Loved the #MeToo conclusion. ( )

The characters were nice and I liked the scenario that threw them together. Consent is a major theme, (just a heads up), but I think it was handled well. The ending felt a little bit slap-dash, but it still tied up the loose ends and all, so it was fine. My biggest issue was that the very final conversation was a strange note to end on. We had already heard all the details of that particular story mentioned previously, so it was rehashing a fair bit, and then also just kind of sad. They do still have their 'happy ever after' of course, but if Galen had just moved that one conversation forward a bit, the book would have gone out on more of a high note. (And why not go out feeling pure cheer?). I enjoyed it overall though. ( )

FINALLY! Jasper’s story! Jasper was interesting and intriguing from the moment I met him in Third Son’s a Charm. I knew he needed a really special heroine and he certainly got her in Olivia. This book is excellently and intelligently written, well-plotted, and it has a lovely romance. The book title is also perfect – and often, that isn’t the case.

Jasper Grantham is the youngest son of the Marquess of Strathern. He had joined the military, as was expected of younger sons, and he was recruited into what was basically a suicide squad. They took on the missions nobody else could or would and they didn’t expect to survive the war. They started with thirty men and only a handful did actually survive. (Read Third Son’s A Charm for more of the history). Jasper survived but was very badly scarred. He now wears a mask to keep from terrifying the women and children who see him and think him a monster. He’s also filled with guilt because he could not save his friend as he was trying to do when he was injured. Each man in his military unit had a special skill and Jasper’s skill was finding things. It was just something he was born doing. Jasper is the most honorable, patient, considerate, kind and caring hero I’ve read in a while.

Olivia Carlisle, daughter of Viscount Richard Carlisle, has been in hiding for five years. She is the kind of heroine I love to read about. So many ‘strong and brave’ heroines are just shrewish and TSTL, but not Olivia. She has managed to survive and provide a home for her and her son. Can you imagine the strength and intelligence it would take for a very young woman, raised in the lap of luxury with everything done for her, to manage to survive on her own and to care for her son with almost no money at all? She learned to cook, clean, sew, grow a garden, care for a horse – you name it. Olivia’s one problem is that she is absolutely terrified of men and with good reason.

Jasper was hired by Viscount Carlisle to find his missing daughter because her mother was dying and she wanted to see Olivia before she died. Jasper had traced Olivia to the small village of Penbury on the coast. As he was ascending the steep trail to her remote cottage, he was stabbed and left for dead. It didn’t seem like a random attack, but who could it have been?

Olivia’s young son, Richard, comes running up to her shouting “Mama! Mama!” and when Olivia tried to get him inside before the storm started, he said, “But Mama, I found something.” He then held up a man’s boot. Olivia couldn’t imagine where that would have come from – and then Richard told her there had also been a man lying beside the boot. After he convinced her, she went with Richard and saw Jasper. Surely he was dead because there was so very much blood. She managed to summon the courage to get close enough to feel the vein in his neck and found a faint heartbeat. She knew he’d die if she left him here – but she couldn’t – she just couldn’t have him near her. She almost left him, but in the end, her humanity won out and she managed to drag him to her cottage and tend his wounds.

So starts a sweet, poignant love story. I loved watching them fall in love. I loved how understanding and patient Jasper was with Olivia’s fears and how quickly he took to Richard. I do have to say, though, that Jasper’s patience began to wear a little thin during the love scenes. I understand Olivia’s issues totally, but when Jasper keeps asking permission, time after time after time during the same scene to do something she’s already given permission for – well – instead of enjoying the read, I was thinking “Good Grief – just get on with it!” You'll notice that I gave the book 5-stars, so obviously, this didn't bother me overly much.

You know, early on, who the villain is. There is certainly no effort to make it a secret. He is a villain who acts like a villain and everybody knows it. He makes absolutely no pretense at being other than he is. To me, the even worse villain is the one who enables him. The one who hides behind a curtain of love and care. The main villain got his punishment, probably all that would have been available to dish out during that time, but I wished for more. To this blood-thirsty reviewer, I would have loved it if Jasper and his friends had had the villain kidnapped and shipped off to some Pasha in the East somewhere so that he would become a sex slave. Let the punishment fit the crime! I also wouldn’t have minded if his enabler had gone with him, but – well – I can see why that couldn’t happen.

I really loved the book! Jasper got his perfect mate! Way to go!

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"I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher." ( )