Review: Fantastic, fresh Regency romance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 19, 2010
This book is proof that even in the overdone Regency genre, it's possible to write a story that is fresh and new. I classify this as a Regency because it is set in 1811 and features English protagonists (well, actually the heroine, Anna, is Scottish, but she is considered English gentry). However, the setting is not the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, but rather Portugal/Spain during the Peninsular Wars. The second unique element to this story is that the heroine is high-born, but the hero is a lowly sergeant in the British Army, a foot soldier who is not supposed to even look at a high-born lady, let alone interact with one. Usually when there is a class difference in a Regency, one of the protagonists is in trade, or is a barrister or a doctor, or something like that. Here, the hero, Will is the son of an innkeeper who was being groomed to be a farmer until he ran away to join the army. He attended a village school and can read, but is otherwise not "educated".Anna, the heroine, is following the drum with her Cavalry officer husband, when he is killed. As Anna tries to make her way to Lisbon to catch a boat back to England, her convoy is attacked and she and Will, the sergeant are captured by the French. When they escape, they are thrown together, must rely on each other, and their mutual admiration quickly turns into love.Anna and Will are wonderful lead characters. Both are smart and sensitive. They know their love is forbidden and they try to fight it, but they just can't. No TSTL characters here. I was emotionally invested in both of the characters and was rooting for them to overcome the social pressures against them and find their HEA. The author clearly did her research and there are lots of solid details about Army life and the hardships it entailed. I can hardly believe this is a debut book. It is well-written, well-paced, and flows smoothly. I can't wait to read her next book.