Love and Lavender (Proper Romance Mayfield Family Regency Series) (Proper Romance: Mayfield Family, 4) 

320 pages Shadow Mountain publisher October 31, 2021 publication date

ABOUT THE BOOK

A Mayfield Family Romance – Vol. 4 in the standalone series

Hazel Stillman is a woman of rare independence and limited opportunities. Born with a clubbed foot, Hazel knows marriage is unlikely, so she devotes herself to teaching at a private girls’ school.

When her uncle offers Hazel a substantial inheritance if she marries, she is offended. What kind of decent man would marry for her money? But when she learns the school might be sold, she knows she must consider all her options.

Duncan Penhale thrives on order and process. He has no interest in marriage, so when Elliott Mayfield, his guardian’s brother, offers him an inheritance if he weds, Duncan finds it intrusive. However, an inheritance means he could purchase a building and run his own accounting firm.

Hazel and Duncan believe they have found a solution to both of their problems: marry one another, claim their inheritances, and then part ways to enjoy their individual paths. But then Uncle Mayfield stipulates that they must first live together as a couple for one year.

Over time, their marriage of convenience becomes much more appealing than they had anticipated. At the end of the full year, will they go their separate ways or could an unlikely marriage have found unsuspecting love?

MY THOUGHTS

Thought this is the fourth and final book in the Mayfield Family series it is the first I have read. I enjoyed it so much though that I will be looking for the others in the series as well.

Every time I read a regency romance from this author I just fall more in love with her writing.

Hazel and Duncan are settled in life, used to routine and don’t like when it’s changed. She has limited mobility due to a club foot and because of it she doesn’t expect to marry. She’s happily settled into her routine of teaching.

Duncan is extremely smart, visiting other businesses around town and learning all he can from them in his spare time. Duncan is also autistic; has a few quirks and doesn’t think he’ll be able to find anyone to marry that can put up with his originality and exacting ways.

In this early 1800’s regency taking place in London the characters are both a bit quirky in their own way. When it becomes known there is an inheritance for each of them, but they need to marry and live as husband and wife for one year first.

A marriage of convenience is born with neither of them going into this for love. I enjoyed seeing the interaction between the main characters and how he set out to prove how he really felt about her time after time giving her all the time and space she needed. Will love grow or will these characters go their separate ways after the required year is up?

The characters are complex and have difficult backstories but together they are able to move forward and past these times.

Wow, this book is so sweet and emotional. The love story was realistically and beautifully brought to life.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

THE AUTHOR

Josi S. Kilpack has written more than thirty novels, a cookbook, and several novellas. She is a four-time Whitney award winner, including Best Novel in 2015 and 2019, and has been a Utah Best of State winner for Fiction. Josi loves to bake, sleep, eat, read, travel, and watch TV–none of which she gets to do as much as she would like. She writes contemporary fiction under the pen name Jessica Pack.

Josi has four children and lives in Northern Utah. For more information about Josi, you can visit her website at http://www.josiskilpack.com or her blog at http://www.josikilpack.blogspot.com