It’s such a pleasure today to share my publication day review of the new release from Sarah Mallory, A Kiss To Stop A Wedding: published today (19th June) by Mills & Boon/Harlequin Historical, it’s now available via Amazon in the UK and US for kindle and in paperback, on other major e-book platforms, and also through the publishers’ websites. Many thanks to Sarah for providing an e-copy to allow me to write an early review.
I’ve been rather a disappointment as far as Regency fiction’s concerned, haven’t I – always vowing to read more, but too often lured away by the next contemporary romance. But I can never say no to a book from Sarah. The Major And The Scandalous Widow (you can read my review again here) was simply wonderful, one of my 2023 Books of the Year – and I equally loved The Night She Met The Duke (you’ll find my review here), the worthy winner of its award as RNA Historical Romantic Novel of the Year 2024. I also really enjoyed Snowbound With The Brooding Lord – emotionally engaging, a second chance romance with the most extraordinary chemistry between its characters (you’ll find my review here). And then there was The Earl’s Marriage Dilemma – my favourite so far, with its dramatic moments, strong characterisation, and a fascinating level of historical detail bringing a less than familiar world vividly to life. There was also that constant sizzle from the chemistry between Conham and Rosina, a growing romance that I found entirely real and convincing – the whole story beautifully told, its conclusion really couldn’t have been more perfect, and the whole book was everything I could have possibly wanted it to be (you’ll find my full review here).
Lose yourself in a world of Regency high society, where a kiss at a ball has the power to change everything!
He must speak now… or she’ll be bound to another for ever!
Engaged to a viscount, Flora is the envy of every debutante. But her husband-to-be has a cruel streak that makes him anything but desirable. When Flora meets Matt Talacre, the dashing owner of Bellemonte Pleasure Gardens, she discovers what desire truly feels like… after he sets her body ablaze with a single look.
Yet Flora knows that she can’t act on their intense connection — her hateful betrothed is privy to a family secret which means that she can never walk away. Unless Matt can help her… starting with a moonlit kiss at a masquerade ball.
When I read The Earl’s Marriage Dilemma, I took a real liking to one of the main supporting characters, Matt Talacre – he was a supportive friend to Conham and Rosina, and his efforts to revitalise the Bellemonte Pleasure Gardens made for a particularly engaging subplot. This time he takes centre stage, as likeable and personable as ever – pursuing the return of a missing statue, one of a pair, which brings him into conflict with the entitled and distinctly dangerous Lord Whilton.
But it also brings Flora into his life – living nearby with her aunt and uncle, enjoying her walks on the Whilton estate but dreading the forthcoming marriage that will make her the lady of the manor. And it’s certainly not a love match – she just has the right lineage to enhance the coat of arms he’s already commissioned. She has hopes that the marriage will bring her greater freedom, ease the boredom of life in the country – but it’s rapidly becoming clear that her husband-to-be has very different plans.
There’s an instant attraction between Matt and Flora, a chemistry you can really feel. He knows she’s out-of-bounds, but it doesn’t stop him seeking out her company – to her annoyance at first, but slowly winning her over. As the course of Flora’s life is already firmly set, there’s no real possibility of them finding happiness together – but she does want to find out more about the man who’s begun to win her heart, taking some real risks to break free of the constraints on her life for a little while. And in time, as well as attempting to secure the return of the statue, Matt hopes – with a little help from his friends – that he can also do something to loosen Lord Whilton’s hold over Flora, and perhaps win her hand as well as her heart.
Flora is a fantastic character – outwardly compliant, her future already planned, but certainly not afraid to speak up for herself, feisty and determined, with a strong will of her own. She’s beautifully written – there’s nothing too modern about her, she’s very much true to her time, just struggling with the boundaries – and I very much hoped, however unlikely, that she and Matt would find a way to be together. And Matt himself is a quite perfect romantic hero – suitably handsome, but also gentle and caring, not without a sense of humour, and with a very strong sense of right and wrong. But as for Lord Whilton – my goodness, he’s a real piece of work, intensely dislikable, willing to go to any lengths to prevail, a particularly credible and loathsome villain. The relationships between them all really draw you into the story through its various twists and turns – and it was one I thoroughly enjoyed, the romance and tension steadily building, with moments of real drama and a very uncertain outcome.
I know I say it for every book, but I think this was my favourite from the author so far – a passionate love affair to believe in, wonderfully developed and very real central characters who won my heart, a world I felt entirely part of, and a well-told story that kept me enthralled to the very end. Regency romance at its very best, and a book I’d very much recommend.
About the author
I write under the names of Melinda Hammond and Sarah Mallory: I am a proud patron of the Lancashire Authors Association and a long-time member of the Romantic Novelists Association.
I have been telling stories for as long as I can remember – many of them born of frustration when I was stuck in a classroom longing to be rescued! I love anything romantic, whether it is a grand opera or a beautiful painting. It doesn’t necessarily have to be happy, as long as it is inspiring.
I was born in Bristol and grew up on Barton Hill, an area of small terraced houses built in the nineteenth century between the mills and the railway. I think my love of adventure stories is due to the fact that I grew up with three older brothers and lived in a street full of boys! My love of history and the English language was fostered at grammar school, where I soon discovered the delights of Georgian and Regency fiction, first of all with the works of Jane Austen and then Georgette Heyer.
I left school at sixteen to work in companies as varied as stockbrokers, marine engineers, biscuit manufacturers and even a quarrying company, but I never lost my love of history, and when I wasn’t reading and researching the Georgian and Regency period I was writing stories about it.
When I was at home with my first child, I decided to try my hand at writing seriously, and my first historical novel, Fortune’s Lady, was published by Robert Hale in 1980. Writing as Sarah Mallory I have published more than 40 historical romances with Harlequin Mills & Boon. The Earl’s Runaway Bride won the coveted CataNetwork Reviewers Choice award in 2010 and I also won the Romantic Novelists’ Association RoNA Rose Award in 2012 and 2013, and the RNA’s Romantic Historical Novel Award in 2024 for The Night She Met the Duke.
After many years living on the West Yorkshire moors, I have now moved to the remote Scottish Highlands. The new house overlooks the sea, where the stunning scenery inspires me to write even more!
