Great read! What would you do for love? What would you do to keep your past from catching up with you? J’non os Phoebe’s lady’s maid and Phoebe wants her to do something scandalous. Will both women find what they are looking for? Easy, enjoyable read with wonderfully written characters.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley and Paulette Golden for hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

Trevor Gaines, the Marquess of Pickering, falls in love with his wife. The catch? The woman is an impostor.Great, great, great - I am giving it a lot of love...read this one! An intense, emotional and utterly compelling narrative!

This book is full of too many secrets and too much angst for my taste.

Sadly, I really didnt enjoy the story. Which I actually found strange, because the blurb seems right up my alley.
But alas - It didn't do anything for me...

There were many repetitive passages about the characters and their scheme.
I found the amount of repetition irritating, way over the top.

Ooops - it is surprising what a maid will do for a mistress she likes - in this case marry someone.
But this is a romance, and all will be well but to get there when they both tell the truth to each other, is another matter.
I thought this was a fun concept and enjoyed reading it.
The writing was good and of the correct time period in its descriptions and use of language. I will look for this author again.

I really enjoyed reading this clean wholesome regency romance, the Cinderella feel was very good and I found myself rooting for J’non throughout. Very well written story.

This is a good book that could have been better, the author does a great job establishing the relationship, the interactions and the characters, but over the middle the narrative feels so overworked that for moments ruins the story.

The beginning of the book was intriguing and I was interested to see what would happen when a maid took the place of a merchant's daughter. I enjoyed Trevor and J'non's budding relationship, but the middle of the book about farming and canals totally derailed the romance in my opinion. I stopped reading at 66% because I just didn't care to wade through any more talk of canals. It was so boring! I usually like Ms. Golden's books, but this one just didn't keep my attention and I stopped reading.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this free arc. This story was wonderful and sweet. I really enjoyed it.

Bloated and rather unbelievable, but still charming

Much thanks to the author, who provided a free copy (and excellent conversation) in exchange for an honest review.

SPOILERS

Good news: I enjoyed Trevor and J’non’s romance!* Bad news: the narrative’s middle was incredibly bloated, and I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the ending.

*And unfortunately, the good news has a caveat—I don’t mean for “I enjoyed Trevor and J’non’s romance” to refer to the book as whole; I mean the development of their relationship, which the narrative largely stepped away from in the middle, probably because they warmed to each other too quickly and easily in the beginning. So I enjoyed their romance—when their relationship was in focus.

First, a disclaimer—know going in that the premise requires a suspension of disbelief. That’s usually understood in fiction, of course, but if you’re a more skeptical, I-want-plots-to-be-logical type, this may not be the book for you. I tend to be one of those, so despite Golden doing everything she could to make the circumstances sound plausible, I found it hard to believe that such a situation could arise and go as far as it did. Stranger things and all, but still. So instead of ranting about the unlikelihood of Trevor assuming all of his wife’s backstory in his head rather than just asking her questions, or marveling at how Trevor could have an entire conversation about his wife with his father-in-law without speaking her name, or wondering why Mr. Whittington didn’t escort his daughter to her betrothed so he could smarm his coveted connection and attend her wedding, not to mention make sure his willful daughter didn’t run off—I’m letting it go.

What I’m not going to let go is how annoyed I was when Lloyd seemed to call J’non on her lie but turned out to just be a plot tease. Who takes one look at a person they’ve only heard a description of and cries out, “You are not Such And Such!” just because that person looked different than imagined? Definitely not someone who was raised with manners. Definitely not someone who though they were speaking to a lady, their better. They might show some surprise and turn it into a compliment if called on it—”I beg your pardon, my lady, but you are even more beautiful than I anticipated, I was not prepared, etc.”—stowing any accompanying dismay or confusion in their mind. Aside from the ridiculous drama of it, though, consider that this tease takes place at 62% in the middle of a story drought (see below), long after I expected J’non’s deception to be revealed, and it adds insult to injury.

Which brings us to the bloated middle. It began at the vicarage during the storm, 38%—we didn’t need all that conversation or to know so much about characters who would remain so minor.** It grew worse at the fete—this occurred at the midpoint, and I was confident that since J’non hadn’t been caught out yet, it would happen at the fete, because midpoint. But the festival went off without a hitch. Pages and pages and the only (debatably) important thing that happened was meeting Lord Roddam.

Then the book became historical fiction about a new marquess struggling to figure out how best to manage his estate and responsibilities. At 61% I made the note “I’m desperate for something to happen.” At 62%, I wrote “When did this become a book about farming and canal development?” I started skipping pages, sometimes several at a time. At 64%: “Aaaaaand we’re still on the stupid canal.” 65%: “Now what is all this political crap about?” Finally, 67%: “Omg I am so tuned out.”

I have no doubt Golden spent a lot time meticulously researching that part of the story, and I feel terrible bashing on her efforts, but . . . it was so boring.

I tuned back in when Trevor went to meet Mr. Whittington at 70%, because I thought J’non’s lie would finally be discovered. Nope. Back to not much happening, until the threat of meeting Lady Collingwood at 80%. From there the story gradually climaxed and answered questions.

I loved how Golden wrote the climax and black moment. It wasn’t melodramatic; the characters were shocked and dismayed, but they acted with maturity, thought with reason. Trevor and J’non’s confrontation was perfect.

The resolution, however, I found unsatisfying. Not greatly so, but it didn’t go the way I thought it would. First, because J’non specifically mentioned that she learned of her parents’ deaths like one would hear a rumor, I believed they weren’t actually dead. I thought there’d be a twist that they were alive and rich and would gladly pay back Whittington’s dowry. I thought the aunt would be punished and was disappointed when J’non didn’t want to revisit the past at all. Was that the mature thing to do? Probably. Didn’t I just say I loved when the characters acted with maturity and reason? Yes. But . . . I also like when the bad guys get their butts kicked, lol.

**The second reason why I found the resolution unsatisfying is because I was absolutely baffled as to why we didn’t see the Harveys again. It had everything to do with them, and the narrative had established them as very good people and very good friends of Trevor and J’non, yet they were completed ignored when their church registry was abruptly replaced.

As to the characters of Trevor and J’non—I adored them. The only mark against J’non was that she continued to live a lie. Settled into it a little too easily. She tried to tell Trevor, but you’ll never convince me she couldn’t have tried harder, even if she had to just blurt it out. Other than that, though, I loved everything about her. She had a beautiful arc, from feeling unloved, ugly, and worthless to feeling loved, appreciated, purposeful, and beautiful.

Trevor was great, too, but a little bit of a mess; his arc was the reason for the bloated middle. He acted stone cold for about two seconds before pretty much becoming a teddy bear, if perhaps an adorkably awkward one. He warmed up to J’non a little too quickly and easily and I suspect that left Golden at a loss as to what to do with him for the rest of the book. So she created the flaw that he didn’t feel he was living up to his father’s memory or Trevor’s own expectations for himself. Thus his efforts to “fix” the estate and protect the village—and the downward spiral into canals and politics.

But I did have a favorite character. Gunner! He was not only a welcome presence, but often the comic relief, even indirectly. “[J’non] patted [Trevor’s] waistcoat again. He smirked, feeling like a good boy.”

Overall, Golden had an intriguing if rather unbelievable premise but failed to create strong subplots to support it. I found the farming and flooding conflicts interesting, but they weren’t strong enough to carry the novel as Golden attempted. Perhaps if Trevor had been willing to search for his mother, if J’non had wanted to confront her aunt, it might have been different.

I hate to give it a bad rating, but I’m afraid the middle warrants it. Nevertheless, I’m still very much a fan and look forward to her next novel!

A Counterfeit Wife was a lovely story about a Marquess that is tricked into marrying an heiresses maid. The characters were well developed and likable including the many secondary characters. There was a great happily ever after and I especially liked that the Marquess was so quick to forgive his “wife” for her deception. The sex was definitely closed door, hardly even an inference which was a bit frustrating to the overall love story for me.

Phoebe Whittington is the daughter of a cit. She is spoiled, rich, uncouth, and demanding. She has an arranged marriage with a Marquess. Her father wants the connections to make him more important.
Phoebe believes she is in love with another and plans to elope with him. She wants Jnon to take her place. Jnon tells her no but when she awakes Phoebe is gone. Trevor Gaines, the Marquess of Pickering meets the carriage when it pulls up to his house. A young woman steps out, she is wearing old clothes like a maid. But this must be Phoebe. He proceeds to tell her the marriage is tomorrow. She does not really get a word in.

Trevor is stoic, stiff, and has no joy on his face. They marry the next day, and she must keep secrets from him. But slowly as they got to know each other, things began to change between them. There are a lot of surprises during their story.

This is an engaging and entertaining book. You can tell the author did a lot of research for that time. Many different subjects were covered. The characters were loving and kind. Such a pleasure to read. It moved smoothly and was easy to read. It was just a wonderful story and one I am glad I got the chance to read it.

I received this ARC from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.
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A Counterfeit Wife is the first book in the series, The Sirens. The plot sees the Marquess of Pickering mistakenly marrying the maid of his intended fiancé, instead of his betrothed. Caught in a web of lies, they come to learn more about themselves and each other than they thought possible.

The romance builds slowly until the eventual happily ever after. I had not heard of this author prior to reading this book.

I found the writing style simple to follow, and apart from a few small errors in punctuation and spelling, it was a nice, quick read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley and the author/independently published. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Publishing: October 10, 2022
Series: The Sirens #1
Pages: 426

This was just a wonderful and excellent read. Can’t say that I’ve read anything by Paulett Golden but this being my first will not be my last. This story was filled with interesting characters and an unconventional take on HR types of novels.

There is J’non Butler who is the lady’s maid to a brat of a woman, Phoebe Whittington. As they are on a journey, she admits that she will not be marrying her intended…especially one she has never seen. Her intent is to run off an marry the man she really loves and leaves J’non to continue on and marry the marquess in her stead.

Then there is Trevor Gaines, Marquess of Pickering who needs money to make his now inherited estate flourish again….and Phoebe…oh no, J’non is his ticket to wealth. When J’non arrives, she is not given the change to explain anything as the Marquess has already planned the wedding as he considers this a business arrangement and not a true marriage.

I simply enjoyed everything about this story. The secrets coming to life on the pages and what seemed a disaster ending in love. A well-written story with very likeable characters and at times had my heart tugging…oh the teary moments. It is not very often I come across a clean historical romance that engages me from beginning to end. This was definitely one. Excellent book and I recommend the read.

A Counterfeit Wife, by Paulett Golden. Although Jnon and Trevor faced so many hard obstacles in the beginning, I believe this tapped into the tender emotions that they have for one another. The story is a slow introduction to the real feelings that Trevor and Jnon have for each other. I loved that the writer shared their story of compassion, tenderness, thoughtfulness and courage. With these passionate feelings, J’non and Trevor tried to figure out and understand this puzzle of attraction that they have for one another.
Trevor comes off as being very cold, stiffer than stone person, were as J’non has this heart of gold. J’non has the kindest heart of thinking of others before herself. How can Trevor contain the very qualities that he admires about J’non? I thought the characters were great.
I liked that the writer gave a clear description of who characters were and how they contributed to the the story. I was able to follow along to the story with ease. The entertaining parts in the book was very exciting. These parts I believe really got the Ton or aristocratic people thinking of how to help.
I thought that J’non was brilliant during these events. The descriptive details are clear and to the point, this made the flow of the book move easily. I can tell that the writer took the time to do her research on the issues and supplied the book with factual information. This love story was wonderful and endearing. Until next time my fellow readers… read on!

The counterfeit wife is actually the real wife meant for this hero. Two people finding out what love really means. Clean read other than a very passionate descriptive kiss at the beginning.