With her family on the edge of bankruptcy, Maddie Montgomery's only chance to escape an arranged marriage lies with the Davies family. The two families have feuded for centuries and if they miss sending a representative to their annual meeting, then by royal decree the Montgomerys can claim the contested land. Annoyingly, Gryff Davies shows up - irritatingly handsome and a thorn in Maddie's side since childhood. When they stumble across a smuggling operation, Maddie realises she has a chance to save her family - and find her own happily ever after.
Told in alternating POV, this is an enjoyable enemies-to-lovers with more than a pinch of danger. I especially enjoyed Maddie's chapters as we get to know her family - her father, lost now that the Davies patriach is no longer around to annoy; her cousin Harriet, also targeted by the Davies boys growing up; and her maiden aunts who absolutely steal every scene they're in and aren't nearly as prudish as Maddie assumes. Maddie herself is an awesome heroine who would rather be on an archaeological dig than dealing with Gryff.
Gryff is a little bit more of a lone wolf with his family out of the picture for most of the book, though we see plenty of his brothers in flashbacks. He's your typical rake, rusticating at home while temporarily banished from London for duelling. What did annoy me was the youthful pranks on Maddie and Harriet were actually cruel and not once does Gryff apologise for them. At one point he gives a half-hearted "I did it because I liked you". For an enemies-to-lovers to stick the landing, I need some sort of grovel or proper closure.
It's a solid, steamy romance with plenty of tension - romantic and narrative - but it loses ground for glossing over pranks that were just plain mean.
A Reckless Match is available now in ebook or hard copy.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley; all opinions are my own
No comments:
Post a Comment