Woot, onto Paulette and Declan! I've been hyped about reading this one since I read her daughter Mara's story a lil while ago. Looking forward to filling in the full story of some bits I've already heard about, and seeing how this little, tight-knit family of Mara's came to be, and how the full support of the Hamilton's and Co. will play into it all.
Finished!! What a ride, I was so psyched that this volume threw in a little bit of a mystery/murder aspect versus just Society and propriety stuff. I was already eager to find out more about the details behind Declan's first marriage and its terrible end, and I was definitely satisfied after reading this. Of course, the villains weren't at all hard to figure out, it was definitely foreshown more than once, but I liked how the characters themselves had to work to figure it out. I knew, but they didn't, so the journey of them learning the truth, exposing the truth, and coming to terms with it all was engaging and kept me reading on, anticipating when it would all come together.
The romantic relationship was well done here too, I thought. Sure, Paulette was always sensible, but you could tell she's always had a lil hidden dreamy streak, with her love of fairy tale books, and how she so admired the love and romances her sisters had found. Of course she would secretly want that for herself too, even if she may have thought it would never come, or that it would only hold her down. I was quite fond of Paulette here! I especially liked how she sort of, grew into herself, discovered that she could indeed follow her desires and do things for her own pleasure, and especially how she discovered the steel within herself, and a bit of adventurous, brave spirit to boot, when she embarked upon her mission to reunite with Declan.
Declan, ah, now I was very fond of him too. He wasn't all light-hearted, fun and charming (like my dear Jeffrey *wink wink*), but ya gotta love a bit of a dark, mysterious kinda guy, lol. It was nice seeing him come out of his dark and gloom as he and Paulette first became friends, and then more. It was like the sun finally came out for him, and I could see how little Mara would love seeing 'his eyes smile' again after so much tragedy and sadness for their little family. I absolutely adored the father/daughter relationship between them, their scenes together were sweet, and showed their deep bond, even with Mara being mute, without ever coming off as too cutesy or sappy. He came off as an excellent father, especially considering the norm for aristocrats back in those days seems to be very detached fathers who don't really interact much with their children, 'specially girl children. So I couldn't help but love their closeness. Then, when Paulette came into their lives, or more like they came into Paulette's life, the way they all came to love each other, not just Paulette and Declan with the romance, but Paulette and Mara bonding so well, finding an unbreakable bond... it was just cute.
Other quick mentions before I babble on too long...
Always love seeing all the Hamilton girls (and their guys) and Jeffrey all together, their family bond, the way you can feel how they all care for each other, and how they all come together no matter what to help and support one of their own, just gotta love it. Their support for our MCs' predicament despite their original misgivings, and most especially the way they 'rallied the troops' and combined their power and came to the rescue in the end so that we could get an HEA... sure, sure, maybe an easy out, but hello, this would not be an HR without an HEA, and other aristocrats in other HRs pull strings all the time, so obvs, it's to be expected, and applauded xD That's what these awesome and titled HR families are for, no?!
The kiddos, lol. Little Phillip and Simon, and wee Sara! Like, damn, that girl was just as take charge and 'let's do this' as a lil one as she was all grown in her own book, and I loved it. Meeting her as an adult first, and then seeing her a lil kid in this book was fun, like, her lil self was so perfectly like her adult self that it was neat. With Juliette as her mother though, I would never expect anything less :p The way she immediately just, like, claimed Mara as her very own bestie right from the get go, right from first sight, was cute af!
Jeffrey! Hello. That boy has done so much for this family that he's truly the hero of the series. He has helped every single sister, and gave so much of his love and affection to them, and done sooooo much for them... he truly is the best ever. I am sooo, sooo, excited for him to finally get his story, see him officially become one of the family instead of just an 'adopted' member. The combo of him with Yvette should be fun, they are both into the fun, social scene, and would definitely take Society by storm, but they've also known each other as friends for so long... It will be interesting to see how that friendship and 'family' type caring for each other will grow into love. So, I'ma hush now, and get reading! Only way to see how it goes ;)