Mei's Reviews > The Winter Bride

If I appreciated Lady Beatrice in the previous book of the series, here I'm adding another character: Freddy!

His fear of muffins and marriage is hilarious! He would do anything to avoid them! But fate has other plans for him... *wink*

Damaris, one of the Chance sisters is an orphan who has some very traumatic events in her young life. She's always calm and in control, but behind this apparence a fear of rejection and abandonment is lurking.

Both Damaris and Freddy are plagued by guilt, but they cover them differently. Freddy posing as an empty headed dandy, Damaris as a perfect young lady.

Fate, or better Max, force them in close contact, and both cannot excape the attraction that slowly builds between them.

Here too the romance is slow building, but very sweet.

Damaris fights it because she's afraid of the repercutions her past (all very real and tragic) will have if it comes in the open.

Freddy fights it because he feels that he doesn't deserve happyness.

Still it is Freddy that capitulates first and the way he woos Damaris is fantastic! His playfulness while fighting her fears is just what Damaris needs. I laughed at the twist he gave to some Biblical stories and the convoluted route he took to bring Damaris to surrender. It was really, really excellent!

It is also important to remark that both of them are very strong characters. Freddy, when freed of his guilt is ready to do anything to make Damaris love him; Damaris' , when confronted with Freddy's parents disdain, impassioned defence of Freddy's character! What a wonderful scene! I wanted to applaud her!

Also, like a cherry on top, Lady Beatrice is present here too and it was wonderful finding her in such a great shape!

I'm looking forward to reading the next books in this series and I hope both Lady Beatrice and Freddy will be present in them! I also hope for more characters like them to enliven them. I think Patrick Flynn, the "Pirate" with his gold earring! ;)