Series: The Hathaways, #5
Traits & Tropes: tortured hero; former soldier; animal loving heroine; epistolary; hidden identity
Publication Date: 06.29.10
Genre/Setting: Historical; Victorian; Hampshire, England, 1855
Heat Level: 5
Rating: 5/5
Narration Rating: 5/5
Beatrix Hathaway has long been more comfortable around animals than people. She’s had a London season, but vastly prefers her life in the country but has never experienced a serious courtship and is fairly certain that a love like those her siblings have found isn’t in the cards for her. She’s even beginning to wonder if she should just settle for the next decent man who comes along, or if she’s content to become a spinster.
Captain Christopher Phelan is a handsome soldier, well known about London and with plans to marry Beatrix’s flirtatious friend Prudence Mercer upon his return from war. In the meantime, he writes letters to Pru detailing the hardships of battle and the damage wrought to his very essence while he’s been there. Pru decides not to write back, and Beatrix can’t bear the thought of Christopher’s letters going unanswered, so she writes in Pru’s stead, signing that lady’s name for her. But the letters between Christopher and Beatrix soon become much more than she ever anticipated, highlighting their connection on a deeper level. When Christopher does finally return home, he’s eager to claim the woman he’s come to love, only to find her much changed when they are reunited in person. Beatrix’s well-meant deception means she now has to watch the man she loves with her friend, but her feelings are just as strong as ever.
This was a reread for me, well a re-listen to be more accurate, and this book held up really well. Christopher and Beatrix were still a couple I couldn’t help but root for. I usually am not a huge fan of the hidden or mistaken identity trope, but it was handled really well here and not drawn out for too long, so I didn’t mind. I loved that Beatrix and Christopher fell in love through the words they wrote to each other, and that he recognized her fairly quickly because he’d truly come to know her for who she was, even if he was a little clueless about it at first. Christopher definitely had a lot of issues to work through after the war and I really liked how Beatrix was there for him, refusing to let him push her away or put distance between him no matter how he tried. She was the best thing that could’ve happened to him, and I think that was as clear to him as it was for the reader. Perhaps my favorite part of this was actually the developing brotherly dynamic between Christopher, Leo, Cam, and Merripen. Christopher has never really been loved or all that welcome in his own family, so it was nice to see that happening for him. I also loved the fact that Beatrix never compromised who she was, but at the same time she was able to adjust from never really having to answer to anyone to taking a husband’s feelings into account. Christopher eventually learned to do the same and I really enjoyed how their relationship developed and how much they both truly seemed to need each other. I still say I would’ve liked to see Prudence put in her place on page, but alas. Rosalyn Landor’s narration here really helped my enjoyment of the story, and it was the perfect background for my activities this week.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2375589860
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