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mskaydee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
aoife98's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Martha Russell (formerly Blackshear)’s husband dies and she needs to get pregnant so that his evil younger brother doesn’t inherit. The younger Mr. Russell assaulted two maids on his previous visit and Martha cannot in good conscience let him take over this household. She offers to pay newly arrived Theo Mirkwood 500 pounds if he “gives her his seed” every day for a month.
Martha sees the relationship between her and Theo as nothing but a business relationship. She resolves her self to not enjoying their assignations as some sort of penance for engaging in this fraudulent scheme while she’s still in mourning. Theo eventually gets through to her and gets her to enjoy but that takes a very, very long time. It honestly got quite tedious.
In between the (sometimes uncomfortable it has to be said) sex, we get the story of Theo going from London rake to upstanding heir to a baronetcy who takes time to learn the land and his tenants. Martha is helping him study while also assisting at the new local school. Martha vows to protect the women in her employ from Mr. Russell and Theo also assists in any way her can - going as far as to keep watch in her room while she sleeps despite the fact she rejected him just days before. . This is where the relationship between the two and their own individual characters really shone. At the heart of it they are both good people.
This was close to 4 starts for the first 75-80% but then it plot seemed to fall apart a little. A disappointing and rather sudden end. An epilogue wouldn’t have gone amiss or even another few paragraphs wouldn’t have gone amiss in my opinion. I also this a little less of the friendship between Martha curate Mr. Atkins would have been preferable as at times it really did read like a love triangle and Martha seemed happier with the life he could (but wouldn’t) offer
Martha sees the relationship between her and Theo as nothing but a business relationship. She resolves her self to not enjoying their assignations as some sort of penance for engaging in this fraudulent scheme while she’s still in mourning. Theo eventually gets through to her and gets her to enjoy but that takes a very, very long time. It honestly got quite tedious.
In between the (sometimes uncomfortable it has to be said) sex, we get the story of Theo going from London rake to upstanding heir to a baronetcy who takes time to learn the land and his tenants. Martha is helping him study while also assisting at the new local school. Martha vows to protect the women in her employ from Mr. Russell and Theo also assists in any way her can -
This was close to 4 starts for the first 75-80% but then it plot seemed to fall apart a little. A disappointing and rather sudden end. An epilogue wouldn’t have gone amiss or even another few paragraphs wouldn’t have gone amiss in my opinion. I also this a little less of the friendship between Martha curate Mr. Atkins would have been preferable as at times it really did read like a love triangle
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility
snophysh's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hollsyy's review against another edition
2.5
I wish I liked this more but it just didn't click for me. I hate when things don't work out for the pair until the last few pages, and this was the worse of those. The writing was great and educational but at some point I don't want to hear much more about dairy farming... The tension was one sided for entirely to long and the whole side plot with the church dude (sorry it's 4am) was kind of unnecessary. The whole bit about sermons and educational reform was enjoyable however there was no pay off at all. I would have liked to see some more time skipping around this one near the end to get some resolution to the side plots. The ending was very abrupt and probably the least favourite I've ever read in this genre honestly.. and I've read some real questionable stuff.
lollypopzoo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
This would be a full five stars with an epilogue. The end felt so rushed. I wasn’t done with their story yet!
dporfirio's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
limeykiss's review against another edition
4.0
SO GOOD. I loved Martha's diction- so formal! And all the richness of the plot, the diversity of characters- it's one of the best historical romance novels I've read in a long time. The ending felt slightly rushed, but still, I would recommend this to any and all historical romance readers!
docrobreads's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
dksharktopus's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75