This second installment in Sabrina Jeffries' Designing Debutants is romantic, heart felt and such and interesting edition to this series. I was charmed by the first novel and I have been utterly taken with the second. I found Sabrina Jeffries' writing to have such a charm and ease to it, quickly drawing me into the story and keeping me invested with interesting and well rounded characters and charming plots. Jeffries' style of storytelling is accessible, well paced and has an elegant grace that works beautifully within a period setting while still being very conversational and engaging. This book can easily be read as a standalone, but is perfectly delightful within reading order. If you have never picked up a Sabrina Jeffries, you absolutely must, she is definitely a gem in the historical romance genre that was a large backlist to continue to explore and is still churning out wonderful additions to the genre!
This novel is really beautifully balanced between the budding romance, character development and subtle plot. I adored our heroine, Eliza, she is kind and hard working and she has a really beautiful and open heart. The hero, Nathaniel is also such a strong and caring gentleman, his actions are driven by the love and respect he has for the people around him, which I absolutely love. I love that this romance has a touch of the forbidden woven into it, Nathaniel is Eliza's late husband's best friend, he also has some family secrets he believes make him un-marriageable. Jeffries beautiful builds their relationship through subtle temptation, there is a deep understanding between these two that grows and gets explored through their trust with each other and the physical side of their relationship. Jeffries does such a lovely job crafting the temptation and chemistry and escalating it into a physical exploration that is sensual, romantic and sexy. While there is a driving plot, the true heart and growth of this story is between Eliza and Nathaniel, they are the heart and soul and perfect stunning. These two find hope, happiness and the joy of a different future than they initially expected.
Definitely pick this novel up! I absolutely adored it, I was swept up into this romance and was so charmed by their story. Sabrina Jeffries is a must read historical romance author and this book is a fantastic place to start if you have not had the joy of reading her before.
Thank you to Zebra Books and NetGalley for an eARC, all thoughts and opinions are my own.