Release Date: July 19, 2023
About the Author: Jennie Goutet is the best-selling author of twelve Regency romances, including the Clavering Chronicles, Memorable Proposals, and Daughters of the Gentry series. Her books have received first place in historical romance for the New England Reader’s Choice Awards and have hit the number one spot in Regency Romance on Amazon. They have been featured on BookBub and Hoopla, and are translated into five languages. Jennie is an American-born Anglophile who lives with her French husband and their three children in a small town outside of Paris. Her imagination resides in Regency England, where her best-selling proper Regency romances are set.
MY REVIEW
When Peregrine Osborne inherits Brindale Castle in Kent, he doesn’t realize there’s a lady that comes with it. Ever since her parents’ death, Marianne Edgewood has been left on the estate with only a few servants. But since her uncle gambled the place away to Perry Osborne’s uncle, it’s only a matter of time before the rightful owner comes to claim it.
Perry is highly anxious to have friends and to fit in. Tasked by his uncle with renovating Brindale, he’s on a strict timeline since his fancy London friends are coming to stay and he wants to impress them. But despite the annoyance of an unexpected inhabitant, throwing Miss Edgewood out of her childhood home is a step too far for a gentleman like Perry. Besides, the girl is lovely, and he finds himself growing more and more attracted to her odd, country ways.
Marianne, who has kept to herself except for a friendship with one young gentleman in the neighborhood, finds the considerate but mercurial Perry very charming. As the story unfolds and more guests arrive at Brindale, Perry learns that his friends are not of the importance he thinks they are, and Marianne learns a thing or two about who her true friends are. Perry’s protective instincts for Marianne help him grow into a true gentleman.
This book was challenging for me to like at first because Perry is not a likeable character right off the bat. That said, he has a very satisfying character arc with growth in maturity and virtue, and by the end of the book, he is just the man Marianne needs. This was my first Regency by Jennie Goutet, and I’m excited to read more from this author!
“What do you mean that you like me?” Her voice squeaked at the end, proving just what a timid, spiritless creature she was.
Mr. Osborne looked again to the ceiling and exhaled as though searching for divine inspiration to answer an impossible question. “By that I mean that I like to talk to you and look at you”–he paused–“and that I would like you to call me Perry instead of Mr. Osborne.” He frowned and tucked his brows together as he thought some more. “It means that I think about kissing you–and would do so if I could.”
-An Amiable Foe by Jennie Goutet
Romance with Humor and Heart 
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