Series: Miss Primm's Secret School for Budding Bluestockings, #7
Traits & Tropes: second chance; illegitimate hero; secret past; mystery
Publication Date: 02.20.23
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; England, Summer, 1832
Heat Level: 3.5
Rating: 4.5/5
Being born the daughter of a marquess should’ve meant a life of ease for Augusta Primm, but instead she’s had to fight doggedly to establish even a modicum of independence. Now her beloved girls’ school and everything she’s fought for, including its hard-won, prestigious reputation is at stake thanks to a mysterious vandal.
Rowan Stewart, the older, illegitimate brother of the Duke of Bedwell, has become a well-known architect. His brother would like him to enter society, but Rowan is unwilling to subject himself to their hypocritical prejudices again.
But when the opportunity to rebuild the once-beautiful Longbow Castle arises, Rowan cannot pass it up, even if his employer is a lord. It doesn’t help matters that the castle is quite near to the school run by the woman who jilted him seventeen years ago, but Rowan is determined not to let Augusta hurt him again.
When Augusta stands to lose the school she chose over him, Rowan is faced with the choice of leaving her for good or stepping up to help the woman he once loved with his whole heart.
I’m not usually a fan of second chance stories because I can’t keep myself from fixating on the wasted time the couple has spent apart and being sad about it. However, this story handled the trope a bit differently and in a way that really worked. Rather than fixate on all they’d been through and suffered, Rowan and Augusta chose to look toward the future. They had new problems to face with the threat to Augusta’s school and this became an opportunity for Augusta to learn to rely on someone else besides herself and for Rowan to be there for her. This time around they were both more mature and more determined to resist any outside manipulations that would’ve kept them apart. I loved seeing them work together to save the school and reestablish their relationship. I really appreciated seeing the real Augusta beneath the rigid façade she’s shown for the rest of the series, and I think this book was a great way to wrap things up.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/2403651766
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5012934641
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