How the Lady Was Won by Shana Galen

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Survivors, #7

Release Date: February 11, 2020

Lady Daphne has not seen or heard from her husband, Colin FitzRoy in seven years, as he went off to war shortly after their very lackluster wedding night, even though he has been back in England for over a year. She was angry and hurt by his desertion and is not thrilled that her mother the Duchess of Warcliffe has harassed him into helping her out of her current spot of trouble.

Colin FitzRoy is known as the Pretender in the Survivors, he is able to blend in anywhere, a trait he is using to its full advantage as he watches his wife at a ball. Daphne is a lovely woman and is revered in the ton as one of the three “suns”, a trio of very popular and influential women. She is dangerous to his peace of mind, so Colin’s plan is to solve Daphne’s problem as quickly as possible and then disappear again. It isn’t that he dislikes his wife, in fact the problem is that he does and that she makes him feel things, she stirs up feelings that he doesn’t was to think about or feel. So the sooner he can help her, the better. But Daphne isn’t going to make it easy and when you throw in a duchess hell-bent on seeing her daughter settled, a Scotsman on the hunt for a wife, fellow survivors insisting on discussing feelings, an aging pug, a very nasty villain and a sassy street urchin, it is clear that Colin’s life is never going to be the same.

This was a well written, fast paced, fun read. I loved Daphne and Colin, they were both likable and intelligent, I loved that even though Colin’s first impulse was to bolt, he tried to consider Daphne’s feelings, even though “feelings” clearly terrified him. It was amusing watching Colin convince himself that he wasn’t in love. And Daphne was a delightful heroine, she is not perfect, but she is forgiving, patient and kind. I love that she didn’t give up on Colin, but neither did she turn into a doormat or waste away pining for him, and while she was angry and hurt, she didn’t become petty and hurtful in return. I also liked that she wasn’t stupid enough to think that she didn’t need Colin’s help, but it was her problem, she owned it and while she would accept help, she wasn’t going to let him push her aside to take care of it. This was a great book with witty dialogue, steamy love scenes, great secondary characters, kidnapping, a heroine who can hold her own and finally a very HEA. This is the seventh book in the series, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone title. I loved this book and I happily recommend this entire series.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me*