Loved the lead male in the story!

I enjoyed Miles and Dorothea's story. He was very likable. She was very serious. Took on a lot. Took much. I liked how Miles was able to get though to her young brother, the new earl. Lovely ending.

As usual, Jennie has writes a splendid story in which the deep character development creates authentic personalities. Miles is my favorite for the honorable way in which he behaves with charm, kindness, and confidence. Even though he is in search of a wife, he wants a love match despite his pecuniary considerations. Unfortunately, he almost immediately realizes Dorothea is the woman he wants. However, she seeks a brilliant match to a rich husband who has a title. Her reasons are due to her planning futures for her sisters to be brilliant. To complicate matters, her brother is a teenage Earl who is determined to do anything he desires regardless of propriety. Miles walks a thin line in revealing his situation. His cousin, Viscount Robert Throckmorton, is the heir to their grandfather, the Earl of Pembroke. “Rock” is very key to the climax in this story. Honesty and thoughtfulness are among Miles’ best qualities, so he is careful in what he says. When he trusts the truth to Dorothea, he suffers rejection. Actually, she has many opportunities to witness how gallant and thoughtful Miles really is. So hope survives. There is a climax well worth the wait. Then a very unique proposal happens. I am sincerely glad to know I will again meet these characters in the next books of this series !

Really beautiful love story. Great characters. Plot had plenty of insight into the marriage mart of the times and the necessity of making the best possible connection in order to secure a financial or a status level that secured you a secure future.

This was a lovely, short, fast-paced story.

It's been over a year since I read anything by Jennie Goutet. I'm happy to see a new series from her. I am looking forward to the sisters' love stories.📚

📖246 pages /🎧 3 hr (2x speed)

I like Miles Shaw’s character, and that he desired to be a good person and acted kindly towards others despite his penniless state. I wanted to shake Lady Dorothea several times because of her questionable goals. Thankfully, she realized what was most important before she totally messed up her life as well as others. She was so worried about her family and their individual weaknesses, as well as her family’s status in society, that she almost made some major mistakes with them, not realizing her family members were stronger than she thought. There was character development, discoveries, friendships, and faithfulness as well as faithlessness. Friendships sometimes come from unexpected places, and a brilliant match isn’t always what it seems.

“You are always thinking of others. I hope you will also make a love match this season. You deserve as much.” Uncomfortable with praise that she knew to be unwarranted, Dorothea gave a short laugh. “A love match—I? No, sister, I do not seek a love match. I seek an advantageous match—a brilliant match. Only with that will I be content.”

A delightful friends to more story with different social classes, sibling relationships, chemistry, and plot twists.

Dorothea is strong, determined, and knows her mind. She sees Miles as ineligible (and stubbornly holds that opinion) but quickly accepts his friendship. Her determination to marry only for a title is definitely challenged. I loved her relationship with Sophia and Evo. I enjoyed Dorothea’s character growth and her realizing the error of her thinking. I loved when she and Miles finally had an open, honest conversation. Miles is kind, persistent, and devoted to his mother. I loved his friendship with Rock! Miles falls hard and fast for Dorothea. I enjoyed seeing how he dealt with the twists and turns in his life. I loved his pursuit of Dorothea even when he realized where she stood concerning marriage. I enjoyed Dorothea and Miles’ banter and friendship. I loved seeing happiness and love win in the end. I am very much looking forward to the rest of the Earl’s Sisters books!

A few more quotes:

“Your family requires only that you love them without condition. They will sort their own lives out for themselves—and much better than you ever could, talented though you are.”

“Dorothea, I want to marry you. I think I have wanted to marry you from the very first moment I met you, and not entirely for the wrong reasons. For although I needed your dowry, I have never met a woman I wanted to be with day after day, every day, for the rest of my life until I met you.”

A Brilliant Match is a brilliant love story. Lady Dorothea is determined to marry a titled gentleman in order to help her younger sisters find suitable marriages. When she meets Miles Shaw her heart teaches her she should marry for love. The banter, uncertainty, and friendships in this story make this series one of my favorite! I can't wait to read the rest of the series. I would definitely recommend reading this novel first in the series, and using the author's audiobooks on YT.

Another priceless gem from Jennie Goutet, this is an engrossing tale that swept me into the world of Regency England with characters who felt so real, I could almost reach out and touch them. There is such an air of authenticity to this novel - this is surely how it would feel to try to try to find your way in society in 1805 when you know almost nobody - and the way the characters behave and how their story develops seem completely natural.

Lady Dorothea Rowlandson feels responsible for her younger siblings and timid mother and believes that their future happiness depends on her making a brilliant match. But how can she know who to choose when she has nobody to advise her? Meanwhile, the very charming Mr Miles Shaw is weighed down by responsibilities and desperately short of funds but he is uncomfortable with the idea of marrying for money. There’s a spark of attraction from their first meeting but of course the impoverished and untitled Mr Shaw is hardly the brilliant match Dorothea is looking for – or is he?

In her acknowledgments, the author says “This book was a toddler who sat down on the sidewalk, folded his arms, and refused to budge. I was ready to sit right down next to him and fold my own. Thank you to authors / editors Jolene Perry, Jess Heileman, Jacque Stevens, and Arlem Hawks for picking us both back up again so that Miles and Dorothea’s story could be told.”

I am so very glad they did! I can’t wait to read the next story in the series.

There are a plethora of authors who try to emulate Georgette Heyer but sadly fall a long way short of the mark. This author (new to me} is up there in the top contenders. She captures the readers interest right from the start and maintains it to the final page. The characters are believable, likeable and true to the times, the story is light-hearted, romantic yet not reliant on any sexual innuendos or ridiculous dithering or soul searching so many authors fill the pages with that only serves to frustrate the reader. This is a stand alone story and I am sure you won't be disappointed

A slow-burn Regency romance that is clean and sweet.

Two people, both needing to make an advantageous marriage, find them selves irrevocably attracted to each other no matter that each can only give love without riches of a monetary kind.

A typical regency story about the Ton and the London season, and those newly presented young ladies & their search for husbands. It's a lovely tale about Dorothea & Miles and the many hurdles they have to cross to find happiness. Well worth a read.

Normally I enjoy this author but that heroine would have had a copy of Debrett’s peerage and would have been consulting it constantly. She was also thoroughly dull and I get the pride (his) and prejudice (hers) themes but they were both so thoroughly uninteresting as people that I didn’t finish - very rare for me! This isn’t a review of the author who is generally very good - just this book!