Miriamgreen’s Reviews > What Happens in the Ballroom > Status Update

I am so very glad I have finally finished this book. As in the previous title of the series the last, dying gaps were a slog to get through

skew bridge (or oblique arch bridge) is an arch bridge that crosses a road, canal, or railway at an angle other than a right angle (90 degrees), creating a parallelogram shape when viewed from above rather than a standard rectangle
In 1812 England, these structures were already rare and considered major engineering challenges

So the reader is puffed off With sentences like this:
Because she loved her. He did. He couldn’t imagine his life without her irrepressible laugh, her tender kindness is, her many different sorts of kisses…
So, if he wished to gain her heart, he had to reveal all.

The reader is not amused

We are nearing the finish and the narrative is breaking down into a stutter, then an avalanche, a muted crescendo, and some sappy stuff. Even my comments cannot encompass the meager. Threads that are weaving the end of the story

It is the typical dramatic cliff that Eliza throws herself over when she feels that Nathaniel has put Jocelyn ahead of her, her sisters and their business endangering their livelihood. But also a jealousy that he has chosen Jocelyn over her, his lover. And she does not understand why. But we do, men are stupid. They do not see consequences as women are forced to

Elijah was aware of her husband’s failing, as was Nathaniel. They were both rakes, seducing women as part of their program. Nathaniel was aware that Sam did not deserve Eliza, and had treated her with more than grievous disregard. Now Nathaniel and her were lovers, and this became the elephant, and the rhinoceros, and the hippopotamus in the room

The cat is out of the bag. It was an obvious trope that Sam, her wayward charming husband had fathered the child. And that the best friend had been trusted by his mentor to safeguard his daughter. Nathaniel did what he thought was best, and when was it a good time to reveal this to Eliza. That her first concern was for her business and her livelihood was understandable but disconcerting

Another rather unsatisfactory description of two people coming together in lust without any delicacy or poetry in the mating. Jefferies love scenes have become stale / mechanical, almost contrived

English prawlong was a premium confectionery treat consisting of whole nuts roasted and individually coated in boiled, caramelized sugar syrup.

In 1812 England, salmagundi
By the early 19th century, cookbooks like Esther Copley’s 1810 recipes described the dish as a centerpiece designed to balance sharp, piquant, crisp, and mild flavors. It was typically composed of the following ingredients, grouped by category