Pride Comes Before a Fall: A Novel

4 1/2 stars. Portia was quite a handful. I loved her determination to help get reform off the ground and even her naivete with doing before thinking it through. Leo was careful, friendly, and protective, but could not admit his true feelings. There were plenty of secrets between them and almost more than their friendship and relationship could take. The ending was very amusing, and I enjoyed this story. I received a copy through Netgalley, and this is my unsolicited review.

Serious attempt at being light-hearted So Portia is an Activist with a Capital A. She's on a mission to right all the wrongs of a society that allows nobility to get away with treating everyone else as less than. But a girl's got to pay the bills, so she takes a job working as a companion to a duke's two unruly young adult sisters. The tough part is keeping her Activist persona under wraps, especially her work for the liberal newspaper that challenges the aristocracy in every issue. As it happens, however, Leo, the Duke of Dimples, is a forward-thinking young man who is just trying to do right by his legacy and keep his sisters from getting into trouble. His own progressive opinions are refreshing, but there's a limit to how much public humiliation he's willing to endure to change the system while he's still one of its main beneficiaries. Portia is valiantly trying to balance her principles against her attraction to the enemy, despite how caring and considerate he is, right up until she finds herself in deep in hot water and the only way out is to marry so that she can be protected by a title. Principles be damned. Surviving to fight another day is more important, apparently. I was somewhat disappointed that we didn't see very much interaction between Portia and the young ladies she's in charge of. It appeared she spent most of her time verbally sparring with their brother, leaving the eldest girl to take full advantage of the lack of supervision to find her own path to trouble. Of course, her brother's title protects her even then. The romance had its moments, to be sure. There's strong chemistry between Leo and Portia, and they each have to admit the fallacy of their own previously held opinions about the other. He definitely falls for her, hard, long before she allows herself to return the sentiment. Most of the second half of the romance consists of him lecturing her about accepting the love between them while she lectures him about using his privilege for the greater good. There's a good deal of emphasis on the legal trouble and how that is used to spur the romance along, yet at the end, it's only her newly acquired title that protects her, not the truth behind the false claims. It was a bit of a let down not to see the main villain held to account, since it was no longer necessary for Portia's freedom. There's a solid HEA for the romance, of course, but I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for Portia having to all but abandon her cause in the process. The secondary romance was a nice surprise, and it added significantly to the overall story.

Leopold, the Duke of Debden, hires outspoken Portia—secretly a radical journalist—as a chaperone to protect his rebellious sisters in Bath. I loved this book! The humor, the well-developed characters, and the strong plot make the novel highly entertaining. Leo and Portia are an adorable couple with a high degree of sensual chemistry. I enjoyed the focus on social reform. Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.