On the eve of the London Season, Jane Chance is about to make her entrance into high society. And after a childhood riddled with poverty and hardship, Jane intends to make a good, safe, sensible marriage. All goes according to plan until a dark, dangerous vagabond helps her rescue a dog.

Zachary Black is all kinds of unsuitable—a former spy, now in disguise, he’s wanted for murder. His instructions: to lie low until his name is cleared. But Zach has never followed the rules, and he wants Jane Chance for his own.

If that means blazing his way into London society, in whatever guise suits him, that’s what he’ll do. Jane knows she shouldn’t fall in love with this unreliable, if devastatingly attractive, rogue. But Zach is determined—and he‘s a man accustomed to getting what he wants.

Tracy’s review of The Spring Bride (Chance Sisters #3) by Anne Gracie

Jane Chance’s two older sisters are married to the men that they fell in love with. Of course those sisters want her to find love as well, but that’s not what Jane wants – at least that’s what she tells herself. Her parents came from good families but each of their families wanted them to marry other people. When they chose love over their families they were both disowned. Jane grew up knowing her parents were in love but they were destitute. Jane wants children of her own and as much as she appreciates that her parents were in love she wants to raise children with the security of knowing that they will never have to worry about where they will sleep at night or if they’ll have enough food. To this end Jane accepts a marriage proposal from a man that will give her the security she craves. She doesn’t love him but maybe she will grow to love him in time.

Zachary Black has returned to England, after 12 years, at the behest of his best friend. He finds that his cousin is on the cusp of having Zach declared dead. He can easily prove who he is but finds out that when he does he will be arrested for a murder that he supposedly committed 12 years earlier, but did not. He’s been a spy for his government for the past eight years and has had to blend in constantly so when his friend tells him that he needs to lie low so that no one will recognize him he stays in his gypsy disguise.

While in disguise and out walking in London Zach saves Jane from some street thugs. She was in an alley rescuing a dog and the thugs turned on her. Zach is mesmerized by Jane so when she asks him to walk the dog to her house he accepts. From then on every day that Jane walks the dog in the park by her house Zach is there waiting to walk with her. He loves talking to her and he soon discovers he has feeling for her. Unfortunately he has this whole murder thing hanging over his head and then he finds out that Jane is engaged. He decides that he needs to do whatever it takes to get the woman he loves to be with him but there might be too many obstacles standing in his way.

The Spring Bride is a relatively simple story but so very sweet I just loved it. Yes, there was the murder charge hanging over Zach’s head and the ease which he believed it would be cleared didn’t exactly pan out, but other than that there wasn’t a whole lot of angst in the book and I really appreciated that.

Seeing Zach and Jane getting to know each other and seeing their feelings for each other grow just warmed my heart. Yes, Jane was stubborn at times but I understood her fears that had to do with safety and security. She really wanted the whole package – the love and the security – but was too afraid to let herself hope for that. Because of that she believed that accepting the proposal of Lord Cambury – who was a bit of a jerk – was the right thing to do. Even when she finally figured out that Cambury wasn’t who she wanted to marry she let him down very nicely and I admired her even more.

Zach was a wonderful hero. He was an intelligent man who had been blindsided by a woman and I loved seeing him felled by Jane. He had a good heart and I admired his strength as well. He’d been abused as a child but he had become a good, honorable man who definitely did not take after his father.

Overall the book was a lovely romance and one I very much enjoyed reading.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This title is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Four young women face a life of destitution—until a daring act changes their fortune and turns them each into a beautiful bride.

Damaris Chance’s unhappy past has turned her off the idea of marriage forever. But her guardian, Lady Beatrice Davenham, convinces her to make her coming out anyway—and have a season of carefree, uncomplicated fun.

When Damaris finds herself trapped in a compromising situation with the handsome rake Freddy Monkton-Coombes, she has no choice but to agree to wed him—as long as it’s in name only. Her new husband seems to accept her terms, but Freddy has a plan of his own: to seduce his reluctant winter bride.

Will Damaris’s secrets destroy her chance at true happiness? Or can Freddy help her cast off the shackles of the past, and yield to delicious temptation?

Damaris is determined not to marry. Her guardian wants her to have a season but she’s not sure it’s a good idea. She has her reasons for not marrying and she’s sticking to her guns.

Freddy is a friend of Damaris’s brother-in-law and was asked to look after Damaris and her sisters while he’s on his honeymoon. Freddy wants nothing to do with it all but agrees anyway. As much as he says he wants nothing to do with the girls he’s been pretty much smitten with Damaris from the minute he saw her.

Freddy finds out that his mother is planning a house party and inviting tons of eligible women. She insists that he WILL get engaged during the party and on the last night, at the ball, announce his engagement. Freddy normally would just ignore his mother but she deviously planned the house party around the only day of the year he ever sets foot at home – the day of his brothers yearly memorial service. Freddy knows he can’t stay away from his home on that day but he doesn’t want to get engaged. What he does is ask Damaris to play his fiancé and act like they’re engaged so that his mother will cancel the party and it works.

Damaris is excited that Freddy plans on buying her a cottage in payment for the fake engagement but she hates lying to her sisters and guardian. In order to get away from it all Freddy makes an exception and takes her to his home (two weeks before the memorial service) to meet his parents.

During the time that Damaris and Freddy are at his home Damaris gets closer and closer to Freddy. She finds out info about him that puts new light on the way he acts in public and her heart opens to him and she falls in love. Unfortunately she still won’t allow herself to marry because of something horrible that happened in her past. Fortunately she finally tells Freddy and it all works out in the end.

This was such a great yet highly emotional book for me. I really love Gracie’s writing and this proved to be just as good as the other books of hers I’ve read.

The reason this one was so emotional for me, I think, was because of Freddy and all he’d gone through in his life. The guilt he’d carried around due to the death of his brother when he was just 12 and the nasty way his parents had treated him. His parents are HORRIBLE! They are vile and condescending and were two people who should never have had children. They treat Freddy like he doesn’t even exist in the world except to create an heir. Freddy is used to being treated as such – even though he doesn’t like it (he tries to hide that fact), but Damaris is appalled at the way that he’s treated and takes it upon herself to tell his parents what she thinks of them. I was totally cheering for Damaris when she did this, let me tell you. They deserved that and so much more!

Damaris’s background was also something that was not the greatest and the telling of her story made my heart hurt. She had been through so much and survived. She really was a strong woman and I admired her so much for that.

The romance between Freddy and Damaris was sweet and loving and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about it. This story is one, imho, that is not to be missed.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Anne Gracie