Book Review: Clean Regency Romance: Not So Sweet Maria (Sisters By Marriage Book 1) by Jessica Spencer

Synopsis:

LOVE UNDER MISTAKEN IDENTITY.
The ton calls her Sweet Maria and, even in her fourth Season, eligibles continue to offer her marriage. 
They do not know Lady Maria despises the hypocritical ways of Polite Society and is trying to sail away to America! 

Though the granddaughter of a duke, Lady Maria is a Child of Scandal because her mother was an American commoner. 
She blames the duke and the duchess for her parents’ death. Had they not disowned them, they would not have died of a virulent fever in America, leaving her an orphan at the age of five.

She has not forgotten the coldness she had met with as a child, and how there were those who examined her features for tainted blood, and disparaged her mother to her face.

She agrees to an arranged match to ward off her persistent suitors, treating the engagement as a sham one to be ended at her convenience. 

Then, most unexpectedly, she finds love with a commoner.
Only he isn’t a commoner but the Earl of Daventon. 

Gareth, Earl of Daventon is no stranger to Scandal. Rumour has it that his father had banished his mother for adulterous behavior. He remembers his mother as a sweet, gentle woman and knows the late earl yearned until his last breath to have her back. 

Love is a quagmire and I shall not be caught in it, he decides. But love finds him. The object of his ardour is a mysterious young woman who dresses like a shop girl and behaves like a lady. 

Lord Daventon remedies the situation by accepting an arranged match, his betrothed being Lady Maria whom he hasn’t met. 

All of which leads to a delightful tangle of affairs

Author Bio:

Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer lured Jessica Spencer into reading Regency Romances. After devouring all of Ms Heyer’s books she went on to read books other regency authors but Georgette Heyer, with her unique blend of fun, humor, romance, and intrigue, remained a firm favourite 

Not so Sweet Maria is Jessica Spencer’s homage to the inimitable Georgette Heyer. While she is the first to acknowledge that it comes no where close to Heyer’s books, it definitely belongs to the genre.

My Review:

Clean Regency Romance: Not So Sweet Maria (Sisters By Marriage Book 1) by Jessica Spencer
Lady Maria has gotten a bad hand from the start. Her parents die and leave her an orphan and others do take care of her but it's not a warm welcome.
Later in life she finally agrees to marry so others will stop asking her. love all the mysteries surrounding her and her inheritance.
Others also are not so truthful either and you wonder how they will spend the rest of their days, never knowing each other's real names.
Lots of action, mysteries and struggles to survive the scams. Enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the next in the series.
Love the design work and what's incorporated into them and how.
Received this review copy from the author via Goodreads and this is my honest opinion.