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A review by upturnedroots
His at Night by Sherry Thomas
5.0
"But you I want to see in all my moods...And it honors me that when I bring myself, I seem to have brought enough for you."
Someone in another review for a different Sherry Thomas book I've yet to read (The Luckiest Lady in London is the first in this series, so I'm going a bit backwards in reading order) described her writing as cerebral romance, and I completely agree. It usually takes me a bit to settle into her writing but the expansiveness of the story and incremental closeness that happens over time with the characters is so rewarding. I usually never care for insta-love and I don't mind when romances have a hearty helping of plot and intrigue, so it's a recipe that works for me.
This book reminds me of what I like best from historical romance: the history, the drama, the melodrama, the mutual pining, the danger, the adventure, the potency of tropes and Shakespearean level playacting that just seems to fit with the genre and doesn't feel over the top at all.
Also I love when two people who despise each other are forced to navigate the circumstances of marriage. Neither of them wanted this, they were scheming for different end goals, and yet they were thwarted by each other to get stuck together. An absolute disaster in real life to be sure, would never want that, but very fun to read about.
We have two people putting on different personalities, a mystery, a murderer, dark secrets in the past, dark secrets in the present, and two concurrent romances happening that are both wonderful to see. I just love how much there is to manipulate in historical romance frameworks.
Someone in another review for a different Sherry Thomas book I've yet to read (The Luckiest Lady in London is the first in this series, so I'm going a bit backwards in reading order) described her writing as cerebral romance, and I completely agree. It usually takes me a bit to settle into her writing but the expansiveness of the story and incremental closeness that happens over time with the characters is so rewarding. I usually never care for insta-love and I don't mind when romances have a hearty helping of plot and intrigue, so it's a recipe that works for me.
This book reminds me of what I like best from historical romance: the history, the drama, the melodrama, the mutual pining, the danger, the adventure, the potency of tropes and Shakespearean level playacting that just seems to fit with the genre and doesn't feel over the top at all.
Also I love when two people who despise each other are forced to navigate the circumstances of marriage. Neither of them wanted this, they were scheming for different end goals, and yet they were thwarted by each other to get stuck together. An absolute disaster in real life to be sure, would never want that, but very fun to read about.
We have two people putting on different personalities, a mystery, a murderer, dark secrets in the past, dark secrets in the present, and two concurrent romances happening that are both wonderful to see. I just love how much there is to manipulate in historical romance frameworks.