Well, now I'm depressed. This book isn't angsty, it's sad. I admit I started skimming on occasion after a while, so maybe I missed something. But, what the heck was the source of the problem here? At a couple of points, Sophie mentions that she cannot marry anyone who would be unfaithful, because her dead husband was an epic douche. But why is there so much conflict in her relationship with B? Because he offered to make her his mistress? Because he admitted he sucked at fidelity and hit on her when they were both married? I mean, sure, that's bad and should be a point of contention, but the book just dragged their conflict out for so long and made it such an epic issue that I found myself wondering if the hero had assaulted the heroine on "that terrible night" they kept alluding to. When all the cards are finally on the table, it felt super anti-climactic; like there was supposed to be some big reveal. But I just ended up wondering what the hell Sophie's problem was - she had hung out with B like 5 times while he was in Rake Mode, and now - years later - she's seeing him almost daily for months, and all the while he is professing his love and treating her great and being devoted and... just... what? If someone I kinda knew for a while was a douche, then went off to work for the government overseas for a few years and returned with a bunch of solid people in his social circle, telling me he was a changed man and he loved me - well, I might not believe it immediately, but Sophie fought against the truth for a ridiculously long time. And, the thing where Sophie is mortified by her "betrayal" of her marriage because she called out B's name while in bed with her husband (due to fantasizing, she didn't actually cheat on him) - just, what? Why is it this huge confession and obstacle to being with B? One last complaint: why kill off John??? The book went downhill from there, for me. It was needlessly jarring and depressing, and just cast a gloom over the rest of the story. No thanks.

My reason for reading romances is to escape; I prefer the angst be based on something that the heroine is insecure about, or a Misunderstanding. I want to read about the hero wooing the heroine and soothing that angst, not for everyone in the book to be miserable. That might make for high drama, but that is not what I am looking for in an afternoon escape into a book.

(2.5 stars) ( )

I'd give this more than 5 stars if I could. This book immersed me in the time period from the first paragraphs. The writing was moving and evocative of the world of lords and ladies of the regency period. It was not done with the use of archaic words but with deft word choices and sentence structures.

As an example, here are the first 2 paragraphs:

"The first thing Gwilym, Earl of Banallt, noticed when he rounded the drive was Sophie perched on the ledge of a low fountain. Surely, he thought, some other explanation existed for the hard slow thud of his heart against his ribs. After all, he hadn't seen her in well over a year, and they had not parted on the best of terms. He ought to be over her by now. And yet the jolt of seeing her again shot straight through to his soul.
He was dismayed beyond words."

The story was lovely. The journey of an unrepentant rake to a man whose only thought is to be true to one woman is told through judicious use of flash backs as well as scenes in the present. The plot absolutely made sense and did not rely on silly misunderstandings. It was very emotional all around as you felt for Banallt as he tried to convince Sophie that he was a changed man. When he assumes that he cannot have her and contemplates which other man might best make her happy, my heart was in my throat.

These characters acted as if they really lived in that time period. They did not run around with modern ideas and attitudes. There were some love scenes. They were integral to the story and were explicit without being in any way raunchy and they came over as full of love and you could feel the emotions of the characters.

This book was a wonderful example of showing not telling. Almost everything you learned about the hero and heroine was illustrated through their interaction and dialog. For example during their first love scene his hands are trembling so much that he almost couldn't get her dress off. The author could have just stated that he'd wanted her for years and was excited to finally be touching her. Trembling hands were much more effective.

Usually I don't mind one way or another if there is an epilogue but I did wish there had been one here. The book took place over about 4 years and the characters suffered so much angst that I would have liked to see them a couple of years down the road happy and content.

I could rave on and on but really, if you love well done historical romances with a nice helping of true love and angst, do yourself a favor and read this book. ( )

Enjoyable read

I wish the story had more details about Banallt's past, so to understand why he was unfaithful to his first wife but would be faithful to Sophie. I also didn't like that her brother John died so there will never be his story with Fidelia, which I would of loved to read. Overall I like book. ( )

Sophie and Bannallt have love story that lasts for years. Even though they do not act upon it until it's almost too late. Both had been married before and the marriages were disastrous. Both had lost loved ones and came out the other side better people. Trusting in each other took a momentous effort, but finally their happy ending was on the horizon. ( )

I liked the flashbacks but it was over a third of way into the book when she only just begrudgingly agreed to dance with him. So I started to skim and things did pick up but I had lost interest.