A Reckless Match

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨


First Impressions
A Reckless Match is the first book in the "Ruthless Rivals" series and this has been an author that I have been wanting to get to. She has really become pretty hyped in the last year and I was curious to see how her books would be for me especially with so many influencers raving about her writing. And this writing was fun to read and I do plan on reading her more for sure. The dialogue has a slight hint of modernisms though so keep that in mind if you are curious about this one. But I had a fun time with the banter, and it didn't feel too modern as a whole and I still enjoyed it. It was far from a perfect read but it was delightful and a great diversion type of read and I can see why many enjoy this author if her other books are written like this one is.

First Line
It Started With a Pig

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Earl of Powys, Gryff Davies
War hero, oldest of the Davies group and his father recently has passed and the Earldom has fallen to him.

The Heroine:Madeline Montgomery
Interests in Archaeology, devoted daughter and strong and with a touch of sassiness to her

Summary
Maddie and Gryff grew up hating each other and playing tricks on one another as children due to the family feud that has existed between their families for centuries. When they do their yearly meet on the bridge that combines their families lands, something more sparks between them and they share a kiss that rattles them both. Through a course of events, they stumble across a smuggling plot in their area, they work together to bring it down and in the process start to fall in love with each other despite how much they try to fight their feelings for each other. But is there any way for them to find a happy ending when their families have hated each other for years?

What I Loved
As family feud romances go, this story wasn't the worst and it had some delicious banter to go along with the story. I was really intrigued by their relationship because even though there was a sense of animosity there was also a sense of respect for each other. I really enjoyed how these two have a dialogue with each other and it was different than I was expecting. It had a twist of animosity, laughter and respect. It was really delightful to see how these two interact with one another. They both have some chemistry that builds between them. I wouldn't necessarily call this a spicy romance lol its definitely more of a slow burn which is what you will normally have when dealing with a family feud situation. There was a sense that their match would be slightly forbidden, but that aspect wasn't heavy at all so it was kinda confusing that their families would just fall in line with them being together. I did enjoy seeing our hero fight for the heroine and the relationship. The smuggling plot was really fascinating and the author did very well with that aspect and I appreciated it dearly. I loved the sense of enemies to friends to lovers that this story turned into. And this type of story is the style of enemies to lovers that I enjoy. There isn't really a true hate between them, you can sense how much they admire each other even from the beginning and the chemistry starts very early on and I was engaged easily with this story and I really flew through it.

What I Struggled With
So I have read quite a few of family feuds and to be honest they are one of my favorite types of enemies to lovers dynamics you can see in a romance. However, I wasn't a fan of how this was resolved in the end to be honest. And the ending just felt rushed. I would have liked to see a bit more of a reaction to the family when they decide to get married. But it was basically they tell each other they love each other and then want to get married and then there was the epilogue lol It just didn't feel that satisfying to me and I would have liked the last stretch of the story to be a bit more fleshed out. Also the heroine running away in the third act because she loves the hero, that didn't make any sense to me. She was all for the hero and then just goes cold with him, no wonder he was confused lol I would have liked to see her be willing to fight for their relationship like he was willing to. It just felt a bit one sided in some aspects.

Overall View
A Reckless Match was a delightful twist of supsense, heated rivalry and slow built tension that was delicious and engaging! A TRUE DELIGHT!

Favorite Quote(s)
Love and hate just were two sides of a very thin coin, after all. Combining them might prove truly spectacular

For her part, she had the sneaking suspicion that what they’d shared would have a lasting effect on her, just like the lightning. Only instead of scars upon her arm, Gryff Davies would leave an indelible mark upon her heart.

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Historical Romance, Regency Era
Character Types: Military, Archaelogy
Themes: Angst, Childhood Ties, Slow Burn, Family Feud
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers

Book Perspective
3rd POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
A Mix of both

Song This Book Inspires
Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes

Steam/Spice Explanations

Warmin' by the fire- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.

Delightful, this was

My favorite thing about Bateman's writing is her characters. They're always so fun. Every time I pick up one of her books, I know I'm going to get top-notch banter and bickering. Maddie and Gryff continuously got under each other's skin with their childish antics, and I loved it. You could tell Gryff was always acting in that boyish way of terrorizing the girl he likes, and usually, I find that immature, but Bateman made it work so well here. I loved how Maddie never backed down from him and gave it straight back. I also love both of their families. They brought another layer of humor to this and made it even more entertaining. I did find the plot of the smugglers a bit bland, but I enjoyed this nonetheless. I can't wait to read more from Bateman, as she's quickly becoming one of my favorite historical romance authors.

This is the first book I have read by this author, and it definitely won't be my last! It had everything I could want. Action, Adventure, Romance, and Humor.. Ill definitely be checking out her other books, and keeping an eye out for when the next book in this series is released.. I can't wait to see what couple is up next! This story was really good! I absolutely loved the history between the two families.. A feud that has lasted hundreds of years, now its become more of a game.. which family can annoy the other the most.. All the interactions between between Madeline and Gryff had me laughing and swooning at the same time. There romance was so cute. and I loved it when they finally realized the feelings they had for each other.. I think this might be one of my favorite tropes.. When childhood frenemies grow up and realize that they were ment for each other..

I absolutely adored reading this book. I got a tad nervous because the beginning felt a little slow for me, However the further we got in the book the more I enjoyed the story and the characters. Reading Maddie and Gryff come to their realizations and admit their feeling was very enjoyable. The chemistry and sexual tension were very well done. It really made the romance so much for enjoyable! Overall I for sure recommend giving it a read.