The Marriage Method - Review

The Marriage Method (The Crinoline Academy, # 2)

By: Mimi Matthews

Expected Publication: November 25, 2025 by Berkley

416 pages

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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Goodreads description--The Academy always comes first . . . which makes marriage to its most formidable adversary an exceedingly inconvenient arrangement.

Well removed from London’s more curious eyes, the Benevolent Academy for the Betterment of Young Ladies strives toward one clandestine to distract, disrupt, and discredit men in power who would seek to harm the advancement of women—by appropriate means, of course.

When intrepid newspaper editor Miles Quincy starts to question the school’s intentions, the Academy appoints Penelope “Nell” Trewlove, one of their brightest graduates, to put this nuisance to rest. An easy enough mission, she supposes. Or it would be, if Miles wasn’t so fascinating—too fascinating to resist—and if Nell’s visit to London didn’t perfectly coincide with the murder of one of Miles’s reporters.

When the inexorable claws of fate trap Nell and Miles in a compromising situation, they agree to an arrangement that will save their reputations while enabling them to investigate the story that led to a man’s death, as well as the surprising chemistry between them . . .

The Crinoline Academy borders on mystery. I struggle with mysteries because they often allow the plot to overtake the relationships. Relationships are what I read for. A good story is important too, but if the plot/mystery takes a higher priority over the relationships between the characters I can get bored. That wasn't really the case with The Marriage Method. Despite the many Mimi Matthew's books that I've read, I worried that would be the case. I'm thankful that it wasn't.

We met Nell (Penelope) and Miles in the previous book, Rules for Ruin. Nell grew up at the orphanage and is now a teacher and deputy headmistress of the school. She has been sent to London for a couple of reasons. The first is to get reporter, Miles, off the scent of the Academy. Miles first picked up the scent of the Academy when he met Effie and published a story about a corrupt Lord. Nell and Miles have a meeting to discuss Miles' questions about the Academy. Nell's job is to steer his interests away. But Miles' cat gets caught in her crinoline tape and he has to remove it. A clergyman who supports the school walks into his office at the exact time Miles is under Nell's skirt to remove the cat. Of course, a scandal ensues, and Nell and Miles are forced into a marriage to preserve the respectability of the school and the paper Miles runs.

Miles and Nell have a couple of stories they are following. One is a young girl who was transferring from a workhouse to the Academy but has gone missing. The other is a murdered reporter. Can the two have anything in common?

I do love forced marriages. Nell and Miles were both easy to root for. They were complex characters and I enjoyed their story from start to finish. I had a few moments when I wanted to put the book down just for the sake of anticipating negative events or conflict on the horizon. This past week in the real world has been heavy, and when I got to any potential danger for these characters I instinctively put the book down and walked away for a bit. I do anticipate Garrick and Gemma will be the leading characters for the next book in the series. Im not sure if Flora will get her own book or not, but even her short part in this book had me wanting more from her--I especially want to see a happily-ever-after for her.

I will give readers a heads up that husband and wife do have on page sex. But it is so tastefully done and not physically descriptive. Most of Mimi Matthew's books do not get close to on page physical scenes, but I dont think you will find much to complain about if this bothers you.

The Marriage Method gets 4 Stars. I enjoyed it from start to finish. I really dont have any complaints. I cant wait to continue the series. Have you read The Marriage Method ? What did you think? Let me know!