BookTalk
The Earl of Merton can have his choice of debutantes. Sweeping in from his family home in Wales, Brenn is on the hunt for a wife.
Tess Hamlin is the belle of the Ton. She’s held the supreme position of Queen Bee for years now…so many years in fact, she’s running out of suitable men to turn down.
On the surface Brenn and Tess are perfect for each other. He is her fresh meat, and she is his wealthy wife. But neither comes to this marriage without a secret motivation. Neither is what they appear. So when the truths are revealed will the love they’ve built be enough to weather the results of their secrets…
Review
I liked that in Brenn and Tess’s relationship nothing was too “dramatic” – no one flounced off, slammed a door, left in the dead of night – even in situations where other romances would have gone there. We’ve all seen the third act escape…where one or both of the characters runs away for some flimsy reason that a simple, honest discussion would have cleared up. And while all that drama can be fun. It was refreshing to read a romance that didn’t depend on a dramatic crisis to prove character love. The key to this was that these characters kept fairly open hearts and minds through out the story. Not that they always did it for love (sometimes they were agreeable for their own gain) but they seemed to work together with understanding.
However, now that I’ve just complimented such a perfect couple, I’ll say I disliked how long Brenn and Tess kept their secrets. So many times one or the other could have unburdened themselves. Shared the secret weighing on their mind and the relationship. Maybe it would have given a bit of dramatic depth to the story to reveal…without having to involve the cliche ‘foot-stomp’.
Also, Tess’s brother was hard to swallow.He was the genesis of such a common trope – The ‘used’ daughter/sister. Tess is somehow to pay for her brother’s exorbitant debt and lifestyle. The brother gets off without a smidge of change or shame. At least Maxwell openly states how women are used…helps watching yet another female romance character fall into the sacrificial lamp role. But seriously, Tess’s brother was a little too extreme for me to feel that Tess’s sacrifice was worth it…even if she did end up with a good man.
The ending was quick and the epilogue was long. I think the beginning of this story deserved a more fleshed out ending and a shorter ‘tacked on’ epilogue. ‘Cause that extra bit was practically another story in and of itself!
Rating: 3/5 This one had potential had the author not relied so heavily on tropes and kept her character’s secrets this one would have been stronger.
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The silver solution was a little…”duh”…wondered that Maxwell never let the ‘battery’ investment pay off as batteries do in fact exist – and it would have been a major windfall. Could have added some historical significance to the tale.
Loved, loved the bit about Brenn wooing Tess in Wales. Again we had a situation of the townspeople falling hard and fast for Tess (uhm, totally unrealistic!). But the flowers…the priest…really really sweet. It was stuff like this that kept me reading!
Sara O
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