- Published: January 16, 2024
- Ebook: 432 Pages
- Genre: Historical Romance
I was very happy with the third book in this wonderful series. It’s a much more mature story than the previous one, and the relationship is explored more deeply. While The Belle of Belgrave Square was more plot-driven, there is little plot in Lily – but more romance.
Neighbors Anne Deveril and Felix Hartford (Hart) have been estranged for seven years, since they ended their engagement with a terrible argument. Anne had recently lost her father and was still caring for her devastated mother, while Hart was hurt that she wasn’t ready for a life with him.
Anne seeks out Hart for a favor – she needs to visit her friend Julia, who has just eloped and may be the captive of a dangerous man. Anne needs help contriving a reason for her mother to travel to Julia’s new home, but she ends up with Hart as a traveling companion as well.
What I loved about this book was the very lack of drama. Anne and Felix have grown as individuals over the last seven years, and now they need to better understand each other. Anne is put off by Hart’s humor and doesn’t realize that his careless exterior hides growing worries and responsibilities. Hart thinks Anne is too subservient to her mother.
I appreciate how each book in the series has a very different feel to it, and I also like how Matthews emphasizes very real difficulties that these characters would have faced at the time. I enjoyed the contrast between Anne’s home neighborhood and Ludgate Hill. Some readers may find this book slow compared to the other two, but that’s what I liked about it. I dislike when romance authors throw a lot of contrived barriers at a relationship, and in this book Anne and Hart’s relationship felt real.
I found myself wanting to re-read Jane Austen’s Persuasion, a book many people love and one I’m not sure I fully appreciated when I read it years ago. It’s also a second chance love story about two “mature” characters who have been separated for years. I don’t know if this novel was influenced by Persuasion, but there are certainly similarities.
I recommend Matthews for fans of Austen and Evie Dunmore. This series is “closed door” meaning it does not have explicit sex scenes. I’m very much looking forward to the next installment of the series.
Note: I received an advanced review copy from NetGalley and publisher Berkley Publishing. This book was published January 16, 2024.
