A Daring Pursuit: The Ruthless Rivals by Kate Bateman

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Ruthless Rivals, #2

Release Date: May 24, 20222

Lady Carys Davies is being blackmailed by a man she thought she loved and believed she would marry, but instead he left her ruined and married another, and then had the gall to demand she pay him if she didn’t want the ton to learn of her fall from grace. Carys would rather pay than let her brothers learn of her ruin and has decided to either remain a spinster or agree to a white marriage with her friend Lord Ellington. And besides that, the only man she really wants is the one she could never have, Tristan Montgomery, her neighbor, and lifelong enemy.

Tristan is everything that Carys is not, he is restrained, proper, and meticulous, in short, her complete opposite. But despite his outward disdain for her, Carys is never far from his thoughts and though he would never admit it, she inhabits many of his dreams and fantasies. However, she is not someone he would ever consider marrying, he needs a “proper” wife and he has already found the woman he plans to court. But when Tristan learns Carys’s secret, it changes everything between them and activates his protective instincts. And when the blackmail takes a turn into treason and Carys’s life is in danger, Tristan realizes that “proper” isn’t what he needs after all, but has he missed his chance?

What a fun, well-written, fast-paced read this was! Carys and Tristan are wonderful, relatable, and very likable characters who fill the pages of this enemies-to-lovers book with witty banter and barely contained passion. The book has secrets, blackmail, bears, treason, steamyish love scenes, lots of witty banter, great secondary characters, a couple of nail-biting, run-for-your-life moments, and finally a very satisfying HEA. Personally, I thought the villains got off a little easy, but overall, this was a fantastic read and though it is the second book in the series, it could easily be read as a standalone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*