What a beautiful story of two friends truly meeting each other for the first time. Viola fears Gracewood's rejection and that is her reasoning for keeping her distance and not searching him out on her return from the war. Meanwhile, Gracewood has lost himself to laudenum due to the severe injury to his leg and the death of his dearest friend Lord Marleigh, who followed him to battle. Gracewood is a broken man, but there is something about Miss Carroll when he meets her that calls to him. She is witty, clever, honest, caring, and beautiful. He sees a kindred spirit in her and feels revived for the first time in two years. I enjoyed how the revelations in this book came early enough not to lead to a third act breakup. Instead, the truth is revealed and there is enough book still left for the characters to confront their hurts and to heal and then fall in love honestly and openly. I also liked that Gracewood was a Duke who knew his power and was not afraid to wield it for good, as other men would use their power for bad. He uses his rank to maintain respect and find happiness (where the world would generally shun his choice). The book was a tad too long in my opinion, and maybe cutting some of the superfluous scenes, the ones that seemed repetitive or could have been shortened, would have helped make this story less meandering and I would have been more eager to continue. It took a while to read through because of this, though I did love the prose and flowing writing, which painted a vivid image of two friends in love. Viola was such a wonderful character, full of determination, love, honesty, and a desire to be wholly herself. Her family supports her fully, even though they have to do it within the confines of society and so Viola can never have her rightful title again. But, she is happier to be Viola than to be other and hate herself, trying to escape a person she is not and a life she cannot lead. I also enjoyed how Hall handled Gracewood finding out the truth and then the outcome of that. How Gracewood handled it at first versus how he came to handle to truth later. It was good to see Viola sticking up for herself and her needs, her rights, and for Gracewood to realize his mistakes. I also loved that their family is surrounded by women who are not the "norm" as society would have it. Lady Marleigh speaks her mind, is open, is loud, is opinionated, is proud to be related to Viola. Miranda is a strange girl, with flighty fancies, with a head for monsters and the gothic. And there are more. Even as Viola tries to constrain herself in the ideals of feminism for fear of seeing some past untrue self, it is through these women and through her love for Gracewood that she sees she does not have to box herself in or fear that she is not who she is because society would say she is not. A lot of character growth and self acceptance and love happening, which was my absolute favourite part.
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