Major Bartholomew Blackpool was a dandy, a rake and a braggart until he lost a leg in the war. Now, he won't dance, he won't ride, and he is not even interested in charming the pretty ladies; he basically doesn't do anything at all anymore. On the other hand, Miss Daphne Vaughan is so busy with her charity work, she often forgets to eat. Daphne and the Major had known each other since she was ten and he a few years older: Laughy Daffy and Tolly.

They hadn't seen each other in ten years until Daphne's guardian, Captain Steele, presents her with an ultimatum: she is to marry within the next month or be confined to an asylum; the Captain views her charity work as the occupation of a lunatic. Daphne knows the Major is back in Kent, and he is the ideal candidate for a pretend fiancé: such a ladies' man surely isn't interested in getting married, besides he's a trustworthy friend. In a month, Daphne will come into her majority, and that will be the end of it. Bartholomew jumps at the idea of helping his friend, but neither was prepared for how kind the years had been to the other.

Once again, Ms. Ridley takes an old trope, a pretend engagement, and turns it on its head. THE MAJOR'S FAUX FIANCEE is so much more than the light fare the blurb led me to believe. The story is more serious than other books in the splendid Dukes of War series, but the light, fun touches and the wit that are Ms. Ridley's forte are still very much present, especially in the friendly banter between Daphne and Bartholomew. Daphne wants to matter, to be loved, not just appreciated for her good deeds, but those are all she has to make a difference.

Daphne has always been alive, passionate, very opinionated; while the Major who had been the toast of the Ton amounted to not much more than a glossy persona. He hasn't recovered from losing his twin Edmund in the war either; helping Daphne is the only thing he has deemed worth his attention in a long time. In THE MAJOR'S FAUX FIANCEE, Daphne and Bartholomew fall easily into their old, comfortable friendship but before anything more happens, both characters must take a good look at the choices they made, and their journey makes for a touching and oh so romantic story.

Ms. Ridley refines her craft with each book she writes and as we go along in this divine series, the characters become even more complex and the stories more captivating. Erica Ridley's prose is subtly dazzling but so seamless, elegant, and evocative that I'm experiencing the story, and not reading words and sentences. I have adored every book in the Dukes of War series, every instalment is better than the previous one, and I feel THE MAJOR'S FAUX FIANCEE is the best one. So far. The name Erica Ridley is synonymous with excellence: don't miss this extraordinary, timeless love story.