Series: Rebels with a Cause, #2
Traits & Tropes: class difference; working heroine; hidden identity; second chance
Publication Date: 02.25.22
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; London, England, 1821
Heat Level: 2
Rating: 4/5
Hard working chemist and engineer Fiona McTavish has struggled against the confines of her sex for her entire life and is certainly no proper lady. She spends most of her time wearing men’s clothes and working in her lab, but she’s hoping to finally establish stability and independence with the sale of her latest invention, matches. The only fly in the ointment is her arrest at a protest for throwing a tomato. When the charge is elevated to something much more serious, the only person she can turn to for help in a hurry is the former love who broke her heart five years ago.
Edward Stirling, the Duke of Wildeforde has spent his adult life rebuilding the family reputation his father ruined with his scandalous death. He even abandoned Fiona five years ago because of it, but when she needs his help to get out of prison, he can’t abandon her a second time. Fiona’s parole means she has to live under Edward’s roof for the month before her official trial and this of course leads to a wildfire of gossip about them, as well as an equally hot flame of desire rekindling between them, forcing Edward to choose between his own happiness and the family reputation he has worked so hard to cultivate.
I have so many mixed feelings about this book! It stressed me out quite a lot with all the angst surrounding Edward and Fiona, especially with her disguise as Finn and the secrets these two kept from each other. I liked that Fiona was so fiercely independent, but also that this trait wound up being her weakness. That seemed very real to me and made her feel more real and relatable as well. One could learn a good lesson from her and I’m glad this book had the female lead acknowledge that her own bullheadedness partially led to her downfall. So often these days, the heroine is just blindly, stubbornly independent, to her own detriment sometimes, but rarely does she ever acknowledge her own mistakes or complicity, so I was happy to see Fiona take ownership of her mistakes and learn from them here. The same can be said for Edward as well. He lived much of his life with blinders on, focused on his family’s image and not much else, always thinking he knew what was best for everyone and driving others away as a result, without ever realizing it. Over the course of this book, Edward also realized his own mistakes and came to the conclusion that all that hard work he’d put in rehabbing the family name had no meaning in the face of their general misery.
I think the main conflict between Fiona and Edward was actually how alike they both were, each wanting to handle everything on their own without admitting any weakness or asking any help from the other. In the end, both grew enough to realize that wouldn’t work and they needed to come together as a team, though it was rather frustrating how long this took. The numerous enumerations of all of Edward’s reasons for not wanting to marry Fiona did take away from the romance aspect of this a bit for me, and I think that played into both he and Fiona making their own problems and getting in their own way much of the time. I'm never a fan of lying in romance, especially when it goes on as long as it did here, so I just kept wanting to see more communication between these two, though that level of angst that existed between them was very believable with the broken trust from their previous relationship.
I both read and listened to this book, and I think the audio is what kept me engaged and wanting to keep reading, even when those two had me frustrated. Christy Woods did a great job of getting into the characters and making me believe their emotions. My main complaint above everything is that I wanted to see the dowager get her just desserts and that never really came in a way that was gratifying for me, but I hold out hope that Charlotte and William will get their own stories at some point and their horrible mother will be put in her place. Otherwise, besides the ending seeming rather abrupt and Fiona and Edward both going a bit off the rails to prove themselves to each other, once again instead of simply communicating, they did eventually get it together and both demonstrated enough growth to make me like their story. I think this was a much stronger story than its predecessor and I look forward to the next installment in the series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book and its audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/418952968
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4296848614
Comments
Post a Comment