Interested in a detailed summary with read-alikes?? Check out my Annotation of this book.
““I would say”—he shaped the words close to her mouth, as if each of them was its own kiss, a private prayer—“I love you as a man loves a woman, but we both know that love is not bound by such narrow terms. So instead let me simply tell you that I love you. I love you with the unfading flame of my friendship. With every drop of ardor in my blood. I love you with my soul, as some reserve their faith for absent gods. I love you as I believe in what is right and hope for what is good. I love you with everything I am and ever was—and if you will only let me, with every day that comes, and every self that I could ever be.””
Author: Alexis Hall
Category/Type: Adult Fiction
Genre: Romance
Subgenre: Regency / Historical
Publication Date: May 24, 2022
Number of Pages: 449 pages of story text; includes Content Guidance, Acknowledgements, and a Reading Group Guide
Geographical Setting: British countryside and London
Time Period: Regency
Series (if applicable): This book is not part of a series
Plot Summary: Alexis Hall strikes again with a delightful, fun, and sexy tale that challenges the conventions of Regency romance stories.
Thought to be dead after the battle of Waterloo, Viola Carroll is finally living as her true self and serving as a lady’s companion for her sister-in-law, Lady Marleigh. Viola’s plan to fly under the radar and live a quiet life is disrupted when a concerning letter arrives from the sister of her former best friend, the Duke of Gracewood. Gracewood is not only suffering from the traumas of war, but also can’t move on after the death of his best friend.
Lady Marleigh and Viola rush to help Gracewood recover and bring his sister into society. Shortly after they arrive, Gracewood becomes enamored with Viola, the strong, beautiful woman who refuses to back down in the face of his shenanigans. Viola may have reciprocating feelings but she’s vowed to keep her distance so her secrets aren’t revealed. Are Viola and Gracewood willing to lose everything all over again, throwing convention to the wind to have a relationship?
Readers will find themselves rooting for and falling in love with Viola and Gracewood, even as society tries to tell them their love is impossible.
Content warnings (may containt SLIGHT SPOILERS): Discussions of war, trauma, sexism, ableism, suicidal ideation, use of a deadname and pronouns for a trans character (more details about these warnings are listed in the Content Guidance section at the start of the novel)
Representation:
Disabled main character
Trans main character
““Breakfast is the best meal of the day—as it should be, to console one for having to get out of bed.””
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
WARNING: May contain spoilers
A trans Regency romance? Count me in!
Oh wow! This was a lovely, charming, slow-burn-with-some-steam romance and I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. I picked it up mostly out of curiosity and ended up feeling that it was an excellent addition to the genre. Viola's existence in the Regency era was entirely plausible and after finishing I was wondering why we don't have more stories like this? Clearly there had to have been more women and men like her at this time; Hall leaves us believing that romances like this can, should, and did exist and I want more of them.
While Viola's coming into her own true self is a story that feels extreme, it becomes more believable when looked at as a metaphor for what many trans people face. I love that she's not out to fix Gracewood and be a queer hero or martyr, she's a heroine simply because she accepts him and works with him as he is.
The initial sex scene is both awkward and tender which makes it real and lovely. As a queer person outside the gender binary dating a cis straight man, I appreciated the reinforcement that Gracewood does not alter his sexual orientation by loving a transwoman, which also further validates Viola's existence.
Character development for Viola and Gracewood was well done. There are some fantastic side characters in this novel as well. Gracewood's sister, Miranda, has a wild misadventure that will remind readers of Lydia Bennet and, just like Lizzie and Darcy, this leads our protagonists to their happily ever after. Lady Marleigh and Badger and their son Little Bartholemew are simply wonderful, as are Viola's sarcastic comments about them. The scene where Lady Marleigh and Badger eavesdrop on Gracewood and Viola had me laughing out loud. I think anyone would want them for brother and sister-in-law and the fact that Gracewood just rolls with it is great and really gives you a sense of his character, almost more than Viola's descriptions of him.
I am a huge fan of the new trend in romances with flawed characters (although Viola is only flawed by her doubt and oppressive society, she's a rather perfect character otherwise) worthy of love that you can't help but fall for as a reader.
Overall this book left me thrilled that Alexis Hall is such a prolific author because that means I’ll have many books to enjoy in the future.
Final resting place: This book is on my shelf between By the Book by Jasmine Guillory and Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn.
WHAT I’M READING NOW
My annotations and reviews are always running a bit (or more than a bit) behind what I’m actually reading so here’s a little bit of a teaser, if you will, for reviews to come.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
““I suppose,” he said, “there’s just...ourselves. The capacity in each of us to love more than we hate, do more good than we do ill, help more than we harm. Is such understanding really divine? Or is it simply human?””