About the Book:

When a husband is needed by Christmas, a trusted slender volume for ensuring a merry match is indeed a gift! In this Regency delight from beloved, award-winning author Kate Moore, a spirited governess joins a gentleman spy on a daring mission: finding a mate for a jilted debutante—while drawing dangerously close to each other…

Behind her seemingly dependent role as an unpaid caretaker—of both children and dogs—Harriet Swanley has, in fact, astutely avoided a forced marriage. But hers is not the only secret under wraps: Charles Davenham is working covertly to unmask a Russian agent—until the younger sister he’s always protected comes to him, recently rejected and clutching The Husband Hunter’s Guide to London. The little handbook would be a godsend—if only the distraught girl didn’t mangle all of its good advice! If Harriet can help Charles find a love match for his sibling, perhaps, in this season of good tidings, a long-buried attraction can set their own hearts aflame.

Click on title below for direct Amazon buy link:                                                               The Christmas Husband Hunt (Husband Hunters Book 4)

My Review:

Lady Harriet “Harry” has chosen to be known simply as Miss Swanley for the last ten years since she made a life altering decision.  Rather than marry the monster her brother chose for her at sixteen, she left home and has worked as a governess.  While she is treated kindly by her employer and her charges, she’s now in that undefined area between being above a regular servant, but not truly part of the family.  Harry’s routine is interrupted when she is requested to help chaperone Octavia, the twenty year old sister of Viscount Wynford, who is new to society.

Charles Davenham, Viscount Wynford, is about to take on his first secret assignment while working for the foreign office.  There is a new marchioness in town, Isabelle Delatour, who claims to be distantly related to Charles, on the French side of his family. The foreign office is sure that Isabelle is truly a Russian spy.  Charles is tasked with getting close to her and ferreting out whatever information he can.  What Charles does not need is a distraction, but one shows up at his door, in the form of his younger sister.  Octavia arrives in a precarious state.  She seems emotional, brittle, and determined to enter society and immediately find a husband.  Charles is advised to seek Harry’s help, and she agrees to guide Octavia, with her employer’s blessing.

THE CHRISTMAS HUSBAND HUNT is a slow building romance between two very likable characters, but that’s not all there is to the story.  There’s the mystery of why Octavia is so distraught, and why she feels she needs to marry right away.  There is humor in Charles’s revoltingly loud waistcoats, selected by his friend, Perry, to attract the marchioness.  There is a heroic dog, ironically, named Cat – short for catastrophe.  Then there’s the spying aspect, as it turns out that the situation is far more deadly than anyone imagined.  I loved this book!  The writing is charming, witty, warm, interesting, entertaining, and I heartily recommend it to fans of historical romance.    ~Rose

Note – though it’s part of a series, THE CHRISTMAS HUSBAND HUNT can easily be read as a standalone.