In the first novel of this new series, Courtney Milan takes readers on a journey. At first, the novel boasts some hallmark tropes that makes readers feel like they're going to be reading something light and fluffy. There's a marquess coming to swoop in and save the woman he's always loved as she's fallen on hard times. There's a big, quirky family with plenty of shenanigans, and finally the hero and heroine rekindle their love after he has "wronged" her years ago. Except, as with all Milan books, it's not as straightforward as that, and that's why this book is worth your while.

One of the things I love about Milan is that her leading couple are always so rational. There's none of this nonsense where they don't talk to each other, and so all of the drama is driven from their lack of communication skills. It's not aspirational. It's annoying and lazy. As a result, Milan is continually keeping her readers guessing as they figure out how to take their relationship to the next level. It's fresh and interesting.

Judith is shown muscling through poverty and family tragedy in an effort to help the last of her siblings have the life she never had. She's definitely the serious one in the relationship while Christian is the goofy one bouncing off of her. He's driven by guilt for having turned her father and oldest brother in for treason. Any other romance novel would not have dealt with such a serious subject, but if they did, it would be handled as a "misunderstanding". However, in this case, Milan deftly shows the different ways of viewing right and wrong while miraculously keeping all of her characters as lovable good guys.

Judith spends the majority of the book wanting to and striving to get back to the way things were, but Christian comes in and helps show her that she doesn't need to attain the status quo to be happy. The Worths can make their own happiness their own way. It's a story that actually takes into account what the Victorians would've cared about as a society, but when Milan rewards her resourceful heroine with a marriage to a marquess, it still feels genuine. It doesn't feel overly sugary or out of place. You feel relieved that finally Judith can breathe, and the readers breathe with her.

This story is definitely a romance, but it's also a story about healing and facing reality. The family dynamics are realistic, especially considering the fact that Judith's younger siblings are teenagers. Overall, it's very sweet, even if the ending is quite abrupt. Personally, I would've preferred a bigger, more dramatic declaration of love, but it's still nice as it is. If you want a story with heart and drama, I highly recommend this book.
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So good! ( )

Courtney Milan does it again! Utterly unique and compelling characters, fascinating plots; THIS is what historical romance should be! No pathetic waifs with torn bodices or heroes who illustrate their "strength" by being asses - complex, multidimensional, imperfect heroes and heroines that are completely relateable. And the dialog had me laughing out loud! Yay for a new series!(4.5 stars) ( )

Read in preparation for a new book out. Loved the characters per usual and gripped by the steady reveal of all the consequences upon consequences of the vital past (especially for Camilla, which sounded like a plot summary of some Samuel Richardson saga, and I mean this in a good, I-want-to-read-more, way; cue next book). The only thing was the ending came quicker than I expected. Perhaps I'm still adjusting to romance pacing? or perhaps I was expecting the resolution of the Camilla subplot (which in fact is deferred to an epilogue/book 2). I'd just expected more something between the last time she pushed him away and the last time he came back. But this was the only thing that glitched an otherwise smoothly pleasant reading experience. ( )

This is the first book in a planned 7 book series (that I think includes planned novelllas too) about the Worth family. Based on this book we know that the Worths are Judith, her younger brother Benedict and younger sisters Theresa and Camilla. Judith's older brother Anthony is presumed dead after he was sent away after being tried and found guilty for treason. Judith is left alone to raise her brother and sisters after the family is left in squalor after their father commits suicide.

I really did like Judith. We find out quickly she is quite resourceful and she has done everything in her power to save money to ensure her sisters get a chance at decent matches and her brother can attend Eton. She also must be part saint because the crap she kept putting up with via her sister Theresa would have had me committing a murder. Judith doing whatever she can to just put food on the table was interesting to read. I did laugh a little bit over her saying that "salt fixes everything" when referring to turnip sandwiches (FYI they sound disgusting). I also felt sorry for Judith who was left alone to clean up her father and brother's mess and left with two very difficult sisters and a young brother. We do have Judith wanting to make amends to her sister Camilla. It takes a long winding road to figure out what happened to lead the sisters to becoming estranged to one another.

There are several issues that are going on that end up leading Christian Trent, the Marquess of Ashford (the man who was best friends with Judith's older brother and the one who found out that he committed treason) back to Judith. Christian is haunted by what he did to his best friend. Also he and Judith at the time had an understanding that they would be engaged at the end of her season. Instead, Judith's family was ruined and she never spoke to Christian again. Christian is hoping that he can get Judith to care for him again.

I wish that I had any sense of chemistry between Judith and Christian. I really didn't think they fit at all. And can I say that I hated that Christian in my opinion was condescending a lot with regards to Judith's feelings. She is upset several times during the story and all he does is tell bad chicken jokes and other things and pushes back when she reacts upset that he won't just let her be upset. I hate that crap. I have a friend that does that. To me you are not trying to jolly me out of a bad mood. You just want me to ignore my upset so it doesn't ruin your good time.

Christian also irked me because he also had the nerve to be shocked at the state of the home that Judith and her siblings lived in and how nothing matched and looked threadbare. I mean are you serious? Did he think she somehow came up with a pot of gold and lived in a mansion? It was really tone deaf.

I also didn't like the fact that I think Milan was trying to portray Christian as having OCD. It just came out of the blue really. He acted completely normal around Judith and around other people he was "odd." He also had his night terrors which apparently he had since he was a child and had a drug addiction by way of his mother to boot. There was a lot going on with Christian and not enough time to develop him fully in my opinion.

The secondary characters really don't get a chance to develop either by the way. I thought Theresa was a straight up brat and I couldn't believe that no one would say to her that her feeding every stray cat in the area meant less money for Judith to feed herself and her brother and sister. I was sick of Theresa and her acting like an asshole because she kept finding double meanings in everything so she would use that as an excuse once again to not do something.

Benedict was interesting as a character, but once again we don't spend a lot of time with him. I also called b.s. on Benedict figuring out something before Judith did and not telling her about it.

I thought the writing was okay though I did find a typo that gave me pause. It took me a few minutes to realize that Milan meant to write hand and not head. The main plot of Judith using Christian to figure out why she couldn't access some money she secretly set aside was not that interesting. That storyline dragged. And throw in the storyline of Christian needing Anthony's old journals so he could determine if someone else was involved with Anthony's treason made me say why does this matter at all.

I also though the reasoning behind Anthony's treason was really dumb. I can't imagine that someone would do what he did knowing what the repercussions would be to his family.

The ending was quite abrupt and was left on a cliffhanger that I didn't appreciate at all. We also are clued into a secret that Christian discovers and Judith figures out as well. I just rolled my eyes throughout because once again the reasoning behind it made no sense.

I hope that the next book takes time to build up the next hero and heroine. ( )