“A young widow faces an uncertain future . . . until an unexpected encounter with her first love gives her heart a second chance in this Regency romance set on the Yorkshire Moors.
England, 1817—Charlotte Grey thought she had seen the last of Anthony Welbourne. Knowing her father would never consent to his only daughter marrying a man he deemed beneath their family’s station, Charlotte bid her final farewell to Anthony and vowed never to turn back. Instead, she honored her father’s wishes by marrying the wealthy Roland Prior.
Determined to put his love for Charlotte in the past, Anthony chose to immerse himself in a life full of meaning—first as a soldier fighting a war overseas, then as a member of William Walstead’s watchmen, a rugged band of men dispatched to deal with perilous situations. Fearless and persistent, he makes it his life’s focus to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves.
When Charlotte’s husband dies unexpectedly, she quickly realizes how blind she’d been to his nefarious ambitions and how many people he’d angered on his relentless quest for wealth. To protect her infant son, Henry, from those who wish him harm, she and the baby flee to Hollythorne House, her childhood home. There Charlotte comes face-to-face with her former love, who has been sent as one of the hired watchman to protect her and Henry until the details of her late husband’s estate are settled.
Anthony’s presence brings back feelings she never expected to have again, and she struggles to trust his intentions. Are the watchmen really looking after Charlotte as they claim—or are they looking to make trouble for Roland’s estate and heir? Despite the constant reminders of their past, Anthony must remain focused on the task he was hired to do. But when new threats emerge and the past collides with the present, both must decide what they are willing to risk for the chance to right old wrongs and carve out a new future . . . together.”
Series: Book #2 in “The House of Yorkshire” series. Review of Book #1 Here!
Spiritual Content- Church going; The phrase “Thank God” is said (by Anthony); Mentions of churches, church going, services, & vicars;
*Note: It’s said that Anthony needs to make peace with the demons that have kept him away from his hometown; A couple mentions of ghosts (including Anthony not believing in ghosts and curses); A mention of a place being in a “devilish state”; A mention of being lucky; A mention of a place being treated as a shrine; A mention of someone idolizing another.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stupid’, three ‘devil’s, four ‘bah’s; A mention of something being damning; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); A bit of sarcasm; Being shot, Being held at gunpoint, Gunshots, Seeing someone shot, Fighting, Injuries, Pain, & Blood/Bleeding (semi-detailed); Nightmares (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); *Spoiler* A baby is kidnapped and held for ransom (everything is okay by the end of the book) *End of Spoiler*; Charlotte finds her husband’s body (barely-above-not-detailed) and while is shocked, she does not grieve him much due to his actions towards her; Charlotte’s husband hit her when he was drunk (we see the aftermath recalled, up to semi-detailed); Anthony drinks ale at a pub & later is given alcohol *Spoiler* when injured *End of Spoiler*; Anthony lies to his friend & keeps his past relationship with Charlotte a secret from him and their boss; Charlotte lied to her father about her being happy in her marriage to comfort him before he passed; Anthony has guilt over not stopping a loved one’s death; Many mentions of a war, near deaths, deaths, major injuries, battles, & an explosion (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of crimes, criminals, thieves, stealing, stolen items, & smuggling; Many mentions of lies, liars, lying, & deceit; Mentions of deaths & grieving (for a husband, parents, and a parental figure); Mentions of fires & a death; Mentions of gunshots, seeing someone shot, seeing someone killed, bodies, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of threats, kidnappings, ransoms, & being attacked and tied up (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of alcohol, drinking, drunks, & pubs; Mentions of rumors & gossip; A few mentions of Charlotte’s husband’s “violent episodes”; A few mentions of tobacco; A few mentions of an injured owl that ended up dying (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of a snuffbox (including a side character using one, up to semi-detailed); A couple mentions of hatred; A mention of a legend of a man murdering his wife; A mention of poisons;
*Note: Charlotte’s husband was very controlling and dictated every aspect of her life (including only allowing her half an hour with their son a day); Due to Anthony’s parents passing away when he was young, his grief about being alone and being an orphan caused him to want to be just like his father; A man had his wife institutionalized because she couldn’t bear a child; A few mentions of some men believing that women are “too weak-minded and delicate” for hard topics; A couple mentions of men trying to manipulate women.
Sexual Content- A hand kiss, a cheek kiss, six head/forehead kisses, an almost (semi-detailed) kiss, two not-detailed kisses, three barely-above-not-detailed kisses, a semi-detailed kiss, and a detailed kiss; Recalling a kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Staring at another’s lips (up to semi-detailed); Lots of Wanting to kiss & embrace (quite often, up to semi-detailed); Lots of Touches, Embraces, Hand Holding, Staring, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Lots of Noticing (up to semi-detailed); When Anthony is injured, Charlotte sees his bare chest and arms (barely-above-not-detailed); Charlotte catches a couple in a passionate embrace; *Spoiler* A man used a young woman’s feelings to gather information from her *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of reputations, chaperones, flirting, & couples being alone together when they shouldn’t (including Charlotte and Anthony); A couple mentions of a married man having a mistress (Charlotte’s husband); A mention of a legend of a man murdering his wife after finding out she had a lover; A mention of a woman being accosted by a man; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A couple mentions of a mother dying in childbirth.
-Charlotte Prior, age 22 (?)
-Anthony Welbourne, age 23 (?)
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1817 (Prologue in 1813, Epilogue in 1819)
352 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I’m not really a second chance romance fan, but I was pretty impressed with how both main characters stayed to their plans and wasn’t distracted by the other being nearby. More so her, which made me like her a lot more because of her determination to focus on her son—and she actually does that and does that well. It took quite a while for her to entertain the idea of him again and their relationship, which I actually really liked. I do think some would find it too slow, but I liked the slow-burn being actually slow. I found the timing of their first kiss and confessions to be terribly timed, but I’ve seen it a lot on Romantic Suspense books (and still dislike it).
I will say that there was too much clothing and appearance details for my taste. It felt like almost every chapter had a part where their clothing and the cut of it is described. It was interesting at first but quickly grew to be too often for me.
Having read most of this author’s newer releases in the past couple of years, I expected this one to be clean, but have no faith content. That proved to be right for this one as well. There were a few parts where faith content could have been worked in very naturally and because of the lack of it, it just made the book feel like an average regency book. Charlotte found her strength in Anthony (and thinks this a couple times) which was just disappointing.
I think my main dis-enjoyment was that this book kind of felt like just a regular regency book—there was no faith content to stand out, no humor to make me laugh, and nothing that took me by surprise. Middle of the road, I guess you could say, though, I feel a bit bad saying that. It was pretty clean, but had a few mentions of Charlotte’s husband who was verbally and physically abusive towards her.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
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