Once Upon a Wedding Night by Sophie Jordan

Enjoyable historical romance
4 stars

Lady Meredith Brookshire has a problem. She has suddenly become both husbandless and penniless and about to be tossed from her home by the new earl - a man that everyone thought was dead. So, in order to protect her family and keep her home Meredith devises a desperate plan to ensure that their futures are stable - she will fake her own pregnancy, finding a male child to pass off as her own after the nine months to ensure that he will inherit the title of earl.

Nick Caulfield, the new Earl of Brookshire doesn't care for the aristocracy and doesn't much want to be an earl. But when he meets Meredith, his half-brother's widow - he is sure she is up to something but cannot help but be bewitched by her guileless manner and decides to stick around to find out her secrets.

As Meredith's plans start to go awry Nick does some planning of his own - to get Meredith wed and out of his life as soon as possible. But no sooner than his plans start to fall into place he realises that maybe he doesn't want to be rid of Meredith after all.

Both Nick and Meredith are interesting characters who play off each other well and arose constant passions in one another. Nick is definitely an alpha male while Meredith is both the naive innocent and the seductive widow. When together sparks fly - both in anger and passion - and you can really feel the chemistry between the pair. However Meredith, although a likeable character, did seem at times to be overwhelmed by such a strong character as Nick and it would have been nice to see her stick up for herself during some of their arguments.

The story moves along nicely always keeping you wanting to turn the page and find out what happens next so it really keeps you hooked. I'm not sure how historically accurate the story line is or if it would actually have been able to happen (the passing of the title before a pregnancy has been determined, marrying your brother's widow etc.) but this doesn't really detract from the story although I believe it might annoy some readers.

Overall, this was an enjoyable historical romance and one which despite its faults you can't help but like. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from Sophie Jordan in the future.