Miss Constance Woodley is having a lucky day. A supremely lucky day.

Due to a Duke's fancy, Lady Francesca is going to take her under her wing and look for a good match for her. No more standing in the corner as the companion to her cousins.

Constance is a charming character, modest and well-mannered. Lady Francesca is a superb social manipulator, aiding her at every turn.

A few stumbles on the way to true love and happier ever after.

A charmer of a novel, like a candy with a soft center.



( )

Liked it. One thing really bothered me though when the hero and heroine get caught in the rain and seek shelter at the convenient cabin nearby and H/h proceed to discard their wet clothing...You know what happens, but the whole time they know that the rest of their party(from the outing) was nearby and of course these people are going to be wondering about them and waiting for them. And then of course they ARE waiting when the couple returns after a couple of hours. Would they really not be thinking this would cause a scandal?? I certainly had no doubts! 3.5/5 ( )

This book had a number of positives and negatives for me. I enjoy the setting (both place and time), and the characters were entertaining. There were a number of clever plot elements, and everything ends well. I could easily give this book three or four stars if not for one particularly jarring element: premarital sex between the main couple.

I am hardly so naive as to believe that nothing ever happened before marriage in Regency England. However, I do not need it described for me, and it wasn't even really necessary for the story. The same attempted scandal creation could have occurred without it, and it would have made a lot more sense than what ended up transpiring between two individuals who hadn't even known each other for more than a couple months, tops. They called it love in the book. It really wasn't; it was unbridled passion and lust. ( )

Francesca makes a wager with the Duke, he selects any girl from the ball as Francesca's next matchmaking endeavor and she will have her engaged by the end of the season. He chooses mousy chaperone Constance. Constance is shocked when Francesca befriends her. Orphaned, 28, and living with her aunt, she's chaperoning her cousins, not looking for love herself. But under Francesca's tutelage, she's blossoming and catches the eye of Francesca's brother - not what Francesca had in mind! ( )

The first in the Matchmakers series has a definite Cinderella-like flavor. Constance Woodley, on the shelf at twenty-nine, is in London for the first time only to act as a companion to her two spoiled younger cousins. Her aunt displays traditional "evil stepmother" tendencies, pressuring Constance to dress in drab, matronly clothing and ensuring that she is so busy tending to her daughters that she has no time to attempt to carve out a life for hersefl. Enter Lady Francesca Haughston, Constance's fairy godmother. Lady Francsca, a young widow who has had some success in helping society parents find matches for their daughters, makes a comment while at a ball that she could get any girl married. The Duke of Rochford takes her up on her wager, selecting Constance out of the crowd to be the focus of Francesca's efforts. Little does Francesca know, but that same night Constance actually meets her "prince" on her own--Francesca's brother. Dominic is, of course, above Constance socially; to complicate matters, his family is in financial straits and need him to marry well. All seems lost...or is it?

This story doesn't really hsve any surprises, but it is a well-written and fun read. The ending felt a bit rushed and almost a bit too neat, but overall I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading the others in the series soon. ( )