Beautiful young widow, Lady Eliza Wyndham, is determined never to remarry after a disastrous first marriage. The undeniable attraction that fizzes between her and Major Nathaniel Overton terrifies her. She rejects his advances.
With his pride badly dented, Nat vows to forget Eliza until he finds her in danger from an old adversary of his army days. His protective instincts are stirred and he steps back into her life, but will Eliza be prepared to accept his help?
Purchase Link - http://mybook.to/agoodmatchforthemajor
Review
Meet-ugly turns out better than either party expected
I definitely got Pride and Prejudice vibes from this book, though the
Darcy archetype is shared. Eliza is reserved like Darcy but this stems
more from fear than arrogance. Despite being heir to a barony, Nat has a
chip on his shoulder from his mother's family being in trade, so in his
pride considers Eliza prejudiced against him. Fortunately, they have
good people around them to help them get past their inauspicious
beginnings.
Seeing Eliza and Nat move from frosty adversaries to reluctant acquaintances to mutual pining made for an entertaining read. Practically everyone they know is playing matchmaker - family, friends, even the servants! It's clear it's all with the best of intentions, and though I appreciate how Eliza's family resolved to give her time, I wish this had been explored a little more. Eliza's traumatised from her first marriage and grieving for her mother, so it would have been nice to see them take things slow. It's no surprise Eliza jumps to conclusions, especially as Nat has severe foot-in-mouth syndrome at times.
I did get thrown out of the story a bit by the sometimes misapplied naming conventions - a Duchess is never Lady so-and-so and it didn't sit right for Eliza to be both Lady Eliza and Lady Wyndham (either she maintained her title as Lady Eliza or she took her husband's as Lady Wyndham, not both). If this is also a pet peeve of yours, beware!
Despite my quibbles, this is a fine story about retired solder and a grown-up horse girl (no, really, horses of quality are an ongoing theme which is actually quite cool) falling in love and pretending they haven't.
Four stars
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Rachel's Random Resources, all opinions are my own
Josie lives in the English midlands, surrounded by towns full of history such as Evesham, Stratford-Upon- Avon, Warwick and Worcester. Which is perhaps why her favourite reads are historical. Out of all the periods to choose from the Regency Era stirs her imagination the most. The true Regency lasted from 1811 until 1820 but dates as wide as 1789 to 1837 have been included in the extended Regency period. For Josie the true flavour of this period emerges after the iniquitous hair powder tax of 1795, unsurprisingly, scuppered the fashion for hair powder almost overnight.
Josie has always dabbled in stories but it took the combined efforts of her sister and eldest niece to set her on the path to writing novels. Her Regency romances, with a dash of adventure and intrigue, are the result.
There is more information on her website at www.josiebonhamauthor.com
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