Though this is the second in the House of Lovell series from this author, it reads perfectly fine as a standalone. It’s a second chance romance featuring Anne, Lady Howard, and Edward Lovell, the Earl of Chatham (formerly Lord Bredon). Lovers when they were younger, Edward’s father packed him off on a Grand Tour to prevent him from marrying Anne, considered below him in station. He asked her to wait, but received word less than a month later that she’d married a baron.
Now widowed, Anne is acting as sponsor for Miss Finch, a young woman with an absolutely spectacular dowry, a fortune Edward’s estate is sorely in need of. The problem is, his heart is sorely in need of Anne.
There’s a rather intriguing suspense sub-plot which comes into the book way too late to really be properly explored, and up until then there’s nothing really out of the ordinary about this one. I’d have liked to hear more about Anne’s travels and in fact Edward never even learned of them or her alter-ego as a travel writer; nor did her desire for future travels ever factor into a conversation. In fact, they barely talked about anything except the past, and I closed the book with the sneaking suspicion that Edward had absolutely no idea who Anne was now.
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the story, but it really didn’t grab me and there were parts where things felt distinctly uneven. Overall, I’m giving it three stars.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.