Goodreads | Amazon  | Audra’s Instagram

*Affiliate link used*

–Synopsis–

She had sworn to never fall in love, but one man changed all the rules . . .

Louisa Morgan never intended to fall in love, so when the stuffiest of men offers to marry her for the sake of convenience, it feels like an offer from heaven itself. Things change, however, and the rigid Duke of Boroux begins to wax poetic, doing his best to win her hardened heart. But love was never to be on the table, and Louisa isn’t sure she wishes to play his risky game.

Robert, the Duke of Boroux, tired of society and its demands, decides to take matters into his own hands. Instead of a silly wife only after his title, he will ask a lady who knows her own mind and may just be the perfect woman to become his duchess. But when things beyond his control change his perception of what a marriage should look like, his entire world is turned upside down. Now his greatest struggle is to convince the woman he is falling in love with to love him back.

What will happen when two obstinate people are on opposing sides and neither will relent?

–Review–

This final installment was an overall enjoyable experience to close out the Improper Agreements series. While this book lacked in certain aspects I grew to love in the previous books, it made up when it came to the romance between the main characters.

This book follows the same pattern of being a dual-POV story. Louisa Morgan (the sister of Henry from the previous book) and Duke Robert Boroux are the two main characters this time around. From what I remember from An Improper Scheme, Robert makes an appearance as more of a background character so that added a sense of recognition to the reader.

This book changed the pattern from the previous books. For one, marriage is not the ultimate goal. This altered the dynamic between Lousia and Robert that felt fresh and more interesting. Since courtship flew out the window, the events take place amongst a more personal setting, instead of focusing mainly on social gatherings. In that regard, the world felt much smaller and less lively in general. This was one of the characteristics I missed from the other books. We do get to experience new settings including the sprawling Boroux estate, as well as new places in London.

Since Louisa is the main character, Violet, Henry and her mother make multiple appearances. Once again, I love seeing how previous couples have progressed in their relationships and how they react to the current relationship.

Louisa has the same attitude as in An Improper Scheme. She is very outspoken and not prone to romantic pursuits. When she witnessed how negatively her mother was affected with her father’s passing, she closed herself off from even the possibility of losing herself to that same grief. This stubbornness to get close to anyone, is what led to her quick acceptance of Robert’s proposal. She was under the impression their marriage would solely be one of convenience and she no longer wanted to be a burden on Violet and Henry. She had the strongest character development as she struggled to deny her true feelings while keeping Robert at arm’s length. It was also enjoyable to see how quickly she settled into her new role as Duchess of the Boroux estate.

Robert Boroux is a duke who is in charge of his family’s estate since his own father passed away. He struggles fulfilling the social obligations of his title as he finds the whole facade of it all tiring and anxiety inducing. He had his own personal reasons why he had such a nonchalant view on marriage that truly made sense. He proposes to Louisa initially due to her capabilities of being a strong duchess and woman of his household. Throughout the book, he continues to be respectful and patient with Louisa as his own feelings towards her begin to develop. As it turns out, Robert has some surprises up his sleeve that add to the overall entertainment value of their story.

As I alluded to in the first paragraph, the romance between Louisa and Robert was my favorite out of all four of the couples in this series. The evolution of their relationship felt backwards, making it feel much more interesting and entertaining. Seeing both of them go through their own development when it came to their views on what a marriage should be, made them feel so much more realistic as people. I was rooting for them to come to terms with their true feelings sooner rather than later as I did not want either to get their hearts broken. The tension between them was quite intense by the end of the book which added to the overall appeal and slow-burn aspect.

All in all, the Improper Agreements series ended on a high note for me as this was my favorite book out of the four. I HIGHLY recommend this whole series for those of you who enjoy a good episodic regency romance 🙂

-About the Author-

Audra is a stay-at-home mom who woke up one day and decided to put pen to paper (or more accurately, fingers to keys). She strives to write closed-door, historical romances that still contain a lot of angst that draw you into the characters and their story. She attempts to cram in writing in between snack breaks, dishes, laundry, and many questions from the tiny humans she is busy raising. So, so many questions.

So please, sit back, relax, and dive into one of her sweet stories today!

You can also find her on Instagram at @authoraudrawells