One of my favorite historical romances of all time to date. An unusual attention to historical detail that I much appreciated. One of the few closed-door romances I've read lately but I didn't feel like anything was lacking.

“Some stories are better the more you read them. You notice things you didn’t the first time. And not only that. Books you’ve already read are like old friends. It’s comforting to revisit them.”

Julia Wychwood Blunt gets me, and I am simply obsessed with these lovestruck idiots —  this is a new all-time fave.

"Stories like the ones we read in novels help us understand the human condition," he said. "They teach us empathy. In that way, they're more than an escape from the world. They're an aid for living in the world. For being better, more compassionate people."

Oh my goodness I devoured this historical romance… it’s pays homage to some of my favorite Victorian sensations novels with some fractured fairytale references. I seriously love literary references & this book is full of easter eggs & nods to fairytales & Greek mythology. It’s so much fun!!! This is a love letter to the healing power of books… especially romance novels. While this could be read as a standalone I’d suggest reading the first book in this series. One of my favorite things about this series is all the equestrian elements because I love horses. 

I love a marriage of convenience & my bookish heart fell in love with Julia a horse loving, quiet wallflower who loves books & suffers from social anxiety. Her home life is difficult & when things get desperate she decides to take matters into her own hands & proposes marriage to the notorious Captain Jasper Blunt the tall dark & scarred war hero. But tales abound with his three bastard children & his haunted estate in Yorkshire. Julia provides a large dowry to help him get his estate out of debt & in turn he promises her freedom. When she arrives at his crumbling gothic castle she discovers three wary children & secrets around every corner. If you love a marriage of convenience with a little mystery, secrets, horses & a swoony romance… this book is for you. 

Closed Door where sex is implied but not on the page. 

Enjoyed this one.

I was so bored. The summary provided by the publisher is very misleading. They dont actually get married until about 50% of the book and its definitely not a marriage of convenience. They know each other about as well as one would in higher class victorian circles. They even kissed so how is that supposed to be a marriage of convenience. After 50% there is also no plot whatsoever? And no chemistry? They're just weird friends? This is also a weird mixed of explicit and closed-door romance? And judging by the authors note this is fanfiction for a mixture of three victorian novels. Idk. I wanted to like it and I really didn't and had to force myself through the second half.

I enjoyed how Julia's character grows throughout the novel. I also love how the author has done historical research for the time period that the novel is set in. 

This is one of the purest Beauty and the Beast retellings I've ever read, and I absolutely loved it. A lonely only daughter to abusive older parents, Julia Wychwood is determined to escape the confines of her home, which has become an increasingly dangerous place for her. Captain Jasper Blunt, returned from The Crimea a feared (and morally bankrupt) war hero, is desperate to find an heiress to sustain his crumbling estate and support his three illegitimate children. While initially it is the convenience of their pairing that brings them together - a fortune in her dowry for him, and an isolated remove to the country, for her - they discover true kinship in each other. Their marriage of convenience quickly becomes complicated, though, and the specter of the captain's past and the machinations of Julia's scheming parents haunt them.

What I love most is how isolated the story feels - this is Gothic and introspective and wholly suited to both its source material and the Victorian-era London it depicts. There are so many wonderful homages to popular Victorian stories - several of which are referenced on page by the characters and in specific plot points by Matthews herself - and the novel feels like the story-within-a-story of a well-told fairy tale. Matthews is known for writing deeply romantic closed-door romances, and the tension and chemistry between these two is palpable all the way through. The central mystery - the captain's backstory - is deftly alluded to, so that the reader can piece together the available clues (including many from captain's inner monologue) before Julia can, increasing the dramatic irony for the reader as we watch Julia circle the truth of her new husband. With threats to never enter his secret tower room, entreaties to ignore his past and demands to ask no questions of him, our captain is a real Beast, soothed and secured by the persistent and trusting Belle of Belgrave Square. 

This is one I will easily recommend to any and all historical romance readers! I particularly enjoyed the audiobook's dual narration by Ell Potter (one of my very favorite narrators) and Sebastian Brown.