This series has been hit-or-miss for me. This one wasn’t quite the heights of some of the other books by this author that I’ve read, but I devoured it nonetheless and am happy to recommend it to others.
Stella Hobhouse is a clergyman’s sister, a great friend, an excellent horsewoman and completely stuck in life. Her brother has really strict expectations of her and Stella chafes against them. (This later causes serious ructions in her life.) During a house party that she’s attending, she runs into Teddy Hayes, a painter and a wheelchair user. They first met at a gallery in London and Teddy was enraptured by Stella’s beauty and her completely grey hair (she went grey at 16 and is now 22). They don’t exchange details but neither forgets the other.
At this house party, they see each other again and Teddy is lit from within. His muse is here. Teddy is a stereotypical artist in that he was perpetually on the hunt for his muse and felt that he found her during that chance meeting at the art gallery. This is the woman he could paint that would bring his artistic vision to life. Stella is less convinced, but nonetheless drawn to Teddy. Teddy is desperate to paint a portrait of Stella, but Stella isn’t sure it’s wise to do something that might damage her reputation.
This is a quiet sort of book. In terms of plot, I could easily fit the full plot into this short review, but part of the fun of this book is seeing how the two characters fight to follow their own paths while looking for ways in which those paths might intertwine. I mean, there is a plot, but not a lot of it. Mostly we just watch their lives unfold, which is delightful.
Teddy can be a little tiresome with his single-minded focus on his art, but I’d only get the occasional twinge of annoyance about that. He is also frustrated that his independence is curtailed as he’s only needed a wheelchair for five years at that point. He tends to avoid activities that will involve him being carried by his attendant, especially in front of people. His attendant is forever patient with him, but Teddy does show his frustration with needing his attendant around.
Stella has reached a critical point in her life in which she must answer the central question: what is it exactly that I want? She struggles with this question for a good chunk of the book. It can get a little exasperating at times. I would just want to shake her and say ‘DO SOMETHING’. In the end, I didn’t have all that long to wait before Stella made her decision. The societal expectations (especially from her brother) became too much and she made her move. Stella within herself was always defiant, strong and confident, but those societal expectations kept her small, and seeing her outward demeanor more accurately reflect her inner strength was delightful.
The romance in terms of spice levels is sweet, but it is also emotionally sweet. There is clearly attraction between the two, but their growth as individuals coincidentally makes them even better partners for each other. As they grow, they grow together.
While part of a series, this book can be read alone. I certainly haven’t finished all the books in the series but followed this story just fine. There are callbacks to characters from other series, but other than giving a little warm buzz of seeing them happy in their lives, they aren’t critical to understanding the story.
If you’re looking for a quiet historical romance with chemistry (but otherwise closed door) and only minor angst, then I think this book will scratch that itch. It was a very pleasant few evenings of reading.
