So back in February, I found out that a site called BookishFirst was hosting a giveaway for one of my most anticipated books of the year, The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune. All you had to do to be entered was create an account for the site, read the preview provided, and write a first impression. I did not end up winning, but I was still very interested in the site itself. You earn points by writing reviews, and every week previews for several upcoming books are released, so you can enter a raffle by writing your first impression of the book. Rack up enough points (2000 to be exact) and use them to claim a copy from the current raffle. So that’s how I came across the book I’m talking about today, Heiress For Hire by Madeline Hunter, which is being released on April 28th, 2020 – the day this should be posted, if everything goes as planned.
When I finally earned 2000 points, I had two misconceptions – 1.) that I had to spend my points right away, and 2.) that I could claim a book from a previous raffle. Since I discovered I couldn’t pick a book from a previous raffle, I looked at the three books to choose from that week: a historical romance, a literary fiction, and a sci-fi/fantasy. Normally I would gravitate towards the literary fiction, but the premise really did not appeal to me, and so ultimately I decided to go with something completely out of my comfort zone – the historical romance. It arrived as a mass-market paperback arc on my door a few weeks later, and now I get to tell you what I thought about it!
One day, an intruder breaks into Minerva Hepplewhite’s home, and she responds in the only way she can – by hitting him over the head, tying him up, and questioning him while pointing a pistol in his direction when he regains consciousness. Said intruder, Chase Radnor, informs Minerva that she has been written into the will of the late Duke of Hollinburgh, and has inherited a large sum of money. Chase, nephew of the Duke, believes the circumstances of his death to be suspicious and decides to conduct a discreet inquiry – since no one in his family has ever heard of Minerva, he can’t help but add this peculiar, alluring woman to his list of suspects. Minerva and Chase find themselves wrapped up in this mystery, uncovering family secrets and trying to escape past events, and somewhere along the line the two of them discover that perhaps they wish to partake in a much deeper alliance.
For someone who does not typically pick up historical romance, I really enjoyed my time reading this book. I loved Minerva’s character – I found her to be a woman scarred by her troubled past, but able to heal and move on from it (through self-discovery and with the help of cherished friends, Beth and Jeremy) and learn to take care of herself. When she meets Chase and begins to feel some kind of attraction towards him, she doesn’t trust her instinct, as it had gotten her badly hurt in the past. But when she finally opens up to Chase, he isn’t perfect but is understanding of her boundaries and helps Minerva learn to trust him (and ultimately herself). Their banter was snarky and I liked it a lot. I also found the mystery plot around Minerva’s late husband, Algernon, to be an interesting addition to the story, and the outcome was a believable one (that had me saying “I knew it!” when I reached the point where things are revealed). I will say that what drew me in initially, and what made me want to pick this book up in the first place, was the investigation into the Duke’s death, and that was one point in the story I felt to be lacking, especially after the romance plotline had already been established. I found the conclusion of the investigation to be a bit unsatisfying (at least for me), but I do acknowledge that this is the beginning of a series, and we may revisit this aspect in future novels. Although I will say that I liked the fact that both main characters were conducting their own investigations, and with each person they talked to they gathered different information, so in order to paint the whole picture they just had to talk to each other about it – talk about a recipe for success. Overall, I found the romance between Minerva and Chase to be at the forfront of this book, and was not disappointed. I even enjoyed the sex scenes, while I’m typically not really a fan, and thought they were well written. I guess this means I’ll have to read more historical romance in the future to compare.
In conclusion, I found this to be an incredibly enjoyable historical romance between a strong female lead and the grandson of a lord. It was lighthearted and fun, and exactly what I needed to read during this period of uncertainty in the world. Madeline Hunter really did give me a nice introduction to a genre I would normally gloss over in recommendations, and hopefully I’ll be able to pick up some similar new reads soon. Happy book birthday to Heiress For Hire, and if you’re someone like me who needed a really simple introduction into the world of historical romance, I highly recommend picking this one up.
Places you can find Heiress For Hire:
Goodreads
Amazon
Madeline Hunter’s site
Thoughts About Things 