Historical romance, why have I ignored you so? What was I thinking? You bring me such joy! You make me smile while I’m reading clever dialogue. I have to fan myself when things get hot and heavy (don’t judge, you know you do it too). I get a little rush of excitement when things come together in the end after all that the hero and heroine have been through. It’s so nice to have you back!
Seriously, this book was so good. It’s one of the best historical romances I’ve come across. Let me explain why Nicola Cornick’s books are so amazing. She gets it. That’s it. She understands the language, the society, the politics. It just clicked with me in this novel that she does such a great job because she knows what she’s talking about. Also, she writes some pretty sexy love scenes.
I loved Tess and Owen from the get go. The way they run into each other is just beyond perfect. It’s the forshadowing of naughty things to come. When I got to where they start courting, I feel in love with them. They’re both so tender, but also have a lot of passion. Owen even has this edge of violence that comes off more sexy than scary. They had the right amount of depth and though their courtship didn’t last long (whose does in a romance novel?), it never seemed rushed. The timing felt perfect. I loved this one more than the last book in this series because of the characters. I kind of want to read it all over again, which is seriously rare for me with romance novels. There are only a million of them out there!
I feel like I’m gushing a little, so I’ll try to get back to the point I wanted to make. This particular book has a good bit of politics involved in the plot. I’ll go ahead and admit to knowing absolutely nothing about British politics, but this felt so authentic. It really added to the book. I also love her grasp on the language. It was perfect! Sometimes when I’m reading historical romance I get thrown off because the language is too modern, but I never feel that way when I’m reading Nicola’s books. I think it’s time for a romance read-a-thon. I’ve got to read the rest of her books.
I highly recommend this book to lovers of historical romance.