Review: Daniel’s True Desire (True Gentlemen #2)
Historical Romance
Released: November 3, 2015
Sourcebooks Casablanca
Reviewed by Sheena
Daniel Banks is a man of the cloth whose vocation is the last comfort he has left–and even his churchman’s collar is beginning to feel like a noose. In an attempt to start his life over, Daniel accepts the post of vicar in Haddondale, a position supported by the Earl of Haddonfield. There Daniel meets Lady Kirsten Haddonfield, to whom life has also dealt multiple unkind blows. Daniel’s interest is piqued by Kirsten’s unsentimental attitude toward her misfortunes, and by the kind-heartedness the lady keeps well hidden. Kirsten is much taken with Mr. Banks and his genuine compassion for others, despite his own troubles. When Providence intervenes, and Daniel and Kirsten can become engaged, their happiness seems complete…. though every garden has at least one nasty, sly, determined serpent.
Favorite Quote: “All boys throw their porridge from time to time.”
I am no lover of shrews. Few things turn me off faster than a shrew-like character and my opinion usually tanks when a shrew is clamoring about. However, I am a lover of romance and I do not like when my hero is embroiled in an affair of any capacity, emotional, sexual, spiritual, you name it, I nix it! Daniel is a man of the cloth, married to possibly the biggest shrew ever fictionalized and finds himself in a rather discreet affair with the lady Kirsten who makes her intentions clear. Hey, I get it, it’s the sign o’ the times; divorce given his vocation is too salacious to survive and an annulment is still scandalous enough to cost him his post. But there is still something tawdry and repulsive at watching the heroine come on to him so strong, knowing he is a married man (even an unhappily married man is off limits in my fictional HEA driven world).
“I’ve told myself that friendship with you is not a consolation.” Daniel said, “but rather a miracle and we are friends. Nonetheless, you are lovely and dear, and I would not bring further unhappiness to you for anything.”
Kirsten straightened, lest she start bawling against his knee. “Any more of your well-intended rejection, sir, and I’ll be climbing into your lap for consolation.”
“Is your wife faithful to her vows?” she asked…
Ehh, down girl! Not exactly the kind of pillow talk I like between my married (though estranged) hero and his star-crossed mistress.
Once I was able to put my distaste for the premise of their relationship up on a shelf and get into the novel, I discovered that I have been missing out. Sorely. I love historical fiction and this is my first Grace Burrows read. It is witty and interesting and authentic in a way that I admire. All this is in direct opposition to me wishing Daniel was a widow or something or actually divorced or at least not reminding me every few pages of his inability to act upon his base desires even if it means being free in a way that he has only dreamed of. Daniel is a simple man. A good and nice man, hostage in an unhappy marriage with an estranged wife and he wants to start over. And I want him to. I root for him, but I just can’t shake how skanky (for the times) Kirsten came across. She was certainly no lady who thrived off the London match making seasons. She was a firecracker, and I like fire crackers! But her character was a little too sparking. I was turned off at how hands on she was regarding Daniels marriage dissolution. It started to smell a little desperate to me and I often wanted to tell her to relax, sit on a cushion and let the man handle his own affairs!
Though I didn’t connect with her too closely, I can appreciate that Kristen was very much her own woman and very cognizant of what she wanted. No stranger to courtship and being engaged to marry, she has trounced her past matches and is nearly set to embrace life as a spinster, however, fate intervenes, and she sets her sights on shy, kind hearted and easily blushing and ruffled Daniel. From there on, it’s on! Kirsten enters his life like a storm and he is the little dingy being tossed about. He survives her and falls in love with her and the internal struggle he has with his faith, his vocation and his heart’s desire pulled my heart strings to breaking. The author writes him masterfully and I sympathized with dear Daniel! I usually like my heroes to be more alpha, but he was a nice departure. Warm and safe and I had a healthy respect for his plight. Admittedly, I was skeptical regarding just how this could have an HEA I can get behind. Estranged spouse pilfering does not exactly engender the warm and fuzzy feels I get high off of when enjoying my sweeping and dramatic historical tales. Would Burrows pull it off? Spoiler alert, she does. The resolution to their main obstacle, getting together in an era where divorce is damn near heretical, was nicely done. The discomfort I experienced while watching Kirsten throw her self practically at Daniel was worth the final pay off. The twist at the end is one of my favorite surprise! plot devices and I was grinning by the end of the novel. I suppose the road traveled was not as important as the destination in this instance. The road was bumpy and a little uncomfortable at times, but my is the view amazing when you get there! Grace Burrows has about 189 books and I am anxious to read them. All. One day. Soon.
Grade: B-
Goodreads I Author’s Info I Series
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