Review: A Lady's Past (The Everton Domestic Society, #4) by A.S. Fenichel
Print Length: 211 pages
Publisher: Kensington Press (November 19, 2019)
From Goodreads.com: The greatest risk—for the sweetest reward…
His fiancée’s betrayal nearly cost Jacques Laurent everything. Despite his resolve not to trust anyone again, he can’t abandon the young woman he finds alone on the road to London. In the brief hours, they spend together, the enigmatic Diana touches his heart in a way he can’t explain. Even after bringing her to the Everton Domestic Society for safekeeping, he can’t get her out of his thoughts. And when he next encounters her, working as an assistant to a renowned scientist, he becomes even more intrigued…
The Society’s kindness is especially welcome after everything Diana endured in a French prison, but she fears for the safety of those who get close to her. French spies are on her trail, convinced that her scientific knowledge can help them win the war. As peril draws them irrevocably together, Diana and Jacques succumb to mutual desire. But love may be the most dangerous pursuit of all, when a lady guards her heart even more carefully than she guards her life...
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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5
For some reason, this one just felt too far fetched and repetitive for me to really enjoy. At the core, this one had all of the elements a good novel needs. A French hero who has been burned by his homeland (in part I am gathering because of an English woman), and an English woman accused of being a French spy.
Despite the fact that these two seemed to have fallen into the common troupe of meeting and developing feelings nearly from the start, she refuses to let him get close due to the danger surrounding her. While this makes perfect sense, what didn't was the way that Jacques was willing to believe in her innocence without knowing her. After the way his ex nearly cost him his life, the fact that he was so willing to defend Diana didn't make sense with what I knew of him. It also didn't make sense how most people she came in contact with her were also so willing to believe everything she said without question. Yes, she was innocent, but I would have liked to have seen more uncertainty where it came to the other characters.
Now I will admit that this book is pretty fast-paced, with good writing and a decent story-line. However, the villain was just too over the top. While it made sense for a while for him to pursue Diana, it reached a point where I just found myself rolling my eyes. And his ending? I would like to know just how he not only managed to get away from his guards but find his way in through a castle and into Diana's chambers just to assault her again. It seemed more like a fevered dream than reality.
On the whole, while this one wasn't a favorite of mine, I would read more from this author, and I do believe this story will steal appeal to fans of historical romance.
For some reason, this one just felt too far fetched and repetitive for me to really enjoy. At the core, this one had all of the elements a good novel needs. A French hero who has been burned by his homeland (in part I am gathering because of an English woman), and an English woman accused of being a French spy.
Despite the fact that these two seemed to have fallen into the common troupe of meeting and developing feelings nearly from the start, she refuses to let him get close due to the danger surrounding her. While this makes perfect sense, what didn't was the way that Jacques was willing to believe in her innocence without knowing her. After the way his ex nearly cost him his life, the fact that he was so willing to defend Diana didn't make sense with what I knew of him. It also didn't make sense how most people she came in contact with her were also so willing to believe everything she said without question. Yes, she was innocent, but I would have liked to have seen more uncertainty where it came to the other characters.
Now I will admit that this book is pretty fast-paced, with good writing and a decent story-line. However, the villain was just too over the top. While it made sense for a while for him to pursue Diana, it reached a point where I just found myself rolling my eyes. And his ending? I would like to know just how he not only managed to get away from his guards but find his way in through a castle and into Diana's chambers just to assault her again. It seemed more like a fevered dream than reality.
On the whole, while this one wasn't a favorite of mine, I would read more from this author, and I do believe this story will steal appeal to fans of historical romance.
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A Lady's Past is available from Amazon.com
 by A.S. Fenichel ){kind=link}
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