Review: Wonderful settings; Saucy and Emotional Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 28, 2013
My review rating: 4.25Miranda had a difficult childhood with a young, unstable mother. She left home at a young age and managed to work her way through University. She always loved history and was thrilled to land a job at St Merryn's Mount, eventually working her way up to manager. She is fiercely devoted to the property and it's people who have become her stability and her people.Dark, handsome Jago St Merryn has roamed the world and allowed his mother, Lady St Merryn, to oversee the home--or rather castle--management. He suddenly returns home and tells Miranda, in confidence, of his plans to sell the property to a leisure investment corporation. Miranda is distressed at the thought of losing her "home" and the impact it will have on the other workers and estate families. But she is appalled to find herself sexually drawn to Jago even though she doesn't like what he is doing and she realizes that any relationship is professionally inappropriate and personally a move toward heartbreak.Meanwhile, a local heartthrob, Theo, has shown interest in Miranda. He and Jago have clear animosity and, although Theo is well respected in the community, it appears that he may be using Miranda to spite Jago.  Miranda is caught between the alleged 'nice guy' who doesn't stir her senses as much as the alleged 'bad boy' she can't have.Miranda and Jago each have painful pasts that they are running from. I really liked how Ms. Ashley slowly revealed their secrets and developed their characters. The romantic triangle with Theo was a little puzzling as his `courtship' was so slow to get started. I suppose that is fitting with it's ultimate purpose and result, but it didn't quite fit with the `really nice-guy' image that was being projected for him.The castle operations and Cornish seaside make for interesting and beautiful backdrops to the characters' conflicts and emotional struggles. I enjoyed the visual images of the castle, the harbor, ocean and beach scenes - I'd love to visit!  The dialogue is saucy with plenty of British attitude, sexual fantasy and frivolity to make this lively even as it deals with overcoming emotional issues resulting from abandonment and loss.I have enjoyed Ms. Ashley's light romances from earlier reads. This one seems to have more emotional depth but still has the likeable characters and wonderful settings.  This is a nice blend of fun and emotional romance. I recommend this to readers who enjoy flirty, British style romance especially with the addition of emotional challenges to overcome.I received this title from the Author for an honest review.