For the past seven years, Viola Branham has enjoyed the luxury of traveling the world as an independent woman, and confining her awkward past to a distant, if painful, memory. But now she has been summoned home to England over a stipulation in the will of her late uncle, the Earl of Ellsworth, one that decrees she lose everything unless she reconciles with the man who broke her heart and ruined her life—her husband.
Fourth in a series, but functioning fine as a standalone, this second chance romance features the edict of will and MCs* who have lived separate lives for the last six years after a marriage of convenience (after a steamy kiss was witnessed). This is a Victorian era romance, featuring trains, boats, and on occasion carriages.
For whatever reason, the books I have been reading lately are second chance romances. And to be honest, its not really my favorite trope so I already enter with a certain bias. But I do like marriages of convenience, and in that sense this was fun.
And although we don’t really get to see the character growth, as it has occurred over the lapse of time not on page, it is there. Ultimately I think the lack of set up and that missing element of reading the character growth made it a little harder for me to connect with the MCs. However Victoria Alexander is a pro and introduced a lot of light, laughter and wit into her characters interactions.
After James’ uncle passes away, his will carries some big strings to inheritance. Mainly, he is forcing James and Viola to cohabitate for the next several years. For Viola, slowing down her European adventures and settling down in London feels impossible. And she doesn’t trust James. At all. Especially not with her heart.
A lot of the conflict is that rebuilding of trust and learning/relearning each other. The ending is really sweet and worth suffering through some saggier bits in the middle.
I like the fairy godmother element here, and wished it was played up a bit more, but I think they make an appearance in the series so its worth checking out more of the Lady Travelers to see the matchmaking magic happen.
I recommend this for readers who like a quieter, slower pace second chance romance with some European adventures.
Publish date: August 27, 2019
4 out of 6 Second chance romance with a whirlwind Europe tour
| Content Rating/Heat Index | |
|---|---|
| Mature Content |   |
| Mentions of mistresses and adultery | |
| Intimacy | |
| Vanilla scenes | |
| Violence | |
| Not much, unless you count lots of motion sickness | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Not super steamy, but intimate scenes and light adult subject matter better for readers who like a little steam. | |
*A review copy was received from Netgalley. No other compensation was provided.
*I have been reading a lot of commentary and feedback about calling out H/h or what I have switched to H/H (hero and heroine) may be problematic for certain readers. So in the interest of being inclusive I am working to switch some of my language. In this instance, I am using the abbreviated MCs to stand for main characters, or the romantic leads.
