If you love classic style historical romance, but sometimes wish there was just a tiny sprinkle of spice on top of all that courtesy and formality, The Husband Criteria by Catherine Kullmann will be a delightful read. We follow three friends deemed "The Three Graces" during a season in London during which two experience the ton for the first time and a third makes her match during her second experience with that famous Marriage Mart. The wit and humor that you expect of this genre (think Georgette Heyer) is here, as are a few phrases and details I hadn't come across in years of reading historical romance. I laughed, I learned, I cheered when the happily ever after came within sight. Five stars.

The inclusion of the character list at the start is helpful, but I wish I resisted the urge to constantly check it during the first 20-30% of the story. While the large cast seems confusing at first, the characters are developed in time and it's not hard to keep track of them.

One wonderful detail that I don't think counts as a spoiler: there's no third act breakup. I was preparing myself for disappointment when I got to 80%, but while there are disappointments for The Three Graces, there is no breakup, thank goodness.

As for the aforementioned sprinkle of spice, it comes in the final scene, which is the wedding night of the main couple. They are young and inexperienced. It's short, sweet, and not explicit. This was a charming read, all around.

In a time when women had very little power over their own lives, the “three Graces” are determined to go into their season looking for specific characteristics of the men they marry. In the midst of the ton, and other requirements of Victorian England, Cynthia finds just such a man. The Husband Criteria, by Catherine Kullman, delivered an entertaining story.

Be warned, the reader does need a program of who’s who, which the author provides. It can still get confusing, but doesn’t detract from the cute story. Kullman also uses some archaic vocabulary which fit perfectly into the story. I was reading on my kindle app & used the dictionary several times. After reading a heavy book, this was a good change of pace.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I mean it was very sweet and the romance had such tender moments. I'll explain what makes me hesistate in fully enjoying this novel later in my review. But first, I would like to share one of my favorites moments:

“You need not stay away on my account,” she said. “Indeed, there is no reason why you should not go.”

He smoothed her eyebrow with a gentle finger. “There is one excellent reason— you will not be there.”

Aww, well isn't that the sweetest? Rafe and Cynthia are such a great couple. I loved their relationship.

The wrtitng is quite lovely too. It was a pleasure to read. It felt a bit like Georgette Heyer and maybe some Jane Austen. That said, I wasn't thrilled with the final scene in the book. It's a love scene, and I don't read books with that sort of content, so it took me very much by surprise. Now, it's totally expected that a husband and wife would engage in such activities. However, I do not wish to be privy to it. Granted, I admit that it was kind of a sweet moment and it definitely wasn't focused on sensuality or pleasure. Rather, it was more focused on their love and how that moment was a pinnacle for their relationship up to that point. I would call it semi-explicit, and it's definitely more detail than I care to read.

Five stars for the romance and everything up to the final scene. Two stars for the final scene. That averages out to 3.5 stars.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book and for the eARC copy. I will post my review to Goodreads once the book is listed on that site.

This book started out well but I was disappointed that it was not a clean read. There is a descriptive bedroom scene at the end which was just disappointing.