Series: Wallflowers, #0
Traits & Tropes: two couples; second chance; scarred heroine; class difference; self-made hero; illegitimate hero; angsty; pining
Publication Date: 05.28.15
Genre/Setting: Historical; Victorian, Hampshire/London, England, 1844
Heat Level: 3.5
Rating: 3.5/5
As the daughter of an earl, Lady Aline Marsden never had any worth in her parents’ eyes other than for the marriage alliance she could make. But ever since she met the stable boy, John McKenna, she’s only wanted to be with him.
McKenna knows any future between them is impossible, but he can’t resist Aline either. But when their clandestine intimacy is revealed to the earl, the fragile peace between them is irrevocably shattered. McKenna is banished from the estate, believing himself betrayed by Aline, never knowing that she pushed him away to save him from her father’s wrath.
Now, twelve years later, McKenna has returned to Stony Cross as a wealthy man seeking his revenge on Aline for the heartache she dealt him and which he still feels most keenly. He’s bemused to find the connection between still rages just as strongly as it always has and as he begins to uncover Aline’s secrets, he begins to question everything he thought was true and realize they are both necessary to one another.
I have some seriously mixed feelings about this book, so there will likely be some mild spoilers as I get my thoughts out here. Both McKenna and secondary hero Gideon are responsible for some truly lovely and emotional declarations of love that I just soaked right up like a sponge. Our heroines were a harder pill for me to swallow. Don’t get me wrong, I was also vastly annoyed by McKenna’s high-handedness and initial hostility toward Aline, even if he did believe it justified for valid reasons. Livia also wasn’t terrible as a heroine and I did appreciate that she pushed Gideon to be a better and healthier person; even if it did make her a bit of a hypocrite as she lectured Aline on unconditional love, their two situations were clearly nothing alike. No, what rather killed this one for me was Aline herself. She infused so much unnecessary pain and angst into her life, and by extension McKenna’s, over something that was essentially, at its core, a trivial physical imperfection, that I spent most of the book just wanting to shake some sense into her. If she had truly loved McKenna so unconditionally and wholeheartedly then she wouldn’t have wanted to hurt him the way she had to know she would by sending him away a second time. McKenna was so right to call her out for belittling his love for her and thinking it would be anything less than unconditional. I could even deal with her secret-keeping to a point, but it just went on entirely too long and past way too many perfect opportunities for her to come clean that she willfully ignored. He laid everything out for her, bearing his soul in a completely vulnerable way and she still holds on to her secrets anyway. To me, this was a feeble reason for them to not be together and it made me doubt her and her love for McKenna, especially when paired with the particular words and reasons she used to drive him away the second time. I just think if she truly loved him, she’d have done anything to be with him since the true barriers between them had been removed and not selfishly cling to her secrets. Her reasons for pushing him away the first time made sense, but not after and he deserved a chance to accept her. Thankfully, Marcus did talk some sense into her and goad her into action by showing her that she had nothing to lose by risking her heart, but it was too little too late for me to like Aline as a heroine, though her final scenes with McKenna were endearing, I wanted more of that sweet romance between them than we actually got. In many ways I actually liked reading about Gideon and Livia more and I would’ve liked an extension on the epilogue between them as well.
Overall, I’m glad I did finally read this book and I think it’s definitely worth the time, though it is by no means a new favorite for me. I shall continue my efforts to read through older author backlists and my physical TBR shelves.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2194157312
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1322776029
Comments
Post a Comment