Hattie Greenfield is idealistic and a bit sheltered by her upper-crust life and matching, upper-crust family. She fancies herself open-minded and progressive, even a bit rebellious, so when she crosses paths with the infamous Lord Lucian Blackstone, she welcomes a shocking, stolen, kiss. That sinfully delicious kiss has repercussions, though, which even the brooding and enigmatic Lucian must face. A hasty marriage and an escape to his native Scottish Highlands has Hattie reeling.
The unexpected union forces both Hattie and Lucian to reveal the truest version of themselves to each other, and as titillating as the sexual tension between them is, I liked their character growth, and the questions the book asks, even more.
Lucian’s business in the Highlands lands them in a small, poor, mining town. Hattie’s idealistic, unpracticed feminism clashes hard with the reality the women face. Lofty suffragette ideals in London tea rooms are hard to reconcile with mining mortalities and keeping a house running round the clock. Lucian, too, discovers that his personal truths are tested. Pragmatism doesn’t mean having to remain mired in negativity.
I’ve never read a romance book where I’ve related to the main heroine so much. Hattie’s optimism was my own; the way she is forced to ask hard questions about her broad, easy answers to a utopian world made me think about my own views. Her feminist politics are wonderful, but they are challenged in a very real way. This book was surprisingly, and wonderfully, political. Still, Hattie’s character is never put down; she has lessons to teach as well as learn, and she brings out the best in Lucian by stretching his comfort zone. She's feminine and womanly but doesn't always say or do the right thing. She questions herself. I often think that heroines in romance novels sound and act like movie characters with overly snappy dialogue; they seem to react to each and every situation with the perfect quip and matching action. Hattie feels like a real woman: progressive but a product of the societal expectations of her time, winning and daring but not perfect. I don’t think I’ve ever read a romance (especially historical fiction) where the two leads feel like such symbiotic partners. They don’t lose themselves in each other but grow together.
And the heat! Hattie and Lucian are gorgeous together: that slow build from their forbidden kiss to the eventual consummation of their marriage is hot. Every suggestive scene and progressively intimate moment is lush.
Such a rewarding, romantic, fun, and genuinely thoughtful, feminist read. I enjoyed every moment.
