But the man is not a servant. He is Gilbert Bennington, the lieutenant colonel and superior officer who has escorted her wounded brother, Harry, home from the wars with Napoleon. Gil has come to help his friend and junior officer recover, and he doesn't take lightly to being condescended to--secretly because of his own humble beginnings.
If at first Gil and Abigail seem to embody what the other most despises, each will soon discover how wrong first impressions can be. For behind the appearances of the once-grand lady and the once-humble man are two people who share an understanding of what true honor means, and how only with it can one find love.
Comment: This is the 6th installment in the Wescott series by Mary Balogh, one of the series I have been slowly reading for the past months.
Abigail Wescott saw her life change radically once the bigamy of her father was discovered. She told herself she wasn't that bothered by it, because along with her, both her mother and her sister agreed with how they should feel about Anna, the rightful heir, coming into their lives. Even so, the one who changed the most was her brother, deprived of his title, which is why that now that he is finally home she feels they need to recover the lost time while he was at war. She didn't count, however, on his friend Gil staying for so long too, and she reluctantly begins to appreciate his presence and personality. But when a sudden need is forced upon him so that he doesn't loose his daughter, will Abigail be the person he needs to make certain all goes on well?
I gave this book four stars on goodreads and a seven here because, honestly, by comparing, I did like this story more than I did book #4 which was the one I liked the least so far. Otherwise, I might have given it a slightly lower grade because I just could not see the romance as that wonderful.
The base for this plot was interesting, Harry is finally home to recover from his war experience and the best place is at his country estate, where the family reunites to welcome him. Along with him, he also has a friend, Gil, someone who comes from very humble origins but reached a good rank in the military, and someone he trusts. Of course, it was fun to see how Gil and Abigail didn't get along right away and the reason is that they feel attracted to one another and she isn't really aware of why this happens.
As the story progresses, it starts to be very obvious that these two would be a good couple but at the same time, the chemistry they thought they had didn't seem very easy for me to see. Their interactions at first were expected and sometimes even cute in the sense they could not work on their attraction that simply, but as time went on and they got to know one another and started sharing confidences, I somehow got the feeling that instead of this reinforcing the attraction, it also made them both look more and more boring. I stopped feeling emotionally invested in them as I was in the beginning of the novel.
Abigail is a likable heroine, but I must say she isn't especially vibrant. I can understand her thoughts and emotions, considering what happened and how that must have affected her life and the relationships she had and how thin they were once she faced such social trials. I wanted more complexity for her character but it wasn't there, and I don't think she was a very challenging person to get to know. I mean, I'd be friends with her in real life, but reading about her wasn't what I imagined.
Gil is certainly a lot more interesting, personality wise. But it gets to a point that his ideas get very repetitive on that whole "I'm not worthy" particularly when we learn who his father is (what a coincidence it turned out to be. not) but that, of course, isn't that simple mentally. I think Gil is complex, yes, and he has a lot of inner debate on the course of his decisions. He is worried about his daughter which is understandable but this does color his view of how his life with Abigail should be and, sometimes, I don't think he was really fair in his assumptions.
Regarding the romance, I don't really buy it. I think the idea is good and the causes for their decision to marry as good as any, but the chemistry after the wedding seemed to be missing. The intimacy between them told me nothing and I think if this had been a marriage of convenience which would develop after would have been better. Having them marry around half way and then deal with things made the story seem slow and a little lacking.
No comments:
Post a Comment