The Soul of a Lady by Wanda Luce

 

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Romance, Clean Romance, Historical Romance
Content: Clean

 

At six and twenty, Lydia Hathaway has endured years of heartbreak, longing for a love that never came. Her deceased father’s foolhardiness has left her family bankrupt, and she is eventually left no alternative but to take a position as a companion to Susan Ashcroft of Danbury Park in Surrey. Early one morning, Lydia rambles across the muddy wilds of the Ashcroft estate, where she has a most unimaginable encounter with Connor Parkhurst, the notorious Viscount Denton.

As their paths continue to cross, Lydia falls ever deeper in love with the charming rogue while battling against his growing assault on her heart. In spite of his forward attentions, she considers his behavior toward her as nothing more than idle flirtation. And why should she think otherwise? As the wealthy son of an earl, Lord Denton may choose from among the most beautiful women of England’s first circles. Tormented in a relentless battle to suppress a love she cannot overcome, Lydia resolves to leave the Ashcrofts and Danbury Park forever. After all, she is nothing to Lord Denton—isn’t she?

 

This was a swoony romance and I enjoyed it, but it wasn't without flaws. 

The main problems I had with the story were:

-Switching the point of view suddenly to Lord Denton several times, starting halfway through the book.  I didn't mind his point of view. I even thought it added to the book, but his points of view probably should have been included from the beginning. 

-All the coincidental meetings between Lydia and Lord Denton. He was always showing up wherever she was and surprising her. It was a bit overdone.  

-The whole trope where they assume something and don't talk to each other about it happened a lot. 

-The fact that Lydia had taken a job as a governess and was being included in all the social events as an equal. Despite the fact that she grew up as an equal, her station in life had changed when she sought employment, and I don't think governesses were treated as family friends. It seems more like she was employed as a lady's companion than anything else, and I think that's what the author should have gone for. 

-The intrigue with the slave ship that felt a bit out of place. There should have been more about this from the beginning of the book. There were a few parts in the book about Lord Denton trying to use his position to help the commoners, and the slave trade was briefly mentioned, but there was never a sense of how deeply he was involved in that, until suddenly, we find out about a whole other side of what he's been doing, trying to enforce the end of the slave trade, and it didn't fit well into the story. If this had been introduced earlier on, or hints had been given about what he had been up to, it wouldn't have felt shoehorned into the story so much.

Despite the flaws, I really liked the characters, and the book in general. I had a very hard time putting it down. Maybe I was just in the mood for a swoony romance and nothing else mattered. I don't know. I do know that I enjoyed reading how Lydia and Lord Denton fell in love with each other, and the slow burn romance aspect of the story was perfect for me.