Mr. Fernley and the Lady

Fernley Family, Book 2

By: Angela E. Johnson

Narrated by: Grace Noble

When love arrives on a racing horse, who knew it would require one thousand white lilies?

Mr. Archibald Fernley has secured the most sought-after editor in England only to discover his current manuscript is unacceptable. With a deadline of one month, Archie’s assignment is to discover a topic to enchant the ton while exposing the inequalities in England’s social classes. On the eve of his departure from London, Archie finds himself entangled in a scandal providing him with a bride.

To escape an unwanted suitor, Lady Rosalind Bailey accepts an offer to dance with Mr. Fernley. A waltz leads to scandal when they are discovered in a secluded room without an escort and are forced to marry.

Rosalind and Archie are not a love match, but a summer at Brookside Manor and a courtship culminating with one thousand white lilies could make a world of difference in their marriage and lead their souls to love.

This book can be listened to as a stand-alone novel or enjoyed as part of the Fernley Family series by Angela Johnson. This is a sweet Regency-era romance.

©2022 Angela Johnson (P)2023 Angela Johnson

slow burn and whimsical

Forced marriage over scandal it will take time for them to get to know one another and find love. This gave me all the little butterflies in my tummy feeling that I love from romance.

Author + Grace = Perfection

If I could give this book more than the fifteen stars allowed, I would do so because this has to be one of the sweetest, most endearing, forced marriage, love stories I have ever read. I actually listened to this as an audiobook with a first time narrator, Grace Noble, for me and she was perfection! She captured the the characters of Archie and Rosalind, plus all the secondary characters with such inflection and precision that I could have listened to her for hours more. Add that to a beautiful story, and you will have an experience to enjoy for hours.

I hope Angela has Grace narrate her other books. I totally fell in “book boy friend love” with Archie so much that I would not mind going back in time with all the crazy rules of Society just to date him. 😂 Grace could actually do a man’s voice without sounding silly. She can also do all the other accents that made the story great.

All kidding aside, I loved the way Archie and Rosalind grew to love each other with mutual respect first, and not lust. It’s so refreshing to read books without profanity, and the couples behaving in lust rather than love. This will be one of those books that I will listen to many times just like I have with Pride and Prejudice. I love the companionship of the brothers and I cannot wait for the other books to be made into audiobook form. This is definitely worth the credit!

Charming Regency

This was a rather good Regency. The story was sweet in the development of the characters. They both cared and wanted the best for each other. It’s refreshing

Loved it.

This book is part of a series but it can be read as a stand-alone (although you won’t regret reading the first book- it was good!).
I loved the main characters and how they interacted with each other. The plot was clean but still romantic. It held my interest right up till the end. One of my favorite trope is the forced marriage so this one was especially fun for me to read.
The narrator was wonderful. I thought she did a great job (I do listen at 2x speed and she still sounded good).
I can’t wait for more from this author!

Not for me

I made it to chapter 10 but there was not enough to hold my interest and I found I wasn’t paying attention anymore. The narrator’s seemed very slow, that may have added to it.