This is Sophie Irwin’s third novel and since I loved her first two – A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting and A Lady’s Guide to Scandal – I was looking forward to reading this one, but although I did enjoy it, I think it’s my least favourite of the three. If you’re new to her work, all three of Irwin’s books are set in Regency England and are all standalones with different sets of characters. Apparently this one is loosely based on the romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, which I haven’t seen, although I don’t think that would have made any difference to my impressions of the book.
Our heroine this time is Lydia Hanworth, a wool merchant’s granddaughter, who, as the novel opens, has found herself engaged to a man she doesn’t love. Lydia’s aunt and uncle, with whom she has lived since the deaths of her parents, have made it clear that if she refuses Lord Ashford, she’ll be sent to live with her awful Aunt Mildred – but Lydia has no intention of marrying him, or any other man not of her choosing. The engagement is due to be announced by Ashford’s father at a party in ten days’ time. That means Lydia has ten days to make Ashford regret he ever met her and voluntarily withdraw his proposal!
Like Sophie Irwin’s other books, this is a lively, entertaining read written with a lot of humour and comedy. Most of the story plays out at a house party hosted by Ashford’s cousin Phoebe, which means there are a limited number of characters to get to know. Despite this, not all of them came fully to life for me and a subplot that develops later in the book involving Phoebe, her husband and a missing necklace felt unnecessary. It does provide some purpose for Lydia’s brother, Pip, though – he has just begun working for the Bow Street Runners and has arrived at the house party with his notebook and quizzing glass, hoping for a real mystery to solve.
Some of Lydia’s attempts to drive Ashford away are quite amusing and could be described as harmless fun (her hideous, unfashionable gowns; her loud, grating laugh; her tone-deaf attempts at singing) but others seem a bit cruel. Despite Lydia’s dislike of him, which is largely based on misunderstandings, Ashford is a decent person and doesn’t really deserve to be humiliated by her! I also couldn’t quite believe that the other guests would have overlooked her behaviour and background so easily and accepted her as one of the party. She broke so many of the rules of upper-class Regency society her reputation should have been in ruins, but it seemed that while people were momentarily shocked by her actions, it was all forgotten the next day.
Still, this is another enjoyable read from Sophie Irwin and I’m sure if I hadn’t held it to such high standards based on her first two books, I would probably be less critical of it. If you’re looking for a light, fun summer read this would be ideal.
Thanks to HarperCollins for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
Book 15/20 for 20 Books of Summer 2025.
She Reads Novels 
another entertaining Regency romance. Looks good.
Harvee https://harvee44.blogspot.com/
It was fun, though not as good as her first two books.
I’m glad this one was still fun even though it wasn’t as good as her two previous books…which I read and loved. I want to read this one, too, but am not feeling in a hurry. I don’t love when female characters dislike the guy because of some stupid misunderstanding, though I always appreciate Irwin’s humor in her romances.
It was still entertaining, but Lydia really annoyed me. Maybe you’ll like it better than I did!
I felt the same about Lydia and some of the things she did seemed unnecessary and possibly too far fetched. I loved both Sophie Irwin’s previous books but this one didn’t hit the spot for me.
I’m glad it’s not just me who felt that way about Lydia!
Hmm, not sure this is for me. I might try one of her others.
I think her first one, A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting, is the best.
Thanks
I added her two previous books to my TBR recently but didn’t realise this one was based on How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days, I used to love that movie. Overall this sounds fun but not like one you can really take seriously, given how strict all the rules and regulations were at the time.
The two previous books are much better, in my opinion, so I hope you enjoy them. This one is still entertaining and maybe you would like it more than I did, particularly as you love the film it’s loosely based on.
Thank you, I’ll let you know how I find them 😊
I am looking forward to reading this soon! Thank you for the review Helen. 😄
I hope you like it! I thought it was fun.
Back in the day I used to read a lot of historical romance but not so much these days!
Thanks for sharing this review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.
It’s not a genre I read often, but I do like Sophie Irwin’s books!