A Kiss to Remember (Once Upon a Time, #3) by Teresa Medeiros

A Kiss to Remember (Once Upon a Time, #3) Reviews

• 
  Christine Wallflower & Dark Romance Junkie

  6 STARS!!!
  
  
  
  Laura's papa had tried to warn her. If you sold your soul to the devil, it would only be a matter of time before he came to collect.
  But Papa had never warned her the devil would be so beautiful that she would be tempted to surrender that soul without a fight.
  
  I have that warm fuzzy feeling in my chest, the one you get when you finish reading a book that touched your soul. I read this book on a whim because lets be honest I'm a cover whore and the cover on this book didn't really impress me. But the story did, and that's the most important thing. It starts of with a sombre but intriguing prologue. The main character Sterling Harlow is taken away by his grumpy and cruel uncle, a duke, to live with him in his cold home. You see his uncle didn't have an heir but what makes the situation even worse is that his father and mother agreed to this in return for the deed to their home.
  
  Teresa Medeiros is a new author to me but I'm so excited about reading the rest of her books. The mood in this story was consistently lighthearted and even when the subject matter got a little darker the author retained the whimsical feeling I got throughout the book.
  Laura Farleigh discovers an unconscious man lying in the woods while she was praying for a husband. The unwavering hand of fate at play? I would have to agree.
  Sterling has no idea who he is and Laura seeing an opportunity, begins to spin a lie, but the one thing she isn't lying about is her growing love for this stranger.
  
  
  
  He laid two fingers against the softness of her lips, effectively stilling them. "You've spent the past week telling me what I'm supposed to want. Now it's my turn to show you what I do want."
  
  Without giving you a blow by blow account of the story I'll mention what I loved. The supporting characters in this book were just amazing,
  Lottie, Laura's little sister with all her kittens was a little terror.
  George her little brother was adorable in how he wanted to keep his sisters safe even though he was barely a teenager.
  Dower and Cookie were hilarious and surprisingly great parental figures.
  The sexual tension between Thanes (Sterling's best friend) and Diana (Sterling's cousin) was palpable I can't wait to read their book).
  
  If I was walking around recommending historical romances to people then this book would definitely be named.
• 
  Eloisa James

  Memory loss is one of the biggest plot clichés – the more so because it never really seems to happen in real life. One hears about people losing their memory of an accident or a mugging, but only very rarely do they lose memory of everything. But in fiction?
  
  Bring on the amnesia!
  
  Over the years, as memory-less men and women pile up on the paperback shores, it’s become more and more difficult to write this plot well. But Teresa Medeiros does it brilliantly, and her A Kiss to Remember is probably my all-time favorite amnesiac plot. Sterling Harlow, Duke of Devonbrooke and a notorious rake, wakes up to find a lovely girl hanging over him. Since he doesn’t know his own name, she tells him that he’s Nicholas Radcliffe, her long-lost fiancé.
  
  The truth is that Laura Fairleigh needs a husband, because if she’s not married pronto, she and her siblings will lose the roof over their head…to a duke. Yes, the Duke of Devonbrooke. Medeiros gleefully piles unlikely event on unlikely event – but what carries the readers straight through this page-turner is the utterly charming love story between Laura and Sterling. Told that he’s a well-mannered, honorable man, the rakish Nicholas conforms. He doesn’t like it when Laura arranges for him to be the new rector of the parish, but he doesn’t explode. He saves his rage for the moment when his memory comes back.
  
  This is one of Medeiros’s most charming and most unput-downable novels, the perfect rainy afternoon read.
  
  
• 
  Blacky *Romance Addict*

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Andrea

  DNF at 35%
  
  I'll admit, when I read the premise (woman finds unconscious man and tells him he's her fiancé), I almost didn't read it. But all the five star reviews made me reconsider.
  
  Sadly, I couldn't bring myself to finish this. It's not badly written or anything, and I'm sure everyone but me thinks this is cute and funny (and really, I don't judge), but I just hated how the heroine manipulated the hero, and that's a dealbreaker for me. I'm aware that I didn't even finish the book to find out if Laura has some redeeming qualities or anything, but I didn't feel like investing in a book where I want the heroine to end up in jail. That might seem harsh, but let me explain:
  
  Laura has been taken in by Sterling's mother after she had lost her parents and he was sent to live with his uncle to become his heir. They never met, but she hates him with all her heart. While he was at war, his mother died, and when he returns he finds a letter from Laura that enrages him to the point that he rides out to his old home to evict her. On the way he hits his head and falls, unconscious, to the ground. For some reason, Laura will inherit Sterling's childhood home if she marries before she turns 21. Because none of the men in the village are to her liking though, that day is drawing near, and she's desperate. So when she finds an unconscious man in the forest who doesn't remember who is, she tells him he's his fiancé, and takes him to her home.
  
  This is where things went downhill for me. Instead of helping Sterling recover his memory, she molds him into his ideal man: she gives him a name she thinks is dreamy, bestows every virtue she can think of on him, and generally tells him who and what he is every step of the way, all so she can marry some ideal man to inherit a house. She then, without telling him, has the banns read so she can get married to him (she tells him they've been engaged for years now...), and even has the audacity to introduce him as the new parish rector because her dream man happens to be a rector who spends his time teaching the poor how to read. I also absolutely loathed the heroine's younger sister. She thinks she's the most beautiful girl around, throws tantrums, and, worst of all, plans to actually murder the hero (I gathered from other reviews that she actually does poison his food unsuccessfully at some point, and for some bizarre reason he doesn't seem to mind much). I'm sorry, but that's just not okay for me.
  
  And that is where I stopped reading. I would hope he finds out what she's done and she gets punished, but because this is a romance I'm pretty sure that after a little initial grumbling, he's going to find it delightful and they'll live happily ever after. I'm sorry, I really wanted to like this book, but there are a few things I can't tolerate.
• 
  Mo

  Aw, how sweet was that? Loved it. 4.5 stars.
  
  

  Laura Fairleigh needs a husband. If she is to keep a roof over her siblings heads, the prim rectors daughter must wed by her twenty-first birthday. When she finds a mysterious stranger with the face of an angel and the body of Adonis unconscious in the forest and with no memory of his name or his past, she decides to claim him for her own. Little does she know that her fallen angel is really the devil in disguise.

  
  
  
  

  "Someday, you'll understand son."

  
  
  
  

  "As far as I'm concerned, he's a heartless, vile, petty vindictive wretch."

  
  
  
  

  "'Tis better to be poor than a liar."

  
  
  
  

  He might be a devil but he kissed like an angel.

  
  
  
  

  Sterling Harlow might have the face of an angel, but by night he was a devil, stealing Laura's soul even as he scorned her heart.

  
  
  
• 
  Vintage

  I read this quite a while ago, but this is one of those books that makes you love romance. Or makes me love romance. I assume that the fairy tale here is Sleeping Beauty and our Beauty in this story is the hero.
  
  Ivy's review
  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... reminded me of this so here's my belated review. Time for a re-read as well.
  Another sweet and charming tale from Teresa Medeiros.
  
  A Regency this time with a rake with mommy issues, deservedly so, and an irrepressible heroine who does what it takes to keep her family together.
  
  The H was given up by his parents to his cruel uncle, a Duke, and never forgave his mother for her abandonment. He embraced all vices as rakes are want to do.
  
  On his way to rip his mother’s house away from the heroine, he hits his head and remembers nothing of his past. That’s okay as the heroine finds him and he’s just what she needs. If she marries before her 21st birthday she gets to keep the house. She has no idea the man she finds knocked out is the Duke she despises and rejected his mother, a woman who treated her like a daughter.
  
  All kinds of ridiculousness happens as the heroine convinces the rake that he is abstemious, celibate and on the verge of becoming a man of God as well as a bridegroom. Lottie, the h’s little sister, is not crazy about the idea of her sister marrying and tries poisoning among other ways of getting rid of him.
  
  Eventually the chickens come home to roost for our Sleeping Beauty hero, and once he regains his memory he’s not quite the nice guy he was. He strong-arms the heroine into marriage, and it’s hard to say who is the seducer and who is seduced.
  
  The heroine is wonderful as she tries to justify lying to this man she has come to love. It gets even more entertaining once he finds out and she has to deal with the snooty Duke as well as the man she fell in love with.
  
  The hero is not so bad as he tries to keep a stern upper crust lip, but it all falls by the wayside in his lust for the heroine and the chaos and life she brings.
  
  His walls crumble slowly, and it’s quite entertaining to see the crew that brings it all down from the heroine, to her madcap siblings, the doting servants, and a plethora of cats that taunt the hero and his two mastiffs. Charming and light-hearted.
• 
  Holly’s Mom

  Ugh. What is this peice of crap? It was absolutely ridiculous.
  It starts off with a mother selling her son. Uh-huh. And then we are supposed to sympathize with her because, oh how sweet, a bunch of years later she took in a bunch of kids without a family.
  
  Right.
  
  The heroine was selfish and weird. She finds an unconscious man randomly in the middle of the forest (uh-huh) then kisses him--while he is unconscious for no reason that I can see. Can you say CREEPY? Then, when he wakes up with amnesia, she tells him he's her husband. Yes, we've all seen this plotline before, but in this time it's especially bad, because when she takes him home, her entire family, including the neighbors, treat him like he's some horrible evil criminal--going after him with an ax etc...when LAURA is the one who made him stay there.
  
  And then there's Carlotta, Laura's sister, who is EVIL. First, she literally tries to shoot Sterling (silly name) through the heart with an arrow. When this fails, she poisons his food in an attempt to murder him. AND HE DOES NOT GET MAD AT HER! He says it's okay and that he understands and he won't tell anyone! Are you kidding me? I don't find that funny at all. I assume it was supposed to be humorous, since I hope TM isn't promoting cold-blooded murder. Carlotta should have been punished for this. Really. You can't just try to murder someone and be forgiven. It's not some childish prank. I was so glad when it was Laura who ended up eating the poisoned food by mistake. I liked watching her suffer--too bad it didn't last longer, because that succubus deserved worse.
  
  I have no idea why the hero/heroine like each other. If I were Sterling, I would HATE Laura and her entire evil family, who all hate him and act like he's trying to ruin Laura, who has LIED to him and made up tons of random stories. And, of course, we're supposed to sympathize with her, because she's supposedly trying to "protect her family" by doing this, which I find ridiculous. Honestly, I would enjoy watching her entire family thrown out onto the streets! They're not even good people!
  
  I've only read one other TM book, Yours Until Dawn, and it was nothing like this baloney. I don't think I'll ever read another TM again, though. It's too risky. I couldn't stand being as pissed off as I was while reading this crap ever again.
• 
  ❁ lilyreadsromance (and other stuffs too) ❁

  A heroine who sees what she wants and goes and gets it?
  A litter of kittens?
  Two giant mastiffs?
  A murderous sister?
  Also devilish amnesiac hero?
  
  It was perfect.
  
  I knew it was going to be a good one after that prologue, and the mention of a cat forlornly looking at her owner going away.
  
  This story is separated into two parts. The amnesiac hero part and the part where he recovered his memories. The heroine first met the hero when she found him injured and unconscious in the woods. It was akin to a fairy-tale, where she found a stranger and then proceed to kiss him awake (like who does that anyway??). When she found that he retained no memory at all, she determined to make him hers and marry the man (which is like *chef's kiss*).
  
  Then, the things with the crazy sister happened. Someone should consult someone for her. The things that she did was kinda disturbing.
  
  However, if you thought the big confrontation was coming ahead and it'll turn super angsty somehow, you'll be wrong. It was super sweet instead. And mah god, how I love the romance between these two people. You'd thought he'd turnt very bitter after that, he didn't and I really appreciate that. I love this Devil Duke and his struggles to come to terms with his feelings.
  
  I can't stress more how much I recommend you to pick this up if you're up to some sweet love story between a man refused any attachments and yet did the opposite and the girl who refused to give up on him.
• 
  Lisa (Remarkablylisa)

  HE'S LITERALLY PERFECT. MY NEW BOOK BOYFRIEND. I CRIED.
• 
  Ronyell

  Alright! This is the second book that I have read by Teresa Medeiros and I am starting to really enjoy some of her books more and more everyday! “A Kiss to Remember” is a historical romance book that is the first of the Farleigh series and it sort of takes on a “Sleeping Beauty” spin on the tale as Laura awakens a total stranger by giving him a kiss and when she realizes that the stranger lost his memory, she gives him an identity of Nicholas Radcliffe which might cause her world to turn! “A Kiss to Remember” is a romance novel full of secrets, lies, drama and hot steaming romance that every romance fan will love to read over and over again!
  
  Sterling Harlow was seven years old when his parents sold him to his cruel uncle in order to pay off his father’s outrageous gambling debt. Now years later, Sterling Harlow is the seventh duke of Devonbrooke and is known throughout London as “the Devil of Devonbrooke.” Years later, Sterling has learned that his mother had died and he realizes that his mother let a country girl named Laura Fairleigh and her brother and sister, Lottie and George, stay at Arden Manor, Sterling’s old home. Sterling wanted to take Arden Manor of his own, but the only way that he was going to do that is if Laura Fairleigh does not marry a man before her twenty-first birthday, then the manor will belong to him. So, Sterling goes on a ride towards Arden Manor, but unfortunately, Sterling falls off his horse and hits his head causing him to have amnesia. Later on, Laura Fairleigh goes through the woods and she finds Sterling’s body in the woods, however, Laura does not know that the stranger lying in the woods is Sterling and remembering that she must marry a man before her twenty-first birthday, Laura tricks the man into thinking that he is Nicholas Radcliffe and is engaged to her since the man has amnesia. Laura will soon realize that being deceptive towards Nicholas might not only cost her freedom, but might cost her love too if she does not set the truth free!
  
  Mmm… never have I read a book that is full of not only love making scenes but deception and secrets that could cause tension to strike through the sensual story like a knife! But, before I get to the juicy bits of the story, I like to comment on how well Teresa Medeiros portrays her characters. This time, Teresa Medeiros provides more background and emotion to her characters that each seem to relate to the audience strongly. The characters who truly stood out the most in this book are Laura Fairleigh and Sterling Harlow as they both have personalities that might want to make you either hate them or love them. For one thing, I think many fans might have a problem with Laura deceiving Sterling by manipulating his memory to suit her needs and I must admit that I did find that aspect of Laura a little alarming, but I guess considering that she did not know that Sterling was the unconscious man, it sort of lessen the blow to her character and she did seem desperate at that moment. Also, some fans might not like Sterling’s cruel attitude towards Laura at times, but seeing as he suffered a betrayal from his family, I cannot really blame him for being so cruel at times. Now, onto the juicy bits of the story! Teresa Medeiros does not hold back when it comes to the love making scenes and boy, does this book have so many love scenes, from the beginning to the end! To be honest, I liked the Laura/Nicholas relationship better than the Laura/Sterling relationship because there was more chemistry and more trust between the characters, even though we all know that Laura played the deception game on Sterling when he took on his alternative and friendlier identity, Nicholas Radcliffe but hey, if it was not for Laura’s deception on Sterling, we would have never seen the friendly and softer side of Sterling Harlow and we would have never seen the most sensual scenes that was ever created in any romance novel!
  
  For readers who do not like sex scenes, this book has way more sex scenes than “Nobody’s Darling” and readers who are not accustomed to sex scenes might definitely find these scenes in this book completely inappropriate.
  
  Overall, “A Kiss to Remember” is definitely one of the most heartwarming and intense romance novels I have ever read and any romance fan who want to read about what true love is all about, this book is just right for anyone!!
  
  Review is also on:
  Rabbit Ears Book Blog
• 
  The UHQ Nasanta

  2.5 - 3 stars
  
  What I liked about A Kiss to Remember is the overall romance. I also liked the humor and how the reader can see that Sterling did care for Laura without him saying, "Yes, I love her." Instead, the reader sees Sterling being amused by her moods, his thinly veiled concern for her, and his desire to keep her despite what she'd done.
  
  But what bothered me about this book had more influence in how I viewed this book so while I had enjoyed this book, I would not read this again - and I am reluctant (surprisingly) to read the second book.
  
  First of all, I did not care too much for the plot device. After reading the blog entry referenced
  here, I have had difficulty accepting this plot device. I also did not care for Laura's "brilliant" plan and her lies, no matter how "well-intentioned" she may have been. But I found it amusing how she attempted to make Nicholas Radcliffe in the image of her dream man - and his reaction to it. But of course such a plan must come with an amnesiac which just drew an eye-rolling from me.
  
  The second MAJOR thing that bothered me was...Lottie. Her machinations seriously disturbed me and I simply could NOT believe that Sterling just brushed her actions off as pranks or the like. I think that the author meant for Lottie to be seen driven by immaturity, misconceptions and a bad influence from the gothic novels that she read, but all I could see was a seriously deranged kid who should be locked up and given...well, there likely wasn't any help for the insane in those days but the way she calmly spoke about her plans chilled me. Jane Austen did a much better job at showing how a (silly) character might be influenced by what she reads without majorly turning a reader off - at least not this reader.
  
  I had been hoping that the second book in the series was Diana's book, but apparently it is Lottie's, which I have some misgivings about. The romance was fairly traditional, the writing fairly decent albeit with a few wince-inducing choice of words and phrases, and the characters are somewhat likable. If you think you can allow the author to persuade you that Lottie was acting like an anxious child and not a mentally ill one, then this book might work for you. But honestly, I would not recommend it.
• 
  ♥ℳelody

  First book of Teresa's I read and I fell in love. This was recommended to me and I read the synopsis and I was intrigued. I'm glad I took the recommendation. I was honestly expecting to hate it given the plot and deception on the heroine's part but I was pleasantly surprised. This was very eerily similar to a storyline I watched on a soap (yes go ahead and laugh) same EXACT plot only the woman who pulls off the lie and tells the guy she's his wife I wanted to strangle, her desperate lying and scheming I couldn't stand. Which is why I was REALLY hesitant to read this but surprisingly enough I ended up enjoying this.
  
  Medeiros way of handling a tricky story set-up like this was really well pulled off. The story and characters and dialogue made me fall in love. The story may not be for everyone so fair warning. And what the heroine does is pretty scheming and while I didn't agree with it I understood her reasonings behind it. I couldn't hate her. Love the hero Sterling! Yum. :) Love him and how he dramatically yet slowly changes from an arrogant cold-hearted shut off man to compassionate and understanding and humbled one. The tension and struggle between him and Laura is really suspenseful and dramatic and just delicious. I could have easily hated Laura for what she did but her reasons behind it and her actions I completely understood and sympathized with her. The pull between them and struggle to fight off the feelings and passion is really angsty. Very passionate, vulnerable, raw love story. So good! I loved everything about this book. All the characters are fully developed and just fun to read. 5 stars from me hands down!!!!
• 
  Grecia Robles

  Me gustó más no me encantó.
  Es un libro muy entretenido tenemos este elemento de pérdida de memoria por parte del protagonista y que ella se hace pasar por su prometida, realmente la primicia es muy tentadora, el libro es bueno más no tiene ese algo que lo hace de 10 si lo comparamos como Tuya hasta el amanecer.
  
  Esta es mi segunda lectura de la autora y no sé porque no la seguí leyendo por su narrativa me gusta mucho .
• 
  Bindi Boo

  4 completely smitten stars!
  
  I'm completely smitten!! This is my first book by this author and i will be most definitely checking out more of her other books. I was lured in by the blurb and was glad the book turned out great! A simple story of memory loss and rediscovering love, family and how to live again. A worth your time read.
• 
  Cynthia

  Ugh. This book was so weird. There was some good parts, but they were put together so clumsily that it made it all seem like a half finished thought. The whole story was awkward and ridiculous.
  
  Laura needs to marry ASAP to keep her home for her two younger siblings and their eccentric elderly servants. These 4 secondary characters were suppose to be adorable comic relief, but they were mostly annoying. She prays to God for a man to save them from the Big Bad Duke who's coming to evict them.
  
  Said Duke Sterling (awful pretty boy name) gets thrown from horse to end up as an amnesiac right in Laura's arms.
  
  Laura wants hims, so she comes up with a TSTL plan: tell Sterling he's her fiance and marry him. Laura is an idiot. She might as well have cut off his balls and made him wear a collar cone. She names him Nicky (gag), sets him up to be the county rector, and gives him this clean living, insipid character back story. She takes advantage of him while he's incredible vulnerable, and he's too shallow of a character to question it.
  
  It really made me sympathize for Sterling, womanizing drinker and gambler that he was. Then, he just falls in line with all this crap, only struggling against her expectations to kiss her now and then. They fake marry, then all is revealed. Apparently Sterling is not feeling betrayed/foolish/vengeful/angry. He calmly forces her to marry him, and then eventually they have a fabulous life together. it was so ridiculous.
  
  Plus, the ending was awfully sugary sweet. The hasty forgiving of the mother, the ghostly flowers on the grave, the stupid cat story, and the ugly epilogue. And they named their son Nicholas. Gross and awkward.
• 
  Hannah B.

  It made me a bit too emo and sad to be a full five stars but god did I have a Time to remember. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️.75/5
  
  - secondary romance
  - amnesia
  - fairy tale (sleeping beauty and maybe Snow White? Idk that man was nearly singing “some day my princess will come”)
  - hijinks caused by children and staff
  - it’ll rip your heart out
• 
  Pikolina

  Me ha parecido una historia muy bonita, con la primera parte con su toque de humor (vaya ideas y conversaciones mas divertidas) pero que termina de manera mas seria.
  Me han gustado mucho los protagonistas, y los secundarios sobre todo por parte de Laura son geniales.
  Una historia romanticona y divertida, recomendable 100%
• 
  Desiree

  Boring. Was sweet and warm, but no real depth. It was simply a romance novel.
  
• 
  Deniz

  Deliciously Romantic!!
  
  I love the characters and author's humorous writing style.
• 
  Mou

  I loved the title and the book was worth reading. I can't say it was perfect but it was one of those books which will make you think about lots of things. At least for me.
  
  The heroine was quite spirited, strong and the person who live for their siblings. She may deceived the hero for her own selfishness but I liked the fact how she tried to maintain her composure and pride during all this mass. The other protagonist, hero was rude and his childish anger cost the chances to reconcile with his mother. He couldn't forgive his mother and I couldn't forgive him for that. This blatant disregarding towards his mother cost him 21 years of restlessness, anger, guilt, fear... and the list goes on. My feeling for the book was like- the one thing that connected both of the hero-heroine which was his mother also the thing that makes their relationship vulnerable.
  
  Overall, it filled my quarantine lazy rainy afternoon quite well.
• 
  Emily

  Sterling Harlow has long earned the reputation as the "Devil of Devonbroke" with his lack of regard for others and insatiable reputation in the bedroom. When Sterling finds out his estranged mother has passed, he finds himself curious about the woman who sent the letter riddled with accusations about his feelings towards his mother. Determined to put the lady in her place, he informs her that he is coming to Arden Manor to claim it.
  
  Laura Farleigh has spent years witnessing the pain that Sterling Harlow's mother endured only wanting one thing, Sterling's forgiveness. When Laura finds out the Devil is on his way, she has only one source of recourse to save her and her siblings. If she marries before her birthday, Arden manor will be hers. When she stumbles across a unconscious man in the woods, she believes her luck may have changed. He is stunning, has no memory, and kisses her with so much intensity it makes her speechless, why not take him for her husband....
  
  This had a lot of promise, I was sadly disappointed a bit. There were exceptional moments but it dragged a bit.
• 
  Amelia

  Kalo Charming a Prince tema nya Cinderella, ini a kiss to remember tema nya Sleeping beauty…
  
  Tapi yg jadi sleeping beauty nya bukan heroine melainkan si hero Sterling Harlow, the seventh duke of Devonbrooke.. LOL
  
  
  Ketika umurnya msh 9taon Sterling ‘di jual’ ama orangtuanya ke sixth duke of devonbrooke, paman dr bapaknya sndiri.
  Kalo anak lain di jual trus mo di jadiin duke pasti senangnya bukan main, Sterling jusrtu sebaliknya dia gak mau, dia marah, kecewa bahkan jd benci ma ortunya..
  Masa kecilnya ini yg membuat dia jd sinis dan dingin, org2 bahkan menjulukinya The Devil..
  
  Pas pulang dr tugas militernya, Sterling dpt info kalo ibu nya sudah meninggal. Bapaknya sndri sdh lama meninggal akibat trlalu banyak minum.
  Info trsebut datang dr surat yg di kirim Miss Laura Fairleigh, gadis yatim piatu yg tinggal brsama ibu nya Sterling.
  Miss Laura mempertanyakan ttg nasib Arden Manor, rumah yg skrg dia dan adik2nya tempati..
  Dengan bgitu banyak estate yg di miliki Sterling, Arden Manor gak bernilai sama sekali..
  Tpi, kenangan indah masa kecilnya di sana membuat sterling gak rela melepaskan rumah itu..
  Jadi dia berniat mengambil alih rumah warisan trsbut.. Sterling pun berencana pulang.
  
  
  Laura fairleigh adalah gadis yg penuh dgn impian, dia pengen memliki suami yg too good to be true..
  Bahkan dia sudah memiliki nama suami impian nya itu, Nicholas ato Gabriel ato Etienne.. Asal jgn yg seperti Sterling Harlow, Laura sangat membenci Sterling bahkan walo belum prnah bertemu…karna Sterling tidak pernah sekalipun membalas surat Lady Eleanor..
  Menurut mendiang Lady Eleanor, Laura bisa mewarisi Arden Manor jika dia menikah sebelum genap 21taon..
  Apa daya semua pria yg mendekati nya jauh dr tipe pria idamannya..
  
  Setelah selesai mengucapkan doa ini:
  "Um, God? I'm terribly sorry to trouble you, Sir, especially after having all of those uncharitable thoughts about Lord Devil"—she winced—"I mean, Lord Devonbrooke. But it seems the children and I are in something of a pickle."
  "I hate to be such a bother when I know I haven't been as faithful as I should," she continued. "Why, only last week I neglected my psalms two mornings in a row, drifted off to sleep before I'd finished my prayers, gobbled up the last scone when I knew Lottie wanted it, and snapped at Cookie for burning the porridge. Then when I scalded my cheek with the hair tongs, I said a very wicked word”
  "I wouldn't have troubled you at all, but if I am to thwart this Lord Devil"—she winced again—"Lord Devonbrooke… and keep a roof over the children's heads, it seems I must wed before my birthday. Which leaves me lacking in only one thing—a gentleman that I might marry."
  "So that's what I'm asking you to send me, Sir. A gentle man, a decent man, a man who will cherish me for all the years we shall live as man and wife. I'd like for him to have a warm heart, a faithful soul, and a fondness for regular bathing. He doesn't have to be terribly handsome, but it would be nice if he wasn't abominably hairy and had a reasonably straight nose and all his teeth." She grimaced. "Or at least most of them. I'd rather he not beat me, even when I deserve it, and I'd like for him to come to love George and Lottie as I do. Oh, and a tolerance for kittens might ease things considerably."
  "Thank you for all of our blessings. Give Papa and Mama and dear Lady Eleanor all our love, and amen."
  
  
  Laura di kejutkan dengan adanya tubuh seorang pria di bawah pohon oak..
  Krna penasarn laura pun mendekati nya bahkan dia m-e-n-c-i-u-m pria yg sedang tidak sadar itu!!!!!! LOL
  
  Pria itu malah membalas ciuman Laura, wkwkwkwk
  Yg bikin Laura tambah trkejut pas ntu stranger nanya : who am i?
  Langsung aja Laura jawab : you’re mine… LOL
  Tuhan baru saja menjawab doa2nya… ^^
  
  
  
  Nicholas Raidcliffe, nama yg di berikan Laura buat ‘tunangan’nya itu..
  Kocak bgt d, walo sudah di peringatkan apa konsekuensi ma ade2nya dan pengurus rumah yg sudah dianggap keluarga, Laura teteup kekeuh menjalankan misi nya demi masa depan kedua ade nya..
  ‘Nicholas’ sendiri biar lagi hilang ingatan gak percaya ama satu pun cerita Laura ttg diri nya, krna menurut Laura dia org yg sangaaaaaaaaaat baik ky malaikat…
  Yang dia pengen prcaya cuma satu Laura ntar lagi bakalan jd istri nya…
  Laura juga sukses mngajak Nicky masuk Gereja,,, Nicky yakin sebelum hilang ingatan dia tidak pernah berdoa dan tidak dekat dgn Tuhan..
  
  
  Lucu bgt pas penduduk desa nanya ttg prtunangan rahasia mereka dan bgmn perasaan Laura waktu gak ada Nicky n gmana pas Nicky dating…
  Jawab Laura:
  "I kissed him more than you'll ever know."
  The crowd fell into a sudden silence while Nicholas cleared his throat and scuffed at the ground with the toe of his shoe.
  Laura could feel herself turning bright pink. "I mean, I missed him more than you'll ever know."
  Ngakak guling2….
  
  
  Pokonya seruuuu bgt d pas mrka married, Sterling inget kembali siapa dia…
  N kali ini dia yg maksa laura buat nikah lagi scara resmi, kali ini sterling bukan Nicholas yg tanda tangan di surat nikah…
  Aisssssssssssh, gw suka bgt ma crta g ada kabur2 nya..
  Trus hero nya ngejar si heroine…….
  Sukaaaaaaaaaaaa bgt….
  
  
  
  Uniknya di awal tiap chapter ada satu ato dua baris isi surat lady Eleanor buat sterling,,, -yg biking w terharu- hiksssssss
  
  
  My darling son, my hands are shaking as I pen this letter…
  It seems an eternity since I last laid eyes on your sweet face …
  Sometimes I feel as if you are a stranger to me…
  But at other times, I feel as if you must still be my precious little boy.
  Missing you has driven me nearly mad with grief…
  You were always such a perfect angel…
  Although I let them take you away from me, I have always kept you dose to my heart…
  I pray for you every night without fail …
  Sometimes I wonder if you even remember me…
  Although I don't deserve it, God has blessed me with a new family.
  I adore the little ones, but it is the oldest girl who has stolen my heart….
  She has the gentlest of dispositions, but she's a bit of a dreamer…
  Sometimes she tends to act before she thinks without counting the cost…
  I fear her impetuous nature might lead her into harm's way.
  I only wish she had a man such as you to watch over her.
  You've lived long enough now to know that sometimes people do all the wrong things…
  … for all the right reasons.
  I swear I never meant to hurt you.
  I wanted only what was best for you.
  I pray every day that you will find a woman to share your life… …
  a woman who will love you as much as I always have.
  I hope you'll spoil her as I wish I could have spoiled you…
  …and that she will prove worthy of your devotion.
  I still see your face in my dreams.
  And I wish those dreams could go on forever…
  But even the sweetest of dreams must come to an end…
  I pray that someday you will find it in your heart to forgive me…
  But even if that day should never come, know that I will always love you…
  
  
  Ama ini kutipan dr surat yg laen:
  
  Wherever this life may take you, know that I will follow. And if I can't, then I will send one of God's angels in my stead.
  Sterling laughed in spite of himself.
  "You sent me an angel, all right, Mama. An avenging one."
  
  
  Aaaaaaaawwwww so damn sweet XD
  TM jd salah 1 author HR favorit gw bangett -YAY-
  
• 
  Avid Booker

  It was hard to rate this book. I'm gonna give it a 2.75... Because I REALLY didn't like it at the beginning. But I started to enjoy it once they got married.
  
  The plot didn't bother me. I knew she was going to be a liar and a scammer.
  
  
  
  (if this shows up as an error. Just know these are Joanne The Scammer gifs lol
  
  What did bother me, was that the heroine's siblings were so goh-damn annoying and plotting the guy's murder. That WAS EXTRA AF. She never whooped them, but they for damn sure needed one. Oh and the fact that when he was in a practical coma that the little sister jumped on his bed and set kittens on him was enough to irritate the hell out of me. (For one I hate cats. For two, who sets animals on people without their consent?)
  
  OHHHHH, THE HEROINE TRIED TO FORCE EVERY SINGLE DREAM OF HERS ONTO HIM. Listen, it wouldn't have gotten that fucking messy, if she wasn't trying to shove her "idea of the perfect man" down his throat. Listen, I'm a christian, but not a devout one. She tried to FORCE him to become the town's rector and follow in her dad's footsteps. That might not be the path for everyone. Like what the heck. That irritated me too.
  
  Our hero, he got overshadowed by how enormously irritating the heroine was in the beginning. Even his some times brooding and seemingly selfishness did not compare to how she was for about 150 pages of the book. His situation with his mother was sad and it leaves you to hurt a bit, but even then I was more irritated by the heroine.
  
  The SECOND HALF, of the book was pretty good. After they were married the story moves faster and she was more tolerable.
  
  Quotes:
  "Me mum always told me the rich was blessed, but I thought she was talkin' about gold." She leaned over to cackle in his ear, then actually patted him on the head as if he was some slavering lapdog. "You might have escaped the gallows, lad, but you was already well hung."
  
  "Can I sleep with you the whole time we're here, Laura? Can I? Oh, please say I can!"
  Every eyes, except for the ever discreet Addison's, turned to the duke.
  Sterline cleared his throat awkwardly, a most endearing flush creeping up his jaw.
  
  "How did you know?"
  "This may be a large house, but I'm not blind. Or deaf."
  [..]"Well, you needn't avail yourself of any romantic notions. He was just doing his duty."
  "And with unflagging enthusiasm, I might add." Diana said dryly.
• 
  Widala

  At first I don't really care about Laura's lies and Sterling's pride. But as the story goes, the more I understand what drove the characters behavior, I become more sympathetic and enjoy the story.
  I think the author successfully wove her tale of forgiveness.
• 
  Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]

  RTC
• 
  Keri

  This was a charming, fun read, just sitting on my TBR for years. There were some funny, poignant moments and some really sad moments, but well worth it to find this timeless classic at your USB or library.
• 
  Padma

  A wonderful read indeed
• 
  Susy Santos

  Amei 😌