Beautiful Things by Emily Rath Pages: 466
Series: Second Sons #1
Genres: Historical Romance
Setting: England
Source: Amazon, Audible
Narrator: Allie Rose, Dan Calley
Goodreads
At twenty-two, Rosalie Harrow is unmarried and near-destitute. She has only two choices: snag a wealthy gentleman, or take work as a governess. Neither option appeals to headstrong Rosalie, who sees both futures as a kind of cage.
When Rosalie gets an invitation to Alcott Hall, she believes she’s only there to meet the dowager Duchess, her late mother’s mysterious childhood friend. But as soon as she arrives, Rosalie is thrust into the middle of a house party full of eligible high society ladies who have one goal: win the hand of the new (conveniently single) Duke. Hilarity ensues as Rosalie dodges the attention of the officious Duke and weathers the censure of the other guests, all while trying to unravel the mystery of her invitation.
And then there’s the gentlemen…
The more Rosalie tries to avoid the high society husband hunt, the more she finds herself charmed by three very different men. There’s Lord James, the Duke’s younger brother, who is the true Duke in all but name. Lieutenant Renley, recently returned from the West Indies, and begrudgingly searching for a wife of his own. And the tempestuous Mr. Burke, who irks Rosalie to no end.
The clock ticks down the days until the Michaelmas ball, when the Duke is set to announce his choice of bride. Marriage is a trap and Rosalie will not be easily snared…but that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy the chase while it lasts.
BEAUTIFUL THINGS is a steamy, slow burn romance set in the Regency era. The female main character has multiple suitors and she won't settle for just one in the end. All the main characters are in their twenties. This is book one of two.
Beautiful Things by Emily Rath was never on my radar. I hadn’t heard of it until I got an audio ARC of book 2, His Grace, the Duke. I cannot believe more people aren’t talking about this! It is a historical romance reverse harem! You get all the pining and stolen moments of a historical romance with the delightful bonus of 3 suitors!
Rosalie Harrow is not titled or well born. Her father was an abusive drunk and her mother recently passed away after a debilitating illness. Now Rosalie has her father’s gambling debts and her mother’s medical debts. She gets a most unusual request from a duchess she doesn’t know and off she goes to Alcott Hall. There she meets three delightful suitors in Burke, Tom, and James, all second sons trying to find their way in the world. Rosalie is certainly not a proper match for any of them because she is penniless, but that doesn’t stop the attraction.
George’s antics, the irritating Lady Gorgon, and the baffling behavior of the duchess made this a read I didn’t want to put down! Beautiful things is filled with stolen glances, desire, and classic historical romance gossip and drama. I went back and forth between the audio and the kindle book (its in KU). The audio is pretty good; I found the female narrator’s voice a tad irritating when imitating some of the party guests but thankfully that doesn’t occur often.
- POV: 3rd person limited and alternating by chapter
- Tears: no
- Trope: regency, reverse harem,
- Triggers: none
- Series/Standalone: series
- Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
- HEA: View Spoiler »
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authors like Sarah Maclean, Lisa Kleypas, Eloisa James but wished they were RH…then you will probably like Beautiful Things!
Beautiful Things
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