First: I really liked this book.
Second: I’m really disappointed I didn’t five star love it.
Third: I invented a word to describe my disappointment. That word is ‘swooners,’ and it is to be used in the context of things that make you swoon (obv). As in, unfortunately as much I as I liked this book, it didn’t hit me in my swooners. I’m not exactly sure what part of the body the swooners are in . . . maybe the back of the throat? That would make sense. Maybe swooners are why you sometimes want to make this sound:
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
and then run around until you calm down.
I feel like this book hit everyone in their swooners except for me.
BUT, and I want to make this clear, THIS IS STILL A REALLY GOOD BOOK.
It’s got two extremely likable heroes who sass each other a lot, scheming and plotting, a sub-plot involving a really cute lesbian romance (I don’t think I’ve ever seen lesbians in a mainstream romance novel before???), and it actually puts the “history” in “historical.”
Frederica “Free” Marshall came into an inheritance as a teenager, and always a bit wild and inconventional, used it to get herself an education and start a newspaper produced, written, and for women. This has not made her life easy, in fact at times it’s turned her into a target. When she turns down a marriage proposal from a complete arsehole, the arsehole begins a campaign to make her pay, ruining her and her newspaper. Enter Edward Clark (nee Edward Delacey, Viscount of Claridge), brother of said arsehole, long believed dead. He and Free enter into an uneasy partnership to thwart his brother’s plans. Only, Free doesn’t know he’s the guy’s brother, and she certainly doesn’t know he’s a lord. She just thinks he’s a scoundrel.
Of course they fall in love and it’s totally perfect.
So why didn’t I lurrrrrve it? I honestly don’t know. Would it make me a perve to admit that I wished Courtney Milan’s books had more sex in them? They’re very cerebral and socially aware, which I love! My thing is, why can’t we be cerebral and socially aware AND have lots of steamy sex? (I don’t think this was my problem with not lurrrrving it, but it’s definitely a thing that I am thinking.)
Anyway, these books are great, I think even if you DON’T like romance novels. And more people definitely need to be reading Courtney Milan. How is she not a bestseller???
