A review by mierke
Lady Lavender: A Regency Love novel by Samantha Lin

5.0

Sutton knew the secret to happiness lay in maintaining genuine relationships, and that one could never anticipate where these relationships might start.

It's these words in one of the earlier chapters of Lady Lavender that quite nicely sums up the story: neither Sutton, nor Ellie, nor indeed the secondary couple that connects later in the novel, could have predicted that their stories would intertwine.

On first glance, Sutton - a Viscount with his own lands to control and guide - and Ellie - a sixteen year old sheltered girl - don't seem to have anything in common. Yet both have closed themselves off from the world, for different reason, yes, but they’re both trying to shield themselves from harm (Ellie her frail body, Sutton his heart).
The main difference between the two doesn't even lie in their status or age, but their family: where Ellie’s safe space includes her brother Marcus and sister-in-law Kitty, who both love her viciously, Sutton only has Graham to hold onto. Graham, who spends half his time at the regiment, who can’t always give Sutton the comfort of familial love he so desperately needs. It’s no wonder Sutton clings to him so, and some of the more emotional scenes were based around those two.

Not once had Sutton verbalised how terribly he missed his friend, but Graham, bless his heart, read between the lines and wrote the words in Sutton’s stead.

There’s no reason for Sutton and Ellie to meet, let alone connect, except for the most important one of all: art. It’s in Ellie’s paintings that Sutton sees more than just a girl, and it’s through their art that they share their thoughts. When Sutton first sees Ellie, he doesn't think much of her; it's her way with a brush that makes him look twice. And Ellie's only interest in him at first is the fact that he knows something about art. In the most powerful scene of the novel, it’s art that eventually gets Ellie through Sutton’s protective armour and right into his heart.

For those few, precious heartbeats, a veil had lifted to reveal what lay beneath their usual reserve, and they both wordlessly accepted what they saw.

Neither Sutton nor Ellie easily let people in. It's Ellie's shyness that keeps her holding herself apart from the rest of the world, while Sutton has learned to keep up his facade at all times. Neither of them are able to show who they really are to anyone but their family, yet they find each other in ways they'd never expected.

The staple of a good romance novel, to me, is character growth both together and apart. Lady Lavender certainly delivers on that front. It's the very definition of a slow burn, and it's their personal growth that had me so invested in them. Ellie, while having always been assertive when it comes to her art - the fact that she's managed to cajole her brother into allowing her to work with oil paints surely attests to that - learns that she might be able to use that certainty and instinct in other areas of her life as well. Sutton, upon seeing how there are families out there that are filled with love, learns that letting someone in might actually not be such a bad idea.

I don't usually read Regency romances, and have little knowledge of or love for the etiquette of the time. But Lin managed to create characters that drew me in despite the world they resided in, and I closed the book with a happy, dreamy sigh.