The Summer of You

Slow-moving romance set in summer, languid, leisurely. Wonderful character development for both romantic leads and the secondary set of possible lovers as well. A tender description of an elder gradually losing his memory. An trenchant observation of village life and its attendant foibles.

Well that was... unsatisfying. The main romance didn't interest me at all. I was more involved with what was going on between the minor characters, Victoria and Andrew, so the fact that their relationship was resolved rather half-ass-ly was a major disappointment. Additionally, a major plot thread revolves around the mystery of who is robbing people near the town but the big reveal kind of came out of the left field. Not in an "Oh so that's who did it" sort of way but in a "Who the hell is this character?" way. So all of that, plus the slow meandering feel to Noble's writing left me feeling pretty "meh" about this book. I might give Noble another shot and read the next book in the series, but I won't be chomping at the bit to get it.

This historical romance started out well, but stalled in the middle and I kind of lost interest towards the end. Byrne Worth, the now retired Blue Raven, spy for the Crown, is hiding himself away in the north of England, licking his wounds as he recovers from a long illness. Lady Jane Cummings unexpectedly enters his life on the nearby estate while caring for her father who is sinking more and more into dementia. The two are attracted to one another while trying to determine who the local highwayman is - in order to clear Byrne's name. Everyone in town thinks it's him! The book had it's moments, but seemed a bit plodding and not nearly as good as it's predecessor in the series. Still, I like this author and will continue with the series.

3.5 stars
I really enjoyed the romance of Jane and Byrne. The mystery plot had potential but ended up being slow until the very end of the book and there was no way we could have figured it out due to lack of clues written into the story, which was disappointing. I also struggled with all the perspective changes; not only do we see from Jane and Byrne's perspective, but also from both the hero and heroine of the side romance, Jane's brother and a couple kids (it was just too much).

I think this is my favorite Kate Noble book yet. I mean the hero is so flawed and yet so perfect. And the heroine. I just love her. Now I understand why this has been raved about. Obviously I also can't stop reading these...

7/10

Bit Dirty Dancing near the end. I was just waiting for him to say nobody puts baby in the corner.

Damaged gentleman, willful Duke's daughter, summer in a remote village in the Lake District.

Not bad, but the least of Noble's.