Katherine Grant: Baron Without Blame

When Martin Preston, Baron Ashforth, is caught on a dark balcony with a debutante, he does the right thing. Even though he was only freeing her skirts from the railing. Even though he doesn’t know her name. The next morning, he faithfully offers for her hand in marriage.

Lolly Turner has nothing against Lord Preston. He is handsome, kind, and honorable. Yet she can’t bring herself to marry a man solely because of gossip. When she knows she should say yes, she says no. Instead, they concoct a false engagement: they tell the world they plan to marry, while in reality Lolly will jilt Martin once the scandal has died down. 

Martin invites Lolly and her family to spend the Easter holiday at his country home to keep up appearances. As he and Lolly spend more time together, they share visions for the future and realize they both hope for a world very different from the one into which they were born. But when Lolly’s father catches wind of their shared politics, he changes his mind about the wedding. Which means it is up to Lolly and Martin to choose: should they do the right thing, or follow their hearts?

I was looking for a snack size reading treat, and pulled up this Georgian era novella that I received free for subscribing to Katherine Grey’s website.

Sometimes freebies can be disappointing, but this was not the case with the Baron Without Blame.  In an author’s note in the back, Grey explains she envisioned an aristocratic family with convictions who eschew imports resulting from slavery and/or exploitation, and this is their origin story.

Fitting most neatly into the insta-love trope and engagement of inconvenience (ie, threat of ruination), the story features a thoughtful, kind hero (Martin) and a headstrong, principled heroine (Lolly).  The meet cute is inspired by a darkened balcony and bad allergies.  As a sufferer of allergies, I thought this was adorable, and was tickled to see those sneezing attacks play throughout the novella.

I liked that not only were the MCs attracted to each other’s looks, but also their values/beliefs.  That made the truncated courtship seem more realistic, and enjoyable for me.

There is intimacy on the page, and although fairly vanilla, I still thought sexy and well written.  No violence, but some adult themes including family alienation/found family and racism.  The racism is not over the top, but it still might be difficult for some readers; Grey features several POC characters as household staff amid the context of broader prejudice.

This novella was a quick, fun read for me and I look forward to checking out the Regency books that follow the progeny of this Georgian romance.  I recommend it for readers looking for a quick, sweet romance with a little steam, adult themes, and a lot of heart.