The Summer of You

The Blue Raven #2

by Kate Noble

From the acclaimed author of Revealed comes a tale of first loves and second chances.

Lady Jane Cummings is certain that her summer is ruined when she is forced to reside at isolated Merrymere Lake with her reckless brother and ailing father. Her fast-paced London society is replaced with a small town grapevine. But one bit of gossip catches Jane's attention--rumors that the lake's brooding new resident is also an elusive highwayman.

Jane must face the much-discussed mysterioso after he saves her brother from a pub brawl. She immediately recognizes him from London: Byrne Worth, war hero and apparent hermit--whom she finds strangely charming. The two build a fast friendship, and soon nothing can keep this Lady away from Merrymere's most wanted. Convinced of his innocence, Jane is determined to clear Byrne's name--and maybe have a little fun this summer after all.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Regency, Fiction, Regency Romance

352 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2010

About the author

aka
Kate Rorick

Kate Noble is the national bestselling, RITA-nominated author of historical romances, including the acclaimed Blue Raven series and the Winner Takes All series. Her books have earned her numerous accolades, including comparisons to Jane Austen, which just makes her giddy.
In her other life as Kate Rorick, she is an Emmy-award winning writer of television and web series, having written for NBC, FOX, and TNT, as well as the international hit YouTube series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Kate lives in Los Angeles with her family, and is hard at work on her next book.

Reviews

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my 2nd book by this author and I can safely say I love her "informal" writing style. It's fun, charming, emotional and engaging, without being pretentious. When I'm reading her books, I feel like I'm hearing a dear friend telling me a highly entertaining story.

As the story opens, Lady Jane Cummings has just come out of mourning - her mother died one year ago - and is trying to rekindle the joy of being one of the most respected and sought-after members of the ton. But her life has vastly changed since her mother's death: her father, the Duke of Rayne, has begun to show clear signs of dementia and her brother Jason has run away to the Continent, ignoring all his duties and leaving Jane to deal with all the stress by herself. No wonder she doesn't welcome her brother with open arms when he finally returns to England. However, they have to find a way to make peace with each other in face of their father's worsening condition, and that's how they find themselves leaving London and moving to the family's cottage near Reston, in Lake District. Obviously, the fact that Jason is back home doesn't mean he's any help to Jane and she gets even more stressed that she was.

It's in that state of mind that she comes upon Byrne Worth one day - swimming naked in the lake near the cottage, oh yes! Jane and Byrne aren't exactly strangers but they aren't friends either. One could say they had friends in common, as his brother Marcus has just married her friend Phillippa. Byrne is a war hero who was badly injured serving the Crown - he has to walk with a cane now - and doesn't want anything to do with fame and fortune, having chosen to live like a hermit in the small house he's inherited from his great-aunt. His house happening to be on Jane's family's land and within walking distance from the cottage is just a bonus. ;)

Byrne and Jane are two lonely souls who need to find comfort in life. They're drawn to each other from the start and become friends as they spend time together working on a common goal - to catch the highwayman who's been striking around Reston. At first, Jane visits Byrne's house as an escape from her stressful life at the cottage caused by her father's deteriorating health and her brother Jason's irresponsible behavior, but she soon realizes that the happiness she finds with Byrne has deeper roots. On his part, Byrne is brought back to life by Jane's visits. She makes him feel again. She makes him smile, laugh and care for things that he's ceased to care a long time ago. As sappy as it sounds, they were meant to be together.

But what will happen when summer is over? Jane will have to go back to London with her family, as her father won't be able to stand autumn's and winter's cold weather in Reston. Byrne will never get back to living in London, among the ton's frivolities he can't stand. Not to mention, Jane is a Duke's daughter, Byrne is an untitled gentleman, and Jason hates his guts and will never approve a match between them. So, are Jane and Byrne destined to have only this summer?

This was such a delightful read! The beginning was a bit slow to me and I admit I wasn't completely sold on Jane, because she seemed rather spoiled and self-centered. Then, Ms. Noble began to work her magic and reveal what was deep inside Jane's mind and heart. That's when I understood her and when my heart went to her. I wanted Jane to find peace and happiness soooo bad! As for Byrne, I loved him from the start, when he offered Jane some jasmine tea out of the blue even though I could feel he wasn't comfortable with it. He was honorable, dependable and oh-so-lovable. I loved all the interactions between Jane and Byrne, from their friendly conversation to their romantic love scenes. (When I say "romantic scenes", I mean everything. From simply hugging, kissing, fooling around in the lake... There's only one lovemaking scene in the book, but I didn't miss anything more.)

Now, why the 4-star rating if I loved Jane, Byrne and their romance so much? Well, I didn't like how some secondary characters took much "screen time" sometimes. I really disliked Jason, but I understood the need to have him around. He was there to piss Jane (and me) off, and I was OK with that. I didn't get the need to have a secondary romance in the story, though. As much as Jane's friend Victoria was likable, I rushed through her scenes because I wanted to get back to reading about Jane and Byrne.

The mystery about the highwayman's identity was well done and it was interesting to see Byrne's mind at work. His detective skills were good, but I admit the resolution to the mystery was a bit complicated. Something simpler would have been better, IMHO.

Overall, this was another very good read by Ms. Noble, a relatively new author that has managed to make her way into my authors-to-watch-out-for list. Considering I've only read 2 books by her so far, that's something!

Note: AFAIK, Revealed and The Summer of You aren't officially part of a series, but the latter can be considered a sequel to the former (where Byrne and Jane were introduced). Anyway, I didn't read Revealed and I don't think I've missed anything, because The Summer of You stands proudly on its own.

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I like Kate Noble's style

I can see why this book, or the author's style might not be for everyone. She reminds me a bit of Mary Balogh. The difference being that Balogh is all soft colors and Noble has some splashes of colors here and there, but essentially they are slow burn, low angst and character driven.


࿔*:･ The characters
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬
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[Rachel (BAVR) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Summer of You is a pretty good book. If you asked me to come up with two words to describe it, I would settle on "decent" and "competent." There's some sweet dialogue and a little mystery cut into the romance to keep my attention. The main characters, Byrne and Jane, are totally cool people. Like, if I got blasted into Regency times through the super-secret time machine I'm building in my basement (don't tell the government), I would want to spend country parties admiring the gardens with Byrne and Jane. London during the season would be different, though. I'd want to spend that time with people more entertaining than this sedate couple. No offense, fictional characters I've never met. But let's bring my hypothetical rant to an end because I totally don't have a super-secret time machine in my basement. The main point of this rambling paragraph is that I enjoyed The Summer of You like it was pink cotton candy for the brain.

However, one of my current pet peeves is incredibly well-covered in this book. You see, Byrne, god love him, has an ouchy-hurty leg injury and walks with a cane. And immediately, my eyes rolled the whole way to the back of my head. Now wait a minute! Don't just automatically assume that I'm a heartless bitch. I have nothing against hot dudes with serious leg injuries. It's sooooo sad. But it's also sooooo overdone. The Hero Whose Only Flaw is Walking with a Limp that Makes Him Tres Sad is a very overused trope in Regency romance these days. I can name at least 3 books off the top of my head that I've read in the last year with the very same plot device. Sadly, there hasn't been an author yet with the velociraptor balls to straight-up amputate the hero's leg, which was a whole bunch more likely in wartime back then. Nope. Instead, the guy who we're supposed to love for being all tortured and damaged just limps around and bitches A LOT about walking on two legs with some discomfort. And I always think, "Yeah, that must really suck to hurt all the time, BUT AT LEAST YOU STILL HAVE A FUCKING LEG, YOU CRYBABY BASTARD!"

Of course, Byrne's main form of treatment for his leg is aquatic fucking therapy, which is the new Modern Medicine Authors Slip Into Historical Fiction and Hope I Won't Notice du jour. To Noble's credit, she almost got it right. Before the story, Byrne was 18 kinds of screwed up and addicted to opium, laudanum, alcohol, etc. But then some quaint country doctors told him to swim to make it feel better instead of bleeding him out and encouraging him to stay in bed forever like doctors usually did before the invention of modern medicine, and my bullshit detector started blaring. Isn't it strange that when the girls in these books twist an ankle, the doctors and other characters are all, "You must stay in bed FOR WEEKS until there is no chance of you experiencing pain ever again," while the guys can have their legs practically torn in two by bullets, and everyone's like, "Dude, try the water. Just SWIM. It works!"?

Now, Byrne totally could have gotten away with the cane, the limp, the drug dependency, and even the goddamn aquatic therapy IF Noble had given any other reasons for him to be unsociable and taciturn. Before the injury, Byrne was a light-hearted, cool guy who didn't sulk his days away in a secluded cabin. Then he gets one leg injury, which will probably heal even more in time because it only happened ONE YEAR AGO, in which time he's made get strives toward recovery, and the guy's inconsolable and convinced that he doesn't deserve love or kindness. Hey Byrne, Angst just called. It wants its fucking street cred back!

So yeah. I really wish that authors would stop using one injury as an excuse to make their heroes act like asshats. I see people every day with chronic illnesses and disabilities who do amazing things! Why can't Byrne be one of them before he meets Jane's Magical Vagina of Love and Redemption?

On the bright side, the love story is well-done. Byrne's anti-social tendencies aren't a factor when he's around Jane, and their biggest conflicts to Happily Ever After are class differences (Jane's the daughter of a duke, and Byrne's just a regular gentleman) and the fact that the entire town thinks Byrne's a highwayman because he's such an asshole all the time. It was nice to read about Byrne and Jane's budding friendship as it naturally progressed into the urge to jump each other's bones. Jane loses her ice queen veneer from Revealed and becomes a sympathetic and likable heroine.

So aside from the leg shenanigans, I enjoyed The Summer of You quite a bit. Unfortunately, it doesn't carry quite the sparkle and fun of Revealed, so I can only give it 3 stars.

[willaful · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first Noble book I tried was a DNF; the second was a 5-stars-I'm-buying-this-to-own-immediately. I'm bummed that this third book fell closer to DNF territory, though I did manage to finish it.

I just could not get into the rambling plot; I never felt like I knew which story I was reading. The romance between Jane and Byrne was sweet, and there was a nice little secondary romance, but there was all this stupid other stuff surrounding them. Little kid exploits, highwaymen -- who the **** cares?

And in this less than captivated mood, the anachronisms of language seemed really glaring. "Jane gave him his space." "She didn't even allow herself to think about the grunge to which she was exposing the back of her day dress." I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong and those were actually common phrases during the Regency, but they sure didn't sound right.

I'm going with three stars because there's a freshness to Noble's writing I like, especially in the love scenes -- and damn, if you can make a love scene seem fresh to me after the gazillions I've read, you deserve an extra star. But I really hope the next book is better. Since it stars Jane's brother Jason, who's quite a clueless douche in this book, it definitely has potential.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the first in this series, Revealed, but this one was a little too long for its plot. As if to make up for this, Noble introduces a few subplots that aren't developed - the romantic triangle between Victoria (and her sister), Andrew, and Jason; and the portrayal of Jason as irresponsible were all casually introduced. This did not convince me to care about these stories in any way. It would have been better to limit the subplots and focus on the mystery of the highwayman, or to truly explore the subplots more. Revealed was much better in this regard; the main focus was on the hunt for the enemy of the Blue Raven.

Additionally, the character of Jane was wishy-washy - in the first novel, she's introduced with a bit of wit and sass, but here she becomes too good. I also didn't think that there was anything special about Byrne, the hero. He was brooding and dark, and Noble could have played up the idea of addiction a little more; though that would have made this far from a light-hearted romance. It was more of a run-of-the-mill romance - the type that make me stay away from this genre.

There is a third book coming out in May - I haven't decided whether to give it a shot or not...

[♡Karlyn P♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good! So glad to find a new author to enjoy.

[Katie(babs) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Jane Cummings, who made quite the impression in Revealed, is the star of her own book, The Summer of You by Kate Noble. Jane is a very admired and sought after single lady of the Ton. She has only just come out of mourning after the death of her mother, who passed away after a sudden illness. Jane assumed she would enjoy all the sights of London, but with her brother, Jason away gallivanting with his friends, she has the sole responsibility of keeping watch over her father, the Due of Rayne, whose mind is slowly deteriorating. Jason left Jane at their ancestral estate where their father was supposed to recovering. Jane hated being there because it was so cold and lonely. Jason is all set on going on his grand tour of Europe, where he can have some relaxation before he presents a paper in hopes of being admitted in the Historical Society. Jane is fed up and refuses to be sent back to the castle. Jason is a bit ashamed by his father and he doesn’t want the Duke to be seen acting strange while in London. Jane decides they will take the household and retire to their cottage in the village of Reston in the Lake District.

Jason is adamant in not going, but Jane being that resourceful woman that she is, uses blackmail on her brother to get her way. Reston is all in a tizzy once they hear the Duke and his children are staying for the remainder of the summer. The moment Jane arrives at the cottage, she steadies her nerves as almost every family comes for a visit and catches Jane up on every bit of gossip she missed in the last five years. Jane is even more annoyed because Jason was able to slip out through the back door and head off to a local tavern where he proceeds to get drunk. He doesn't return home until the next morning and although Jane is happy to see him alive and in one piece, she is beyond enraged with him. It's bad enough she had to grin and bare it as her welcoming neighbors kept bringing up the well known story where she ran through the town square at the age of five. Jason isn't sympathetic and tells how he is suffering from an incredible hangover and spent the night at the Widow Lowe's House. The fellow who brought him there to sleep off his drinking is some sort of war hero, but also a hermit. The town isn't too keen on this mysterious man because they also think he maybe responsible for a rash of highway robberies, regardless of the fact he has a bad leg injury.

Jane goes off to thank the war hero hermit and is shocked to find him swimming naked in the lake. It is Mr. Byrne Worth, who she has met on occasion in London. Byrne's brother, Marcus just married a former nemesis, now turned friend of Jane's. Byrne isn't too pleased at seeing a familiar face because he wants to be left alone in his solitude. Unfortunately for him, Jane enjoys his company and is on a mission for him to be welcomed into Reston's polite society, as well as prove that Byrne cannot possible be the highway man.

The Summer of You is a delightful historical romance I cannot give enough praise to. The charm of this story is because of the characters' interactions. Not only do we have Jane, who is a spitfire, takes the bull by the horns go getter, but also has a big heart. We see this in the way she handles her father with loving care and even with Jason, who drives her up the wall. But at the same time she can't help but forgive him even as she rolls her eyes or stamps her feet over the way he behaves. Jane comes across spoiled at certain times, but because of her mother's death and her father's illness, she has become more mature and understanding to those around her. Unlike Jason, who at twenty-four, should act like the man of the house and take on more responsibility. Jason is in need of a reality check, and Jane is the one to give it to him.

Byrne, at first, comes across as brooding and full of self imposed guilt. But, his own reasoning and opinions about himself quickly changes because of Jane's influence. These two are so playful together, especially when Jane decides to go for a late night swim in the lake. Byrne comes upon her, and that is the big moment in both their lives where they must made a decision about the future of their relationship.

The mystery regarding the highwayman didn't really bring all that much to the plot as a whole. The enjoyment in reading The Summer of You is because of Jane and Byrne's romance and Jason's journey into becoming a man. There is also a nice secondary story regarding Victoria Wilton, the sister of Jason's old sweetheart, and the young town doctor, Andrew Berridge, who thinks of her as more than just a friend.

Third time's a charm with this latest from Kate Noble. Sharp, clever and adorable come to mind when I think of a Kate Noble romance. Those who are big fans of Julia Quinn, Laura Kinsale and Tessa Dare will want to pick this one up.

[heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again I leap willy-nilly into the middle of a series. I'm tell myself I don't like it, but mostly I really only hate it when the series is not a series, but each book is a volume in a large book. This book is a book in itself.

It is again a costume historical romance, with women who are not scared of society, and men who respect that. And it turns out that the cover, miraculously, is relevant to the story.

The sex is average, but the foreplay is smoking hot. I mean, you can skip it if you want, but it is above the average, in that I had a 3:1 hawt:giggle ratio.*

I like romances where people have a little bit of real life to deal with, and where part of the romance is based on each of them deriving benefit from each other. Our brooding hero, who had a name that did not stick in my head -- Bryce? Anyway, The Dude has PTSD, a leg injury, and a wee little problem with the opiates. Also, he was pale, but not sparkly -- he just lived in practically-scotland, so we can forgive that. The lady (Jane) has a flaketastic and useless brother, and a father with Alzheimer's. I gotta say that I think the future of fiction for women is probably going to contain more and more of "what the hell do I do now that I'm in charge of my parent", because, you know, we will be. I thought it was especially sweet that the last scene of the book is Jane and her father, not The Dude. So anyway, these are people who have adult problems. Not like Montague and Capulet, but problems you might have yourself someday. Also, they have sizzling glances. It is a romance novel, after all.

There are a couple little touches in the plot that I appreciated -- the flighty friend proves to be fierce and useful, the society drones prove to be capable of planning a party, the devoted batman has his own issues, someone gets turned down for an affair, and the premarital nookie actually gets revealed instead of covered up with a hasty marriage. The whole thing is neither really a society book nor a house party book, but a book of its environment, in the best Austeny way. There is even a little map for those of us bad at visualizing.

Read if: you like feisty red-heads with pert breasts who are also capable of being funny, engaging, sulky, selfish, and bad at a few things. You enjoy your tortured hero with a bit of self-control. You ever lived in a small gossipy town**.

Skip if: you have developed an allergy and can't read books with red-headed pert-breasted women, you want political machinations, you object to too many exciting events in a small town, you are an inveterate romance skeptic.

* Eels in the lake! Eels in the lake! How can I swim with eels in the lake? (oh, whew, just a p***s)

** Of course, the best ever gossipy-small-town book is Miss Buncle's Book, which as you can see from the price listings is very popular. I have a copy because my sister loves me very much.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear, this wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

When the characters decamped to the countryside, that should have been my first clue this wasn’t going to be another rousing tale of espionage and romance. NOPE! We get mild hijinks at the summer house with all the mild bustle of country folk excited to gossip about the city folk back in residence.

I thought the Blue Raven was going to focus on Regency spies… instead, Book 2 is like reading an entire book devoted to the Scarlet Pimpernel on a tour of wine country without encountering any real action or danger whatsoever.

I’ll give Book 3 a try…. but this was disappointing.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started this book I had a hard time getting into it. It had a slow start and at first glance I didn't really like Jane or her brother Jason. As the book progressed I got to know Jane better and realized that she was not as irritating as I thought she was and that she actually had unexpected depths. I never really warmed up to Jason, but I don't think we were required to. He serves his purpose whether the reader likes him or not.

I liked the friendship that developed between Jane and Victoria. At first Victoria seemed empty headed and naive. That is not the impression that you leave the book with. She gets some good advice and takes a long hard look at herself and admits when she was wrong. She also stands up for her friends in the face of public scorn if she believes they have nothing to be ashamed of.

As I write this I realize that this book is about not judging a book by its cover. I had a lot of preconceptions about the characters and how they would behave. They seemed to conform to my judgment at first, but by the end of the book they had come into their own and made themselves shine beyond the type I had cast them as. I really liked their character development.

I think that one of my favorite parts of the story is when Jane shoves a mirror in Byrne's face and tells him some not so nice truths. I do think she was deflecting a bit, but she had some very honest insights into his character. I like that he owned up to those things internally and came to some closure.

I think the best part of this story, for me, was the friendship that Jane and Michael had. I liked watching them get close to each other and joke and laugh long before they were married or in any scandalous situation.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding, fun, lighthearted escape! I loved the witty dialogue, the fast paced plot and the slightly off beat characters. This book will not win any originality contests, but it was a well done regency romance, that made my rainy Sunday afternoon. If I had one complaint is was that the heat between the main characters was slightly lacking for me, otherwise I liked all of it. This was my first Kate Noble book, but definitely not the last. It's so exciting when you discover a new talented HR writer - they are so few and far in between.

[HTL · Rating 3 out of 5]

On par with the first. A little slow, but overall a good story. Something is missing for it to be four stars for me.

Also, Jason is a punk ass bitch and I kinda hate him in this story. Doesn't really make me want to read the next book (which is his).

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lady Jane Cummings, only daughter of the Duke of Rayne, quickly became the ton's "it girl" following her debut. Flirtation was her forte, her destiny as a leading social light assured as the gossips watched her every move. But everything changed when her beloved mother fell ill and died. Withdrawing from society for the required year of mourning, Jane is abandoned by her brother Jason to grieve and care for their bereft father alone. As time passes Jane comes to the heartbreaking realization that she stands to lose her father, but in a slower, ruthless, but equally inexorable fashion -- to the slow slide of dementia. When her brother finally returns from his Continental adventures, Jane has just begun to immerse herself in the activities of the Season -- near her breaking point and desperate to forget, even if only for a few hours at a time, her broken personal life. Jason is shocked by their father's decline and orders Jane to remove the Duke to the family summer home at Reston in the lake district. But Jane refuses to go quietly into social and familial exile, and so the Cummings siblings withdraw to the Cottage, where Jason refuses to rise to his duties as heir and Jane is left with little more help than before. When rumors of a highwayman living brazenly among the local populace reach Jane's ears, she's shocked to discover she knows the subject of the public's ire - Byrne Worth. And with the realization that Byrne is nearby, Jane discovers her purpose -- clearing his name. However, the deeper she involves herself in Byrne's life, it quickly becomes apparent that her interest in his welfare is far from altruistic, and the price it exacts may be her very heart...

After helping his brother foil a dastardly plot to renew British hostilities with France, Byrne Worth withdrew from family and society to his recently-inherited house in quiet Reston. The one-time Blue Raven, the British spy widely lauded for his derring-do, wants nothing more than to nurse his demons in solititude, held captive by the havoc a bullet wound wreaked on his leg leading to a vicious laudanum addiction. Absent of the purpose and passion that once defined every aspect of his existence, Byrne is content to feed his neighbors' dislike of him with a forbidding glare and curt demeanor, doing nothing to dispel the rumors that he is responsible for the robberies threatening the village. But when Lady Jane waltzes back into his life, determined to break through his insular shell and restore his good name, he finds himself powerless to resist her charm and enthusiasm. The easy, comfortable progression of their relationship is threatened by the town's determination to pin the highwayman's crimes on Byrne, and the closer he gets to Jane the more time -- and her brother's growing awareness of their relationship -- threatens to destroy their fragile bond. Will one special summer be all Jane and Byrne are fated to share, or can the Blue Raven perform his greatest feat yet -- capturing the heart of the Duke's daughter and reclaiming his once-bright future?

After falling in love with Kate Noble's delightful characters, nail-biting suspense, and frothy romance in Revealed, I was eager to read its sequel as it promised to delve into the life of the enigmatic Byrne, introduced in that volume as the brother of the hero. While Revealed won me over with its heady mix of Austen-esque characters and a dash of international intrigue, The Summer of You proved to be an even greater treat. Captivated from the first page by the revelation that Lady Jane Cummings, erstwhile nemesis of Phillippa Worth, nee Benning, is much more than a pretty face, her headlong rush to embrace the frivolity of the ton's social scene a desperate attempt to mask the pain of a fracture family life. She meets her match in the most unexpected of men -- the one-time spy, crippled by the emotional and physical toll of war, and left bereft of the furious purpose that once guided his every action. Both Byrne and Jane are people at a loss, floundering and without anchor in a world that demands they be placed in boxes, filling proscribed roles to which each is to submit. It is only in risking vulnerability with each other that each finds the strength to lay claim to a life and future of their own making.

More than the story of Jane and Byrne's slow-burning romance, this is the story of family and the soul-deep need for meaningful connection that everyone at some level, at some time, has hungered for with every fiber of their being. Noble has such a gift for bringing the full scope of life into her stories, whether it is the heartbreak of coming to terms with a husband's betrayal, as Phillippa learns in Revealed, or the loss of a parent's mind, in a sense their essence, and with that cut learning to accept the passage of responsibility and maturity from one generation into the hands of the next. This is particularly true in the case of Jason, Jane's brother, and the deep-seated denial regarding his status as the future duke that becomes the crux of their relational controversy throughout the course of the book. Watching the pair work through these issues of caring for an ailing parent, balancing the push and pull of familial obligations with the desires of the heart. And when that balance is found, when understanding is brought to their relationship, the resulting resolution is beautifully executed.

I just adore Noble's unparalleled ability to pen gloriously-realized, three dimensional characters on the page. While the initial spark of attraction between Byrne and Jane is undeniable, Noble develops a beautiful, genuine friendship between them long before anything of a more romantic nature occurs, a friendship that each treasures so much they struggle with taking the next step and jeopardizing the refuge found in each other's company. Noble touched on this concept in Revealed, but here it is explored more fully -- the desire to see and be truly seen as one is, all artifice stripped away, and to still be accepted by another. That is the gift Jane and Byrne give to each other, the foundation of their romance, and that heady basis was the spark that kept my fingers flying, eager to turn the pages and devour the next development in their achingly authentic, slow-burning romance.

The Summer of You reminded me a bit of Austen's examination of the foibles of small-town life in her novels. Noble populates Reston with a host of well-drawn supporting players, from Victoria, the bane of Jane's childhood transformed into a fast friend, her father, the well-meaning but ineffectual magistrate, determined to see Byrne convicted as the highwayman, to his youngest sons, determined to wreak havoc around the town at every opportunity. Her sharply-drawn characterizations spark with life and lend the novel a wonderful feel for the manners and mores of the Regency time period. But while she may set her stories in Austen's day, the people and struggles and relationships related therein are equally timeless in their appeal. This is a historical romance, yes, but more than that it is the story of individuals embracing life to the fullest -- a life well-lived, risks, pain and all.

While this is only my second experience reading Noble's full-length fiction, I absolutely devoured it, and with Byrne and Jane's positively incandescent love story she's cemented her place on my list of must-read authors. The Summer of You is replete with Noble's warmth and humor, and while lacking the international intrigue that so memorably flavored its predecessor, the investigation into the highwayman's identity -- and how that plays out -- is a welcome and wonderfully organic dash of action, the spark that unexpectedly spices and ultimately transforms Jane's life over the course of what was *supposed* to be one lazy, unremarkable summer. Noble pens swoon-worthy romance at its finest -- rather than the feeling or impulse of a moment, she develops Byrne and Jane's relationship, forcing each to lower walls, reveal hurts, and in seeking to help the other become a previously undreamed of best versions of themselves, resulting in a gorgeously-rendered romance. Jane and Byrne are characters sure to wend their way into your heart, and the world they live in and the story Noble crafts promises to steal your breath -- SO MUCH BOOK LOVE I CAN HARDLY STAND IT. I cannot wait to lose myself in her next book!

[Malin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Jane Cummings has been mourning her mother's death for a long time when she's finally allowed back into society. Before she gets much of a chance to enjoy the balls and garden parties, however, her brother Jason returns from his Grand Tour on the Continent and insists that she take their ailing father, the Duke of Rayne north to their summer residence in Merrymere in the Lake District. He's terrified that someone in society will discover that the respected Duke is losing his wits and while Jason's plan involves Jane taking care of it (as she has done since before their mother died), she insists that he has to come with them.

Jane is not happy about having to give up the glamour of London for the backwaters of the Lake District, especially as everyone there has known her since she was little and delights in bringing up the time she was five and ran naked through the town square. She's still grieving her mother and getting increasingly more worried about her father's health, while her irresponsible brother seems mostly content to get drunk at local pubs and leave her to take care of everything. She is intrigued by stories of a reclusive and stand-offish new resident in the area, who may or may not be a highwayman as well. When she discovers that this man rescued her brother from a pub brawl, she goes to thank him, and discovers that she knows who he is. She met Byrne Worth, injured war hero, when he was helping his brother Marcus and Jane's former nemesis Phillipa Benning look for a French spy.

Now he seems content to brood and alienate the locals in a small cottage he inherited from a distant relative. Jane thinks the rumours of Worth being the local highwayman are preposterous, especially since she knows he was in London when some of the crimes were committed and sets out to prove that Mr. Worth is innocent. Soon she's not missing London society much at all, and instead looking forward to every new meeting she can steal with the cranky Mr. Worth.

While this is the second of The Blue Raven books, I actually read it first, hence I discovered a few things about the identity of the infamous Regency spy that made certain plot points in Revealed rather less of a surprise discovery. While the first book in the series has more suspense and is more of an adventure romp, this book was also entertaining, on a smaller scale. What is unusual with this book, compared to most other historical romances I've read, was the large array of points of view we got over the course of the book. In most romances, you tend to get switching POVs from the hero and heroine - here you also get POVs from Jane's brother Jason (who is an immature and selfish idiot), quite a few different villagers (including at a least one of a duo of adolescent scoundrels who run around wreaking havoc as young boys are wont to do). It was a bit strange, and I'm really not sure if it added to or distracted from the main story.

Jane Cummings was Phillipa Benning's main rival in Revealed, but over the course of the story, they found a way to become friends, and this book actually starts with Lady Phillipa's wedding to Marcus Worth. Mostly set in the countryside rather than bustling London, this book has a quieter feel, and while the main plot of Jane and Byrne becoming friends and trying to figure out who is trying to frame him as the local highwayman is fun enough, there is a dark undertone in the story because of the Duke of Rayne's developing dementia, and the heavy responsibilities Jane faces in caring for him and trying to keep the world at large from realising the extent to her father's illness, with little to no help from her oblivious and irresponsible brother, who clearly doesn't want to face up to reality.

Byrne got a gunshot-wound to the leg at the end of the Napoleonic war and tried to manage the pain by drinking copiously or using laudanum. Due to his addiction, he didn't really feel he could help his brother sufficiently and retired to the country to try to wean himself off his cravings and slowly get himself back into shape. On the advice of a local doctor, he's been swimming in the lake daily and while he's still struggling with pain, he's on the way to recovery. He's surprised that he finds such comfort in his conversations with Jane, who he initially believed to be just an air-headed society miss.

With Jane being the daughter of a Duke, while Byrne is a mere baron, their social standings are different enough that their happy ending seems difficult. After the dramatic events at the end of the novel, no one really has any objections to their union. There is also a rather sweet secondary romance in the story, involving one of the local magistrate's daughters, Victoria, who for much of the book harbours a very ill-advised and very much unrequited infatuation with the oafish Jason, not noticing just how perfect the younger of the two local doctors are for her until it's nearly too late.

Judging a book by its cover: It seems that Ms. Noble's publishers were very fond of the Regency lady running through random landscape theme, as all of the three first books of The Blue Raven seem to feature this. While it was quite appropriate with Revealed, there is a lot less running around done by Jane in this book. At least they gave the cover model red hair. That's something.

[Katelyn (old soul country girl's version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this sequel would be more like Revealed with a heavy focus on mystery and action, however it was more romantic and focused on its characters which I really loved. When the action and reveals did come in they did not disappoint; the comedic characters of Nevill and Charles were one of my favorite parts of the book; and Byrne Worth is one of my favorite fictional romantic interests, he is just so precious!

[Sharon A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and clever historical romance. I bought this at a library book sale and even though I haven’t read the first book in the series there weren’t a lot of references to it to confuse me.

[Reneé Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book in this series.. Loved Byrne Worth and felt so sympathetic of jane.. The best thing about this book in felt( maybe because i was missing someone that time) was that how they never gave up. How they made a deliberate wish to make it work. Not because they cant help it.. But want it..

[Cece · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally read this on St. Patrick's Day in 2017 and here's what I wrote in my reading journal once I'd finished it:

I wanted to like this one, I really did, and while there were aspects of it I loved, it never amounted to a compelling whole - the historical accuracy (the role of an upper middle class daughter in a small village, the shocking admission of indecent sexual contact a ball, etc.) felt legit, the characters weren't caricatures, but fully fleshed out human beings who did or said things both "right" and "wrong", the sexy scene in the lake at midnight was done right/adorably but still -- Ugh, I didn't care. I kept putting the book down to wander downstairs, look at reviews of other books, or even hell, go to bed!

I don't know if it was because the heroine seemed too forgiving or the "full sexiness" didn't happen until the very end of the book, but despite all the wonderful (and usually compelling, for me!) elements of the story and the high quality of the writing...this felt like a chore.

I can pinpoint two specifics:

1. The narrator's voice was interwoven with the protagonist's thoughts so that when the narrator mentions a "summer breeze", it may instantly switch to a character thinking, "No, not summer, fall..." which was confusing to say the least.

2. The vanilla aspect -- vanilla, for me, doesn't work as an independent flavor in life or as an overarching tone in a romance novel. Vanilla needs raspberries, lemon zest, or dark chocolate to cut through and reveal complexity and contrast and similarly, pure "vanilla" (happy, humane, decent contentedness) doesn't make an interesting, varied, revealing, or complex "narrative taste". From the furtive glances that the country doctor gives to the young ingenue to the tender scenes between Lady Jane and her Alzheimer's-suffering father to the neat way the highwayman plot was wrapped up, it reeked of sweetness, cloying goodwill, and a sense of never dripping one's toes in murky water. Noble's attempts at descriptions of drug addition and attempted sexual assault were so shallow and poorly done that after finishing the book, I can't even really believe those elements were present at all.

Grade: B.

[dumbells · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm I did… not… like… the… h. She started off as this screechy, shallow judgy kind of person. She has this moment at the start where she misses a step while dancing at the height of her being the bell of the season just cuz her brother shows up at the party. And she goes to her friend who got hitched in the previous book to blame her for inviting her brother except we don't know that cuz the author does this super clever roundabout way where the characters talk in this super unnatural round-about way about "James showed up so the whole evening is ruined" and somehow not a single character mentions that "your brother showed up, why is this such a big deal?". But no this way they can have this very interesting banter of how the friend would have invited him all the same no matter what horrible perceived thing he did to the h cuz he is a Marquize and rank is all that matters in the historical world, wink-wink, nudge-nudge. Such a cleverly conceived way of giving a little dig about that fact and did not feel forced and contrived at all with the unnatural way the characters were avoiding to mention how the guy is h's brother and she needs to calm her hysteria.

Yeah… so did not really put me on a very right foot with the characters of this book and how the author was going about telling their story. So in another roundabout way, we come to realize this is some sort of weak-ass retelling of the beauty and the beast. Cuz the h and her brother have this father who is acting like a crazy inventor father from the cartoon or in a similar vein cuz he has dementia. So they have to remove him from society and go to the country and the h is all concerned that her season that she was dominating is ruined, but her brother is even more concerned that if people keep talking about how crazy their father is and how they are some sort of distant relation of the kind who is also acting crazy that the society is gonna deem their whole family potentially crazy and shun them and their prospects of marrying are gonna be shot to hell. This comes on the heals of h's friend proclaiming that she would invite h's brother to her wedding no matter what horrible thing he did just cuz he is a Marquise.

So ya know, this is all used to illustrate the fickle nature of the ton and used to move the plot of the story where they all have to move to the country for who knows how long and we can meat the beast, I mean H. He is this war-hero and in this time that is the safest way to make him all grumpy and dangerous cuz he has nightmares that the whole village knows details of, but he still can be healed with love and understanding of the right woman. So he is a recluse on his estate that borders the estate of where the h and her brother bring their father. And they meet, have some banter, and both characters so much deeper meaning into all of that so it's like this set up for them finding the one person that understands them and can look past their nutty family/personal war trauma.

Oh yeah, and there is this scene when they arrive when the h turns into a screeching banshee cuz the nosey neighbors got wind of them coming way before they even know they were gonna come and so the nosey neighbors are all snooping, I mean "visiting", en mass. So the h gets super upset that her brother bails on that super fun time with these intrusive strangers and goes drinking at a local pub, so she screeches at him and it was very fun for the readers who choose to audiobook this cuz having a character suddenly shriek does not undermine her build up as a mature, level-headed h we are supposed to be rooting for and in no way highlights her immature, self-centered side. I mean their bellowed father is so grief-stricken over the loss of their mother he is losing his mind, but the main concern for the h is that she will miss out on her season in London that she was dominating, but she has to make that sacrifice cuz people cannot know about her crazy father or it will diminish her chances at marriage and not cuz ya know she is a loving daughter that is concerned about her father and needs to take care of him in a more peaceful secluded environment.

So yeah this whole setup had some drawbacks. I know the author intended possibly to set up the characters as real-world characters and not these saints that suffer under the weight of their responsibility but they do not mind cuz the h is just the perfect daughter and saint. So maybe the author wanted to portray a more realistic picture of what a person burdened with this kind of responsibility would react, but I think she leaned a bit too much towards the "selfish, self-involved, socialite" character side of the h - as this is the main point we ever get from her inner thoughts and interactions. We never get any concern over her father or maybe have a moment where her father looks at her and tells her she reminds him so much of her mother, it would have been nice to turn on her sensible side, but we get none of that. We are still at the start of the book so maybe the author decides to develop the h along the way, I sure hope she does at it looks if she uses the power of the H's sexiness and interest in the h's problems to develop her it will be just the most disappointing and over-used method to go for.

Limunadica. Stays at 2 stars. Nothing too deep or involved.

The mystery turned out to be frustrating as people from the village who all knew each other intimately as they are intrusive as heck the one time they heard the highwaymen talking the author would go "highwayman spoke in an unrecognizable voice". And then the H would go "I knew such and such was the highwayman a week ago I just needed him to make a bad move so I can reveal him to the rest of you". And the guy ends up framing the H and everyone turns on him. Steller tactic. So yeah, the ending was abrupt, did not end up carrying for any of the characters by the end of it and the lack of a more developed Epilogue also was annoying.

Annnd for the life of me I cannot remember if the Victoria character ended up getting some sense and seeing how into her the doctor was and if those two crazy birds ended up together. I just had maybe a tiny bit of interest in those two only out of all the characters, every other character was just too ridiculous, one dimension and one-note including the H and h.

And at the end of the book, we got a little snippet of the next book which includes the h's brother and some unknown potential life partner... I dunno I was totally not interested in him especially. He was just such a caricature of a lordling I do not care about how he grows and develops… a spine? Moral core? Raging hard-on? Yeah that last one, raging hard-on, for the poor unsuspecting female of his choice. So I will pass on the next book definitely and if possiblly the rest of this series.

[Blodeuedd Finland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like it as good as book 1, or book 3 for that matter, but it was still a very good book. And I truly loved the hero. I can't put my finger on what made it slightly not as good since the couple was great, the village quaint, the plot good, and, oh it is a mystery.

To the story then. The couple met briefly in book 1, but do not worry, this one can be read wonderfully on its own, and I must also say that I like that I read book 3 before this one. Because Jason was sure a child at the beginning of this one, not yet grown up mentally to take over the estate, even if he is 24. Anyway, it is not his story, it is Jane's. Jane who I did not like that much in book 1, and now suddenly, yes I liked her. She has a lot to think about, with her father being ill, and her mourning her mother, and she has also grown up. I also liked that she has a streak of rebellion in her. Cos I sure would not want to find a highwayman and put him behind bars.

The hero, oh, yes I loved him. Byrne is broken, and I do like a broken hero. He is the village hermit who scowls at everyone. He does not want company, he does not want pity and he is in pain after the war. To see him smile as she brought out the best in him was the best in this novel.

And then we have the whole village who does not like Byrne. A young Miss who thinks she is in love with Jason, Jason who just want to have fun (and not meet the village ladies), and a nice look at the daily life of them all. Together it brings out the best in everyone, and the worst.

Conclusion:
The sweetness, it is the sweetness that I like about these, and the fact that they wait and not jump each other at once.

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very definitely a cut above your average Regency era historical romance.
Our heroine, Jane, spent her year of mourning her mother by taking care of her father, the Duke, who is showing signs of (what we know as) Alzheimer's. Where's her older brother Jason during this year? Why he is gallivanting around post-war Europe with a couple of friends (supposedly studying).
Jason returns home and is shocked! at the changes in his father, so decides to shuffle Jane, Dad (and, under severe sisterly pressure, himself) off to their Lake Country "Cottage" in the sleepy village of Reston. But things are not so peaceful in Reston-it seems they have a highwayman and the locals have fingered the snarly hermit (war vet with a bad leg injury)Mr. Worth as the villain.
Of course Jane knows Worth from London and a very nice romance develops between the two as they work together to discover the identity of the real highwayman. Dad the Duke seems to grow steadier with life in the country and a solid routine, but Jason is bored to tears and really, really doesn't want to have anything to do with learning how the estates run.
The main characters are nicely realized and act and talk like real people. The secondary characters often verge on caricature, but rarely cross the line.
Very well done.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This historical romance started out well, but stalled in the middle and I kind of lost interest towards the end. Byrne Worth, the now retired Blue Raven, spy for the Crown, is hiding himself away in the north of England, licking his wounds as he recovers from a long illness. Lady Jane Cummings unexpectedly enters his life on the nearby estate while caring for her father who is sinking more and more into dementia. The two are attracted to one another while trying to determine who the local highwayman is - in order to clear Byrne's name. Everyone in town thinks it's him! The book had it's moments, but seemed a bit plodding and not nearly as good as it's predecessor in the series. Still, I like this author and will continue with the series.

3.5/5

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was... unsatisfying. The main romance didn't interest me at all. I was more involved with what was going on between the minor characters, Victoria and Andrew, so the fact that their relationship was resolved rather half-ass-ly was a major disappointment. Additionally, a major plot thread revolves around the mystery of who is robbing people near the town but the big reveal kind of came out of the left field. Not in an "Oh so that's who did it" sort of way but in a "Who the hell is this character?" way. So all of that, plus the slow meandering feel to Noble's writing left me feeling pretty "meh" about this book. I might give Noble another shot and read the next book in the series, but I won't be chomping at the bit to get it.

[Verity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't luv it as much as 'Revealed' but still a charmer, prolly 'cuz the intrigue was weak & the H/H were not as interesting as the prequel's Marcus & Philly. This 1 was more simplistic, not too shabby.

Eagerly waiting for 'Compromised'. I like her style, even w/ the plethora of parentheses.

[Pamela(AllHoney) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in Kate Noble's The Blue Raven series. Reading Kate Noble is like a breath of fresh air to me. I'm not sure exactly what she does in her writing that makes it more enjoyable but she does.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title and front cover are bloody ridiculous.
The story, however, is another Smart Bitches/Trashy Books gem, at turns sweet and heartbreaking.

http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/bl...

[Sarah MacLean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous, gorgeous romance. I savored every word. Kate Noble is one of the very best!

[Matilda BGR · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ... Wish it could be a 4 but I don't think I can take that step.

I really like Kate Noble's style of writing, though sometimes it is a bit too informal, and there are some cringy anachronisms -- did people in the early 1800s think about "the million things [they] have to do"? I don't think so. I don't think "million" was a word in common usage. (For some reason Tessa Dare's anachronistic stylings bug *the crap* out of me, but Kate Noble's don't. Funny.)

Much like "Revealed," the first book in this series, the hero and heroine hit it off as friends, recognizing the other as an equal in intelligence and wit, and they're both lonely, ready to find someone to spend time with.

Lady Jane is beautiful and charming, a darling of the ton, and is frustrated to be sent away, along with her father and Jason her brother, to her family's country home in order to hide from society her father's increasing dementia. Of course her father's dementia scares her, and Jason's selfishness and childishness (at age 24) make her want to scream.

Byrne Worth is the infamous Blue Raven, a daring English spy, but only Jane and a very few other people know this secret. A couple of years before the start of the story, Byrne endured a serious leg wound (ANACHRONISM ALERT: his leg probably would have been amputated in real life) and has since fought off an addiction to opium/laudanum. He would prefer to be alone in the woods (well, along with his trusted valet/all-around servant Dobbs), living in the small house which happens to sit on land owned by Jane's family.

Jane and Byrne reconnect (after having met briefly in "Revealed") and are promptly drawn to each other. Jane dreams up a joint project -- capture the highwayman who has been creating havoc for months -- to give them a reason to see each other.

So, all good, more or less. The writing is good, and there are some laugh-out loud lines. (Jason invites his boorish, shallow friends Charles and Nevill to the country to alleviate his boredom, and they end up providing some genuinely funny scenes.)

But there was too much text about Victoria, the young neighbor who has always worshipped Jason, and the doctor who moons after her. The mystery about the highwayman was sort of unsettling: it turns out it all started from Byrne, unintentionally: Early on, before the story has started, he stole laudanum from the doctor; Dobbs tried to distract from Byrne's theft by breaking windows, and was then roped into robbing coaches by the local blacksmith and the ATTORNEY, and I was just like, really? Ugh.

And at some point, after Jane and Byrne had given into their mutual attraction, Jane tells Byrne that this is just temporary, that this is just a summer fling, that she will go back to London soon and they can't expect to be together. WHAT? I thought that was sort of out of the blue. There seemed to be something missing -- we had not been informed about Jane's need to get back to society, what she thought about who she was *supposed* to marry, any of that stuff.

And I wish there had been more about Byrne, I guess. He's supposed to have been this almost superhuman spy, with multiple skills, and now he's descended into this dark space of self pity and pain ... I don't know how to explain it -- I wish we had seen more of his charm, the way he was before his injury, though he does show it at the very end. (How old is he anyway? 30?)

Anyway, I mostly really enjoyed this book but there were a too few many hurdles to raise it to a 4-star.

[Carole Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally diving into book 2. It's been a hot minute since I read book 1. I had to re-read my review to remind myself. Nearly forgot about this series. Whoops.

The story follows Lady Jane is who certain her summer is ruined when her brother forces her and their father to reside in their home in Merrymere Lake. Her father is ailing and her brother is not helpful at all. She feels isolated and stuck, but there is a rumor that the lake's new resident is also the elusive highwayman. When this new resident saves her brother and she gets a chance to meet this mysterious man, she recognizes him from London..Byrne Worth. She is convinced he is innocent of this remember and becomes determined to clear his name.

This was a fun listen. I enjoyed it and I'm glad it could do well as a stand alone since I barely remember book 1. It was calmer and didn't have as much intrigue as book 1 did (from what I recall) but there was a mystery lingering in the background which will play a huge role especially near the end.I liked it. It didn't take over the story, but it's there...just building. Very nice.

I liked Byrne. He is grumpy and wants to be left alone. Can you blame him? He was injured during the war both physically and mentally. When he's awake and sober he's in constant pain. When he's asleep...dreams haunt him. Poor guy. He needs a girl like Jane to help him for sure.

Which....I liked Jane more as we went along. I found her whiney at the beginning and a little bitchy....but then I realized she was right and she really had sacrificed a lot when their mother died and their dad started withering away mentally. Screw her jerk brother! Help your sister take care of your father darn you! There is something terribly wrong with him!!! Gah. I wanted to shake that boy. Sure he wants to just have fun and blah blah, but you are near 30. Get yourself together man! As Byrne said to you...grow up sirrah!

*calms self*

But yes - I liked our couple. They fit perfect and they needed each other. It started off as friends with a sprinkle of lust. It took a while for love to really bloom. It worked and I liked it for them. They both have their issues and are scared to really get the other involved. Can you blame them?

The narrator was awesome. I love her voice. I've enjoyed past books she has read. She is good and works for this genre.

All-in-all, I liked this a lot. It took me a little bit to like Jane, but I loved her and Byrne together. They fit well. This was a nice romance and the mystery was fun. I'll give this 4 stars.

[Cyn]

I got so bored. I stopped and started and stopped and started again. And then finally stopped. I enjoyed Revealed and the spy arc makes it exciting and not just a “romance” novel. I wanted to like this book because I am intrigued by the Lady Jane and Byrne Worth pairing. But I was disappointed - for one, as a former Blue Raven, he was reduced to a so-so character who seems to have lost all personality. So it seemed he was written as a broody and cranky neighbor but I wasn’t convinced. There was nothing to show that he was - all of that was just speculation. What happened to the addiction he was battling in the first book? How did he went from being “skeletal” to one who looks “healthy” after a mere month? How did he suddenly overcame his inner battles after losing them several times while in London? He only went back to Lake District for only a month! And then all of a sudden voila, change is happening.

Lady Jane was also reduced from a feisty London Society young woman to a…country maiden? I was more interested in her brother, Jason. I wonder if the author is just better at describing side characters than the main characters. Anyways, Lady Jane was such an interesting character in the first book that this book just all of a sudden changed 180 degrees for her.

To me, if one never read the first book, one would never know how vastly different they had become in this book. I expected more friction since Byrne was Marcus’ brother who was married to her rival Phillippa, I didn’t expect Lady Jane to quickly just accept Byrne as a neighbor she wanted to be friends with. I get that they’re both lonely and wanted some familiarity and connection but the gap is so big between the two books.

I made it to 34% of the book, debated if I should continue but if I don’t feel like I need to read the book at every waking moment I get, then I totally lose interest.

I filed this as DNF.