A RECKLESS MATCH
by
Kate Bateman
Book: A Reckless Match
Publisher: St Martin's Paperbacks
Publication Day: 28 September 2021
Meet the Davies and Montgomery families - two households
locked in an ancient feud, destined to be on opposing sides forever. Until
now...
CAN LIFELONG HATE . . .
Madeline Montgomery grew up despising––and secretly loving––the roguish Gryffud
“Gryff” Davies. Their families have been bitter rivals for hundreds of years,
but even if her feelings once crossed the line between love and hate, she’s
certain Gryff never felt the same. Now, she’s too busy saving her family from
ruin to think about Gryff and the other “devilish” Davies siblings. Since he’s
off being scandalous in London, it’s not like she’ll ever see him again...
TURN TO TRUE LOVE?
As the new Earl of Powys, Gryff Davies planned on spending his post-war life
enjoying the pleasures of London. But when an illegal duel forces him to
retreat to his family’s Welsh castle, he realizes the only exciting thing in
the dull countryside will be seeing the fiery Maddie Montgomery. Thoughts of
his nemesis sustained Gryff throughout the war; but the girl he loved to tease
has grown into a gorgeous, headstrong woman – who loathes him just as much as
she ever did. Will secret tunnels, dangerous smugglers, and meddling from their
feuding families be enough to make Maddie and Gryff realize that their
animosity is really attraction...and maybe even love?
A Reckless Match is the first in a new regency romance series by Kate
Bateman about two feuding families, and reunited childhood enemies whose hatred
turns to love.
Gryff and Maddie are a couple who are a match in so many ways; the sparks fly off the page as they battle wits, deeds and the ever-growing attraction between them. Even with the general inequity between men and women in Regency times, I felt that Gryff and Maddie came together as equals. Beyond the physical attraction, they genuinely liked each other. There was respect, and they had confidence in each other’s abilities.
Kudos to Bateman for also infusing a sense of fun in the feuding family trope. The trickery and games of one-upmanship seems as natural to all the players as is breathing, but it stops well short of malevolence. In fact, I often laughed at the escapades Gryff and Maddie got up to during their childhood, all in the name of holding onto a grudge.
RECKLESS MATCH is a delightfully fun and deliciously naughty read. I am looking forward to the next book in the Ruthless Rivals series.
Review copy courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher.
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About the Author
Kate Bateman, (also writing as K. C. Bateman), is the #1 bestselling author of Regency, Victorian, and Renaissance historical romance. Her Renaissance romp, The Devil To Pay, is a Romance Writer’s of America 2019 RITA® Finalist and her Regency-set A Counterfeit Heart (Secrets & Spies series) won the 2018 Book Buyer’s Best contest for Best Historical Romance.
Kate wrote her first historical romance in response to a $1 bet with her husband who rashly claimed she’d ‘never finish the thing.’ She gleefully proved him wrong. Her books feature her favourite intelligent heroines, (badasses in bodices!) wickedly inappropriate banter, and heroes you want to both strangle and kiss.
When not traveling to exotic locations ‘for research’, Kate leads a not-so-secret double life as a fine art appraiser and on-screen antiques expert for several TV shows in the UK, each of which has up to 2.5 million viewers. Before writing romance, Kate was director and valuer at her own UK Auction House, Batemans in Stamford, Lincolnshire. She currently splits her time between Illinois and her native England and writes despite three inexhaustible children and that husband… who still owes her that dollar.
https://www.kcbateman.com/
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