Olivia Wilde has resigned herself to never finding a love match. Her father has insisted she marry a man with a title, if only to increase his own standing and reputation in society. But the men her father deems acceptable are, at best, boring and uninspiring, and at worse, are as brutish as her father, and are only looking to increase their own diminishing coffers. With her future looking dismal, Olivia decides to enjoy the last few months of freedom with her childhood friends, including the handsome Emerson Latham. His devilish smile and flirtatious teasing stirs up feelings she knows she cannot entertain.
Emerson is struggling to rise to his responsibilities after the death of his father. Though he might still be learning what he needs to do as the head of his household, one thing he knows for sure is that he wants Olivia Wilde to be his wife. Having grown up as childhood friends with Olivia, Emerson long ago had fallen in love with her quick wit, beauty, and passionate heart. However, without a title, he will never be permitted to court Olivia openly. But he has a plan that may give him a chance to court her in secret.
As the season kicks off, Emerson proposes a bit of fun with a playful game of tag. Olivia’s friends are delighted by the idea, though Olivia is more wary. After all, the game must be played in secret and they must be discreet when tagging each other at dinners and balls and the theater. As the romance builds between Olivia and Emerson, so does the risk of being discovered. Not only are their reputations at stake, so is their safety if they are caught by Olivia’s father, who has an explosive, and at times violent, temper.
Can their love find a happily ever after before the game ends?
CW: domestic violence, grief
I very rarely review DNFs, or books that I don’t like, unless there is some problematic material I want readers to be aware of. Because I DNFed this book, I can’t provide a rating or give you information about all the content on the heat index.
I am guessing from other reviews I read that this is a kisses only book. It is very slow paced, and centers around a young man who has decided to win the heart of his neighbor and childhood friend. Because he feels ordinary courtship is not working, he invents a game of ballroom tag for himself and his group of friends, sister, and object of affection to play. Its a great premise for an entertaining plot, but was ultimately not enough to provide the necessary character interest to keep me engaged. It also couldn’t combat some serious problems with plot devices.
This is a book that focuses on the ins and outs of the Season, featuring ballrooms, clubs, and dinners. It starts very slow and, I gathered, was meant to mimic the pace of a traditional Regency. That works when you have a sense of forward momentum, or the scenes being meaningful. I don’t know if Flint was lacing the beginning with multiple mysteries, but a lot of the scenes felt unnecessary and confusing.
Too, when you start with the premise of a friend wanting to become lover, it would be helpful as a reader to understand why. Olivia just feels like a limp noodle on the page. It was hard as a reader to understand why Emerson was pushing so hard to “win” her, except for a couple references to his father’s death being the catalyst to reflect. And I just am not comfortable with using parental death as a good motive for marriage.
My biggest reason to DNF was that, without content warning, this book centers some of its conflict on Olivia and her mother being victims of domestic violence. Its not graphic in its presentation, but almost as shocking in the way Flint uses it as plot device. I have read widely in the genre and am no stranger to a variety of plots, characters, and subject material. Traditionals don’t typically tackle difficult subject matter because they tend to be “cozy” or light, following a readers preference. However, when Regencies do, its always with some greater purpose.
Again, this may be revealed in the second half, but I was too disenchanted to continue.
I will say that lots of other advanced readers enjoyed this book, so if you are comfortable with the content warnings, you may seek out other reviews to see if this book is right for you.
No rating due to DNF.
*A review copy was provided by Netgalley. No other compensation was provided.
