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A frothy and fabulous regency rom-com, which, when madcap romance and laugh-out-loud repartee is called for, is absolutely a book to reach for. I thoroughly enjoyed this funny and charming read, Book one of the Merriwell sisters series, and look forward to reading the next in line.

Miss Minerva Merriwell is twenty-four years old — too young, tragically, to be mother to her two younger sisters after the death of her mother and the desertion of her family by her cad of a father. Struggling to make ends meet and hold her young family together, it feels like fate when Minerva meets the gorgeous Hugh Standish, otherwise known as Earl of Farnham, who is as handsome as he is desperate. Making Minerva an offer she cannot refuse, Hugh, “with gloriously, broad shoulders; sandy, blond hair; and twinkling blue eyes” confesses to be somewhat of a scoundrel himself, and not above a complicated scheme to free himself of the matchmaking-mania foisted on him by his America-living Mother.

And so the stage is set, with a fake fiancée, a rendezvous in his fabulous country mansion, and a clever and suspicious Lady-Mama, who is visiting from overseas to meet (and examine) her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. And handle the arrangements for an extravagant and spare-no-expense (Lord-appropriate) wedding.

A lovely escape into an immersive regency world, not unlike the standard set by the talented Georgette Heyer, this is a tale streaming with dry humor, along with strong and likable characters, thrown into situations (not always of their own making) that quickly escalate to ridiculousness, reminiscent of the best of PG Wodehouse.

I loved this book, with its sunny take on love and fate, one’s own handsome knight, and an endless stream of happily-ever-afters. A world, of course, of fairy tales. That could come true, perhaps, and after all, if one is willing to let them.