Solid angst!! This kind of tale is right up my alley, though I’m pretty sure absconding with an Earl’s heir leads to a massive, country-wide search - the aristocracy does not mess around when it comes to primogeniture. Regency Regina George(s) and all kinds of delightful misunderstandings. Good stuff!! (3.5 stars) ( )

I was looking for some angsty books and this was on a list, so I grabbed it. While the plot fit the bill, I found the execution a bit lacking. It's an okay read but the characters were too black and white. Elizabeth, the lost love and villain of the romance, comes off as cartoonish in her dealings with Felicity, the steadfast wife. Felicity cuts and runs rather than fight while her husband Alex is in the middle of the two women, often clueless and just stupid in his behavior. But it's a fast read and fine as a story. ( )

UGH. He is clueless male (Oh, I will go, alone, to visit the newly-widowed woman who everyone knows was my True Love until she married another!). She is spineless and utterly convinced he doesn't care about her, only about the widow (I am enjoying myself at this ball! Oh, he brought me to deflect gossip about him being with her. Oh, I will run away crying and go home alone in a cab...). Never mind she's pregnant and he's delighted, never mind she's never made any push to hold him (he only took me because she wasn't available, so I will just sit in the shadows...). And he scolds her at least once for not telling him about something, but refuses to tell her anything about what he's doing with the widow (She shouldn't be disturbed by all this), so she has no clue that he was slightly revolted by his visit...Misunderstanding trope (my least favorite) distilled and multiplied by 1000. I repeat, UGH. I quit when Felicity ran from the ball; they will no doubt end up happily together, but I don't have to drag myself through all the agonizing they bring down on themselves before they finally get a rush of brains to the head. Sorry I read as much as I did. ( )

As modern readers, we tend to focus on the glitter of the Regency, glamming it up with amorous adventures in period costumes. G.G. Vandariff explores the emotions involved in a love triangle with a steady hand, using the tension of the subject to provide an interesting character study as well as a romance consistent with period values.

I'll admit it, Grenville was just ticking me off! However, the writing was excellent, the whiny heroine stuff blessedly not present, and there was enough historical accuracy to believe this story, to actually see these people struggling along. There were moments when Grenville's character, sense of humor and desire to be more than an imbecile peeped through. It was enough to keep Felicity [and me] hoping. I wasn't sorry that I carried on.

Normally misunderstanding tropes make me nuts, but this one didn't. Because the misunderstandings weren't between the couple, they were within the characters themselves. This couple talked, sometimes it helped and sometimes it made things worse. Often, the thoughts put in to words take longer to reach the mind than the ear, or the heart. Lord Grenville was genuinely confused, aristocratically selfish, and very immature but, even when he was being what I would consider a mar-oon, he was not outside of the ordinary as far as men of his time. Felicity was reasoned in her limited expectations, determined in her hope, and foolish in her exhausted grief. Family interference, friends trying to help that made things worse, and the old flame fanning the entire mess was entirely believable. [except for the Dr. but even he was credible in a contrived sort of way].

The pacing of the story was well done, the conflicts focused and the development of the characters convincing. I understood Grenville's baby steps and backsliding. I sympathized with Felicity's roller coaster of hope, hormones and one-straw-too-many. Dialog and secondary characters were engaging, descriptions and situations visually and emotionally convincing. There was a Traditional Flavor that some might find slow but I prefer romance that takes the time to be romantic, even when the hero has to bash his knees, stub his toes and have a two by four smack him upside the head before he figures it out. And yes, I confess, I like a heroine that is reflective of the way women were prepared for life in the period written. Felicity was admirable, even when she ran instead of stopping to think things through, and completely aware that there were realities of the time she simply could not ignore. Yes, the book has a sickly sweet epilogue but that is the Standard now, not the exception, so I live with it and move on, or I try to.

I recommend this book for a thoughtful read, when there's time to ponder the nuances of character and love as it develops over time and with effort instead of springing forth in a glittering rush of lust that no one can control.

read my complete review at pagetraveler dot blogspot dot com ( )

Lord Grenville's love of his life was wedded to another man through an arranged marriage. Only months later, he was approached by the father of a very wealthy young woman. She wasn't as pretty as his former love but still was quite attractive. Since he was having financial difficulties, her large dowry would solve his financial worries. Now, five years later, he had a wonderful son whom he dearly loved and admired the way his wife loved their son equally. He felt bad he could not give his heart to his wife. She was sweet and a good wife and mother but he could not get over his lost love.

Lady Felicity loved Lord Grenville from the moment she saw him. He had barely noticed her at the social events they attended, but everything about him attracted her to him..., everything except his obsession with Lady Elizabeth.

Yes, it had been five years but at the beginning of "the Season" circumstances changed, disrupting several lives with no clear solution to the problems.

This is a melodramatic story in the fashion of Jane Austin. It was quite predictable except for a few unexpected twists, but it was indeed very well written.

The characters were very real and the reader felt a definite connection to them. The surrounding scenes were well developed and easily visualized.

The title was a very good choice. The book cover, although pleasing to the eye, does not coincide with the characters described in the story.

This is a short, easy read. It is a bitter-sweet romance.

The story was well done and written in a manner it was difficult to put the book down before one was done reading it. Therefore my review of this book gives it a Four & a Half Stars rating.

*This was sent to me for an honest review, of which I have given. ( )