Format: ebook
Published: April 21st, 2012
Age: Adult
Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)
Rating: 5/5 Stars
When Serena Barton plants herself outside the home of a duke, Hugo Marshall thinks she will be as easy to take care of as any of the other ‘troubles’ he’s sorted for his employer. His ruthless ambition has earned him a place at the duke’s right hand, and he’s determined nothing will stand in the way of what he’s worked so long for. Until Miss Barton proves herself stubborn, as determined as him, and with an exceptional ability to get truly under his skin.
I adored these two characters. Milan is a brilliant writer and she really brings these characters to life. It might be a novella, but it uses its shortness really well, with fully layered characters and a rich world around them. It’s a prequel for The Brothers Sinister, and if I wasn’t already hooked by the main romance, the epilogue makes for an intriguing lead into the series itself.
There’s plenty of humour here, but there’s an undercurrent of darkness, too, in the backgrounds of both characters. They each have their goals, their own aims, and these inform the choices they make in pretty clear ways. When they’re ‘on page’ together, sparks really do fly, and every scene that had them interacting had me grinning and kicking my feet.
Something else I appreciated was that these are two ‘lower class’ characters. Too often, I think historical romance can default to having at least one character from the upper classes. Which is fine – it’s part of the escapism. But here you have two characters who are struggling, who don’t fit into the ‘duke’s’ world completely, and this impacts the choices they make, the way they make them, and how they’re able to deal with their problems.
This was an excellent novella, and I’ll be carrying on with the series. Though I would suggest if you’re thinking of picking this up, please make sure you check out the trigger warnings beforehand.
Reading Challenge
Romance Readers Diversity Challenge 2025 ❤️
Prompt: A book written by an Asian author
Progress: 2/12
Unwrapping Words 