Marry in Haste (Marriage of Convenience Book 1)

This is my first book by this author, but as marriage of convenience happens to be one of my favorite tropes, I decided to give this a try, and I’m very glad I did. Note that while I did get the feeling that this series may be a spin-off of a previous series, I didn’t feel I missed out on anything important to this story by starting here.It can be a difficult act with historicals to balance creating characters that appeal to modern sensibilities while still remaining true to the mores of the time period, but the author did a marvelous job (for perspective, I read across a wide range of genres, not just historicals, so while I read them enough to have a pretty good feel for what “proper” behavior should be, I certainly don’t consider myself an expert). Emm and the girls are intelligent and spirited, and if Cal is occasionally high-handed, he does it with the best of intentions. They’re all easy to care about, and I was very quickly cheering for them to get a HEA. As for the plot, it had some interesting twists, some I half-expected and others I was completely blind-sided by; it easily kept me engaged and turning those pages, while is all I really ask for.Great characters, plus a nice mix of emotions, plenty of humor, a touch of heat, along with a dash of suspense, all added up to one of the best historicals I’ve read in some time. I’m not only going to be continuing on with the series, I’ll be going back to see if I can find the earlier series this is connected to. 5 whole-hearted stars

WOW Oh My God I think I have a new very favourite hero in Calbourne Rutherford Lord Ashendon, Ms Gracie has done it again written a story that is not put downable and just beautiful this one had me laughing, shedding a few tears and just sighing as Cal has his life turned upside down by four very gorgeous and headstrong females, my advice clear the decks and get yourself comfortable and settle in for a fabulous read.Cal who has returned to England after fighting in the war on the trail of an assassin and finds out that he now has a lot of responsibilities so he decides that he needs a lot of help with his sisters and now a niece he has discovered. He is in Bath and is having a devil of a time with his sisters when he meets the girl’s teacher and determines after a couple of meetings that a wife of convenience should work and he can then get back to finding his assassin, but life doesn’t always turn out the way we plan and Cal is about to find out with his beautiful and very open bride.Miss Emmaline Westwood is teaching young girls since she left home years before she has no family and does what is needed but she is very independent and says what she thinks, so when she meets Lord Ashendon and he offers her a position as companion that she refuses then the offer of marriage of convenience Emm concedes that this may be just what she needs but of course she will not be walked all over and their wedding night proves that life is going to change for Emm.I loved this one from page one I was laughing so much throughout, Emm and Cal are just made for each other Emm’s personality works so well with Cal and his idea that these girls, his family will run smoothly and let him get back to what he thinks he should be doing, well maybe not. Seeing Cal come undone by Emm and the girls is marvellous, truly I am speechless and still smiling I cannot recommend this book enough don’t miss out on it whatever you do and woohoo it is the first in a series yay and really I think Cal has taken over from Gideon thank you so much MS Gracie a fabulous story that will stay with me for a long time to come so beautifully written sensual and amazing.

I like this author and I love "marriage of convenience" themes so this was an auto-buy for me. It's a great full length book with lots of detail and good secondary characters. The h is a spinster of 26, who is teaching at a girls school in Bath. When she was younger, she had been involved in two scandals and her father disowned her after the second. She had no way to support herself so she went back to the school she'd attended as a young girl and she was given a position as teacher. The H was a second son serving in the military when his older brother died, making him the new earl. He doesn't want the job and just wants to get back to his current search for an assassin who'd killed a friend of his. He finds out that he's responsible for his 2 half-sisters, who are running amok and need a firm hand. His elderly aunt is too soft on them. He first encounters the h when he goes to the school in Bath for assistance with his sisters. They had also attended the same school as the h. This leads on to H eventually offering to marry the h. This doesn't happen to early on in the book and I loved the lead up with all the background details. The half sisters are a handful but great characters. A young niece nearly the same age as the half sisters turns up too and she's simply wild. I hope that the 3 girls are each going to get their own story. I must mention that there are some aspects of this story that the high sticklers for Regency accuracy will not be happy with. If you're like me and simply enjoy a good story then I can definitely recommend this one.

I have enjoyed Anne Gracie's previous series - 'Devil Riders', 'Merridews' and the 'Chance Sisters'. I really enjoyed this story, too, the first in what I think is to be a new series. Not an entirely new storyline, but told very well. I love heroines who don't back off from their initial intuitive feelings - and this was played very well, with a hero who was sure that his way of dealing with his difficult family was correct, until he realised that his 'convenient' wife was actually very much more than that, and quite capable of handling his family - and him! Their growing love for one another was a joy to behold.I especially liked the time spent setting up the relationships within the family, prior to the heroine's direct involvement. It takes a special author to achieve this without sidelining the love interest and Anne Gracie managed it perfectly. I was watching a mismatched, squabbling, defiant, bewildered and ultimately loving family sort through their various issues before coming together in a fully-rounded way at the same time that Cal and Emm were getting to know one another and gradually falling in love.Thoroughly enjoyable and I look forward to the next book in this series. Well done, Anne Gracie

The drama in this historical book builds up slowly but the twists and turns in the plot and the descriptions of the main characters are exceptional. Major Calbourne Rutherford returns from vital government service overseas to find he's become Lord Ashendon, with responsibilities for huge estates and dependent relatives. Miss Emmaline Westwood is a former teacher of his half-sisters and when Lord Ashendon realises that she has the ability to control their wildness and guide them constructively, he offers her a marriage of convenience. But will Emmaline accept this arrangement? Can she prove she has more to give to him... Read and discover.

An enjoyable read, but why set a romance in England in the 1820s without doing the historical research? A character deplores the idea of a civil marriage, but civil marriages didn't exist before 1837, and an army officer resigns his commission - that's what he would do now, but in the 1820s a commission was property, which would have been purchased, and was sold when leaving, hence the expression "to sell out."

I enjoyed some of Anne Gracie’s early book but reading this was like plodding through a whole pile of dull populated but annoying characters I couldn’t bring myself to care about. The proposal for the book title ‘marriage of convenience’ didn’t happen until half way through. And I had to stop at 60% because I couldn’t bear it any longer. Sorry - this one is an avoid from me.

I adored this. A strong, principled problem-solving heroine with a Past. An alpha hero with issues and, once excavated, a kind heart. Made this jaded reader believe in love again. Magic.