An Unwitting Alliance (Matchmaking Mamas book # 2)

Anneka R Walker
Genre: 
Historical

This story of two young people making “An Unwitting Alliance” is set in London in the year 1821. Cassandra Vail, a lovely yet stubborn ingénue, attends Lady Kellen’s ball in the hopes of winning a husband before her parents are able to carry through with their obnoxious intentions of matching her to a wealthy bachelor of their choosing. She would very much prefer to select her own husband. Lord Tom Harwood is a proud member of London’s Rebels and dances with a pretty woman in order to save his friend from unwanted attention. Too late, he realizes he has danced with—and embarrassed—the wrong woman. Soon Cassandra and Tom learn they have been matched by their parents. But the only thing they can agree on is that neither one wants to get betrothed.

“An Unwitting Alliance” opens with a particularly strong beginning, quickly cementing the characters firmly in the reader’s heart. This is the second book in the Matchmaking Mamas series, and though it can be read as a standalone, reading book one of the series first will help to make things clearer for the reader. The story’s conflict is not as organic as one might like, with misunderstandings usually at fault. Communication between Cassi and Tom is poor to non-existent at times, creating further problems. Aside from those issues, Cassi is pleasant and sweet, and Tom is a fast thinker, able to wiggle out of any trouble with charm and wit. Together, Tom and Cassi form their own great unwitting alliance.

Emerson Matthews