As a viscountās heir, Rafe Wolfford is obligated to take a wife someday. But she must be the right sort of wifeānot too independent, and not inclined to delve into his escapades as a spy. The forthright, perceptive Lady Verity is altogether the wrong choice. But Rafeās courtship is merely a ruse to discover whether Verity or anyone else associated with Elegant Occasions is leaking crucial information to the French. That mission is all that mattersāuntil fate, and desire, intervene.
After enduring one disastrous engagement, Verity wonāt easily open her heart again, preferring to devote herself to Elegant Occasions. Rafe is charming, handsome, and kisses like the very devil, but she knows heās harboring secrets. Still, when her ex-fiancĆ© tries to ruin her reputation, Rafe offers his hand. For the sake of her family and business, Verity has little choice but to accept. Yet turning this arrangement into a true marriage will require daring and trustāwhich neither will embrace easily, making surrender all the sweeterā¦
| Title: | Accidentally His |
| Author: | Sabrina Jeffries |
| Series: | Designing Debutantes (Book 3) |
| Pages: | 353 |
| Genre(s): | Historical |
| Trope(s): | Soldier Romance Marriage of Convenience |
| Point of View: | Third Person, Past Tense |
| Location: | England |
| Setting: | Regency, 1812 |
| HEA: | āļø |
| Release Date: | 23rd January, 2024 |
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Great chemistry and really enjoyable
Sabrina Jeffries is back with the third, and presumably last, of the Designing Debutantes series featuring the remaining single Harper sister. While the story does technically stand alone, there are a few things (like Rafeās prior spying on the family) that happened in the previous books and arenāt completely explained right up front. Because the other sisters and their husbands do appear, itās probably worth having read the prior two books (A Duke for Diana and What Happens in the Ballroom) before delving into this one – just to be sure.
Verity is the most outspoken and independent of the sisters. While they all run Elegant Occasions – a business to help young women succeed in society – Verity much prefers toiling away in the kitchen and designing menus to anything else. I found it amusing that for all her free-spirited notions, she becomes quite the stickler when it comes to the young ladies in her charge. But when sheās with Rafe, sheās free to be herself and certainly doesnāt mind getting naughty with him. Overall sheās a likeable heroine and one I was certainly rooting for.
If youāre looking for the perfect hero for a historical romance then let me introduce you to Rafe. Heās a soldier / spy who is now in line for a viscountcy so heās got that fantastic blend of gentleman thatās a little rough around the edges. Heās quite a straightforward, stoic kind of guy who doesnāt recognise the wildness in himself when it comes to Verity. I liked his attempts to delude himself into pretending he felt nothing for Verity and also felt so sorry for the wee boy Rafe still was – unloved and dreaming of a family.
“They had banter aplenty and you could definitely feel the sexual pull and tension between them.”
Together, Rafe and Verity had wonderful chemistry. They had banter aplenty and you could definitely feel the sexual pull and tension between them. I loved them as a couple and loved their sex scenes even more. Sabrina Jeffries does write a good sex scene. And good kissing scenes, too.
Thereās a sort of mystery running though the book. Itās never really truly defined but Rafe is searching for a spy for the French. This is where the book lost points with me as Rafeās spying to determine the traitor were wishy-washy at best. And things kept on just being announced and I wondered if Iād missed that fact previously. It still all came to a mostly satisfying conclusion but I felt that things could have been a bit more solid.
All in all, I liked this series from Sabrina Jeffries and liked this book, too. Itās not my favourite of hers but she remains one of my go-to authors and her writing and historical detail remains top-notch and definitely one of the best in the business. 4 stars for this one but I still enjoyed it a lot.
* I received this book in exchange for my honest review *
Sabrina Jeffries is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 novels and works of short fiction (some written under the pseudonyms Deborah Martin and Deborah Nicholas).
At home in front of a crowd, Jeffries is a sought-after speaker, as evidenced by her 2010 gig as emcee for the National Romance Writers of Americaās 30th Anniversary Awards Ceremony.
Whatever time not spent speaking to organizations around the country or writing in a coffee-fueled haze is spent traveling with her husband and adult autistic son or indulging in one of her passionsājigsaw puzzles, chocolate, and music.
With over 9 million books in print in more than 20 languages, the North Carolina author never regrets tossing aside a budding career in academics (she has a Ph.D. in English literature) for the sheer joy of writing fun fiction, and hopes that one day a book of hers will end up saving the world.
She always dreams big.
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Designing Debutantes Series:
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