OBeing the heir to a duke made Simon Denard the target for many a young lady in society, and a lot of other people too, all striving to better their own standing through a connetion to him. As if that was not enough to make a young man weary, his own feelings of inadequacy, when it came to living up the high standard his father had set, as an excellent both man and duke, had put a very heavy weight on his shoulders. And now one of those society young ladies was to spend a whole month in his home during the Christmas season - he was exausted even though she and her family had just arrived!
Poor Simon, I feel so much for him. And Andrew, the traitor, had abondoned him and married his sister, making Simon more alone than ever. We humans often build up our own view of things that is not necessarily accurate, especially when we tell ourselves to not talk to people because we believe that that would demish us in their eyes or are afraid that they will agree with our assessment of ourselves, and so we put more on our shoulders than really ought to be there and watching Simon bear that burden alone makes me want to shake him, ha ha.
To his great surprise though, Simon finds Miss Isleen Frost a much different, and after the initial impression, a quite pleasing new acquaintance and she in return finds a much nicer English lord than she might have ever imagined after their first interaction and from her usual experience with how the English peerage sees the Irish.
Returning to Castle Clairvoir in the winter is a new experience, as we have always visited it in the Summer in the previouse books, so it was really nice to see how the family's life looks during the Holidays. And it gives a lovely backdrop to the romance that builds between two guarded persons that, to their own surprise, find themselves getting something much more precious than any Christmas present they might ever receive.
Sally Britton has again written a beautiful story, full of heartfelt feeling, humor and genuinly good characters that inspires me to be a good person too. I'm grateful to her for sending me an ARC of this lovely story.