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In this funny romantic series, the Shackleford sisters descend on a Regency society that don¡¯t know what¡¯s hit them¡­

Reverend Augustus Shackleford¡¯s mission in life (aside from ensuring the collection box was suitably full every Sunday) was to secure advantageous marriages for each of his eight daughters. A tall order, given the fact that in the Reverend¡¯s opinion they didn¡¯t possess a single ladylike bone in the eight bodies they had between them. Quite where he would find a wealthy titled gentleman bottle headed enough to take any of them on remained a mystery and indeed was likely to test even his legendary resourcefulness.

Grievously wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar, Nicholas Sinclair was only recently returned to Blackmore after receiving news of his estranged father¡¯s unexpected death. After an absence of twenty years, the new Duke was well aware it was his duty to marry and produce an heir as quickly as possible. However, tormented by recurring nightmares after his horrific experiences during the battle, Nicholas had no taste to brave the ton¡¯s marriage mart in search of a docile obedient wife.

Never in his wildest dreams did Reverend Shackleford envisage receiving an offer for his eldest daughter from the newly appointed Duke of Blackmore. Of course, the Reverend was well aware he was fudging it a bit in describing Grace as respectful, meek or dutiful, nevertheless, he could never have imagined that his eldest daughter¡¯s unruliness might end up ruining them all¡­

Alternate cover edition of ASIN B08LNJCYNR

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 21, 2020

7,643 people are currently reading
4,195 people want to read

About the author

Beverley Watts

53?books189?followers
Beverley spent 8 years teaching English as a Foreign Language to International Military Students in Britannia Royal Naval College, the Royal Navy¡¯s premier officer training establishment in the UK. She says that in the whole 8 years there was never a dull moment and many of her wonderful experiences at the College were not only memorable but were most definitely 'the stuff of fiction.' Her debut novel An Officer And A Gentleman Wanted is very loosely based on her adventures at the College.
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Beverley particularly enjoys writing books that make people laugh and currently she has two series of Romantic Comedies, both contemporary and historical, as well as a humorous cosy mystery series under her belt.
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She lives with her husband in an apartment overlooking the sea on the beautiful English Riviera. Between them they have 3 adult children and two gorgeous grandchildren plus a menagerie of animals including 5 dogs - 3 Romanian rescues of indeterminate breed called Florence, Trixie, and Lizzie, a neurotic 'Chorkie' named Pep¨¦ and a 'Chichon" named Dotty who was the inspiration for Dotty in The Dartmouth Diaries.
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You can find out more about Beverley¡¯s books at

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5 stars
4,922 (32%)
4 stars
4,798 (31%)
3 stars
3,840 (25%)
2 stars
1,214 (8%)
1 star
375 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 663 reviews
Profile Image for Lauren.
1,339 reviews187 followers
May 26, 2024
Read: 5/26/24
2.5 stars
This was just an okay novella! Luckily, it was a quick read and free on KU. I would have rated it lower if I had paid for it.

The author had the premise of a good story but didn't bother to flush out the characters. She couldn't decide if she wanted a serious book on wounded soldiers or a cute romance. Therefore, she failed at both

I won't be trying the other books in the series
Profile Image for Debbie DiFiore.
2,482 reviews291 followers
September 27, 2021
Better than the 2nd

Liked this story about a Duke and a country bumpkin. So many misunderstandings and He was so pompous it was awful. When he threw her out, I did tear up a little for her. She was so sad and then he leaves her alone for a couple of months I believe. The Father is a bumbling fool but he has a good heart. And Percy his curate is a perfect accomplice. The scene where The Father dressed up as a woman was very amusing. The hero and heroine do finally make up which was good and they end up with an HEA and it was a quick read and free on KU.
Profile Image for Rachel D..
622 reviews3 followers
March 31, 2023
Amazon recommended this to me as a romantic comedy similar to The Bridgertons. The only problem is that it¡¯s not original, the story is very predictable, the characters do not develop well, and it¡¯s not humorous. I wouldn¡¯t recommend this to anyone.
June 10, 2024
This could have been so great

This is a novella, so it gets 3 ¡ï because I judge them less harshly than novels. But it came really close to being a 2 ¡ï read.

? The good

For such a short book, it managed to deliver great laughs and quick but unexpectedly poignant angst. You know that angst when a character is 'my lorded'/'your graced' when they least expect it? Damn, the delivery had me almost crying.

? The bad

? Too much separation. This was a novella, you can't have them be separated for two months and then for three months. There's barely enough time to get them to know each other, you need to utilize every page you've got.

? ? BE MORE SPECIFIC!!!! In two different occasions I was left angry because we were given generalizations.

¢Ù Her antics: after around two weeks (or maybe only one) of marriage, he leaves at dawn without having consummated it and doesn't leave a single word of his departure nor of his eventual return. She's angry so wants him to put her aside and does a bunch of unladylike antics around the village. WHAT ANTICS?

After she decides to misbehave we get things like
¡ù running wild around the countryside
¡ù The Reverend was sure the absence of her husband was very much at the forefront of her riotous behaviour
¡ù they had occupied themselves in all manner of dubious activities as publicly as possible
This is the first example we get:
¡ù Today had seen all nine of them hiding in a hay cart, jumping out and nearly giving the unsuspecting farmer an apoplexy as he began to unload.

There's eventually a bunch of gossip about her 'antics' and they flee London... and we still don't know what she did beside that one example!!!

It's super late in the book when we get these two:
¡ù You may have tied your garter in public young lady
¡ù why she elected to jump out of a hay barrel (isn't this the same as the one we already had?)

Seriously, I'm gonna need more than this if her antics cause them to separate the second time for three whole months.

¢Ú Somewhere, somehow, between throwing up onto his immaculate hessians and dancing her first waltz with him, she¡¯d fallen deeply, irrevocably in love with Nicholas Sinclair.

Are you freaking kidding me? You jest, I'm sure. You did not just skip the heroine falling in love, did you?

The first woman he¡¯d ever fallen in love with. He could admit it to himself now. When it was far, far too late.

Am I being punk'd?!? What is the meaning of this, madam? Did you just skip the hero falling in love as well???

Did I read this wrong? Is this not a romance?

I am partially exaggerating, since there are scenes that can justify the changing of their feelings, but we are not given any indication that is happening in their minds. Them consummating the marriage, him talking about his trauma, them dancing together are the only ones that come to mind and the problem is that every time they get close, the hero goes cold for days. I really can't see how they fall in love when they spend more time not speaking than speaking.

Up until they say they're in love, most of the heroine's thoughts are of how to make her husband less cold toward her and the hero's thoughts are of how to tell her all the truth about his trauma. There's no gradual transition. We are just told and we're supposed to go with it.

? Final thoughts ?

I know I was harsh towards the end, but I didn't hate this. I laughed and the angst was delicious, if short lived.

The hero's an ass most of the book, but the heroine is fun enough. Her way of thinking is rather childish for a 25 year old, but she's the daughter of a vicar who's never left the countryside and has never even had a suitor. Her innocence is justified.

I would qualify this more of a rom-com than just an HR. A medium level of suspension of disbelief is needed if only for how their marriage comes to be.

Whatever faults the plot had, however, the writing was excellent. I've come to accept the more recently published works tend to be of inferior quality compared to older, more traditionally published books. This book was not like those. It was engaging and cohesive with great historical prose that never falls into the wrong color variety.

I'll try her other works.
Profile Image for Howard.
1,864 reviews108 followers
November 15, 2024
3 Stars for Grace: The Shackleford Sisters, Book 1 (audiobook) by Beverley Watts read by Eilidh Beaton and Mark Elstob.

So I gave Regency another try and I just don¡¯t think it¡¯s my cup of tea. I know that I¡¯m not the target audience and the story was alright but I just don¡¯t understand the hype.
Profile Image for 🐝 Shaz 🐝 .
688 reviews15 followers
February 8, 2024
3.5 stars ?
Grace is the first book about 8 sisters and 1 brothers. With a bumbling fool of a father. Who is trying to marry the sister off . So he can save some money for his 5 year old son inheritance.
Grace is the eldest daughter, who marry a Duke who offered for her without meeting her. He has bad war nightmares and tries to turn off his feelings. Due to loosing people he loved. ??
Profile Image for HR-ML.
1,256 reviews51 followers
April 3, 2022
Rev. Shackleford had 8 daughters (3 of marriage age) &
1 son. Likely his antics and drinking alcohol w/ his curate
friend at the tavern were meant to be witty? 3 stars.

Nicholas & Grace met & disliked each other. Nick told Rev.
he wanted to wed one of his dtrs. By the end of the week
he wed her, but soon left her for his visit to Scotland. Nick
presented as brooding +had flashbacks to his Royal Navy
wartime experience. Nick made assumptions about Grace
rumors & he cut her off. Talk to her, big guy! Heartless. We
saw too many examples of Grace's clumsiness.

The best relationship in the story was Nick & Malcom
his valet, also former Navy man.
11 reviews
October 8, 2022
Dull and uninteresting

I practically skipped through the book just to try and finish it. It seemed as if the story lacked any coherence. It started out with a brave, witty, sharp tongued girl but soon she was just forgiving and in love and ready to jump into bed. Just didn¡¯t make sense. The guy fell in love so quick too so really what was the whole point of the story. He never once apologised for his disappearances and his hot and cold treatment or keeping his secrets.
3,156 reviews62 followers
December 28, 2023
I didn't like the plot, or the H and his PTSD was no excuse. The h was an inexperienced country girl, he knew it and still judged her harshly. He's not a Hero and this had another heroine could not walk without tripping. Not the author for me.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
3,225 reviews277 followers
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
June 18, 2024
DNF at 2%. I am just not in the mood to read a romantic "comedy" that starts with a father disliking all of his daughters and only caring about their ability to bring wealth in for sake of his son.

Makes me sad
Profile Image for Deborah.
3,735 reviews487 followers
December 10, 2020
3.5*


I¡¯ve been struggling to find something to read. So I thought I¡¯d return to my first love, historical romances.

This was a fun little read.
Featuring the new Duke of Blackmore.

Unfortunately, that would involve procuring a wife. Something he neither needed nor wanted.

And Grace the eldest of eight daughters to the Reverend Augustus Shackleford.


These two may seem like an unlikely couple but they could be perfect for each other. But will they realise this before it¡¯s too late
Profile Image for Elaine.
3,774 reviews91 followers
February 27, 2023
Didn't really like the Duke. Story was a little dull. Didn't finish it. 3¡î
Profile Image for Love Rose.
9 reviews
July 20, 2023
I struggled to finish this story. I couldn¡¯t stand MMC. He was awful and not at all love able or redeemable IMO. The MFC was okay but didn¡¯t develop or grow. I found it depressing.
1,724 reviews
August 29, 2022
The Amazon synopsis said, "with a little bit of steam." Not really! There was a full bedroom scene with few details spared the reader. This is not why I read Regency novels. I continued to read it as I liked the heroine but then the villain was introduced. This book was too full of cliches and just too predictable. I stopped at 60%.

Amazon synopsis:
Reverend Augustus Shackleford¡¯s mission in life (aside from ensuring the collection box was suitably full every Sunday) was to secure advantageous marriages for each of his eight daughters. A tall order, given the fact that in the Reverend¡¯s opinion they didn¡¯t possess a single ladylike bone in the eight bodies they had between them. Quite where he would find a wealthy titled gentleman bottle headed enough to take any of them on remained a mystery and indeed was likely to test even his legendary resourcefulness. ....

Grievously wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar, Nicholas Sinclair was only recently returned to Blackmore after receiving news of his estranged father¡¯s unexpected death. After an absence of twenty years, the new Duke was well aware it was his duty to marry and produce an heir as quickly as possible. However, tormented by recurring nightmares after his horrific experiences during the battle, Nicholas had no taste to brave the ton¡¯s marriage mart in search of a docile obedient wife. ¡­..

Never in his wildest dreams did Reverend Shackleford envisage receiving an offer for his eldest daughter from the new Duke of Blackmore. Of course, the Reverend was well aware he was fudging it a bit in describing Grace as respectful, meek or dutiful, nevertheless, he could never have imagined that his eldest daughter¡¯s unruliness might end up ruining them all¡­.

Perfect for fans of funny, lighthearted Regency Romances with a little bit of steam.
Profile Image for Kimberly Sullivan.
2 reviews
January 5, 2024
one is enough

I enjoy romances but the storyline was underdeveloped and lacking in depth. I will not be wasting my time with the subsequent books of the series.
Profile Image for Katie M.
30 reviews1 follower
January 4, 2024
Take my advice. Don't waste your time. I thought this series sounded like such a cute story line. I had to push myself to finish this book and so will not read the others. The hero and heroine are fine (the one star in my rating was for Grace and Nicholas, who are a lovely couple). I liked their romance. But the Reverend: oh my word, he's a stupid man. How can the author write such a ridiculously simple character? And then she throws in all this Shakespeare -esque Victorian slang that's supposed to be comical but just muddies the waters of the reverend's personality even more. He's like a terrible caricature of Mrs. Bennett, which is saying something.
39 reviews
November 6, 2023
Really did not enjoy this book. The story line was weak, with over exaggerated characters and the parts about the FMC's father, the vicar, were dire. Ended up skipping large sections of the book. Shouldn't have wasted my time. Will definitely not be reading others in the series
Profile Image for Nancy H.
2,994 reviews
July 23, 2024
This is a cute and funny story about a family of mostly girls whose father decides to give his oldest daughter to a neighboring duke who is in need of a wife. Grace is headstrong and can't believe what her father has done, but she decides to make the best of it. When all goes wrong, she still decides to do what she needs to do to get through the situations, and she succeeds. This is a cut above the normal girl-forced-to-wed story.
Profile Image for Audrey.
169 reviews1 follower
June 4, 2024
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. A short, fun romance read.

Grace is getting older (25) so her father has her wed off to the duke to secure the duke an heir and get her out of his care. They have their little spats and pretty much ignore each other at first. The Duke of course doesn¡¯t want anything from her besides an heir but hasn¡¯t consummated the marriage yet. Anyways, there¡¯s a reason he doesn¡¯t want to fall in love and it¡¯s heartbreaking. they catch feelings and the rest I don¡¯t want to spoil :)

The loss of a star is because of how often the author used the word ¡°apoplexy¡± and also that the point of view was switching between the two MC, her father, and some smattering of villagers that we shouldn¡¯t have had their point of view in the first place. That really could have been used to further character development for the main 2, especially considering the book is under 200 pages.

Spice ????
Profile Image for Bee.
224 reviews22 followers
January 13, 2022
This inspired more emotions in me than I thought it would. It made me smile, laugh, have second hand embarrassment, and almost cry. So, very well written in my opinion.

I liked the characters and all the problems they had and how they were ¡®solved¡¯.

Also *spoiler* the reverend is an idiot. A well-meaning idiot, but still an idiot.

It was also quite interesting reading perspectives of characters that weren¡¯t the main characters - it added a whole new depth to the story.
263 reviews6 followers
February 4, 2024
Tear jerker from both laughter and sadness. Wonderfully emotional story of Vicar with too many hellion daughters and a penchant for drinking. Daughter no 1, Grace, is married off to grumpy Duke Nicholas. The duke is a war ship capt with serious emotional wounds. Marriage becomes path to healing with shared burden. Loved this theme. Sexual chemistry and tension keep it interesting.
Profile Image for Shannon Trinh.
25 reviews
April 2, 2024
Really was hoping this series would be a fun read¡­ it was not
278 reviews3 followers
May 1, 2024
Really enjoyed this! It was funny and cute. I¡¯m excited to continue with the series

P.s.- I hated the ended but this isn¡¯t high art so it¡¯s still 4 stars for fluff. Maybe a 3.5.
441 reviews2 followers
July 1, 2024
3 stars another simple story about the spunky heroine trying to get the scarred hero to fall in love with her and the comical (not lol) antics of all to make this happen.
Profile Image for Jena Vogt.
26 reviews
March 20, 2025
Homie really tried to fit like 4 issues in a 5 hour audio book sigh
Profile Image for Mary Mahan.
97 reviews2 followers
November 13, 2024
This is your reminder that not all recommendations made online are good.

If it was any longer, I wouldn¡¯t have finished it.
Pacing and plot was terrible and the characters had 0 depth.
256 reviews12 followers
May 4, 2024
A very enjoyable read!

This is an enchanting story, that I found myself picking up at every spare moment!
A heartwarming read that held my attention all the way through. I've now downloaded book two, which I suspect will be every bit as good.
Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 663 reviews

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