Beatrice is a classic bluestocking--vibrant, passionate, and a strident proponent of the rights of women. She's not thrilled that her beloved cousin Margaret is getting marrying to a man she doesn't know overly well, but Margaret is in love and Kit is a good man. What Beatrice is even less thrilled about is Kit's older brother, Will. Seeing Will as pompous and arrogant, Beatrice can't stand the sight of him--whereas he is hopelessly attracted to her (though he insists that he's above love, of course).

But when an uncomfortable truth is revealed about Beatrice's guardian, she's left with few options... Aside from marrying the man who's always irritated her most.

This started so well! Beatrice is a bluestocking, yes, but she comes off as the kind of bluestocking that still has a lot to learn about the practical world, and Will is--for all his protests--hopelessly besotted with her from the jump. His attempts to keep himself in check while around her, all the while baiting her to argue with him, are extremely charming. They have great chemistry, and he does seem more educated about the world than she is. You learn pretty quickly why Will doesn't want to fall in love or even marry (hint: mommy issues), and it gives him a more realistically world weary vibe than Beatrice, and that makes sense given their places in the world.

I didn't even mind that the enemies aspect of their relationship faded pretty quickly. I was okay with that. Once Beatrice figures out that Will is also in favor of women's rights, they're friends. It steps up their marriage of convenience pretty well. It does, however, begin to chip away at the tension. Once Will and Beatrice are friends, there's no more sparring. They're just kind of comfortable. And she does know about his Secret Pain pretty immediately. It's one thing for the reader to know, but her knowing explains outright, if you think about it at all, why he has the issues he has in the book's third act.

Which is where it all falls apart. There is a third act issue, and I love a third act issue, but damn this was flimsy. And when that issue does occur, Will digs his heels in and Beatrice is the voice of reason and it's clear that we the readers are supposed to just agree with her and say "good job Beatrice! Good feminist! You are right, he is wrong, time for him to apologize, yay Beatrice!"

The thing is that without giving the issue away--it's probably not what you think--Beatrice is technically right. But Will is coming from a completely understandable emotional place, and if she took the time to think about it and consider his perspective rather than pontificating about her morally superior stance, she'd get that. If the book called her on this, I'd be like, okay, this is where she needs to grow.

But no. Instead, it seems like the book just sides with Beatrice entirely, and she doesn't need to grow. When only one character needs to grow, you're kind of left with a rather flat and unfulfilling story, regardless of how fun the beginning was.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.