1st read: July 2021
2nd read: November 2022

I might not have enjoyed this as much the second time around, but it's still a really sweet book.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I had my doubts about this one. I tried something else by this author once and it didn't work for me. Plus, in this book the hero blackmails the heroine for her land, which doesn't make him look good.

But, I ended up loving this book. I listened to this while painting a room and the audiobook was really good (and it made the painting more fun).

I really liked Madeline. It took a while for Logan's good qualities to shine through, but I ended up really liking him, too. The secondary characters are charming and fun. There's a short and sweet bonus epilogue that mostly focuses on the secondary characters on the author's website. ( )

I finally understand what all the lobster emojis are for in regard to this book. ( )

Once again, Dare takes tropes that in any other novel would be irritating and dry and breathes new life into them. In this book, she takes the awkward genius girl and the hardened soldier and makes them into three dimensional characters. She does this by breathing ambition and forbearance into the characters, and it is much appreciated by this reader.

Madeline starts out as being unable to talk to a man unless it's about work. And yet, she escapes being a joke by having the ambition to want to draw the natural world for a living. She's presented with the opportunity to be featured in an encyclopedia, but she has to overcome her insecurities and fears to do so. This makes her a compelling character and one to root for.

Meanwhile, Logan is the brooding soldier with a tragic past. Personally, I find these characters interesting, but what makes Logan jump off the page is the patience he shows Madeline. Gloomy alpha males in other romance novels would manipulate or force the heroine into a sexual relationship, but even when Logan is frustrated, he doesn't blame Madeline. He doesn't feel entitled to her caresses. That, alone, may shock some readers.

Combining his sweetness with Madeline's maturity makes for a touching and unique romance. I highly recommend this installment for romance readers. ( )

At the age of sixteen, painfully shy Maddie Gracechurch, to avoid a London season, lied to her family and invented a Scottish fiance she purportedly met on a trip to Brighton. Thus began years of sending letters to the fictitious Captain Logan Mackenzie serving in the wars against Napoleon until finally Maddie made the decision to kill off her imaginary fiance. So it is with a great deal of surprise when a living, breathing, Captain Logan Mackenzie arrives in her drawing room several years later with the avowed intent of marrying her. Maddie isn't certain she wants the marriage of convenience that Logan is offering her but the more time she spends with him the more she thinks there may be more between them.

Tessa Dare is at the top of my list of favourite historical romance authors. This novel is from the mid-2010s and while there's the really fun central concept and the occasional dash of humour and swoon, it's not quite as sparkling as her later work. Maddie and Logan's romance is a bit uneven but I did adore the background Dare creates for Maddie as a scientific illustrator. It's a solid historical romance but not where I'd recommend starting if you're exploring Tessa Dare's works for the first time. ( )

3.5 because it was funny ( )