I've had a bunch of 'meh'-reads in the historical romance genre. This is not one of them! Gosh, I absolutely loved it! Katharine Ashe knows how to write good romance! I'd never read anything by her before, but I have got to check out her other books!
I love it when I feel like gushing about a book, can you tell? ;)
Serena Carlyle has decided that at 25, marriage is not an option anymore and is determined to help her stepsisters in this area. So when her stepmother tries to get their neighbour, Lord Alex Savege, the eldest one, she will do everything in her power to support her sister. The only problem: her stepsister Charity is afraid of him, doesn't wish the marriage, and oh, there's the added problem of Serena having just kissed him in a dark parlor before she knew who he was...
Serena is in danger of losing her heart to the betrothed-to-be of her beloved sister.
I loved Serena. She's a passionate woman and she learns to be strong and take care of things herself. Her stepmother is the stereotypical evil witch (even to her own children) and verbally abuses Serena, which she learns to deal with. Serena is fiercely protective of her siblings, even if they're her stepsisters and I love that about her.
I also loved Alex, he's just perfect as the hero of a historical romance. He thinks he's not suited to be anyone's hero, but for Serena he wants to be. He's a really good person at heart and oh-my-gosh SWOONWORTHY!! I love he's the pirate version of Robin Hood: stealing from the rich bad-guys, giving to the orphans and war-widows.
And to continue in this: I absolutely LOVED them together. The chemistry was amazing! I felt the air sizzling around them, heated glances, secret smiles, stolen moments... Ah, it was as good as my favourite chocolate icecream. I also really appreciate that the book covers a span of time that seems believable for a couple to fall in love, total brownie points for that! I love that Serena is beautiful in his eyes even if she doesn't have the 'fashionable' look. Oh, and that there's not some silly love triangle.
I was annoyed by Charity, seriously, that girl was more like a mouse than anything else. I wanted to shake her a bit, she really needed to grow a pair. But I'm glad at how things turned out for her.
All in all I absolutely loved this book! I read most of it in one go and could not put it down, oh my gosh, the tension! Stomach-clenchingly good!
My rating: 5 stars