Following her sister and dearest friend, Hollis is now bitten by the marriage bug. The difference for Hollis is that she has been married before and she's also loved her husband if not been in love with him. Her marriage seemed to have some secrets that are almost but not quite revealed.
This is a story which I'm not sure if it knew which direction it was going. At times I felt like it was two different stories and characters fighting for their voice. Did I care about Hollis or did I want to know more about Donovan? Truth be told, I am more interested in Donovan, Hollis's unconventional butler, than I am about Hollis. In the previous two books which do not have to be read in order to read this one, Hollis seemed to be the one with the level head. In this one, she is more of a shrew at times. Her railing against a society created by men for men is a bit too juvenile for me. I felt she went about it the wrong way and it didn't match her personality since she behaved differently with Marek's secret past.
I felt like this book should have been more about Secrets revealed at Christmas. The three main characters all have secrets. What surprised me about this book is how Marek and Hollis's story ended up. I was expecting something a bit more and it never happened. I wonder how the Wesloria King would have felt if he had known the secret. Still, this ending is a fitting one and worked well for Hollis, Donovan and Marek.
The romance part of this story is quite slow. Hollis does not endear herself to Marek. In fact, I kind of want to say each of the women in this series did not exactly charm their respective love interests. Instead, they were like ticks that wormed their way under the men's skin and stuck there. I find that odd and yet refreshingly accurate. How many times in real life do women really behave perfect in many of these romances? This realism adds a bit of tension and conflict between the lovers.
This historical romance is recommended to romance readers who enjoy opposites who attract tropes.
*provided by NetGalley
