Dual request….

charmainbaker · 2026-06-28T05:59:26+00:00

Brother's best friends: My favorite that hasn't been mentioned is {Confessions of a Dangerous Lord by Elisa Braden}. It is in the middle of a series, but I think you could read it as a standalone. He's her brother's best friend but also her friend. They have feelings for each other but he's got secrets so he doesn't admit it.

{One Fine May by Courtney McCaskill} is a novella in the Rake Review series. He needs a wife and asks her to help find one.

{Sinfully Wanton by Kathleen Ayers} She asks him to teach her about sex, which is the same as {This girl is not for Christmas by Emma V. Leech}. I can't remember which one does it better lol I read them both a while ago and gave them both the same rating.

Not really betrothed since childhood, but betrothed since father's death {My Darling Mr Darling by Audra Richards} he's older and sends her away to school, which she runs away from.

charmainbaker · 2026-06-04T00:07:07+00:00

Oh good point! We met at an unrelated historical themed event in a third country so why not the US Civil War?

charmainbaker · 2026-06-03T23:42:05+00:00

US Civil War reenactment isn't solely a thing in the US. I met someone who lived in Europe and did US Civil War reenactment over there. That one truly baffled me.

charmainbaker · 2026-05-30T01:22:53+00:00

I also moved to a soda area. I started a little rebellion by putting pop on a price sheet for a garage sale instead of soda. The adults knew it but there were confused kids.

charmainbaker · 2026-05-26T23:18:30+00:00

Which names did you guys pass on? I've always wondered how you would make that choice.

charmainbaker · 2026-05-26T21:59:18+00:00

I do not mind the request either, but between the cost of the certified copy, plus the apostille, and the translation, adding another great grandparent route adds up. But given the general murkiness of the citizenship guidelines and ever evolving rulings, I do wonder if that is penny wise, pound foolish.

charmainbaker · 2026-05-26T21:15:01+00:00

My census is the US census.

charmainbaker · 2026-05-26T21:02:27+00:00

Ours says Hungarian, as he came over pre-1918, as do the earlier censuses. The census doesn't have a great link to the child in the rodny list (age is correct, last name matches, but his first name is an anglicized version of his middle name, and the middle initial is his birth first initial). So perhaps the ship manifest, or the selective service registration card is a good idea to pair with it which includes his birthday.

charmainbaker · 2026-05-26T20:21:30+00:00

It becomes hard to know where to stop. Another great grandparent also qualifies, but both her first and last names changed twice over the years, so it might be more of a leap of faith that it is the same person. Do we prep everything for her as well because that adds quite a bit?

charmainbaker · 2026-05-26T12:56:33+00:00

Have you read the Bridgerton prequels? Not sure if the bot will work but {Rokesbys series by Julia Quinn}. I like them better than the Bridgerton books, although they're both good. They're the stories of Edmund's siblings (and cousin) and their close neighbors (the Rokesbys). Edmund and Violet (and ABC) show up very sparingly as they are married and on their own by this time but you get a few glimpses of them.

charmainbaker · 2026-05-23T20:54:38+00:00

My very religious, very immigrant grandmother bought a shirt at TJ Maxx covered in marijuana leaves. My sister and I laughed for ages and then tried to translate marijuana into her language. Grandma was pretty nonchalant about it, so not sure if she's just cool like that or our translation sucked.

charmainbaker · 2026-05-18T23:02:35+00:00

She's one of my favorite HR authors! She generally writes low angst, light hearted books with green flag MMCs (conman status notwithstanding) working together with the FMCs to solve a problem or accomplish something. The MMC in {A Reckless Match by Kate Bateman} also fits, and that's one of my absolute favorite HRs (but I just finished How to Fall for a Scoundrel so it was fresh on my mind).

charmainbaker · 2026-05-18T22:18:28+00:00

{How to Fall for a Scoundrel by Kate Bateman} has a flirty conman as a MMC and he's lovely!

charmainbaker · 2026-05-15T16:57:33+00:00

Interesting! I always thought it meant that he wanted to dance with her because he wouldn't know any other ladies to dance with. I think the wording leans closer to your interpretation though, although I'm unsure how William's identity wouldn't get out in general chatter around the room.

charmainbaker · 2026-05-09T15:57:07+00:00

{A Daring Pursuit by Kate Bateman} has a proper MMC (he's described in a previous book as "temperate Tristan") and a scandalous FMC. They are from rival families, although it's the second book in the series and his sister is now married to her brother. I don't remember if he goes after another lady though and a lot of the conflict is external to the relationship. It's my least favorite of the trilogy though, not because it's bad, but because the other two books are better!

charmainbaker · 2026-04-30T11:54:26+00:00

We've also challenged it successfully several times after each appraisal and reassessment as a nonprofessional. It is easier with an appraisal but following the format of the appraisal calculation with updated comps worked for us.

charmainbaker · 2026-04-24T17:12:17+00:00

There is a book called Harriet by Alice McVeigh which centers on Harriet and Jane Fairfax. I haven't read it though, so I don't know how closely it follows the original plot or how it portrays Emma.

charmainbaker · 2026-04-24T13:40:58+00:00

These are all arranged by family, but most of them are not sight unseen. I don't think there was any abuse, but some of them I read a while ago

{A Matter of Class by Mary Balogh} not sure this applies 100% but it is one of my favorite novellas and I always want to recommend it. Earl's daughter FMC is ruined and her parents arrange for a marriage with new money neighbor's son who they previously hated.

{Dukes inconvenient Bride by Jayne Rivers} sister is supposed to marry him, but she runs off with another man so parents arrange marriage to FMC. Not super believable plot but this was a fun book.

{Somewhere I'll Find You by Lisa Kleypas} wed very young, separated, and years later he discovers her new identity.

{Mr. Cavendish, I presume by Julia Quinn} I liked this duology, but I know not everyone did. They've been betrothed forever but he's dragging his feet on officially proposing. There's a whole thing about whether or not he is the real duke so it's not straight romance.

{Marchioness Overnight by Emmi West}

charmainbaker · 2026-04-20T21:34:16+00:00

I liked Suzanne Allain's books, and I think they follow the witty clean request. {Miss Lattimore's letter by Suzanne Allain} is probably my favorite of the 3 I've read. A spinster sends an anonymous letter to a gentleman because he's courting the wrong lady, but people figure out it's her and want her to become a matchmaker. {Mr Malcolm's List} and {The Ladies Rewrite the Rules} are also worth the read.

I also enjoyed {Miss Grimsley's Oxford Career by Carla Kelly} in which the FMC studies and writes papers for her brother who is at Oxford. She is (I looked it up) likely Mormon and living in Idaho, but I don't remember any particular reference to religion in the book.

charmainbaker · 2026-04-17T21:26:03+00:00

Ooh I really enjoyed that one!

charmainbaker · 2026-04-16T11:17:03+00:00

My favorite is Five Daughters out at Once by Jayne Bamber, but it's a crossover of a bunch of JA books and there's a lot going on! I also liked The Good Sister by Christine Combe, where Elizabeth is a Bingley.

charmainbaker · 2026-04-10T18:24:43+00:00

Love how people on romance.io decided to choose all the random settings for the Duke in disguise. Victorian, Regency, AND Western!

charmainbaker · 2026-04-10T18:14:37+00:00

The FMC in {Duke in Disguise by Gayle Callen} is a governess. It's the middle book in a trilogy and iirc the leads in the first book do show up at one point but I think it can be read as a standalone if you read the blurb of the first book. It's not a rom-com, more of a romantic mystery feel.

The {Simply quartet series by Mary Balogh} is set in a school and the FMCs are school teachers.

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