Tina's Reading Books

I was attracted t this book because it was a 'married couple' romance. Not a MOC, but an actual couple who got married because that is what couples did at that time. Yeah, not true love, but it isn't a sexless marriage either. Emma Wildes does this trope really well and I wish she would get to writing another one. But I digress....

This book hit me rather oddly. It contains one of the things that really bothers me... a lack of simple communication. But that lack of communication is offset by a really rather good story. In some places it made me smile a lot. So that is a plus.

Noah Winters, the Duke of Anselm decides he wants to marry the rather pretty and eminently suitable Lady Thea Collins. Thea's family is on the decline. A steep decline. Her parents passed away leaving her with her younger brother (who became the Earl) and her younger sister. Her brother is on the fast track to becoming a drunken, gambling, useless thing. As such, he is not really looking out for his sisters. Thea becomes a paid companion because, well, she needs to eat.

With these practical matters in mind, she accepts the Duke's proposal. They get married and that is when the troubles start.

Right out the gate they have An Issue. Now, I can see where he is coming from. He is a man of his time and he has a right to his opinion. And I rather liked how she responded to his response (..being deliberately obtuse here...). Ok, but here is my thing. A whole lot of of assumptions happen within a small period of time that did not need to happen if 1) they had just talked to each other and 2) Noah had used his brain for a minute. I mean, before they got married there was a scene that occurred that he should have flashed back upon and said 'Ah ha!'

So yeah, it was a bit frustrating for them to have this ...I won't say Grand Mis.... because it wasn't really that.. but rather a clear lack of common sense talking that would have cleared up some hurt feelings.

But like I said, I was able to reach past that because both Noah and Thea (but especially Noah) were so damned charming. Even in the midst of their disagreement, they both felt like they wanted to to really like each other and just couldn't help themselves. I loved how Noah called her 'Wife' and 'Duchess' very proudly. And despite the fact that he was described as 'Not Nice' or given other very dour personality traits, his behavior didn't bear that out. At All. He was, like I said above, charming. And actually rather funny. The scenes of him harassing Thea's brother were quite amusing.

As the book progresses, the thing that was very evident to the reader becomes more and more evident to Noah and he gets A Clue. I do like how he and Thea built a solid base of trust in each other and that came through in a critical moment in the end.

So even though this book employed a trope I tend to dislike, I enjoyed this in spite of it