When Harry Met Molly by Kieran Kramer (Impossible Bachelors #1)
November 2, 2010
Historical Romance
Paperback, 432 Pages
St. Martins

Reviewed by Mandi

Favorite Quote: Show me the best three minutes you can imagine in a kissing closet.

Harry and Molly had a bad start together. 13 year old Molly was infatuated with her sister’s fiancé and unintentionally announced her sister’s indiscretions with her fiancé’s brother, Harry at a large gathering in a poem. This poem resulted in Molly being shipped off to Yorkshire, and Harry shipped off to the army. To say Harry was not pleased with Molly is an understatement.

Eight years later, Harry is finally out of the service, and wants nothing to do with marriage. With his brother having gone through with the marriage to Molly’s sister, and already having four daughters, he hopes a son comes along soon, which would put even less pressure on him finding a bride. Being the second son and never good enough for his father, he is scared of being rejected in life. At his club one night relaxing with his other bachelor friends, the Prince Regent, Prinny makes an appearance – and has a grand idea for entertainment. At least, entertainment for him. Prinny comes up with a wager – Each bachelor must bring his mistress to the country for a week of competition. At the end of the week, the mistress with the most votes will be named the Most Delectable Companion and that bachelor will have a year free of any marriage commitments. The losers each have to draw a straw, and the short straw must marry within a few months. The bachelors don’t want to do this, but they can’t go against Prinny – and the idea of one year free of wooing women is very appealing.

At an inn in the middle of nowhere on the way to his country house with his mistress for the week of the competition, Harry runs into Molly, who is about run off to Gretna Green to elope with her father’s assistant, Cedric. By the end of the night, the mistress and Cedric have run off together, leaving Harry and Molly alone. Although they hate each other, and barbs and insults fly out of their mouths, Harry can’t leave Molly alone, unchaperoned. He also can’t show up to his country house without a mistress, he would forfeit and he would be the one marrying in a few months. So, he asks Molly to be his fake mistress for the week. Molly, who thinks she has superior acting skills, and has no desire to go back to being her aunt’s chaperone, agrees…and off they go. Let the games begin…and the romance.

When Harry Met Molly is a very cute, funny, lighthearted historical romance from debut author Kieran Kramer. The first half of the book had me laughing out loud – and laughing very hard. The insults and wicked banter between Harry and Molly is some of the best I have read in a long time. They both blame the other for the miserable time spent after Molly unintentionally outs Harry kissing his brother’s fiancé. And they both refuse to let the past go.

Lady Molly Fairbanks. What was she doing at a seedy inn in the middle of nowhere?

“You,” she breathed.

“You,” he said back.

“It can’t be.” She took a step backward.

“It is,” he said, and backed away, as well.

“Why here?” she asked.

“Why not?” he said.

He noticed neither of them could go far in the maze of chairs and tables. They were trapped, forced into a position of proximity.

“I still hate you,” she said. “Just so you know.”

“The feeling is mutual.” he said curtly.

Once we get to the country house, hijinks ensue. Molly is awful at pretending to be a mistress. She is really quite naïve – having never even been to London. Harry helps her as much as he can, but it is funny to watch her fail miserably. I won’t say the outcome of the week, that you will have to discover on your own. During the week though, since Molly is pretending to be a mistress, of course she has to act the part somewhat. And a romance develops between this couple. Harry is quite a rake, and I like how he all of a sudden feels this desire to be with Molly and the past is quite forgiven.

There is kissing in a closet and kissing in a tent. Very cute and sweet scenes that will have you smiling. As I mentioned, Molly is quite naïve, so in this one, the romance isn’t super steamy. It was actually hard for me to feel the sexy part of the romance because Molly comes across as very young. Maybe too young. She never felt like a woman. But, the overall feel of the book is more lighthearted, so maybe a heavier romantic feel would have been too much.

The ending is a bit dramatic, but again, it fits the feel of the book. I really like Kieran Kramer’s wit and the way she writes her characters  I can’t wait for more in this series!

Rating: B

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Goodreads

This series includes:
When Harry Met Molly
Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right – December 2010
Cloudy with a Chance of Marriage – April 2011