Can playing pretend change into the real thing?

Synopsis

A pretend proposal

For the unconventional heiress

When American heiress Violet Wilkins crosses paths with William, Duke of Charteris, she has extremely low expectations of the “Duke of Bore.” But when this seemingly stuffy aristocrat offers her escape from a dreadful arranged marriage, she leaps at the chance! To her surprise, the arresting Charles whisks Vi into an exhilarating make-believe romance. And as she gets to know the man behind the title, she can’t help wanting more…

My review

American heiress Violet Wilkins is shocked when her parents have arranged to get her married to her father’s business partner Harold Rogers. Not only is Mr. Rogers a business partner, but he is also thirty years older than Violet, and not really appealing.
When she meets William, the Duke Of Charteris, a strange alliance is being made. Even if he is better known as ‘The Duke Of Bore’, they will pretend to be engaged, avoiding an arranged marriage for Violet, and for William avoiding being chased like a hunted animal by women who only care about his title.
However while they are pretending to be in love, Violet gets to know William better and learns that there is much more to him than thought. And could she dream that their fake romance could change into a real one?

So here we are, the next chapter in the ‘Dollar Duchesses’ Series…
And this time it’s Violet who is searching for that true love. She knows what true love looks like, she just needs to look at her sisters.

Violet is really easy to like. It’s not that she is doing something extraordinary, but her just being herself is enough to be extraordinary.
She has a passion for photography (the old fashioned way of course) and it just a kind, warm, caring and loving woman.
Her reaction when she learns about her arranged marriage is obviously making sense, because just imagine the horror, marrying someone so much older and someone who doesn’t inflict any kind of feelings except a bit of disgust.
So who of us wouldn’t agree to pretend to be engaged, just to escape that kind of marriage?

Of course, being pretend – engaged to William, The Duke Of Bore, doesn’t seem that very exciting, but I immediately liked him!
It’s no secret that it’s the quiet types are the most wonderful, swoon worthy characters! William may seem like an old soul, but while spending more and more time with Violet, we see this whole other side of him. Not only is he very caring and warm, but he also shows this passionate side. And the way he encourages Violet to keep pursuing her dreams of photography… not every man, especially a Duke, would like to see a woman being so independent!

I found this an entertaining second part of the series, showing us also glimpses of a past not that far away, full of wonder too and taking us even to Russia for a whole different experience and also laughter.

This story shows us that sometimes a forced arrangement can lead to much more, even exceed your dream. But all it takes is to believe in yourself and courage to come clean about your feelings. Sometimes a dive in the deep can be the most rewarding!