Series: N/A
Traits & Tropes: titled, wealthy hero; brother's best friend; hero thinks he's unworthy; abduction; only one bed; road trip; forced proximity
Publication Date: 05.09.23
Genre/Setting: Historical; Regency; London/Surrey, Winter
Heat Level: 3
Rating: 2.5/5
Miss Charlotte Chapman is accustomed to being the diamond of the ton, so she’s not exactly certain how she wound up in a carriage with her late brother’s closest friend. The gruff, reclusive Earl of Trevelyan must have lost his mind to be whisking her away from London in the midst of a snowstorm without explaining himself, though she suspects his actions were caused by the fact that she’s soon to be engaged.
Finneas Jones, the Earl of Trevelyan is viewed by society as something of a beast, but he’ll stop at nothing to keep Charlotte from marrying a man who is an actual beast. He promised his late best friend that he’d look out for his sister and so he shall, though protecting her from herself is even more of a challenge.
When the snowstorm strands them at an inn with only one room left, it doesn’t take much to stir the attraction neither of them has ever wanted to admit to, but Finn has other secrets that could keep them apart for good.
I really enjoyed the first two thirds or so of this book, but soon enough Charlotte’s naivete and refusal to stand up for herself when she needed to did get to me. It didn’t help that when she finally did learn to speak up, it was against the wrong man. The whole thing just felt rather drawn out, especially when the villainous suitor just kept popping up everywhere and never getting put in his place. To make things worse, poor Finn had spent his life being told he was worthless, so it took him entirely too long to talk to Charlotte and of course when he finally did, she was all too prone to make all the wrong assumptions. Her inane politeness grew annoying and I just kept wanting her to have more of a backbone. The tactics of the villain combined with the naivete and determination of this heroine to be polite above all else grew old fast.
You risk a spoiler from here. When the whole truth finally did come out, Charlotte was so quick to believe the villain over Finn, yet another instance of people letting Finn down and not believing in him. She wouldn’t even listen to him at all, and it made no sense that she’d be willing to listen to a man her brother loathed rather than listen to his dearest friend. I lost basically all respect for her after that. This ruined the last third for me because of course this gives us the dreaded third act breakup that authors seem to believe to be mandatory lately. Of course, Finn’s lack of confidence means he feels the need to take responsibility for everything. After spending his entire life thinking he’s not good enough for anyone, it was heartbreaking to see everyone around him just confirming that belief. They all failed him and so did Charlotte, all the while acting as if everything were his fault. I hate the third act breakup anyway, but I especially hated the fact that Charlotte was so quick to believe the worst about Finn and prove herself no different from anyone else when it comes to him. It was a true shame when her silly, airheaded little sister began to make more sense than she did. Then, to make matters worse, Charlotte had the nerve to be mad when Finn did exactly what she asked of him. It was such a cliché I wanted to gag. Sure, of course she forgave him eventually, but the fact that she still blamed him even a little bit for everything that happened to her brother was infuriating and this combined with the fact that the villain gets some sort of redemption because he was bullied in school left a bad taste in my mouth. Poor behavior doesn’t justify even worse behavior, especially when boyhood is over and apologies for boyhood stupidity have been issued and that just didn’t feel like an angle that needed exploration.
Overall, I really wanted more (or at least some decent) groveling from Charlotte to Finn. He really deserved someone who believed in him and loved him unconditionally and I’m not sure that’s what he got. I think a lot of this would’ve been resolved much more easily if these two had just been open and honest with one another and much sooner, so once again I’m left longing for more communication in a romance novel.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1297791083
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5739028057
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