Can a return back home make forget the past?

Synopsis

A Victorian enemies to lovers, forced proximity romance

Lady Wilhelmina, once the darling of the ton, fled England in shame after jilting her fiancé. Following a decade in disgrace, Mina’s returning to Society’s ballrooms on a luxury steamship…and encounters her ex-fiancé’s distractingly handsome cousin, Max Cavendish—her once friend, now enemy!

Max’s guard is up, yet being in close quarters with Mina sparks a wave of dangerous attraction that makes him want to discover the truth behind the scandal. Wealthy engineer Max is used to being in command of his world and his emotions, but his complicated feelings for Mina are making him feel decidedly out of control…

My review

It has been ten years since Lady Wilhelmina fled England after a scandal where she broke up with her fiancé. Now Mina is returning back home, to help out Septimus Cavendish, an opera impresario, and his latest protégée to welcome in Society. It took some courage from Mina’s part to decide to return home, especially as on the steamship bringing her back to England, she meets Max Cavendish… Max who is her former fiancé’s cousin and after the scandal has turned into Mina’s enemy. Max is not as forgiving as his Uncle Septimus and is not letting his guard down. But as Mina is working for Septimus and you cannot really hide on a steamship, the close encounters make Max want to discover what happened ten years ago. Max is used to be always in control, as he must as an engineer, but Mina’s behaviour, makes him feel more out of control as he has ever felt. And the mixed feelings he has for Mina for sure doesn’t make things easier…

I am always curious reading books where the main character(s) return home after a scandal. First of all, I want to know more about the scandal itself. And is the scandal the actual truth or is there a secret ready to be uncovered? And how will that main character be welcomed back? Will the grudges of the past be forgotten, or did it hurt too much and there is still resentment?

Of course, as the book is set in the Victorian era, we also know that Society will love the return of Mina, not because everyone is happy to see her back, but they now have a new subject to be gossiping about.

Even if at the start of the book, I didn’t know what happened ten years ago with Mina, I found it courageous of her, returning back home, the place where she hurt so many people. And the place where she knows people will start gossiping. I don’t know if I would or could be that brave!

It is also to her credit that she agrees to take Septimus’s protégée, Eliza Serena, under her wing. Mina knows how to charm people, on an innocent level of course, and has a connection with Eliza and just want Eliza to be more self-confident.

We also see that those ten years have matured Mina. She is now a grown woman, who knows what she wants, and stands her ground. She doesn’t let people walk over her anymore, and when people somehow take advantage of her kindness, she is not afraid to refuse to play along.

Yet we also see some vulnerability in her. She knows what she is doing when accepting her task from Septimus, but she has also some trepidation as she knows that she must face the people that she hurt ten years ago…

And that means awkward meeting with Max…

I have to admit, Max doesn’t make the best of first impressions. I could understand his initial coldness towards Mina, but I also thought that ten years have passed, isn’t it time to let go of the past?

His behaviour can even be called rude towards Mina, but it’s also a mixed behaviour. There are moments where he acts like he has been the actual hurt party years ago. And then there are moments where he seemingly cannot resist Mina. Talking about confusing!

But and I have to admit this, he has also a very gentle and kind side. We see this especially on the steamship when he meets a young girl, Anne Seymour Garfunkel. A girl that is perhaps peculiar and with interests that you wouldn’t link with young girls.

And it is with Anne that we see the real Max. A person that doesn’t always perse judge people, but accept them as they are. Max is with Anne a person that finds somehow a kindred spirit in curiosity and he goes his ways to make this girl’s day on the ship.

Of course, the whole story doesn’t take place on the steamship, because eventually the whole party arrives in England, and there do all the pieces of the puzzle slowly fall into place.

When Mina’s truth came out, the real reason of the scandal, my heart broke for her. It is not a secret how things worked in the Victorian era, but it saddened me reading how Mina had to pay the price for the mistakes of her own family…

And, what made my heart melt a little bit, was discovering the depth of Max, and what he has been hiding too, for many many years…

The same can also be said about Mina, because in this book we also discover what love truly is. And how we may think that we have found the real thing, to only realize over time that in fact, the real thing still has to cross our paths, or has, but in an unexpected way.

I absolutely enjoyed reading this story, about strong characters, with having the determination to protect themselves but also their loved ones. And while there may be some clashing between the main characters, we also see how the truth can set you free, and how the truth can give you what you wanted the most, but afraid to admit. Plus, we see the growth of characters, how time can change a person, but not change its persona. We all mature over time and get better insights of what happened in the past and better insights of what our heart truly wants.

Giveaway time!

Giveaway to Win an e-copy of The Scandalous Lady Mina by Lara Temple (Open INT)

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https://gleam.io/kAW5B/win-an-e-copy-of-the-scandalous-lady-mina-by-lara-temple-open-int