Synopsis

Before Rosalind weds, she wants to experience ten things. Meeting Charlie wasn’t on her list.

England, 1820

Rosalind Newbury is counting down the days until her wedding to the Duke of Marlow, a man she has only met twice, and she knows exactly how she wants to spend her time. As a child, Ros created a list of ten things to do before her wedding day. So far, she has done none of them.

She is determined to tackle each item, though she’ll have to accomplish them all in secret. After all, a soon-to-be-duchess is not usually allowed to bury treasure in the pasture, eat sweets all day, or learn how to swim. She enlists the help of her best friend, Liza, who brings along her cousin, Charlie, a prodigal son-turned-boxer who has come to the countryside to mend his reputation and learn how to be his father’s heir.

Together, the three of them work to complete the list, and as each item is crossed off, an unlikely friendship blossoms between Ros and Charlie. The more time they spend together, the more Ros falls in love with this imperfect man and his good heart.

With the wedding looming, Ros must decide to either admit her romantic feelings for Charlie and risk her family’s future, or keep her promise to marry the duke and start a new life as a noblewoman.

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Review

Regency novels take us back to a time when things were very different. Women didn’t have much of a say in what happened to them, men could be brutes, but sometimes, true love was discovered.

Rosalind is engaged to a Duke whom she met by chance when he came to purchase land from her father. Seeing a step up for their family, she agrees to marry the Duke. What she doesn’t expect is to meet Liza’s cousin, Charlie, and fall head over heels in love. Granted, it takes some time for that to actually happen, but I think many others could see it before she does.

I always found it interesting that women had to have chaperones if they were unmarried. All for propriety and to not sully her reputation. Not that the women back then weren’t a little crafty. Take Rosalind, for example. She spent a lot of time with Charlie but usually had Liza or her brother Ben with her. Ben might have been her little brother, but he took his role seriously as the heir in the family and made sure she wasn’t compromised. He may have been 18, but I don’t think he was fully mature yet. But I loved his devotion to her.

The purpose of this story was for Rosalind to complete a bucket list that she wrote when she was around 12. She got this great idea from her Aunt Alice and saw it as a way to celebrate the last of her singleness. I loved the idea, but why didn’t she think to update the list? Most of the items were innocuous and would have been the same whether she was 12 or 20. However, some were a little dangerous. Doesn’t matter; she worked her way through that list with the help of Liza and Charlie.

This was a fun story to read, and I appreciate the world today compared to then. However, sometimes times were simpler, and I know that I admire the strides women made over the last 200 years to bring us to where we are today.

I also enjoyed all of the antics and even some of the heart-pounding moments. We give this book 4 paws up.

About the Author

MEGAN WALKER was raised on a berry farm in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where her imagination took her to times past and worlds away. While earning her degree in Early Childhood Education, she married her one true love and started a family. But her imaginings of Regency England wouldn’t leave her alone, so she picked up a pen. And the rest is history. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband and three children.

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