Georgie Lee is one of the queens of Harlequin historical romance, and she delivers once again here. I have become such an avid reader of hers and this is one of my favorites!

The Secret Marriage Pact is the fourth book in the Business of Marriage series by Georgie Lee. This book can be read and enjoyed easily as a stand alone one.

Jane Rathbone outwardly is a very capable woman. What she keeps hidden though is her deep feelings of abandonment and guilt. Her parents died when she was young, and she blames themselves for her death. Later she pledged her love to a man before he was sent off to America, only to be told that she shouldn't wait for him because they are only friends. Follow that up with becoming betrothed only to have her fiance run off and elope with somebody else, and you can understand why she feels the way she does. She lives with her brother and his wife, and all she really wants is to be able to have her independence from them, perhaps start up a business. But as a woman that of course is frowned upon by society.

Jasper Charton is the young man who broke Jane's heart when he was sent off to America years ago. He has returned to London now, very much a man, one who still makes Jane's heart flutter. He is also a man who has secrets, ones that are crushing him, and make him feel that he is never going to be able to feel any pride in himself again. He is determined to make a respectable business man of himself and to do so he needs to buy a good property in London which he wants to turn into a Merchant Club. With that in mind he attends a property auction with his brother, and it is there that he and Jane run into each other again, after she buys the very property he is after!

Old feelings resurface for Jane, only stronger now, and when she realises that having bought the house Jasper needs could be a godsend for them both, she approaches him with an offer. She wants him to marry her and for her to be a silent partner in the business he starts up. She gets to be with somebody who was always, and will always be at least a friend, and he gets to earn his respectability. Will Jasper take Jane up on her proposal, he wants to, but he knows he isn't good enough for her, and that his secrets could ruin them both!!

This story had me hooked from the very first page, and by the time the auction started and Jane was bidding for the house against the man who eloped when he was betrothed to her, well the story just got better and better. Poor Jane and Jasper had so much emotional baggage that they kept from each other. Things that stood in the way of either of them acknowledging that they loved and needed each other for more than just a business arrangement. I loved the angst between them, and at one point could not see how things could possibly work out between them. Half the book was spent with poor Jane trying to convince Jasper to marry her, and the other half with them coming to terms with his decision. They both had a lot of healing to do, and I am so glad that they had each other, even just as friends to find that solace. Of course finding it and accepting it were two different things, and it made the book so interesting watching their relationship develop.

The only negative thing I have to say about the story is that it came to it's conclusion very abruptly. At one point when I could see I was coming up to the last 10 minutes of the book and things weren't settled I thought I was going to be left with a cliff hanger and would need to read the next book to see how things turned out. But no, everything came to a climax in the last few minutes, and although I enjoyed the HEA, it seemed rushed compared to the pace of the rest of the book.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers' copy of this book.

Georgie Lee continues her Business of Marriage series with The Secret Marriage Pact, a friends-to-lovers story which reunites two childhood friends after almost a decade apart. Jane Rathbone and Jasper Charton were almost inseparable as children, but the nine years Jasper has spent in America have changed him and he has returned home a troubled man, weighed down by guilt he is unable to shake off and secrets he is unable to share.

We first met Jane as a teenager in A Debt Paid in Marriage and now, almost a decade later, she’s a shrewd, intelligent young woman of twenty-three with an eye for a bargain and almost as good a head for business as her brother, Phillip. Unfortunately, however, she has recently become the subject of ridicule because her fiancé – Jasper’s brother, Milton – eloped with another woman just two weeks before he and Jane were due to be married. While Jane isn’t exactly heartbroken – she wasn’t in love with Milton, but she’d liked the idea of having a husband who was a friend – she’s furious about being made a laughing-stock. This leads her to bid against him at a property auction and to buy the Fleet Street building he had been bidding for – but her satisfaction at beating him is short lived when she learns he had actually been acting for Jasper, recently returned from America and who wanted the property in order to start a business.

Jane is thrilled but also wary of meeting Jasper again after all these years. As children, she and the Charton brothers were extremely close, forever running around together causing mayhem and creating mischief, but things changed when, at fifteen, Jasper was told he would be going to Savannah to learn the cotton business from his maternal uncle. Jane had already realised she felt more than friendship for Jasper and told him before he left that she would wait for him, but he didn’t think he’d ever return and rebuffed her.

Now, however, Jane is determined not to accept rebuffs or excuses and instead conceives a plan which could help both of them. Jasper wants the building she purchased and she wants freedom from the restrictions she has to endure as a single woman. Getting married would mean they could both get what they want while working together to establish Jasper’s business venture.

Their old connection is as strong as ever – although now, it comes with the added piquancy of mutual sexual attraction – but Jasper is astonished at Jane’s proposal and equally surprised to find himself tempted by it. Even though he told her not to wait for him when he left, he has never forgotten her and continues to harbour feelings for her that go beyond friendship. But the things he has seen and done in the last nine years have profoundly affected him, and the last thing he wants to do is to weigh her down with his secrets and corrupt her the same way the life he’s led has corrupted him.

Yet he starts to think that Jane might be the one person who can stop him from ending up like his uncle; dissipated, lonely and disillusioned. He decides to take a risk and tell her the truth about the past nine years – well, about some of it – and her understanding and compassion, the fact that she doesn’t recoil or reject him bring him to the realisation that she’s worth fighting his doubts and demons for, and that if he’s careful, he can have her while also holding back the truth of the worst of his past misdeeds.

We learn fairly early on that while Jasper’s parents believed he was going to learn to run a cotton plantation in Savannah, his uncle’s business was nothing of the sort, and he was in fact making his money as the owner of a highly successful gambling business. At first, Jasper found it all exhilarating and was eager to learn, but as the time wore on and he saw how ruthless his uncle could be, his lack of concern for the desperation of men wagering everything and his disinclination to stop them, Jasper’s distaste for what he was doing began to grow and he became disgusted with himself for being a part of it. But it’s all he knows, and he returns to England with only one way to make enough money to be able to start a legitimate business. Knowing how upset and disappointed his parents would be if they had the faintest inkling of what he is doing, Jasper has to keep the truth of his time in America from them as well as stop them from finding out that he is currently running a gambling hell in a shady area of London. Living a double life takes a heavy toll on Jasper both mentally and physically – so it’s not hard to understand why he would see Jane as a lifeline. Before agreeing to the marriage, Jasper comes (mostly) clean with Jane about the nature of his business and makes it very clear that if she does marry him, she’ll have to become part of his deception and will have to lie to friends and family so as to keep his secrets until such time as he can free himself of them.

I really appreciated the fact that Jasper is pretty upfront with Jane right from the start and that, for the most part, they communicate well. But he clings to the belief that he can compartmentalise and continue to keep some secrets from Jane while simultaneously allowing her to be his partner in both his business and his life… which points the way toward the marital discord that occurs later in the book. Jasper’s intense weariness and his desire to keep Jane firmly away from the part of him he hates lead to her feeling shut out, and her own insecurities – she has abandonment anxiety owing to her belief that she was responsible for the deaths of her parents – naturally magnify her concerns.

The conflict created by Jasper’s persistence in trying to keep things from Jane works well as a way of ramping up the tension between the couple later in the book; and while not all of his reasoning is sound, the desire at the root of his decisions – to protect those closest to him – is admirable. But I didn’t like that the author felt it necessary to give Jane a matching past tragedy; it felt completely unnecessary given that Jasper was already carrying enough guilt and self-loathing for two. There’s also too much dwelling – by both characters – on their shame and unworthiness; Ms. Lee establishes these things very well, but then continues to hammer them home so that, by the time I was into the second half of the book, I was getting a little tired of the wallowing.

On the whole, though, The Secret Marriage Pact is a strongly written and enjoyable read that should appeal to anyone looking for an historical romance in which the characters work for a living and are not part of high society. The principals are likeable and easy to root for, and Ms. Lee quickly establishes a strong emotional connection between them as well as creating a pleasantly simmering sexual tension which they get to explore in a few well-written, steamy love scenes. I could have done without some of the guilt-trips, but I enjoyed the book overall.

Grade: B

Unfortunately I failed to engage with this story. The plot never ignited and I found it rather heavy going.

Review: The Secret Marriage Pact

The story of Jane and Jasper is the third in Georgie Lee’s “Business of Marriage’ series, and although I have not read the previous instalments, it is quite easy to read this book as a stand-alone novel, although, obviously there are references to events that took place in the previous books, and perhaps the reader would be more familiar with Jane and her family if they had.
The story centres on Jane and her childhood friend Jasper who has recently returned from years spent in Savannah. Jane was previously engaged to Jasper’s brother, Milton, although the engagement was subsequently broken off by Milton (I would have liked a bit more background into what happened here, and maybe it was covered in one of the previous instalments of the series). Essentially, the plot revolves around Jasper’s desire to turn over a new leaf following events that took place in Savannah. In a bid to assist Jasper’s plan to open a club, Jane suggests a marriage of convenience as she feels a marriage to her close friend would be a solution to many problems. Both Jane and Jasper are secretly in love with each other, although neither seems prepared to acknowledge this until the final pages, and their convenient marriage seems to work well until revelations about Jasper’s life in America come out.
The characters are well created, and you are rooting for Jasper to overcome his fears and declare his love for Jane as the book goes on. The plot is fast paced, and the lose ends are neatly tied up by the end.
I enjoyed the book, but would have enjoyed a bit more period detail, and a bit more depth to Jasper’s revelations about Savannah. Perhaps reading the previous novels in the series would provide a bit more background to the characters, but all in all, it is a well written love story about two people who appear to have been destined for each other since childhood. I would recommend it for anyone who likes an easy going, uncomplicated love story where the happy ending is never really under threat.
Thank you to M&B/Net Galley for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thoroughly enjoyable, strong characters, fast paced plot, secrets and love which wins in the end. I've read the previous stories in this mini series and this book fits in very well with the rest of them. Well done Georgie Lee.

As a Mills and Boon Insider I am delighted to be sharing my review of The Secret Marriage Pact. I have to admit I have a soft spot for Historical Romance so as soon as I saw this book I knew I had to read it.

What did I think...

I love that you get to know Jane pretty well throughout this book, I would best describe her as strong willed but also a loyal person who is determined to gain as much independence as she can. With these personality traits I instantly liked her especially as her life hasn't been a bed of roses. The fact that Jane and Jasper are pretty much life long friends was a brilliant way of showing their relationship as they already know one another. Even though some time had passed since they last saw each other you get a lovely sense of a deep connection. I was intrigued as to how everything would work out especially with Jasper's business dealings. It was so easy to feel sorry for him and the conflict he feels concerning his business.

The story moves quite quickly and it was great to see Jane and Jasper reconnect and decide to commit to a marriage of convenience. Will their feelings deepen though that is the question? With an overall light hearted story this book is perfect to sit back and relax with.

The Secret Marriage Pact is the fourth book in the Business of Marriage series although I think it works perfectly well as a standalone story. It would be lovely to go back to the very start and read from the beginning when I get the chance!

Strong and likeable characters that will have you hoping for a happy ever after!

Thank you to Mills and Boon & Netgalley for my copy. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.

An unusual story. The heroine wants independence and is good at business but due to the times they live in, alas no girl power she is unable to do this and on top of that she has an embarrassing broken romance.
The hero returns, he knew the heroine in childhood and they each have something to offer each other.
His business is not acceptable in all circles, she could use his help.

I must damit that even though I was really looking forward to reading this book, in the end I was looking more than once how many more pages there were still left to read and when it would finally end. Don't get me wrong - I loved Jasper and Jane and on the whole it was a really nice story but in the end I was a bit annoyed every time someone mentioned feeling guilty or anything that sounded even remotely like that.

Jane's stubbornness, her loyalty, her love for Jasper and of course, her sense of business, made me like her from the first page on. Jasper very soon grew on me as well, especially in constrast to his idiot of a brother.
Right from the beginning Jasper's hidden feelings of guilt are a very cental topic and when Jane started thinking about her guilt in relation to the deaths of her parents, I caught myself rolling my eyes. Her feelings, well, let's just say that what I learned about them in the end was exactly what I had expected and Jasper's feelings, well, I would have loved to shake him a bit. Nope, it's not nice to do what was done but - it wasn't his fault, was it?

I loved to see Jasper and Jane rediscover the feelings they had for each other and I really loved Jasper's mother. She is amazing. The rest of the family is loving but difficult and well, we won't talk about Milton, he is an idiot and it is a good thing for him, that he found a sweet and loving wife because in my eyes she is his only redeeming quality.

Alright, well written but not as captivating and easy to read as I had expected.