And as she grew older, Izzy crossed them off. One by one by one.
Abducted by handsome highwayman?
Rescued from drudgery by charming prince?
No, no, and… Heh. Now Izzy’s given up yearning for romance. She’ll settle for a roof over her head. What fairy tales are left over for an impoverished twenty-six year-old woman who’s never even been kissed?
This one.
Comment: This is the first installment in the Castles Ever After series by author Tessa Dare. Having enjoyed immensely the majority of the books in another series (Spindle Cove), and knowing the last one in that series has a crossover with a story in this series too, I wanted to read it soon and here it is, the first book.
In this book we meet Izzy Goodnight, a young woman down on her luck because of her father's bad decisions making and an inheritance going to the male heir. However, Izzy received a letter from her godfather (who she doesn't know) telling her he has left her a castle in his will. Having nothing to lose, Izzy travels to the castle but only finds a very rude occupant, its former master, the duke of Rothbury.
Ransom Vane, the duke, is still physically recovering from a duel although a consequence seems to be quite final, namely his lack of sight. He only wants to be left in peace to wallow in his misery but Izzy showing up makes him think about scenarios he didn't believe hew could be a part of. But the longer he must endure Izzy's presence, the more they try to solve the problems of the inheritance since he never sold the castle in the first place, the more they get to know one another and trust begins to be shared.
Can these two let go of past expectations and just find happiness in the present?
One of the biggest critics some readers have about this author is her lack of realism regarding what it meant to live in the 19th century. Many say the heroes, heroines, plots are too modern in relation to what was possible and what was appropriate in that society's time. In a way, I can understand this and it does scream at the reader here and there but I must also say this really doesn't matter if one wants to be entertained by fiction because the author does this beautifully.
Counterbalancing the anachronism of some aspects, we the have the other side of the coin: the stories are richly detailed and the romance is cute and "romantic".
In this novel, both protagonists have to deal with some issues in their past (as expected, things are mostly emotional in a way) disguising their feeling with actions related to the plot taking place. I just think that the author cleverly writes things in a way that the reader has to like the couple, has to be on their side and understands their difficulties. The best course of action to make this happen is to create a background for both that gives us plenty of reason to care for them and to see them succeed.
Izzy has a very interesting background, apparently she is quite famous because her father wrote books for children/young people inspired by the adventure tales he told Izzy when she was a young child. The stories got a lot of success and there are even many people who consider themselves fans and followers of the world created by the author (modern, huh?) but that puts a huge pressure on Izzy to not defraud them despite her father lack of reliability for daily life matters.
Ransom's reasons for his sulkiness take longer to be understood but he decided he was better off without anyone to care about after his loss of sight. Of course the reason why he changes, the reason why he feels he needs to live isn't only his love for Izzy, but also the fact he realizes he still has a lot to live for himself and, combined with the way the plot points connect, their mutual journey was cute and romantic in my POV.
The romance is cute and the pace believable but I'd have liked to see them more in sync at the end, right before they admit their feelings. I can understand why there were some issues closer top the end, plot conflict demands, but it wasn't as smoothly dealt with as I imagined. It didn't really feel like it had been part of the plot. Still, for the entertainment of it, I liked the way the author connected the loose points and solved things.
The couple's connection, which feels like went at a very steady pace and rhythm, is a very good point in this novel. It was fascinating to see them interact and slowly grow more confident in themselves because there it was, someone to trust. The details about each main character and why they could be a good couple were well done. I had a great time reading this novel and, sometimes, that is the best feeling we can get.
Grade: 8/10
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