So then she said...

Never say never...

Lady Sarah Harrison thought she might never marry, but her eccentric - and perennially impecunious - father has somehow contrived to betroth her to a duke! She knows better than to think it is a love match, but it seems an eminently practical arrangement, if nothing more. However, when the dissolute duke elopes with a notorious actress from Drury Lane, his brother William must break the news to Lady Sarah. Offering for her hand himself would save them all from scandal, or so he says...but Sarah is far too proud to agree.

...and never say no

William is mystified. Surely Lady Sarah must want to preserve her standing in society by any means possible. Though he is not so rich as his rakehell brother, he is well able to provide for a wife. If truth be told, he fell in love with her the moment he saw her. And convincing so charming a lady that she truly has his heart will be pure pleasure...

Original Publisher: Zebra
Original Year of Publication: 2004
Page Count: 256

The June 2026 #TBRChallenge is "Pride." Prideful characters are not something I seek out, so I really had to dig into Mount TBR to find a suitable candidate for this month's theme.

As the book opens, George Cates, the "Wild Duke" of Cambermere, bursts into his younger brother William's bachelor lodgings with festive news: he has finally married! Unfortunately, it is not his betrothed, Lady Sarah Harrison, that he's taken to wife; no, it's his mistress, a notorious Drury Lane actress. George is feeling extra pleased with himself, as he's wormed his way out of an unwanted betrothal to the daughter of an Earl before marriage settlements were finalized, so he won't have to release any money from his purse and he gets to keep his bit of muslin, now front and center.

William is Not Amused by his brother's antics. A diplomat by trade, he has spent his life cleaning up George's messes, and this one looks to be a gigantic disaster. Not only because George has thrown over his betrothed, but because he's married an actress best known for her vulgarity. William is hoping to be in attendance at the conference of Vienna and this could threaten everything he's worked towards over the course of his career.

William is as Proper as his brother is not, and decides that Lady Sarah deserves to hear the news in person, not discover it via note or even worse, the newspaper. So he makes the long and arduous trip from London to Yorkshire and has made up his mind to offer for the girl herself, even though he's never so much as seen her before. A meek country mouse miss is not exactly his idea of a good diplomat's wife, but there's nothing for it, if he's to save his family name.

He meets the Harrison family and offers his hand to Sarah, but she turns him down. It's not that she was in love with George, but she is in desperate need of a wealthy husband. Her family is in dire financial straits, about two steps away from having to lease out their home in order to hold off their creditors. As the eldest daughter, Sarah feels obligated to save her family. Her father is a doddering eccentric; her mother has regressed fifty years into the past; her sister is practically feral; her brother, the heir, is still a student. Their only hope for survival is that she makes as rich a match as she can, and though William is kind, he is not rich.

There's nothing for it, she decides, but to go to London for the Season and try to snag a rich husband. George's jilt will leave her facing social ruin, but perhaps she will set her sights on a wealthy Cit instead, someone who doesn't really care about the scandal now tainting her. She has a distant cousin there that she can stay with, a lady who married a man in trade, and William graciously agrees to accompany Sarah and her mother back to Town so that she can begin her quest.

Both Sarah and William are extremely proud and stubborn characters. Sarah is determined to go her own way, not wanting William to feel obliged to her because of his brother; William wants to help her to assuage the family guilt and fights the warm fuzzy feelings he has for her, not willing to propose again. She would be completely unsuitable as his wife - she doesn't want to leave Yorkshire or her family, she's far too outlandish to serve as his hostess in diplomatic circles.

Sarah's pride takes several hits over the course of the novel; she eventually finds herself going to George, hat in hand, hoping to force him to give her the money he promised her father as a marriage settlement. This goes about as well as can be expected, but when William finds out, he literally frog-marches his brother to the bank and forces his hand. Which, you know, if he'd done this to begin with, the book would've been over before it started, LOL.

This author seems to have a fondness for Grand Romantic Gestures, which I do not share, so I found the last chapter to be cringy and OTT - Sarah seeks William out in Vienna to prove to him that she can adjust herself enough to fit into his life. That just left a bad taste in my mouth, TBH. I get that she loves him and wants to be with him, but she does not lead with her feelings, only how she can change and fit into his world. Ugh, no thanks.

Other than the ending, I enjoyed this novel. Sarah and William may be stubborn, but they are also quite warm and kind, so it was easy to like them, and to root for them to get over themselves and be happy together, LOL.

⭐⭐⭐