A Lady's Promise
By: Ranee S. Clark
Publication: September 5, 2023
200 pages
Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction
Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)
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Goodreads description--For orphaned New York socialite Isabella De Vries, finding a husband has become imperative. After unsuccessfully navigating four Seasons, it’s time to enlist the help of an old family friend to find her a suitable match. She trusts Preston implicitly, but his solution is both unconventional and he himself will marry Isabella in name alone so that she may be the sole beneficiary of his inheritance when he succumbs to the disease that will soon take his life. His plan solves everyone’s Isabella will be cared for, and his inheritance will be protected from his irresponsible younger brother, Prince. There is no love left between Prince Baxter and his older brother. When he hears that Preston is going to marry Isabella, Prince knows he will have to charm his way into friendship with Isabella if he wants to see any portion of the inheritance money. His plot, however, quickly crumples to pieces as he and Isabella establish a genuine connection―and he makes the mistake of falling in love with her.
Preston is dying. He has cancer and he's been given months to live. He has amassed wealth that he knows his younger brother will not deal with responsibly based upon previous actions. Prince has been known to be extravagant. His mother was the same, and Preston cannot in good conscience leave his fortune to his brother knowing that it might help him down a path to destruction. So when his best friend Isabella asks him to help her find a husband, he offers up himself. It takes some convincing on his part. Isabella loves him as family, but she has to be careful navigating the rumors that will surely come calling her a fortune hunter when Preston unfortunately passes. Isabella agrees, but only under the condition that they proceed in a way that garners as few rumors as possible.
Prince has struggled with his relationship with his brother. When Prince's mother left for Paris taking him with her, he assumed it was due to Preston cutting her off financially. She too was a bit of a spend-thrift. Prince harbors animosity towards Preston for the state of their relationship, for leaving him alone during the hardest times of his life--dealing with his mother's loss. And he feels like Preston hordes his money. Prince does find a cause to champion that opens his eyes to how spoiled he truly has been and how needy others are around him.
I took a long time to write this review because I was all kinds of conflicted. Isabella and Preston's relationship was sweet. They have so many memories and such a genuine love and connection for each other. It isn't romantic at all, but anyone who witnessed them together would know there is love shared between them. Yet Isabella and Prince have a romantic connection. Due to Isabella being engaged to Preston, Prince and Isabella can't really explore what they feel for each other. And due to Preston and Prince's difficult history, I hated to see what these brothers had to go through and how Prince often got looked down upon even when he was proving himself.
This book was emotional, and I do believe I either cried to teared up while reading it. I can't fully remember since I'm writing my review more than a month after finishing it. A Lady's Promise gets 3.5 Stars from me. Have you read A Lady's Promise? What did you think? Let me know!
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