I had an ARC for this book, but this is my voluntary and honest opinion. Sophie Twisden and her grandmother travel to Paris with Sheldon Cholmeley and he expects to marry her, but she isn’t interested in the match. She meets Basile de Gervain who offers protection from Sheldon in the offer of a sham engagement to help both of them since he isn’t interested in getting married, but a widow he was once engaged to is now wanting to get back in his good graces. Quite an interesting book about Paris and French nobility, and an engaging tale of things not turning out as expected.

I'd say very good. I enjoyed myself while reading this, I enjoyed getting a glimpse into French court, fashion and society. I felt it was written authentically without being tedious or boring. The main characters were likeable. The Hero was fun and the heroine steady and strong character. I thought the story was flirty and showed attraction between the two and clean. A few kisses, no innuendo, or overly descriptive passionate make out scenes. The story was interesting and had a great flow. I loved the little details that bring the story to live and add believability.

This book brought back some wonderful memories of my visits to Paris. It would have been lovely to visit Paris during this time period and see all the places and fashions described by the author. I enjoyed watching the hero, Basile, go from a casual flirtation with Sophie to having his heart become engaged in spite of his desires otherwise. He initiates the sham betrothal to extricate himself and Sophie from unwanted attention, but it soon goes dreadfully wrong. Sophie was a delight with her quick wit, humor, and playful demeanor at the beginning only to have her weighed down with her grandmother’s illness and navigating the difficulties that came with the fake betrothal. Without giving away too much, the ending gave a perfect resolution to all the dilemmas they faced. Highly recommended for a fun, quick read.