I have been on an Emily Larkin binge this year, and so far I have found everything she's written to be a page-turner. This story about a couple coming from totally different backgrounds was quite gripping. Although the heroine came from the gentry, her parents married against their families wishes and were cut off. As a result the heroine was brought up in really horrible wretched poverty.
The hero came from a very upper class background, he's always known he will be the heir to a fortune, and he starts out the book as quite a snobbish judgmental ass. He does love his younger sister, but has no idea how to deal with her, and he wants to be the boss of everything. He has to go through a transformation before it was believable that the heroine would fall in love with him, and that he would be able to accept her in spite of her background. He finally does come to not only love her, but to admire her strength, and his growth was gradual and believable. Then when he rescues her, even after she's rejected the idea of marrying him, I felt he had fully redeemed himself.
There was lots of tension and the stakes were high because of the risks the heroine takes as a thief, plus she's doing a balancing act, behaving as a normal young lady in society. I loved the secondary characters too, especially the heroine's friends from the slums, who she did not abandon even after she got out of there. I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
The hero came from a very upper class background, he's always known he will be the heir to a fortune, and he starts out the book as quite a snobbish judgmental ass. He does love his younger sister, but has no idea how to deal with her, and he wants to be the boss of everything. He has to go through a transformation before it was believable that the heroine would fall in love with him, and that he would be able to accept her in spite of her background. He finally does come to not only love her, but to admire her strength, and his growth was gradual and believable. Then when he rescues her, even after she's rejected the idea of marrying him, I felt he had fully redeemed himself.
There was lots of tension and the stakes were high because of the risks the heroine takes as a thief, plus she's doing a balancing act, behaving as a normal young lady in society. I loved the secondary characters too, especially the heroine's friends from the slums, who she did not abandon even after she got out of there. I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
