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When Katherine "Kit" FitzGilbert turned her back on London society more than a decade ago, she determined never to set foot in a ballroom again. But when business takes her to London and she's forced to run for her life, she stumbles upon not only a glamorous ballroom but also Graham, Lord Wharton. What should have been a chance encounter becomes much more as Graham embarks on a search for his friend's missing sister and is convinced Kit knows more about the girl than she's telling.
After meeting Graham, Kit finds herself wishing things could have been different for the first time in her life, but what she wants can't matter. Long ago, she dedicated herself to helping women escape the same scorn that drove her from London and raising the innocent children caught in the crossfire. And as much as she desperately wishes to tell Graham everything, revealing the truth isn't worth putting him and everyone she loves in danger.
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Rating: I'm gonna have to give it a 5/5
When I saw this pop up in my email in May, it was the most interesting of the stories that Bethany House Publishers offered to me for that month. I don't think I was that enthused when I chose it, because I didn't feel that I was being given much of a variety to choose from.
All I can say is that I'm so, so glad that I chose this one.
The story begins with handsome Graham at a ball in a lavish ballroom, talking to a couple of "friends" who only seemed interested in gossiping. Then—there! He spots it—something interesting! A flash of green fabric—a hand snaking out between the plants to snag a treat from a passing platter—he gets up to follow, thankful to separate himself from those two.
He finds her in the garden—and thus begins one of the most interesting chapters of his life.
This has to be one of the most original ideas I've come across. When I think about history, about the Regency era, I never thought about what happened to the illegitimate children or the women who were intentionally ruined by greedy men who were only after the biggest dowry available.
The fact that the main character was working to protect those children made me really excited because there's so much that could go wrong when she's going out there and getting those irresponsible men to pay for their mistakes.
I don't think I've ever felt such rage about the unfairness of something since I watched the episode of Blue Bloods where a young man came and punched a pregnant woman in the face, knocking her out so she landed on her front and crushed her baby. I wasn't as violently angry about the injustice as I was then, but it was close.
The book made me think a lot about how tough women have had it for centuries. Yes, there have been powerful queens, women leaders, etc., but when it comes down to it, women have always been the more vulnerable of the two sexes. Kit knew this, but she was able to take advantage of what had happened to her and her friend and do something good, even though it ended up morphing into something not good (i.e. blackmail) until a new face came along and helped her right her ways.
I'm honestly excited for Haven Manor - 2 to come out next year. And once its out I'm definitely going to start collecting the Haven Manor book as paperbacks.
I'm honestly excited for Haven Manor - 2 to come out next year. And once its out I'm definitely going to start collecting the Haven Manor book as paperbacks.
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