Grace Burrowes

Fantastic book, with wonderful characters, intense emotions, and unexpected romance. There were places that made me laugh out loud, and others that brought me to tears. Sidonie is a single woman who is also a foster mother. She has moved herself and Luis out of Baltimore into the countryside of western Maryland, to get him away from some bad influences. The property is a farm, recently inherited from her brother. Sid is not a country person and only intends to stay on the property for a show more short time. A week or so after moving in, she discovers two huge horses on her property. Mac is the person who comes to help her out with her problem. Their first encounter is pretty funny, with Sid terrified of the two huge animals and determined to get them off her property. Mac is calm, steady and practical, and successfully talks Sid off the ledge. He also gets Luis involved, and takes them to dinner, where Sid manages to throw his well-ordered life into turmoil.

I loved Mac. As the oldest, he runs their law firm and the family with a steady hand. He's been there for his brothers, supporting them when they need it, and prodding them when they need that too. He's very quiet, and something of a loner. He hasn't even dated in ten years, and even his brothers don't know why. He's a bit lonely, but contents himself with his nieces and his brothers. Then he meets Sid, to whom he is instantly and intensely attracted. He also likes her, with her humor and her devotion to her foster son.

Sid is also great. She has been a foster mother for several years, Luis being her latest and favorite. She would love to adopt him, but he's resisting that. She is still grieving from the loss of her brother, and trying to deal with his estate. Moving to the farm gives her and Luis a better place to live, but she's feeling rather out of her depth. She's worn out from trying to cope with everything, plus she worries about how well Luis is really fitting in. Between taking care of her brother before his death, and her foster parent duties, she too has not had a relationship in a long time. There's something else that holds her back too, something she tries not to think about. She too, is instantly attracted to Mac, and once past the initial meeting, finds that she really likes him.

I loved the development of their relationship. It begins as friendship, with Mac driven to help them settle in. I loved seeing his knack for showing up just when he's needed. He's there when an unpleasant social worker shows up, and marshals the troops to come to the rescue, when she makes threats about Sid's ability to keep Luis. Sid and Mac continue to grow closer, sharing confidences and kisses, as the friendship heats up to being more. But there's trouble coming because Mac hasn't been completely open with her. She believes that he's a full-time farrier, when that's just a sideline for him. In real life, he's a criminal defense lawyer with the family firm. Problem is, Sid hates lawyers. She's had too many bad experiences with them, from the ones that tried to put her in foster care when her parents died to the ones that are currently dealing with her brother's estate. It isn't a happy time when that comes out, especially with the way it came out. Mac knows he's screwed up, but getting Sid to listen to him is going to be a challenge. Their hands are forced, however, when the expected threat to Sid and Luis's situation arrives. Once again it is the Knightleys to the rescue. The courtroom scene is emotional, sometimes amusing, and deeply satisfying. It is capped in a most unexpected way by Mac. There was another twist at the end that I hadn't seen coming, but brought the book to a fantastic close.

I also loved the secondary characters. Luis was the most important of those, as Sid's foster son. The love between them was obvious. I also liked the way that they looked out for each other. He is amazingly sensitive for a fifteen year old boy. He also tries very hard to hide his vulnerability under a tough façade. I loved how he and Mac connected first over the horses and then through their love for Sid. Not to say that he was perfect. He still made some typically teenage mistakes, such as getting drunk during the work party. I loved that scene, as all three Knightley brothers took care of him. I ached for Luis and everything he'd been through with the foster system. I could see his fear leading up to his court date, and held my breath that the guys would be able to help him. I also hurt for him and the secret that was keeping him from letting Sid adopt him. It was awesome to see how everything turned out. I would love to eventually see him have a story of his own. show less

Grace Burrowes's first foray into contemporary romance and it was fantastic. Terrific characters, intense emotions, and a really sweet romance made this an impossible to put down book. Hannah is a single mother and recent law school graduate. After working several temporary jobs, she has interviewed for a job in the corporate law department of the Knightley brothers' law firm. There's just one catch - they need her to work six months in the shorthanded family law department first. That is show more absolutely the last place she wants to be, but she'll tough it out for the short term. Trent is intrigued by his new associate. She is beautiful, but also very cool and private. She has made it clear that she's not happy about working family law, but he's quickly impressed by her attention to detail.

I loved Trent. He is first and foremost a gentleman, and very protective of the people who work for him. There are several instances over the first few days where he makes it plain to Hannah that he is not just her boss but a friend also. He is also overwhelmed with work right now, so he pairs Hannah with another lawyer in the department to learn the ropes. He is unaware that this other lawyer has been playing fast and loose with the rules, but Hannah experiences it firsthand. I loved Trent's reaction when he found out, but that also put Hannah by herself handling cases in court the next week.

I also loved Hannah. She is a strong woman who has been through a lot in her life so far. She grew up in the foster care system which is why she feels so strongly about family law. She experienced the worst of it from a foster child's perspective. She also has a seven year old daughter who she is very protective of. She has secrets from her past and guards her privacy zealously in order to protect herself and Grace. Though she hates working family law, she is very good at it, and there are some fantastic scenes of the cases she deals with.

The development of the relationship between Trent and Hannah is wonderful. Trent was hurt in the past and has believed that he is past any possibility of a new relationship. There is a vulnerable side of him that shows, as he worries that he is going to do something wrong with the things he starts to feel about Hannah. He also senses that she has secrets, and is sensitive enough not to badger her about them, but makes himself available for her to confide in when she's ready. He also has a gentle, but insistent way of getting her to do what he wants when he tries to take care of her. There are some really wonderful scenes of him showing his confidence in her courtroom skills, and the effect that confidence has on her. Hannah has never experienced a loving relationship of any kind, and Trent's treatment of her quickly starts to crumble the walls she has built around her heart. She is so used to depending only on herself that she doesn't quite know how to handle Trent's insistence on helping her, but she finds herself wanting to lean on him. For someone who feels that her people skills are somewhat lacking, I thought that she did pretty well with Trent. I loved the way that she would touch him, straighten his tie in an almost, but not quite motherly way. It was terrific to see her open her heart to Trent and start to trust him with her past. However, there are still some issues that pop up at the end that make her wonder if a future with Trent is possible. I loved the lengths that he went to in order to make their happy ending become real.

Throughout the story is a thread dealing with the lawyer that Hannah worked with at the beginning. His actions and deceptions had gotten him fired, which he blames on Hannah. He is determined to get revenge, and several times during the book we get his point of view. The things he does are really terrible and cause Hannah's worst fears to be realized. I loved the way that Trent and his brothers were there for Hannah and Grace and helped them through the crisis. The scene in the courtroom was wonderful, especially the testimony by Grace's friend Henry.

The two little girls in the story were adorable. Merle is Trent's daughter and Grace belongs to Hannah. The two girls are in the same class at school and become friends well before their parents do. Each girl is very protective and caring of their parent, and it was really sweet to see how strong those relationships are. They are also typical little girls with the imaginations to go with it. I loved their imaginary unicorns.

The secondary characters were all wonderful. Trent's two brothers were so realistic. I loved the way they all teased each other, but were also there to support each other when needed. It was really sweet to see the two brothers with their niece, and the way she had them wrapped around their fingers. Mac and James each have their own law specialty within their firm and I loved seeing how each is portrayed within that specialty. There is also a side story involving two judges who are friends of the Knightley brothers. I loved seeing the advice they are given. There is also a surprise twist involving these two judges and Hannah, which makes an especially satisfying ending to the book.

I also enjoyed the lawyer/family court setting. The realism of the cases shown was heartbreaking at times. I could really understand Hannah's stress over what she had to do, considering her history. I could also see Trent's happiness in doing his best to get his clients what they needed. show less

This is the first time I’ve read this author, and I’m looking forward to reading more in this series! One of the things I love about romance series is I can start anywhere and then trace my way back. This series follows a group of brothers and sisters who have come from poverty and an abusive family history to wealth and status. Happily ever after for them is a little harder won, as they wrestle with their personal demons and deal with past trauma. Constance is the focus of this one, show more along with Robert, a duke she met when they were both younger, in distress, and didn’t know who the other was. They are reunited when their siblings get engaged, and their budding love from years before is rekindled.
This one checked a lot of boxes for me: loving families, strong friendships, and straightforward romance. There’s monkey business in it, but not relationship monkey business or dumb misunderstandings. The characters regularly just say, “Explain yourself,” or “Explain,” when another character makes a cryptic comment, and I liked this a lot. Maybe it will become my new thing.
A lot of the tension comes from the fact that Robert has epilepsy, or “the falling sickness,” and it affects not only the acceptance of Constance’s family, but whether or not he’s deemed fit to manage his own property and wealth. I stayed up way past my bedtime to see the couple’s legal battle to the end.
I thought the author depicted Robert’s illness realistically. His seizures come on regularly throughout the book and aren’t conveniently forgotten when the stakes are high.
There’s another important plot line regarding Constance’s past, but that feels more like a spoiler, so I won’t go into it. The characters felt very enlightened and understanding about both major plot points, but I think the author developed this well enough with their exceptional pasts.
A couple things fell short for me: the resolution with Philpot was surprisingly simplistic, compared with the rest of the careful development of the book. The same goes for Shaw, to a lesser degree. His change of heart was somewhat understandable, but would have been more so if he hadn’t been so one-dimensionally portrayed earlier. His behavior could be chalked up to defensiveness, but it just seemed so extreme.
I also didn’t like getting the POV of Philpot and Phoebe, but I suppose there wasn’t another good way for the reader to be privy to their machinations.
Overall, I found this to be meatier than other Regencies I’ve read, and much less explicit with the love stuff. I loved Constance, Robert, and their wonderful siblings, and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. show less

Here's why I am loving this series: slightly older leads with complicated backstories and bad choices that were the best they had. They are kept apart by their own flaws as much as circumstances. Found families but also, learning to trust and ask for help, which is hard given their pasts. Everyone is sometimes sadder, but definitely wiser. And also, I like the charitable inclinations. There's a great deal of kindness, which of course people with complicated histories require.

Library copy