After reading this book, I was surprised to see that this
author hadn’t written more gothic romances. I love a good gothic romance and I
thought this one was very well-written. Even though I normally love these types
of books, a frequent staple of them is a hero who is often overbearing or
brutish. The hero is this story is nothing like that. Nicholas has the required
air of mystery, but he treats the heroine with respect and kindness. He even
shows kindness and understanding to his step-mother, in spite of her caustic
barbs. He is an artist with a tragic background with women in his life, garnering
whispers about him being a murderer. At the opening of this story, his rakish
titled father wins him the hand of Mirabelle “Mira” Fitzhenry. He is pleasantly
surprised to find that she is not the vapid, cookie-cutter blonde he expected.
That would be Mira’s cousin, Mirabelle “Bella” Fitzhenry. Nicholas is
immediately attracted to her physical beauty, but is captivated and finds her
clever and passionate. After meeting, and somewhat falling for, Nicholas the
ever logical Mira resolves to clear Nicholas’s name. If she can’t solve the
mystery and clear his name by the appointed time of their wedding, she plans to
flee. This story is full of appropriately creepy atmosphere and shady
characters. There is the harpy that is Nicholas’s wicked step-mother, his momma’s
boy jerk of a half-brother, his rakish and emotionally distant father, and Mira’s
beautiful yet sociopathic cousin. I really liked Nicholas and Mira, and how
they broke with genre stereotypes a little bit. I also loved how their romance
developed. It was very sensual and I really thought it was nice that they
actually liked each other as people as well as being physically attracted. The
mystery of who murdered the women kept me interested. I was satisfied with how
things got resolved at the end. I very much look forward to more from this
author. Hopefully more gothic romances.
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