Marrying Winterborne

2.5 stars.

You know how sometimes the love story in romance novels is happily solved 3/4 of the way in, and the last 1/4 is just unnecessary drama? That was basically this. entire. book. The compelling part of Rhys and Helen's relationship happened in Cold-Hearted Rake, leaving nothing much for this one. I was so bored I actually abandoned it about 100 pages in, but I picked it back up again because I needed a book to fulfill “a book you've previously abandoned” for my 2016 reading challenge (also because it is Lisa Kleypas and it pains me to add her to the list of “historical romance disappointments of 2016” list).

I'm grateful I finished it, because it did get slightly better, if only because of the supporting characters. I very much enjoyed Lady Berwick. I actually believed Cassandra and Pandora as characters this time, whereas they read like ten-year-olds in Book 1, not (albeit, spirited and undisciplined) young ladies on the cusp of their first Season. And Dr. Gibson! She was the saving grace of this book. That extra half star is mostly due to her. I also confess to being curious about Severin.

I'm still extremely excited for Devil in Spring, though, and will be purchasing it the day it comes out. I am also crossing every available digit and appendage that Dr. Gibson will get her own book, because she was by far the most interesting character in the entire book, and I am dying to know more about her.

A note on the audiobook: I listened to about half of the book on audio, and I very much enjoyed the narration! Mary Jane Wells performed very well with a variety of voices and accents. I was particularly impressed by her Lady Berwick voice, as it somehow exactly embodied the description by Kleypas.