Sir Hugo Seeks a Wife by Anna Campbell

Tracy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Cinderellas of Mayfair, #1

Release Date: August 13, 2025

After a youthful indiscretion, which left her ruined and estranged from her family, Lady Athene Colton-Heath is forced to reinvent herself. Thankfully, with the support of her friend Sylvie Lebeau, the owner of Sweet Little Nothings, a bon-bon shop in London, she becomes Aphrodite de Smith and writes poetry for London’s courting swains. And after her failed romance, she has resigned herself to a quiet, solitary life. But that was before she met Sir Hugo Brinsmead, when he came into the shop for a gift for the current belle of the season, and wants Aphrodite to write a verse for the lady. The mutual attraction is instant, but Athene is convinced that they can’t be together because of her troubled past.

Sir Hugo Brinsmead came to London with the vague intention of finding a bride. He meets Athene aka Aphrodite when his friend Ivor Bilson, convinces him to send a gift for Lady Petronella Fitchett, the ton’s reigning debutante, a woman he has no intention of courting. But when he meets Athene, he knows he has met the woman he wants to marry, too bad she keeps turning him down. When she agrees to an affair, he is sure he can convince her to change her mind, until he can’t. He loves Athene and won’t stop trying to win her, but are they destined for happiness or heartbreak?

What a great start to a new series! I loved this story, it was well-written, nicely paced and has a very fresh plot. Athene and Hugo are clearly meant to be, but Athene is convinced that her past is impossible to overcome and refuses to ruin Hugo’s life. But Hugo is not a man that is willing to walk away from love. Their journey to HEA is filled with emotion, secrets, longing, steamyish love scenes, heartache, and surprising twists that change everything. This book was a delight to read, and I highly recommend it to my fellow historical romance readers!

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