The Belle of Belgrave Square
You know, I love a series that’s connected enough to be rewarding, but separate enough to be dipped into at any point. I did not enjoy the first book in Mimi Matthews’ Belles of London series, but I decided to give book 2 a try and I’m so glad that I did. As with so many of my reading kinks, they are so different from my real life preferences in human companionship. And as it turns out, surly, scarred war heroes with questionable pasts are one of my reading kinks.
Captain Jasper Blunt is notorious. He’s notorious for his dour, taciturn personality, his rumored illegitimate children and his fortune hunting. Julia Wychwood is rich, and wildly so. She also happens to be beautiful and a bit prone to anxiety. London is most definitely not her happy place. She also has two ill parents, but how much is actual illness and how much is histrionics, it’s difficult to say.
Jasper sets his eyes on Julia and the pursuit begins in the most respectful way. So far, so standard, but there are some big reveals as they get to know each other. One thing did stand out for me: despite her anxiety, Julia (usually impulsively) does the brave thing. She blurts out the question she wants answered. If there’s an issue, it bubbles out of her pretty quickly. She does not shy away from the more difficult or awkward topics no matter how much she blushes. (She does blush rather a lot.)
Despite the pattern of character revelations and Julia’s bravery in conversation, the book is pretty standard stuff. I enjoyed it and read it pretty quickly, but it’s… well, it’s fine. It didn’t give me sleepless nights of reading, and it didn’t blow my hair back, but it was exactly what I needed at the time. It was a lovely experience while I read it, and after I finished it, it was gone from my consciousness. If you’re looking for a Victorian historical with a heroine who is brave despite herself, in a book that won’t rip your heart out or drag you through rivers of angst and misery, then I think you’ll enjoy this romance.
– Lara
A London heiress rides out to the wilds of the English countryside to honor a marriage of convenience with a mysterious and reclusive stranger.
Tall, dark, and dour, the notorious Captain Jasper Blunt was once hailed a military hero, but tales abound of his bastard children and his haunted estate in Yorkshire. What he requires now is a rich wife to ornament his isolated ruin, and he has his sights set on the enchanting Julia Wychwood.
For Julia, an incurable romantic cursed with a crippling social anxiety, navigating a London ballroom is absolute torture. The only time Julia feels any degree of confidence is when she’s on her horse. Unfortunately, a young lady can’t spend the whole of her life in the saddle, so Julia makes an impetuous decision to take her future by the reins—she proposes to Captain Blunt.
In exchange for her dowry and her hand, Jasper must promise to grant her freedom to do as she pleases. To ride—and to read—as much as she likes without masculine interference. He readily agrees to her conditions, with one provision of his own: Julia is forbidden from going into the tower rooms of his estate and snooping around his affairs. But the more she learns of the beastly former hero, the more intrigued she becomes…
Historical: European, Romance
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“It was a lovely experience while I read it, and after I finished it, it was gone from my consciousness.”
Reminds me of what a friend of mine said about the Jenny Colgan novel The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris: “This book was like a piece of chocolate. You take it, you eat it, and then you don’t think about it again.”
“She blurts out the question she wants answered. If there’s an issue, it bubbles out of her pretty quickly. She does not shy away from the more difficult or awkward topics no matter how much she blushes.”
One of the things I LOVED about this author’s novel WORK OF ART (which was my intro to her) was that I could see where it could have easily devolved into a grand mis and that could have been where she set some of her conflict hook. But she didn’t. I was so gratified that she made her characters talk to each other. It was so refreshing.
I was on the fence about this one because like you, I didn’t really vibe with the first one so this makes me feel better.
@TinaNoir. I agree with you about Work of Art, which I just finished yesterday. It was such a great read for me that I will probably get this book to read soon.
@Mikey if she thinks that, Jenny Colgan is eating the wrong chocolate.
I think this book sounds lovely. I like to end my day with low angst reads and crumbly mysterious heroes.
Thanks for the review!
I love the covers of this series, but could not get into the first book at all. There was nothing egregiously wrong with it; I just was terribly bored by the first three chapters and there was far more about clothing than horses (which is what drew me to the book).
I need more conflict for a book to interest me. Everyone was just too terribly nice.
@DonnaMarie, what chocolate do you recommend?
@Kareni sadly that comment is informed by the chocolates that are no longer available. The Trinidad from Fannie Mae is gone. The company went out of business for reasons I still can’t grasp and the name was purchased by someone who moved the manufacturing out of Illinois. They can call it Fannie Mae, but I assure you, it is not. I haven’t had a Trinidad that didn’t taste sour since they took over. Frangos haven’t been the same since Macy’s took over and closed the confectionery on State Street. Also the chocolate dipped chocolate shortbread from a restaurant that closed 20 years ago. I have tried to replicate it many times. The results are good, but not the same.
@DonnaMarie: My mother persists in buying the “trinidads,” and in addition to the sad state of the filling, there are now two specks of coconut dust in the coating. May those who get rich ruining everything good *insert curse unfit for public display*.
I went wayyy higher with this and gave it an A – the plot twists at the end kept this pretty fairly unpredictable for me.
@Lena Brassard, to keep the rant going: aside from the subpar ingredients and lip service to the original recipes, the appearance is appalling. I would have had to hit the seconds store on Montrose to get what is now considered first quality. Holes in the coatings, uneven sizes. Breaks my heart.