There's nothing more entertaining than a romance novel where the protagonists start as antagonists, become comrades, become attracted yet fight the attraction, can't decide if it's lust or love, and then finally, fall in love. I’m giving it three stars.ĭisclaimer: I received a review copy of this title via NetGalley. I very much liked the premise of the story, and the research behind it was obviously good, but the execution just didn’t work for me. I could see good reasons for her falling for him - he listened to her, believed her and had her son’s best interests at heart - but despite being in her head a lot of the time, I don’t think the progress of her increasing feelings for him was conveyed at all. Busick didn’t really know Patience when he decided she must love him and therefore he was going to be in love with her, which made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. I’m not sure I really bought into the romance here either.
I had a constant feeling of emotional whiplash changing between the two. There’s an intimacy to first-person, the character taking us into the story, sharing their innermost thoughts, but then when you change to third-person, it feels so much more like ‘telling’ rather than showing. You don’t find a lot of first-person in historical romance so at first I thought it was going to be an interesting change alternating first-person between the two main characters could have worked, but going to third-person for Busick really didn’t. The story is told in alternating first person (Patience) and third person (Busick) points of view, which is probably my least favourite method of storytelling and can be intensely confusing. That aside… I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did.
The author does an excellent job of portraying what it would have been like for a young, albeit wealthy and beautiful, Black woman marrying into English high society it’s obvious Patience is treated as an outsider and something of a curiosity. Not only is Patience a woman of colour (she self describes as ‘mulatto’ and it’s apparent from context that her father is white and her mother Black) but Busick is both disabled (an amputee) and suffering from PTSD due to his service in the Napoleonic Wars. The diverse representation in this book is as good as you’ll find in any historical romance. Afraid to reveal her identity for fear he’ll send her back to Bedlam, she takes a position as her own child’s wet nurse. Throwing her tormentor out of the house, Busick makes it clear the child’s welfare is his highest priority, and Patience is persuaded to wait and see how things turn out. Before she can carry out her plan, though, she’s thwarted by the arrival of a senior claimant to the role of guardian, Busick, the Duke of Repington. Sprung from the insane asylum where she had been locked up by her son’s unscrupulous new guardian, all widow Patience Jordan wants is to reclaim her baby and go home to Demerara. Soon, between formidable enemies and obstacles, they form a fragile trust - but will it be enough to save the future they long to dare together? Somehow, she's breaking his rules and sweeping past his defenses. But his investigation is a minor skirmish compared to dealing with the forthright, courageous, and alluring Patience.
Especially when Patience discovers his military strictness belies an ex-rake of unswerving honor - and unexpected passion.Ī wounded military hero, Busick is determined to resolve his dead cousin's dangerous financial dealings for Lionel's sake. But working for his unsuspecting new guardian, Busick Strathmore, duke of Repington, has perils of its own. Falsely imprisoned, she risks her life to be near her child - until The Widow's Grace gets her hired as her own son's nanny. When headstrong West Indian heiress Patience Jordan questioned her English husband's mysterious suicide, she lost everything: her newborn son, Lionel, her fortune - and her freedom. Created by a shrewd countess, The Widow's Grace is a secret society with a mission: to help ill-treated widows regain their status, their families, and even find true love again - or perhaps for the very first time.