Marrying a Reluctant Lady: A Historical Regency Romance Novel (Regency Marriages of Convenience Book 2)
The course of duty does not allow love…but the heart has its reasons.
Miss Ophelia Worthington longs to marry for love, not just wealth and ambition as her social-climbing parents demand. An incurable romantic who secretly writes poetry, she hopes to find a gentleman who understands her creative spirit. When an abrupt arrangement secures Ophelia an advantageous match to the newly titled and enigmatic Earl of Ivystone, she resigns herself to a marriage of obligation devoid of affection.
Lord Owen Beckworth never expected to inherit the deteriorating Ivystone Estate. The fresh grief over his father and brother’s tragic deaths still haunts him while struggling to restore the declining family lands and legacy. Too pragmatic to consider romance, Owen agrees to wed Ophelia for her generous dowry to rescue his ancestral home from ruin.
At first detached strangers trapped in a marriage of convenience, an unexpected friendship slowly entwines Owen and Ophelia through shared passions for reading and poetry. As their pragmatic union transforms into an emotional connection neither anticipated, both will be challenged to choose between duty and letting love guide their fates.
Destiny binds two lonely souls through a marriage of obligation. But could simmering affection between them defy expectations, making theirs a match for the ages founded upon true love?
*If you like engaging characters, heart-wrenching twists and turns, and lots of romance, you’ll love “Marrying a Reluctant Lady”!
A captivating regency romance of 65,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a sweet happily ever after.
Also available with Kindle Unlimited!
Customer Reviews
P*******y
Nice
A fun clean regency romance with a small error: several times the male lead is referred to as Lord Ivyrham rather than Lord Ivystone…February 1, 2025
k***n
A lovely book full of heartbreaking romance
I enjoyed this book. It was a sweet story about a young woman marrying a man she had barely met. Though she doubted she’d be happy, it turned out to be a blessing to both of them. A truly lovely love story!January 24, 2025
M**V
An Early Marriage/A Fire/Love Endures
Two shy soles, one alone & very bitter, and the other with all knowledge unable to express herself. An arranged marriage for the title but slowly & surely their love grows, their gentle soles united. But a very devious person is around & up to no good!!January 1, 2025
K*************r
Marrying a Reluctant Lady
So glad this couple who had only met once before marriage were able to find love and friendship and also solve the problems facing Owen. It was great that he recognized her intelligence and talents and encouraged her to use them in a manner that helped everyone. Enjoyed the story and the characters.August 19, 2024
K*****h
Interesting Sounding Story – Curse / Cuss Word
I had read another book by this author (MTISD). I don’t remember there being an issue with the language in that book, and because I enjoyed the story, I decided to check this book. But I got to chapter two and there was a curse word, so I stopped reading. If cuss words are ever removed from the book please let me know as the storyline sounded interesting, and it would likely change my rating.March 31, 2024
e***5
Marrying a Reluctant Lady
I really liked story! The characters were well developed. Both the H/h were fantastic as well as the supporting characters. It would have been nice to have her mother and father in the epilogue.March 22, 2024
T**s
A Shy Empathetic Couple Cope with an arranged Mmarriage with LOVEly results.
Ophelia is a wealthy young woman who just wants a quiet life with a focus on writing poetry. Owen is a young man who is forced to become a Duke after the untimely death of his father and brother. His estate is facing major debt not of his making. His Aunt Julia convinces him to marry an heiress. Ophelia’s parents are quite wealthy and ambitious to have her marry someone with a title. As the story progresses, the reader is enabled to learn how mutual love can grow between strangers. Conversations are written so clearly that the reader becomes a witness watching two gentle people build a happy relationship in matrimony.March 17, 2024
O****************s
Marrying a Reluctant Lady
This book is a sweet regency story with a seemingly mismatched couple who manage to find their way to a loving marriage. They learned the secret to what things are really important in life.March 16, 2024
D***n
a little reluctant at first
It was a nice easy slow read. Not too many exciting parts and no steamy bits. Sometimes you need to slow things down and this book covered it .March 15, 2024
M**t
Heartwarming
I read it through in one sitting. It was sweet and delightful! The writer expressed herself so well that I could feel and enjoy the surroundings, the characters and the flow of love brought about by Ophelia and Owen as they discovered the depths of the beauty of their love.March 12, 2024
M*****************r
Terrific
The plot kept you guessing. It is well written.March 9, 2024
D******n
Beware of Deceit
Miss Ophelia Worthington loves her poetry and has hopes to marry someone that understands her. Her parents are looking for an advantageous marriage so much so that her father approaches the Earl of Ivystone, and states the financial gain he would have by marrying Ophelia. Lord Owen Beckworth taken aback by the offer did consider it as he was interested in Ophelia. He didn’t expect to ever be in the position he was in however, he decided it was best to offer marriage. Struggling with the finances and trying to aright them kept him busy. His steward kept making demands and overstepping and was getting on his nerves. Once he found out that Ophelia was good at numbers, he asked her to help him with the ledgers where she found errors. As they were finding their way to an enjoyable relationship tragedy struck. ARC ReviewMarch 7, 2024
s**********r
An Acceptance
A young couple don’t want to marry, but because of circumstances beyond their control they are thrown together in an arranged marriage, then face many problems that they have to work on.March 7, 2024
L*****G
Loved it!
What a beautiful story! Loved the connection they shared and how they developed unexpected feelings through shared interests despite everything! Great story!March 5, 2024
C*m
Wonderful!
This is my favorite novel by Amanda Stones! It’s well written. The characters are entertaining and sweet. Watching the two main characters find friendship and then love makes the journey in this book quite enjoyable!March 1, 2024
M******************a
A lovely sweet romance arising from a forced marriage situation
Marrying a Reluctant Lady is well-written and very well-edited. This is highly recommended not only because of how well it is presented, but also for its sweet story of how two people, who, despite being pushed into marriage for duty and expectations of society, discovers respect and love when they begin to accept and embrace their circumstances. It is a magical and romantic read indeed! Simple and straightforward in its approach. As in every ideal love story, focus is given to the lovers themselves; their characterization, the foundation of their relationship and how their romance blooms from friendship to true love. This story depicts the unfortunate plight of ladies of nobility to be married off to the highest bidder despite their wealth and/or education; and that ladies of quality, despite their high position in society, are only meant for marriage to gentlemen of equal or higher position than they are. How Lord Owen highlighted and appreciated Miss Ophelia’s talents and passions was a highlight and one of the best aspects of the story. It showed Lord Owen’s strength despite his insecurities. I love the author’s characterizations of the players. Except for the twist-villain whose motive in stealing and attempted murder are rather uncharacteristic and inexplicable, everyone is well placed regardless of them being stereotypes.February 25, 2024
M***M
A poetic lady finds love
This was an entertaining story with an arranged marriage turns to true love trope. I enjoyed the characters of Ophelia and Owen, but the other characters were rather thinly developed. The epilogue was too drawn out for my taste, but otherwise, a good read.February 24, 2024
G**.
transformation
I liked how Owen and Ophelia’s marriage of convenience transformed into true friendship and love, what started out of necessity turned into how a relationship should be.February 23, 2024
R*********e
Love makes all things new again
The first two meetings between Owen and Ophelia were not good. Owen seemed abrupt and rude and then at a ball, Ophelia accidentally stepped on Owen’s foot which embarrassed her greatly. Owen’s finances were so dire that he did not even own a carriage and so with advice from a friend, his aunt and Ophelia’s father, he decided it was best to marry Ophelia. Both were shy but finally warmed up to each other through poetry. Their relationship blossomed then. Barrow, the steward, had a horrible plan in store for the nosy new countess but Owen saved the day. I really enjoyed this story. The characters were wonderful and Barrow was understandably very much a villain.February 23, 2024
J*d
Great read!
Miss Ophelia’s biggest problem is her social climbing parents. The Earl of Ivystone was in financial ruin and his only way out was to marry someone with a large dowry. Ophelia’s father suggested his daughter as his perfect match. This book is a wonderful love story with a bit of added intrigue. The characters were very engaging and the plot exciting.February 23, 2024
J**********e
Mesmerizing!
Marriage can bring with it so many difficult adjustments, but especially when the two involved really don’t know each other. This is the situation in which Owen and Ophelia find themselves. Add to that a certain unknown tension that builds gradually until a surprising conclusion, and this reader found herself totally mesmerized!February 23, 2024
Jo
The two Os
Owen and Ophelia meet on two occasions which are both disastrous. Non the less, a marriage of convenience is established between the two. An engaging story with a villain and drama. Beautiful characters and with depth and insecurities.February 23, 2024
c**********3
Romance
Well written. Love the characters.February 22, 2024
