Review: Absolutely loved this historical romance!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 29, 2013
Arthur Stanhope, Marquess of Camryn, is one of London's most eligible bachelors. In addition to newly coming into his inheritance and being a successful industrialist, he's devastatingly handsome and charming. He could have his pick of the women of the British aristocracy, but Cam has no interest in marriage - until he gets to know Charlotte Livingston, a close friend of his cousin, Willa. Charlotte seems an unlikely choice for the dashing marquess - she's not particularly beautiful and she's much more opinionated than a lady should be. But Cam sees something in her that no one else does and he's determined to make her his wife.After reading Compromising Willa, I had high expectations for this book. Diana Quincy met all of them and even surpassed them. When I finally sat down to start this yesterday, I couldn't put it down. It's a page-turner for sure and I quickly became completely absorbed in the story.I think that Cam is probably my favorite leading man in a romance so far. I probably fell in love with him almost as much as Charlotte did, haha. He has a great sense of humor and an innate sense of justice. He also can be manipulative, but personally, I could forgive him for that because it was all in the name of winning over Charlotte's heart and convincing her that together, they could overcome anything. I think what was most awesome about him was that he fell in love with Charlotte even though she wasn't the obvious choice for him. I mean, she was because it's a romance novel and the whole point is to get them together, BUT even he admits that she's NOT the most beautiful woman he's ever met. He actually finds her boring when they first meet and he dreads having to dance with her. But after having a conversation with her, he falls in love with her personality and soon enough his eyes are opened to her less obvious physical charms. In a genre filled with voluptuous, perfect women, this was a refreshing change.I loved Charlotte, too. She's a forward-thinker, much as Willa was, but even more radical. She absolutely refuses to compromise her political beliefs to please a man and this has put her in danger of spinsterhood. When she does fall in love with Cam, she's selfless enough to avoid marriage out of fear of compromising his political career because of some of her unsavory connections. I have to admit, after a while this did get a bit old because I was so desperate for them to just end up together, but everything worked out in the end :) Their romance was passionate and sweet and just wonderful in every way! I especially liked the epilogue, because it gave us a glimpse at how happy they truly were once they ended up together.The only part of the novel that I did find to be predictable was the circumstances with Nathan Fuller. Out of respect for spoilers, I will not reveal anything here, but I did find it pretty easy to read between the lines with him. But other than that, I have no complaints as far as the plot is concerned.This was a pleasure to read. I cannot wait to read Tempting Bella, book two in the series, which I think focuses on Cam's brother, Sebastian, and his wife - at least, that was the impression I got from the end of this book. I'm definitely going to be looking for more from Diana Quincy and I hope that she decides to continue writing this series! I think a book about Margaret Selwyn would be especially interesting - she's such an evil person in this book, I think it would be really cool to read more about her story and see if she ever redeems herself. Anyway, if you're a fan of historical romance novels, I highly recommend that you try something by Diana Quincy - you will NOT be disappointed!Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author, but in no way did this influence my review.