Series: The Ravenels, #5
Traits & Tropes: widowed, single mom heroine; slow burn; reformed rake; enemies to lovers
Publication Date: 02.19.19
Genre/Setting: Historical; Victorian; Hampshire/Essex/London, England, 1877
Heat Level: 4
Rating: 4.5/5
Narration Rating: 5/5
Young widow Phoebe, Lady Clare, has never even met Weston Ravenel, but she knows him to be her enemy, nothing but a bully who made her late husband’s time at boarding school miserable. She can never forgive him for it. Yet, when a wedding brings their families together, Phoebe finds herself immediately charmed by a handsome stranger who awakens feelings of attraction she thought were over for her. Until he introduces himself and turns out to be West Ravenel.
West makes no excuses and doesn’t try to hide the blackened reputation of his past. The instant he meets Phoebe he’s struck by his need for her and also just as aware of how unattainable she is for him. He’s not prepared for the rather fiery demeanor just waiting to be uncovered behind the trappings of a widow.
As Phoebe sets out to take the reins of the estate her son will one day inherit, she realizes she needs some help and West is the only man for the job. Soon, she’s determined to seduce the man who has helped her rediscover her true self, but the smoldering attraction between them may not be enough to overcome the various obstacles in their way.
West is quite possibly the most humorous, genuinely charming hero I’ve ever read. His charm and self-deprecating sense of humor hid a heartrendingly deep well of pain and inadequacy along with vulnerability and a rather low sense of his own self-worth. Phoebe had to grow on me as she initially came off as willfully naïve and stuck in the past, but she did prove herself willing to listen to reason and put West’s knowledge and advice to use by changing her thinking. I was glad to see her grow as a person and begin to form her own opinions and return to her true self out from under the shadow of her late husband’s illness and his family’s overbearing tendencies and insistence on underestimating her. West’s good-natured affability and sense of humor made him the perfect match for Phoebe’s tendency to be a bit too serious. I loved that it was ultimately Phoebe who pursued West and helped convince him of his own worthiness. Along those lines, I found the conversations they each had with Phoebe’s father, the widely beloved Sebastian, to be delightful ways to advance the plot and add that warm, family feeling I’ve come to expect from the Ravenels. Phoebe wasn’t exactly my favorite, but she did grow on me and West’s charm stole the show, especially in his interactions with Phoebe’s children and his coming to the rescue when she needed him. I do wish we’d had more scenes expounding on the resolution of Phoebe’s estate issues on the page. I also would’ve loved an epilogue or just a bit more time with West and Phoebe together after their relationship had been solidified, though I expect to see some of this in Cassandra’s book given that these stories are all occurring relatively close to each other in time. Overall, I found myself thoroughly charmed by West and am looking forward to Cassandra’s story now.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2477444938
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1889407807
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