A Gilded Age take on The Bachelorette reality TV show finds Willow– the heiress to a successful sugar company– choosing from thirty men a husband who will help her run the family business.
This is a very fun and pleasant read, taking you with Willow as she begins to sort through the men vying for her. Thirty suitors are partaking in the competition, which will end in a wedding.
But, as time runs out for Willow, she finds her heart torn– especially when she begins to suspect some of the suitors may be spies for a rival company.
⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5/5 stars)
Honestly, I was not hugely expecting to love this book. For some reason, I thought that it wouldn’t be my cup of tea, but I am happy to say I was wrong! From the beginning, I was invested in this story, and excited to see how it all came together at the end. Something about the competition premise really made me want to figure out who would be eliminated next– kind of like watching a reality TV show. And, yes, this was just The Bachelorette competition set in the Gilded Age (at least, I think it was, but I’ve never watched the show, so I’m not entirely sure).
I think it’s only fair to warn potential readers that we get three perspectives in this book: Willow– our main girl, Teddy– one of her suitors who was a childhood friend, and Cullen– who is a mysterious suitor who she doesn’t know much about but is intrigued to spend more time with. So, as you may have guessed, there is a pretty important love triangle going on in this book, so if that’s a trope you like, I would definitely recommend giving this one a try. (It’s not a favorite trope of mine, which is why I wanted to forewarn my fellow readers.)
For the record, I already knew who won Willow in the end, because that had accidentally been spoiled (more about that in a minute), but I did see why she could have ended up with either of them, which kept me guessing the entire way. I didn’t love how we ended things with the guy she didn’t pick, but it also wasn’t the worst way, I’ll admit, and it was probably more realistic than how I would have done it.
I did think it was a little weird that these 30 elite and eligible bachelors of the Four Hundred were available to spend months at this Manor in the hopes of winning Willow’s hand. I would think they had other possible brides to spend time with, but, I get why it was necessary for the story, like the convenient time limit on choosing a groom, and the necessity of a wedding directly after making her decision.
The whole sugar factory part was interesting, and I enjoyed the time we spent on that. I almost wish we had spent a little more time there, because I was interested in the history of sugar. (I know, I’m weird, but I do like sugar, and I love reading about the history behind things I like.)
And, without saying too much, let me just say that the villain was a truly awful person, and I really didn’t like anytime with spent with them. So, yeah, that was just not a great part for me, and it did drop my rating somewhat. But, they were definitely a ‘bad guy’, which makes things simple.
As far as content goes, I’d say this one was very clean for a Christian historical romance. There were a couple of mentions of scandals, romantic relationships out of wedlock, illegitimate births, and cheating on, but these mentions were very brief. There were also a few small bits of violence, but nothing too major or noteworthy. I’d say it would be fine for upper teens, but that’s just my opinion.
All in all, I found this to be a very enjoyable clean romance, and the premise drove the story and kept me interested– which is probably why reality TV is so popular. Competitions in books as a whole tend to grab my attention, so, yeah, I liked this one a whole lot more than I anticipated it.
I believe this entire series is available through Kindle Unlimited, which is really quite convenient. I will probably continue on to the sequel, which brings me back to the spoiler that I accidentally found out. Because… the second book is about the love interest that doesn’t end up with Willow… and his name is in the title. So, I would definitely recommend avoiding looking at the series unless you’re alright with knowing how the love triangle plays out. Anyway, I am interested in reading his story, too.
Now, we get to one of my favorite parts of any book review…
THE EMOJI REVIEW:
- ⚠️ LOVE TRIANGLE!!!
- 📺 basically the 1800s equivalent of The Bachelorette
- 🤑 wealthy heiress
- 🔎searching for a husband
- 🧑🧑🧒 matchmaking parents
- 🤫 lots of secrets and things to figure out
- ⛸️ she’s an ice skater
- 👑 the american royalty part is just a nickname because she’s ‘queen of a sugar empire’
keira anne with an e 
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