Recently, I’ve been downloading a ton of Regency (or Regency-esque) novels from Bookbub. They’re not my favorite (because I like my smut to involve people who bathe regularly), but I am most definitely a Jane Austen girl at heart. I also really like Arranged Marriage/ Fake Marriage/ Marriage of Convenience, and they are all big staples in Regency Romance.
So getting to read an ARC for Julie Wright’s An Inconvenient Letter was absolutely up my alley.
In An Inconvenient Letter, Etta Stone writes love letters to a man whom she never intended to read them. However, the choice is taken out of her hands when the letters get sent anyway. Gerard Hartwell has to marry a rich heiress or succumb to his father’s bad financial dealings. The choice is made easy when he finds Etta’s letters and blackmails her into a fake courtship. The scheme seems to work out for both of them, but, when given the chance to really get to know each other, can their courtship continue to be fake?
To be quite honest, I did enjoy this book. It was a relatively quick read that featured a trope that I love. The two main characters were a bit slow on the uptake, but it worked out in the end. There’s no spice, but the back and forth is enough to make you okay with them just ending up together.
The weird thing about reading ARCs months before the book is supposed to be published is that you have to wonder what really stops an author from fixing the plot holes in the story and effectively nullifying your review, especially in this digital age. Because there were some things that the author probably has enough time to fix.
I will give the author that she made an attempt to resolve all of her plot points, but a few of them needed to be better expounded upon. The issue with Mrs. Stone being so harsh with Etta was not resolved satisfyingly for the amount of weight it was given in the story. I got the feeling Mrs. Stone hated Etta. I legitimately kept waiting for someone to say that Etta was adopted or her father’s love child.
Mrs. Stone seemed to know Etta and Mr. Hartwell would fall out, and that’s also never explained. It makes Mrs. Stone’s paltry explanation as to why she treated Etta the way she did even worse.
Miss Bates also seemed to know about the letter, but it’s not explained why, so we’re supposed to assume that Freddie told her everything. That’s an okay conclusion, but their relationship is left unresolved, so the idea that Freddie told Miss Bates about Gerard’s situation makes Freddie look extra childish.
As I said before, I enjoyed this book for what it was. Plot holes aside, I think it’s a good addition to the Fake Romance trope, if not the Regency Romance subgenre. That being said, if you like Fake Courtships, Bold Younger Sisters, and debutantes, then this book is definitely for you.
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Eurydice Howell 