On the lookout for historical romance, one particularly set in the Victorian era? Read “His Runaway Marchioness Returns” by Marguerite Kaye.

I am extremely grateful to have received a signed copy of this book by the author herself. Not only that, but she also included a gift made by her own fair hands and I love keeping all my pens and pencils there. If you’re not familiar with Marguerite Kaye, she has written a lot of historical romances and her most recent book aside this one is her collaboration with Sarah Ferguson for the Buccleuch Family series, with “Her Heart for a Compass” and “A Most Intriguing Lady”, a book I still need to read myself.

Synopsis:

From convenient marriage…

To inconvenient attraction!

Industrialist Oliver—the new Marquess of Rashfield—has become Society’s most eligible bachelor. The problem is he’s already married! Honourable Oliver conveniently wed his best friend’s sister Lily years ago, but since then they’ve built separate, fulfilling lives. Now Lily has returned for a long-overdue divorce, but Oliver needs his Marchioness until he secures his inheritance. They’ve never shared a house… sparks are sure to fly!

Thoughts:

The story of Oliver and Lily is very tranquil and unproblematic. They have their past of already having an arranged marriage and Oliver’s situation regarding his inheritance is proving difficult, so they’ve come under the conclusion to marry again. With the new marriage comes a lot of introductions and parties, something I greatly enjoyed while reading the book. Lily’s life in Paris was an interesting change in scenery. I loved her love for theatre and fighting for the performers’ rights.

It was very well flagged, how taboo it is for a woman to be in such an industry and profession and how ill perceived it was at the time – almost always associated with a bad reputation. I liked that Oliver’s views were modern regarding this topic as well as his views on his farms and how business should be run to benefit the workers. What I fear is that this wasn’t really the case. Usually at this time workers had to protest to get their say and it wasn’t always down to a good Marquess that changed the status quo.

I enjoyed Lily and Oliver’s romance. It was a slow burner at first, and then a case of not letting their true feelings show. Both tropes that I quite enjoy in a romance. It’s certainly one of those books you take with you to escape reality for a moment. My only reason for marking it a bit lower is that it’s not as memorable as other similar books I’ve read and I fear it will soon get lost with the other historical romances.

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