Review

Thomas once again wows me with her words…

The marriage of convenience trope is marvelous, but even more amazing is Thomas’s prose. The characters are equally charming, including the emotionally stunted Felix Rivendale, hence forth called Wrenworth in this review – because Wrenworth sounds sexy to me, and the extremely pour Louisa Cantwell.

Louisa seeks a way to provide for her family. Marriage is the optimal solution. Wrenworth seeks to know why on earth Louisa is not the least bit interested in him and looks at him like he’s the worst person she’s ever met. Thus sparks the start of the longest seduction and sexual tension rise that I’ve read in a good long while. The amazing part is it works. The pages flew; I couldn’t consume this combustible, hot mess fast enough.

The hilarity is that without a subplot, without any type of suspense Thomas spoon feeds the reader this delicious story of how two people, one tortured and searching for a kindred spirit and another just searching to get everything she wants, end being opposites from a social perspective but perfect for each other in marriage.

Pacing and plot was spot on. The conflict wasn’t resolved tidily nor did things happen in some neat button up way. The course of the story was dragged out sufficiently and not once did I cry out ‘why are they doing that’. Wrenworth acted like an ass at times, but he knew he was doing it. Louisa acted a bit suspicious throughout the book, but with a wolf in sheep’s clothing like Wrenworth she has no choice, but to guard herself carefully. The problem is her attraction wars with the suspicions. The examples are throughout their interactions, including when Wrenworth informs her that one of the suitors she’s interested in wants nothing to do with her during their first dance:

For no good reason under the sun, her dismay seemed to magnify the physical pleasure of the dance. The warmth of his hand at her waist, the rain-cool scent of his person, the swiftness and surety of their spins – their bodies braced in a perfect equilibrium between tension and cohesion. When they finally pulled apart at the end of the dance, he offered her his arm to walk her back to Lady Balfour. His manner was impeccable as always, but somehow she knew that he was enjoying himself to an indecent extent.

“Do you delight in my misfortunes, my lord? “She asked, too unhappy to be diplomatic.

“Never,” he declared, a devilish light in his eyes.

“You, sir, are about as believable as a lordling who promises a milkmaid that his heart will never stray,” she said, her tone more vehement than it should have been.

He only smiled.

There’s an unconventional courtship, follies, stuffed life size dolls, astronomy, and ultimately a brilliant love story I couldn’t put down. For the record this goes down as my favorite historical of 2013. You need to put this on your purchase list immediately.