When the Jasper Kincaid, the Earl of Harcourt, offered to marry one of the infamous Shelley triplets, he was doing it for the dowry to refill his depleted coffers, not for anything so silly as love. But when he realizes it is Thomasina Shelley masquerading as his fiancée at their final engagement ball, not his true intended, a desire for her that he has been ignoring sparks. And when it becomes clear her sister has run away with another, an opportunity arises for a marriage with a much deeper connection.
Thomasina’s feelings for Jasper have never been appropriate and she doubted the prudence of pretending to be his even for just one night. Once she’s caught, everything escalates so quickly. Suddenly she’s going to marry this stern, fascinating man who is not particularly pleased at her perfidy. Add to that her worry about where her wayward sister has gone and it’s a recipe for both passion…and disaster.
As the two slowly grow closer, Jasper realizes his former fiancée’s disappearance may have more to do with his own past than he originally realized. And the longer he keeps that from Thomasina, the more painful it will be when the truth comes out. Can they let each other close enough to fight together against the dangers right around the corner? And will they survive to meet the future they could have if they do?
Its been a while since I had read a Regency triplets book series, and since Jess Michaels was giving this away for signing up for her newsletter I decided to give it a whirl.
The first in the Shelley sister series, this book starts off with an immediate hook: Thomasina has it bad for her triplet sister, Anne’s, intended. Anne is the wild sister, and an awful match for the serious, rarely smiling Earl of Harcourt. The only time he gives a hint of a smile is when Thomasina is near. In fact, he is the only one who can tell her apart from her sisters.
Needless to say, the set up to this one is fantastic, edge of your seat. There is a marriage of convenience which ignites into passion, a lot of the “will they admit their love” which I think Michaels did justice to by making it a bit different than the usual, lots of intimate scenes (which honestly fell a little flat for me), and some mystery in what has happened to Anne.
Actually, its not much of a mystery. We learn the vague details of who has absconded with her early on, although by the end of the book we learn All Is Not As It Seems, which appears to be set up for Book 2. Which I am interested enough to read at some point.
Thomasina is the people pleaser sister who starts to learn, a little bit, how to stand up for herself. Its not a huge character arc, and some readers may find her too meek for their taste. I liked the unrequited intro, so I think I forgave the mild personality throughout.
Jasper, the Earl, is similarly suffering from a toxic upbringing so that he is more of the caregiver or fixer. I think this makes the attraction make sense, if its not always completely obvious to the reader.
My biggest issues were with him, and I think his character is why the book lost the luster midway through. I felt like I didn’t really get to know him. Michaels delivers on the backstory for certain, its just that the scenes with him aren’t action focused so its hard to see him “in his element” or getting a character arc. Most of his change happens in his head but doesn’t appear to result in any outward changes, except maybe him being more vocal.
It could also be that I just didn’t connect with him as a character, but that other readers will love him. Because he is definitely handsome, kind, and a good guy. I think Michaels was aiming for a cinammon role, but I wish he would have been a bit more crusty at the midway so the soft, gooey middle had a better pay off.
I found the intimate scenes to be boring, but I think its because I just wasn’t interested in these two as a couple once they got married. The pre-marriage stuff was actually intense and sexy. I am definitely not one of those readers that needs sex with my romance, and I like it to serve a purpose and tell me more about the characters. I think Michaels uses sex to build an intimate bond or connection (that is what the characters refer to it as, anyway) but at the end of the day it didn’t to anything for my relationship to the characters.
There is some violence, although not graphic, and a fair share of toxic families which I didn’t think were detailed enough to deserve a content warning, but readers should be aware.
I do think this could be a great series in the long run, as Michaels sets up three very different (albeit identical) heroines. I would recommend this as a fast read for those who like mild MCs.
4.25 out of 6 First in a series about triplets, a marriage of convenience turns into passion
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| Toxic families, villainy and theft | |
| Intimacy | |
| Several scenes, fairly vanilla | |
| Violence | |
| Hostage, coshing, kidnapping | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Violence, intimacy and adult themes are mild but still present. | |
