Review of NETGALLEY AUDIO arc A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin #BrainfluffNETGALLEYaudiobookreview #ALadysGuidetoFortune-Huntingbookreview

I have read a number of Regency romances over the last seventeen months in a strong desire for enjoyable escapism, so when I saw this one on Netgalley I immediately requested it and was delighted to be approved.

BLURB: Kitty Talbot needs a fortune. Or rather, she needs a husband who has a fortune. Left with her father’s massive debts, she has only twelve weeks to save her family from ruin. Kitty has never been one to back down from a challenge, so she leaves home and heads toward the most dangerous battleground in all of England: the London season.

Kitty may be neither accomplished nor especially genteel—but she is utterly single-minded; imbued with cunning and ingenuity, she knows that risk is just part of the game. The only thing she doesn’t anticipate is Lord Radcliffe. The worldly Radcliffe sees Kitty for the mercenary fortune-hunter that she really is and is determined to scotch her plans at all costs, until their parrying takes a completely different turn…

REVIEW: This is huge fun. I immediately bonded with dear Kitty, whose parents recently died leaving her and her four sisters with a mountain of debt that will shortly see them homeless, if she can’t very quickly find a rich husband. I’ve read a number of Regency romances over the years – and what made this one stand out from the crowd is Kitty’s unabashed approach to the whole business. She is under no illusion that she needs to make a match with a wealthy man and resorts to all sorts of ploys to ensure she gets introduced to prospective husbands, ranging from dropping her kerchief, shedding a shoe and feigning an injury right through to the tried and tested tactic of fainting at his feet. Indeed, had Kitty been written into a Jane Austen romance, she would have been described with lip-curling disapproval and thoroughly cut down to size by a series of Austenesque humorous comments on her clothes and pushy manners. But she’s desperate. Determined not to see her family on the streets, Kitty will go to almost any lengths to ensure their future is secure – even if it is at the expense of her own future happiness.

I really enjoyed the tension and increased stakes swinging on the end of this entertaining romance. After all, this dynamic is always there in Austen’s work, too – think of Charlotte Lucas and her explanation to Lizzie when she accepts Mr Collins’ proposal in Pride and Prejudice. But I’ve not seen it stated quite so baldly before and I think Irwin makes it work really effectively. It doesn’t hurt that Eleanor Tomlinson’s narration is excellent.

Indeed, I would have given this one a 10, if it hadn’t been for a couple of anomalies – one in particular irritated me. Apparently, although she is literate and educated, Irwin represents Kitty as not being acquainted with the Bible – and given the historical era in which this is set, that’s nonsense. While her parents were clearly unorthodox, they had settled in a country district and were regarded as respectable by the local gentry, which means they must have regularly attended the local church along with their family. The other slip I noticed was a mention of Kitty packing her suitcase – an item which didn’t appear until the later stages of the 19th century. Other than those mistakes, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and it comes highly recommended for those who enjoy Regency romances featuring a strong-minded, feisty heroine. While I obtained the audiobook arc of A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10