Book Review: Promised (Proper Romance) by Leah Garriott

Summary: Promised (Proper Romance) by Leah Garriott

Margaret Brinton keeps her promises, and the one she is most determined to keep is the promise to protect her heart.

Fooled by love once before, Margaret vows never to be played the fool again. To keep her vow, she attends a notorious matchmaking party intent on securing the perfect marital match: a union of convenience to someone who could never affect her heart. She discovers a man who exceeds all her hopes in the handsome and obliging rake Mr. Northam.

There's only one problem. His meddling cousin, Lord Williams, won't leave Margaret alone. Condescending and high-handed, Lord Williams lectures and insults her. When she refuses to give heed to his counsel, he single-handedly ruins Margaret's chances for making a good match. With no reason to remain at the party, Margaret returns home to discover her father has promised her hand in marriage—to Lord Williams.

Under no condition will Margaret consent to marrying such an odious man. Yet as Lord Williams inserts himself into her everyday life, Margaret is forced to realize that Lord Williams is exactly the type of man she'd hoped to marry before she'd learned how much love hurt. Margaret is faced with her ultimate choice: keep the promises that protect her or break free of them for one more chance at love. Either way, she fears her heart will lose.

Book Review: Promised (Proper Romance) by Leah Garriott

Trying to get over her ex fiance's infidelity, Margaret Brinton attends a matchmaking party.

Broken hearted and confused she thinks she needs to attract a relationship of convenience. She meets two gentlemen who only add to her confusion.

Seriously broken hearted and confused following her fiance's infidelity Margaret Brinton  promises herself to not fall in love again and be made a fool of, just find a man to marry for convenience. Attending a match making party, she meets two very different men equally competing for her hand. One matches exactly what Margaret thinks she needs, while the other one she finds really condescending and annoying. Without knowing, she gets mixed up in secret dealings between the two, ending up resenting them both. The romance of this story develops slowly, interrupted by different kinds of other things, just like in real life. I appreciate that Margaret needs time to recover from her heartbreak to get clear on what she really wants and needs going forward.

Maragaret Brinton is the main character in this story having been in love with a man who let her down. I find her to be a warm hearted, but confused woman with little experience how to deal with men. It’s easy to relate to her fear of falling in love again and her promise to herself not to let her guard down ever again. She seems very caring about her little sister and her family around her, which is very nice to see, and is a very important element in the plot.

Mr Lundall is a character who adds confusion and interrupts other scenes in the plot. While I found him funny at times, I was worried that Margaret would give in to his irritating and intrusive ways. He repeatedly proposes and gets rejected, but that doesn’t seem to put him off. Stalking her and wearing her down he seems to think will be the way to her heart. While I realize he has an important position in the plot, I still found him terribly annoying and by far my least favorite character.

The dialogue flowed easily and I enjoyed the vivid nature descriptions in and around the family estate. It was like I could see the nice and affluent living conditions of the stately home where Margaret was brought up. It seemed like environments similar to  Jane Austen stories.

Once Margaret gets clear on what she needs and with whom, I enjoyed the deepening of the relationship with her love interest. I appreciated the descriptions of her process going from utterly hurt and confused, through every doubtful twist and turn of though, until she reaches more clarity.

Promise (Proper Romance) is a sweet, romantic story reminiscent of Jane Austen, which fans of historical romance fiction will enjoy.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing and NetGally for this eARC which gave me the opportunity to share my honest review. All opinions are completely my own.

My rating: 4 stars / 5

Book Details (from Amazon)

Print Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Shadow Mountain (February 18, 2020)
Publication Date: February 18, 2020
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B082VK732L

About The Author (from Goodreads)

Though she earned degrees in math and statistics, Leah Garriott lives for a good love story. She's resided in Hawaii and Italy, walked the countryside of England, and owns every mainstream movie version of Pride and Prejudice. She's currently living her own happily ever after in Utah with her husband and three kids. Leah is represented by Sharon Pelletier at Dystel, Goderich, and Bourret. 
You can visit Leah at www.leahgarriott.com.