About the Book
He Needed Peace…
Solicitor Tom Finchley has spent his life using his devious intellect to solve the problems of others. As for his own problems, they’re nothing that a bit of calculated vengeance can’t remedy. But that’s all over now. He’s finally ready to put the past behind him and settle down to a quiet, uncomplicated life. If only he could find an equally uncomplicated woman.
She Wanted Adventure…
Former lady’s companion Jenny Holloway has just been given a modest independence. Now, all she wants is a bit of adventure. A chance to see the world and experience life far outside the restrictive limits of Victorian England. If she can discover the fate of the missing Earl of Castleton while she’s at it, so much the better.
From the gaslit streets of London to the lush tea gardens of colonial India, Jenny and Tom embark on an epic quest–and an equally epic romance. But even at the farthest edges of the British Empire, the past has a way of catching up with you…
Excerpt
“Do you have any idea what it’s like to exist in the background of other people’s lives? To be an afterthought? A nonentity, neither proper lady, nor proper servant? I can count on one hand the number of people who’ve actually seen me, who’ve paid me any attention. It’s no life for anyone, least of all for a woman like me.”
“A woman like you,” he repeated. “Are you so different from every other lady in your position?”
“Look at me.” She gestured at herself with her teacup, causing the contents to slosh against the rim. “I wasn’t created to shrink into the shadows. I’m strong and stubborn and opinionated. I need more from life than a half existence. I need the sand and the sea and the baking sun of distant lands.” She stilled her hand before her tea spilled over and soiled her skirts. “But you’re a man. You couldn’t possibly understand.”
Mr. Finchley leaned forward. For the first time, his face betrayed a flicker of emotion. It was gone before she could grasp it. “I understand more than you know.”
She exhaled, feeling somewhat deflated. Of course he understood. He’d grown up in an orphanage in Abbott’s Holcombe along with Mr. Thornhill, Mr. Cross, and another boy. Helena hadn’t confided the particulars, but Jenny knew enough to appreciate that the experience had been rather traumatic for all of them.
“Yes, well, then you must see why I want to leave this place. I need to experience the world as a whole person. To live among people who never knew me as a lady’s companion.”
“Must you go as far away as India to do so?”
“As to that…” She fidgeted with her teacup. “You did say that your clients always come first, didn’t you? Before your friends or even yourself.”
“It’s the truth, I’m afraid.”
She met his eyes. Her heart gave another traitorous thump. “Am I your client now?”
He regarded her steadily from behind his spectacles. “You are.”
“And whatever I tell you—”
“Anything you say to me will be kept in strict confidence.”
Jenny nodded. She’d thought as much. “You asked me why I wished to travel to India. It’s because I want adventure. To see the world and to live in far-off places. But I have another, far more compelling reason.” She bit her lip, fully aware of the folly of what she was about to confess. “I want to find Giles Reyonlds, the missing Earl of Castleton.”
Review
“In order to have Tom, she’d have to give up her freedom. The very independence she’d dreamed of for so many years. It was a price she wasn’t willing to pay. Not for him. Not for anyone. But she was tempted. So very, dreadfully tempted.”
This story is everything! *cue all the happy sighs* My heart feels exquisitely satisfied after reading this book, and now I face the somewhat daunting task of trying to put into words all the reasons why.
First the easy part—the fact that this story takes the reader on a Victorian era journey from England to India, evoking all the sights, sounds, and experiences along the way. I’m not sure it’s a journey I would have liked to make in real life, but I loved reading about it! The circumstances of such a trip also provided the ideal backdrop for Tom and Jenny’s story, affording them freedoms that wouldn’t have been enjoyed in their everyday lives in England but also enhancing the tension inherent in their growing attachment to one another.
And that attachment. . . . How can I possibly begin to express it? The most satisfying romance involves so much more than physical attraction. It is care and tenderness; it’s a meeting of minds and souls; it’s mutual respect; in short, it’s companionship on the deepest level possible, and I’m not sure I have ever come across a story that has portrayed that more captivatingly than this one. From the smallest gestures of thoughtfulness or tenderness right through to the soul-puddling kisses, this story had EVERYTHING I love most about romance.
Most refreshingly of all, Tom and Jenny are honest and open with one another from the beginning. About their fondness for one another’s company, about their deepening regard, but also about the impossibility, as they see it, of a marriage between them—she, because she is finally independent, longing to travel and experience adventure, and he because his life is bound up in his employment as a solicitor in London. Attraction they have in spades, but if their lives are not compatible, attraction would eventually turn to resentment, and one of the sweetest things about this story is the way in which Tom—a man whose very livelihood has been made in the practice of using knowledge and circumstances in order to bend people to his clients’ wills—resolutely refuses to wield such power over Jenny.
I could go on. And on, and on, and on. I think I highlighted almost half of this book on my kindle. I will most assuredly be drinking this one in again and again, and I can’t wait for the next in this series.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.
From the smallest gestures of thoughtfulness or tenderness right through to the soul-puddling kisses, this story had EVERYTHING I love most about romance.
Previous Books in the Series
About the Author
Mimi Matthews writes both historical non-fiction and traditional historical romances set in Victorian England. Her articles on nineteenth century history have been published on various academic and history sites, including the Victorian Web and the Journal of Victorian Culture, and are also syndicated weekly at BUST Magazine. In her other life, Mimi is an attorney. She resides in California with her family, which includes an Andalusian dressage horse, two Shelties, and two Siamese cats.
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