Nearly a Bride by Sabrina Jeffries

Tracy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Lords of Hazard, #2

Release Date: April 28, 2026

When a fellow French emigrant began to question Miss Giselle Bernard about her travel papers, she became concerned and needed help, but since her brother-in-law the Duke of Falconridge and her half-sister are out of town, she turns to Rupert “Heath” Oakden, the Earl of Heathbrook for help. Giselle has known Heath for many years, as she worked in her cousin’s boarding house in Verdun, the French town where thousands of English citizens were detained during the war. She once shared a kiss with him, but he seemed to lose interest in her almost immediately after, breaking her young heart. But while he remained aloof, she still considered him a friend and has turned to him to help her secure legitimate papers for her and her mother. She never imagined that he would need her help in return, and that help would involve her having to pretend to be his fiancée!

After an impetuous mistake as a young man, Rupert “Heath”, his father, the previous Earl took him to France to get him away from England, but as luck would have it, Napoleon decided to detain them, and Heath ended up spending the next 11 years trapped in France and losing his father, before he was free to return to England. But upon returning home, he learned that his father did not make him the guardian of his younger brothers, one of whom he has never met, as he was born shortly after Heath and his father were detained. Custody of the boys was given to his mother’s cousin, and Heath has not even been able to visit them. He hired a lawyer to fight for custody, but with his previous reputation as a rake, his lawyer thinks he will have a hard time winning. His attorney suggests that Heath marry or at the very least get betrothed to an upstanding woman. He has just about given up hope when Giselle approaches him for help. It is the perfect solution! All he has to do is keep his hands (and lips) to himself until his brothers are back in his care and he can help Giselle, what could go wrong?

I loved the idea of this series about a group of men who formed a bond of brotherhood when they were detained in France and became what was known as “the detenu”, the history about this is fascinating and I was eager to learn more about it! In this installment, readers get to know Rupert Oaken aka Heath and Giselle Bernard, who have a history together, but who have not been close for many years, they get reacquainted when Giselle feels threatened and seeks out Heath for help. They agree to help each other and hope they can do so without making their relationship complicated. Giselle tries hard to keep her feelings out of it, especially after he rejected her years ago – or did he? Heath believes that he cannot love, but that is clearly untrue considering how hard he is working to get custody of his brothers. Overall, this was fast paced story with lots of history, emotion, secrets, shocking surprises, some steamyish love scenes, wonderful characters, and finally a happy ending complete with a sweet epilogue. I will be honest that I didn’t like this book as much as the first book, but it was still a good story and one I would be happy to recommend. This is the second book in a connected series, but it could be read and enjoyed as a standalone title with no problems.

*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. *