Series: The Duchess Society, #4
Traits & Tropes: titled hero; working heroine; class difference; veteran hero; scarred hero; instant chemistry
Publication Date: 01.19.23
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; Derbyshire, 1828
Heat Level: 4
Rating: 4.5/5
Since returning from war and taking over his father’s title as Earl of Stanford, Oliver Aspinwall hasn’t had an easy go of it. His older brother is determined to bring Ollie into his rowdy group of close friends, all the while meddling in nearly every aspect of his life. Ollie also has a permanently scarred face and a crumbling estate to contend with. Now his brother has gone even further, bringing in a highly in-demand and beautiful landscape artist to restore Ollie’s gardens and possibly his damaged heart as well. But Ollie knows exactly what his brother is up to and isn’t willing to play along, content to instead remain hidden away in the country with his stargazing to occupy him.
Necessity Byrne has heard plenty about the so-called Scarred Earl and his scandals. A scandal herself having been raised in London’s rookeries, setting societal tongues wagging is par for the course for her and she’s not about to turn down the chance to restore the reclusive peer’s gardens, especially when she learns the design was originally put into place by none other than the famous Capability Brown. What Necessity isn’t prepared for, however, is the electricity she feels every time she remembers the one time she met the rakish earl years previously when he was first injured. She wants the job, so she’ll have to just ignore that irritating spark.
Once she’s installed on the earl’s estate, Necessity can’t help but meet every challenge he lays at her feet. Ollie and Necessity can’t seem to agree on anything, except their attraction, but Ollie wants her to stay, and she can’t see a life not lived in London, leaving Ollie to find a way to convince the headstrong landscaper to take a chance on a broken earl and reignite her dreams of having a family again.
This story was brimming with raw emotion so much so that it was even a bit hard to follow at times. Ollie’s struggle with addiction was a secondary feature in the previous book and I loved seeing him working to find himself at last out of the influence of substances and without his father’s abuse or the trauma of his life as a soldier. He was very much still finding out who he truly was, afraid of his feelings and yet at the same time, still willing to explore them. That took so much courage, and he was obviously so sweet and just desperate to love and be loved that it was impossible not to root for him. Necessity had this same factor going for her given that she’d lost her entire family at a young age, but for this same reason she often got in her own way, determined to maintain her independence and afraid to risk loving and losing again. She was also so certain that she and Ollie could never be together because of the disparity in their social classes that she didn’t really let herself acknowledge her true feelings for some time, but I was cheering her on so hard when she finally decided to step up and risk it all for her love. The chemistry between Ollie and Necessity fairly jumped off the page and definitely overwhelmed the two of them such that it took a while for their brains to come to terms with what they already knew in their hearts and for me, that made them very human and real. It didn’t hurt that they were both frustratingly awkward enough to be inexplicably charming. These two both needed each other, and both felt unworthy in their own ways, and I loved seeing them get over that and provide each other with the reassurance they needed. This story had plenty of steam as well as emotional depth and solid character development and likable supporting characters establishing a delightful found family. I found this story very satisfying in the end, even though these two did stress me out a bit in the middle, and I’m looking forward to Dash and Theo’s story.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/2466306803
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5250552498
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