dialog, an engaging plot that focused on the romance instead of overshadowing it. Perhaps it’s something about the mood I’m in, but I really felt the growth in chemistry between these two. I loved Emma’s frank and practical understanding of her appearance, with a nice dash of insecurity to give us some sweet angst! Also I loved the reaction to the pregnancy! That she didn’t just get baby crazy and immediately throw everything away to be a mom. It all worked out of course, but it was so nice to see a heroine who wasn’t willing to settle for being a baby incubator.

Definitely a candidate for my recurring reads shelf. ( )

The Awakening of Miss Henley by Julia Justiss is a 2019 Harlequin Historical publication.

Marvelous!

Emma had resigned herself to spinsterhood- quite deliberately. She plans to sabotage her fifth and final ‘season’ so that she may find a place of her own and proceed to do the work she feels passionate about. There is only one hitch in her plans- Lord Theo.

Theo is a notorious rake under pressure to finally settle down. He plans to skirt matrimony for as long a humanly possible. But he never toys with virginal young ladies- yet Miss Emma Henley is a temptation he’s finding hard to resist.

As the couple continues to engage in witty verbal exchanges, they slowly relax into friendship territory. But the chemistry between them in undeniable. Because neither party is willing to marry, Emma believes there is no harm in enjoying a dalliance with Theo. She doesn’t have much to lose and is sure she can survive a scandal. But how will Theo react if he knew her true feelings for him?

I loved Emma and Theo’s story! The banter between the couple is wildly entertaining and I loved the way Emma kept catching Theo off guard. The relationships develop perfectly, and it was a joy to see love blossom between two people who thought true love wasn't in the cards for them. Each gave the other a piece of themselves that had been missing, a desire they had buried, and completed one another perfectly.

This a such a wonderful love story. It’s mature, but sexy, smart, emotional, with well-drawn characters, and I truly enjoyed the artistic backdrop. The beautiful happily ever after for a well deserving couple, is the cherry on top

I enjoyed every single minute of it!!

5 stars ( )