Series: Awakened by a Kiss, #2
Traits & Tropes: working heroine; class difference; titled hero; soldiers/spies; ship trip; slow burn
Publication Date: 08.24.21
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; Middlesex/London, England, Iceland; 1817
Heat Level: 2
Rating: 3.5/5
Miss Isobel Tinker has put her unconventional, transient youth to good use as an adult, employing her language skills and savvy as a clerk in a respectable travel shop. She hopes to save enough to open her own travel shop eventually, but she has no plans to ever again leave England, up until her careful plans are upended by a handsome duke snooping around her shop.
Jason Beckett, the Duke of Northumberland needs someone to guide him on his last, albeit unsanctioned, mission for the Home Office: to rescue his accident-prone cousin from pirates in Iceland. Isabel is the perfect attaché, but she’s incredibly unwilling to cooperate and her beauty is distracting in the extreme.
Jason finally enlists Isabel’s help by promising her own travel shop after they return from their mission, along with a vow to keep their relationship strictly professional. Isobel agrees, though she’d rather not, as she struggles with her unwanted feelings for the duke. As they are forced together on an unwanted adventure, Jason whittles away at Isobel’s defenses, but it may not be enough to convince her of the sincerity of his feelings.
I adored the setup of this book as well as the exotic Icelandic setting of a good portion of the book. Isobel and Jason had explosive chemistry from the beginning, and I was so looking forward to seeing that palpable tension ignite in the face of so much forced proximity. [Possible spoilers from here]. Unfortunately, that’s not quite what happened. It took these MCs so long to finally come together that I despaired of it ever happening. Of course, Isobel had every reason to be afraid of beginning a new relationship, but Jason worked so hard to gain her trust and was never anything but open and sincere with her, so her continued doubt of him and his feelings for her lasted entirely too long for my liking. In fact, the continued resurgence of Isobel’s insecurities and tendencies to push Jason away got very old for me. After such an excellent build up of tension and trust, the third act separation killed the romance, especially since she instigated it by running away and then blamed Jason, despite the fact that he was only doing what she asked and trying to make her feel safe. I adored Jason and the romance here, but it was sadly let down by the heroine’s over the top reticence and I wanted to see these two settled together a lot sooner than we did.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/82020830
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4134070180
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