Series: The Way to a Lord's Heart, #4
Tropes & Traits: slow burn; titled hero; impoverished hero; puppy love; friend's brother
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; England
Publication Date: 04.28.20
Heat Level: 1/5
Rating: 2/5
Peter Rathbone, Duke of Compton, is still reeling from his younger sister Delia’s tragic death and barely scraping by financially, trying to salvage the ducal lands with nearly no income. He has nothing to lose, so when his late sister’s friends descend upon him unannounced, he has no choice but to host them in an impromptu house party that could change everything for him.
Miss Ada Grandison is haunted by dreams of her late friend and hopes a visit to her home, and her handsome brother, will help her overcome her grief. As Peter, Ada, and her friends try to parse meaning from the cryptic note Delia left behind, Peter finds himself increasingly skeptical and afraid to hope for a change in his circumstances, especially when his burgeoning feelings for Ada make him long for that change more than ever before.
This was an okay book for me, but I wouldn’t precisely call it entertaining. I was intrigued by the premise, but it seemed nothing really happened for much of the book. I was rather bored for much of it and it started to feel like I was reading the same scenes over and over with Peter being awkward, but rather adorable, if cynical, and Ada being a bit vapid and immature, but also admirably determined. I really didn’t enjoy the girl group shenanigans we got here; Ada and her friends just seemed rather immature much of the time and very rude to Peter. Despite his reduced circumstances, he was still a duke and their host and deserved better treatment. To that end, while his loneliness and cluelessness made him charming, Peter was also a bit too much of a beta hero and I wanted him to stand up for himself a bit more.
There was very little in the way of romance here. In fact, I think there were more scenes featuring Ada and her friends than there were between Ada and Peter. This combined with an utter lack of steam, not to mention the abject loneliness of Peter’s situation and the immaturity demonstrated by both himself and Ada, made this seem like a fleeting sort of puppy love more so than a lasting relationship with a true foundation. The mystery aspect here started out intriguing, but it just fizzled out and there was no romantic chemistry to keep things going either. Ada never tried to understand Peter or his worries, she was just determined to have her own way and it fortunately worked out, but there was never any real relationship development or attempts to get to know one another. This combined with the extremely slow pacing had me losing interest rapidly. There was a good set up for this to be a solid, gothic themed novel and it just didn’t pan out. The most compelling characters here were Aunt Julia and the Earl of Macklin so I may read the next book for them, but I’m not sure at this point.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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