Series: The London Jewels Trilogy, #1
Traits & Tropes: second chance; soldier
Publication Date: 01.29.19
Genre/Setting: Historical; Edwardian; London, England, 1902
Heat Level: 3
Rating: 3/5
After the death of her brother in the South African Boer War and her father soon after, Diana is left alone in the world and the sole heir to her family's South African diamond mines and fortune, including estates in England as well. Or so she thinks. Upon returning to England, however, she finds that she must share her inheritance with her brother's heir and best friend, and her former fiance, Colonel Rupert Lacey. Rupert fought at her brother's side during the war and feels guilty for his survival and his friend Jem's death. Despite their estrangement, he has always loved Diana, whom he has known forever, and harbors a small hope that their relationship may yet be repaired. Diana, on the other hand, is fiercely determined to maintain her independence and exclude Rupert from estate business as much as possible.
It took me awhile to get into this and get it read, but overall it was enjoyable and I would recommend it.
**Potential spoilers ahead**
Full disclosure: I hated Diana. She just came off as a spoiled little brat and once the reasoning for her year long estrangement from Rupert and their broken betrothal was revealed, it was just ridiculous to me. Their problem was nothing more than a minor tiff which could've been easily resolved by communication, which Rupert was too hurt to endure and Diana was too stubborn to hear or ask for. While their was indeed some fault on both sides, I felt that mostly it was just Diana being determined to believe the worst and being set in her beliefs and refusing to hear anything else. Upon being forced to share a house with Rupert, who tries to be gentle and caring with her, Diana is just hateful to him at every turn and tries to make his life a misery, except at night when she basically just uses him for sex. Then the end is rushed. The two finally talk as they should have done from the beginning, both realize their assumptions were wrong and they really do want to be together and boom, without any real words spoken, they're just going to live happily ever after, the end. So while the ending was happy and all, it wasn't entirely satisfactory; more development would've made it better to me.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
It took me awhile to get into this and get it read, but overall it was enjoyable and I would recommend it.
**Potential spoilers ahead**
Full disclosure: I hated Diana. She just came off as a spoiled little brat and once the reasoning for her year long estrangement from Rupert and their broken betrothal was revealed, it was just ridiculous to me. Their problem was nothing more than a minor tiff which could've been easily resolved by communication, which Rupert was too hurt to endure and Diana was too stubborn to hear or ask for. While their was indeed some fault on both sides, I felt that mostly it was just Diana being determined to believe the worst and being set in her beliefs and refusing to hear anything else. Upon being forced to share a house with Rupert, who tries to be gentle and caring with her, Diana is just hateful to him at every turn and tries to make his life a misery, except at night when she basically just uses him for sex. Then the end is rushed. The two finally talk as they should have done from the beginning, both realize their assumptions were wrong and they really do want to be together and boom, without any real words spoken, they're just going to live happily ever after, the end. So while the ending was happy and all, it wasn't entirely satisfactory; more development would've made it better to me.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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