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A review by bookish_kristina
The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews
5.0
4.5 stars rounded up because of dress pockets.
This was a slow starter for me but the characters, concept and story were so original and well written; I really enjoyed it.
So the premise of this book is not an uncommon one; a woman looking to make a good marriage seeks the help of a man, the man also benefits by making the woman his muse and having her bring him custom. But Mimi Matthews is a master fairtyteller and historian and she takes a common romance premise and intricately weaves it into a heartwarming love story, a critique of colonialism, a Victorian history lesson and a triumphant comeuppance. And she does this while also writing the swooniest, sweetest, most worthy hero who SEWS POCKETS IN HIS LOVE’S DRESSES. He’s a tailor btw so this makes sense, he’s not just creepily going into her closet rifling through her clothing.
The heroine was amazing in this too. She took charge of her life, helped solve their problems (or made them liveable) and was a true partner to him.
My only critique of this is that they didn’t spend enough time together and their love was slightly sudden to me. I needed just a bit of extra time where they were just Evelyn and Ahmad, without all their problems and all the things keeping them apart.
But no book is perfect and this one really was quite excellent.
This was a slow starter for me but the characters, concept and story were so original and well written; I really enjoyed it.
So the premise of this book is not an uncommon one; a woman looking to make a good marriage seeks the help of a man, the man also benefits by making the woman his muse and having her bring him custom. But Mimi Matthews is a master fairtyteller and historian and she takes a common romance premise and intricately weaves it into a heartwarming love story, a critique of colonialism, a Victorian history lesson and a triumphant comeuppance. And she does this while also writing the swooniest, sweetest, most worthy hero who SEWS POCKETS IN HIS LOVE’S DRESSES. He’s a tailor btw so this makes sense, he’s not just creepily going into her closet rifling through her clothing.
The heroine was amazing in this too. She took charge of her life, helped solve their problems (or made them liveable) and was a true partner to him.
My only critique of this is that they didn’t spend enough time together and their love was slightly sudden to me. I needed just a bit of extra time where they were just Evelyn and Ahmad, without all their problems and all the things keeping them apart.
But no book is perfect and this one really was quite excellent.