Harbinger of Books

Lady Joanna Ware is the widow of Lord David Ware and she has decided she would never marry again. Not because of a great love affair but because of her unhappy marriage, even before his death she had been estranged from David for five years. Yet she is still the darling of the Ton whom everyone adores as she adores them, at least that is until she meets Lord Alexander Grant. Grant was her errant husband’s best friend and is disturbed by Joanna. David had tainted Joanna’s reputation by speaking ill of her not to mention Grant hates the Ton, the very society that Joanne has embraced. From the first moment they meet Alex & Joanna disagree and are often unable to be civil towards each other, but David has thrown them a curve ball from beyond the grave. David has fathered a child and abandoned her somewhere near the North Pole; he had complicated matters by naming them both guardians.

If you are looking for a really great historical romance novel this is it. The book does not take place in one location, the first half of the book is in London and the second half is at sea as they travel to the North Pole. I really loved this couple, Joanna is a strong woman but she has been dealt a lot of blows and she has tremendous courage. David was a well known philanderer and was known to engage in frequent affairs outside of their marital bed, the list seemed quite long and even included her best friend Lottie. Not to mention if Joanna was to raise the orphaned child she could easily loose her social status. I liked how she handled matters always attempting to hold her head high and she remained quite calm and sweet. Grant is also an intriguing hero, he is very loyal and stubborn, I found it interesting to watch him come to terms with all of who David was. At the onset Grant think Joanna frivolous, yet despite all his friends allegations, Grant had trouble reconciling what he saw in Joanna vs. what he thought he knew. The setting on sea was perfect and gave a glimpse into what life for an expedition must be like. The writing really gives the book life, I easily believed these two were falling in love with each other even if they had intended otherwise. All and all a very pleasurable read, and was quite sad it ended.