by Mary Lancaster
The Imperial Season book #4
My rating: ★★★★★
Actually 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars.
Very short story but very nice clean romance.
____ THE PLOT ___ 1814, Vienna.
Colonel Francis Wolfe, military hero and unexpectedly new Earl of Warenton after the recent death of his brother, is ready to do his duty and marry a woman, his equal, who would be the perfect Countess of Warenton to present to the world.
Too bad that the beautiful Sylvia Renleigh is also a cold and calculating girl that he would never want in his bed, in any case not after meeting the sweet, lively and spontaneous French refugee Elise.
Elise de Sancerre, like many French nobles, now finds herself in a situation of extreme poverty, tyrannized by Sylvia and her mother.
Thanks to a rescue from an injury and a masquerade ball, the flame of true love will prevail over every convention and hypocrisy of the aristocracy.
_________________
This is installment #4 in a series named "The Imperial Season".
I adored the first 3 books in the series ( all rated 5 stars by me ), all with a usual book length , all readable as standalone but all connected one to each other not only by the setting but also through the characters, so they're more enjoyable if you read them starting with book 1.
----> This is definitely a STANDALONE .
When I saw this one was only a short story, with the same setting ( 1814 Congress of Vienna ), but not linked to the others, I don't know why, but I felt so disappointed that I put it aside.
I also decided not to read it at all... until yesterday, when I needed something short to read, something not very demanding but which made me dream a little.
WELL, I LOVED IT !!
SO BAD IT'S TOO SHORT !! (That's why I consider it only 4.5 and not really 5 full stars )
____ THE HEROINE, Elise, 26 years old, is dreamy and spontaneous, just like many of us, when we imagine that the man of our dreams will finally come to take us away on his white horse.
She says what she thinks before even considering that perhaps it is not covered by the rules of etiquette and is so humble that she doesn't think for a moment that her dream could really come true.
... Do you know? It sometimes happens that the heroines of novels are too sweet, too beautiful and desired by everyone, too humble, too good, too this and too that... I LIKE ELISE, I find her pleasant in everything, and she deserves to be happy!
____ THE HERO, Francis is the soldier who never thought about marriage, he enjoyed the good life with women, he always held the military corps in high regard and less the civilian world, but he is a kind, intelligent and sometimes playful man.
Maybe now, at 38, he finally wants to settle down, but not out of calculation... he realizes that he wants a bond made of love.
___ KISSING AND ROMANTIC SCENES ___
This is a short story, so there isn't enough, but the two scenes (the central one and the final one) with kisses first stolen, then sweet, then passionate, their making love and the words he says to her, they are very beautiful and very sweet.
Dear Mrs. Lancaster, why didn't you write a book instead of a short story?
I loved it but it's too short!
Dear writer, you are one of my favourites, so I ask you:
Please, could you write a series with these two characters together, who, even if they are now married, have wonderful adventures (and perhaps investigations) in every book of the series?
A bit similar to Crime and Passion series, but without changing couples every time, focus on the love story of these two! I would be so happy !
... I know you won't read the review, I know you won't please me, but I tried anyway!
Thanks to all for reading my opinion and please forgive any errors you can find in my text, English is not my mother language.
READ ALSO "The Imperial Season" BOOK #1 - BOOK #2 - BOOK #3:
#1 Vienna Waltz
#2 Vienna Woods
#3 Vienna Dawn
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