A.S. Fenichel
Historical Romance
Published in 2014
H/h - Avery Townsend/Lady Mary Barrow
Setting: Regency (?).
Read in November, 2014.
My rating:
[spoiler alert]
A.S. Fenichel’s Wishing Game
was a charming little novella, which I enjoyed quite a lot. This was my
first book by the author, and definitely won’t be my last!
Mary, a spinster and the only daughter of the Earl of Westbridge has been living her days in insecurity. Because of entailment, when her ailing father dies, everything will go to a distant cousin. The Earl is suffering at the moment, and may pass on at any day. Mary feels hopeless and helpless imagining what’d happen when she loses her home. No, it’s not like she’d be down on the street. Mary’s Aunt Sarah, her mother’s sister and a widow, would take her in for sure. The problem is, Mary can actually save the day, or so to speak, if only she marries Sarah’s son, her cousin James. Unfortunately, she and James grew up together very much like brother and sister so Mary can’t even imagine being married to him! Then there’s the fact that Mary’s foolish heart still harbors the secret hope that someday, she’d find love once again...
Mary, a spinster and the only daughter of the Earl of Westbridge has been living her days in insecurity. Because of entailment, when her ailing father dies, everything will go to a distant cousin. The Earl is suffering at the moment, and may pass on at any day. Mary feels hopeless and helpless imagining what’d happen when she loses her home. No, it’s not like she’d be down on the street. Mary’s Aunt Sarah, her mother’s sister and a widow, would take her in for sure. The problem is, Mary can actually save the day, or so to speak, if only she marries Sarah’s son, her cousin James. Unfortunately, she and James grew up together very much like brother and sister so Mary can’t even imagine being married to him! Then there’s the fact that Mary’s foolish heart still harbors the secret hope that someday, she’d find love once again...
When
things are this way, Mary half-heartedly considering James’s proposal
that he made just to see her happy, a letter arrives. And this, from the
man right now Mary despises the most; Avery, the future heir to
everything she calls her home. His letter is very polite, informing her
he’s arriving soon in hopes that he can help Mary, now that the Earl is
doing so poorly. Mary is mad, thinking the wolf has finally come
sniffing for his due. Then Avery actually arrives one stormy night, a
bit earlier than expected. And one look at him, Mary is like........
well, let’s just say, he’s superbly goodlooking and a complete gentleman
to boots! If his good looks didn’t knock her off, his charming smile
and consideration towards everyone’s needs should make him a winner to
Mary. It actually does, as soon, the Earl and the household staff
becomes enthralled by Avery. He wins them all over, except, it seems,
for Mary, who is still holding a grudge that he’s going to rob her off
of her home.
It’s the farthest thing from Avery’s mind at the
moment. Though he came here with genuine intention to help the ailing
Earl, Avery wasn’t thinking of money or the title. In fact, he’s not
that interested in any of it, but he’s not a man to back down from his
responsibilities. What never once crossed his mind is that the Earl’s
spinster daughter would be so lovely! He can’t imagine why Mary never
married. Now that he’s gotten to know her better, Avery finds that
everything about her appeals to him greatly. A few days with Mary, and
Avery becomes a hopeless cause. Now, if only he could change her
perspective of him a little, enough to consider him as someone on whom
she can rely on...
The rest of the story is rather how Avery wins
Mary over. I wouldn’t say it would’ve been that
tricky since Mary was smitten without a doubt. But she developed trust
issue from a past experience. She was also being prickly because of
Avery’s position, not to mention she was finding it hard to believe that
she was falling in love with the ‘villain’ to her coming ordeal. What
she didn’t think that he’d be the answer to her prayers, as if conjured
up by the silly wish she made in desperation one night, right before his
arrival.
I would’ve loved to see a little more of Avery’s
courtship of Mary because I was really enjoying reading it. True to the
blurb, there is no sexual content, though I sure hope there was! Avery
was such a gentleman, but I detected some past troubles that were never
explored. In fact, there was so little about his background that I felt
I’m missing something. And it kinda bothered me.
I’ll end my
review in hopes that there’s a story somewhere for James too. 3.5 stars.
Recommended if you’re looking for something short and sweet.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
◈Thank you for visiting :)◈