Series: Spindle Cove, #3
Traits & Tropes: fake relationship; soldier; tortured hero; spinster heroine; illegitimate hero; grumpy/sunshine; slow burn
Publication Date: 08.28.12
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; Sussex, England, Summer 1814
Heat Level: 3.5
Rating: 5 stars
Narration Rating: 5/5
Kate Taylor spent a lifetime on her own and is thankful to have finally found friendship and belonging in Spindle Cove, but she can’t help longing for love and a family. Deep though her yearning is, she certainly never imagined looking for love with stern, emotionless Corporal Thorne, even if he is exceedingly handsome. But when a group of strangers arrives in Spindle Cove looking for Kate, Thorne is quick to introduce himself as her fiancé. He assures her he’s only looking out for her safety, but his kiss says otherwise.
Samuel Thorne threw away his own safety to secure Kate’s long ago and he wants the best for her now, which means marriage to a man much better than himself. This engagement can only be temporary, but the battle to keep himself apart from Kate seems to be one he can never hope to win.
I think I’ve said this before about another book in this series, but this was pretty much exactly what I want to read in a romance. Sure, there were some scenes that had me cringing at the stupidity and pigheadedness of men, but I was laughing too so it was fine. I tend to be a sucker for a tortured hero and as a child who was beaten by his mother and suffered more in his adolescence and during his military service, Samuel fit the bill perfectly. He’d never experienced love in any form and had no idea how to identify it, much less give or receive it, and I loved seeing Kate teach him. He was determined to see himself as unworthy of her and she was equally stubborn in her drive to show him love and create the family she always wanted. Kate was the sort of strong-willed, clever heroine I can get behind and I loved her relationship development with Samuel, especially how open she was with her feelings. Her courage in expressing herself is, I think, what ultimately gave him the gumption to be vulnerable with her even though it clearly terrified him. I adore the Spindle Cove world and all of its supporting characters and now I’m really wishing the Gramercys had their own books as well.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/4096375164
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5404999977
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