A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting

By Sophie Irwin

What it’s about?

From Goodreads:

A whip-smart debut that follows the adventures of an entirely unconventional heroine who throws herself into the London Season to find a wealthy husband. But the last thing she expects is to find love…

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…

This is a frothy pleasure, full of brilliant repartee and enticing wit—one that readers will find an irresistible delight.

What I think:

This is a fun quick read.

Kitty is intelligent and tenacious. When her family is left in debt and her and her sisters are about to be thrown out of their home, Kitty is determined to do whatever it takes to save the family. This means she has to find a husband rich enough to support her and her sisters.

Kitty and her sister head to London with clear objectives in mind. They need to convince society that they are respectable and make excellent matches – the richer the better.

Kitty soon finds herself up against Lord Radcliffe. He is suspicious of Kitty and convinced that she is a fortune hunter who will break his brother’s heart. Kitty is soon including Radcliffe in her schemes.

This is a simple, fun read with likeable characters. Yes, it’s a bit predictable and there is not much in the way of character development or period detail, but it is an enjoyable read for those wanting a Regency romance with a bit of sass.

Thank you to Netgalley for my gifted digital copy of A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting.