BOOK REVIEW: The Proposition by Madeleine Roux

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review. 

The Proposition by Madeleine Roux is a new Regency Romance with a revenge trope, strong protagonists, and intriguing chemistry.

Miss Clemency Fry has been biased against marriage since age 11, when she found a copy of a treatise against it moldering in the woodshed, a treaty that pointed out all the disadvantages of marriage for women. However, she was wooed and won by Lord Turner Boyle. They’re now engaged but she’s having second thoughts because, once she accepted his proposal, he grew cold and cruel. She wants out.

Mr. Audric Ferrand is a new arrival to Clemency’s town. He is on a secret mission to hunt down and destroy Turner Boyle, who is not who he claims to be. Boyle may be a charmer but he’s also a scoundrel who ruins women for fun and profit. Audric’s main task in life has been punishing such scoundrels. He’s been on Boyle’s trail for a while and has a personal vendetta against the man.

Audric makes Clemency a proposition. They’ll ruin Boyle together. 

It takes a while for Clemency to trust Audric and to believe the wild accusations he throws at Boyle. But once she does, she’s completely on board.

The plot focuses on their schemes as well as the developing romance between the two. While some elements are rather farfetched and the ending comes about almost in spite of them instead of because of them, I was drawn into both the revenge plot and the romance. It’s fine entertainment for “revenge story” fans.