I adore Mac & Isabella, the story was alright, but I have this thing against the format wherein the romance happened ages ago and they're reconciling, or the reader is reading flashbacks. Well I've read at least one or two ones that were terrible.

This one does that better, and I understand why it is second, as it picks up just after Ian & Beth's book. I'll try to keep it simple. I enjoy their story, but perhaps it's just not as much as I like Cam & Ainsley's or Ian & Beth's stories.

I'll get around to the other books, but if you haven't read through the series and you don't like the flashback 'they were in love and fell out of it and are now falling back in love' thing then you might not like Hart's book so much. Although Eleanor is seriously awesome.

So to try to sum this up without comparing it to any of the other couples/books and in general: it was enjoyable to me and well-written, but there was something amiss that made it a teensy bit annoying. I've read this one twice-through also, but the second time I skipped around more in the reading.

Still worth the read if you liked the first book, and intend to go on to read the others in the series.

I really liked this, though not as much as the first book.

Here’s another dud in a string of them lately. I bailed after struggling to make it to 33% of the book.

This was a new author for me and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this wasn’t it. I didn’t know it was possible to publish a book with no story, plot, interest, or point! It was another one of those ridiculous tropes where the idiot husband goofed *years* ago and now suddenly after 6 years, he’s trying to get her back. Isabella plays hard to get (sort of) and Mac vows to charm her (but doesn’t). The *romantic* bits were cringeworthy and seemed forced and pointless. Their relationship is reminiscent of those people you know who should just be together but they cause unnecessary drama for all around them, making you want to knock their heads together and tell them to get together and be happy or to just shut up and break up already! If this sounds interesting and like your idea of a fun read, go for it, but I wants books with characters I enjoy - not ones that make me realize how glad I am that they’re not real!

A brilliant second chance romance with a married couple.
This invokes all the emotion imaginable. I loved the family dynamics. The relationship between Mac and his brother, Mac and Beth, Isabella and Beth and Isabella and the brother.

Isabella and Mac stole my heart both had hurdles to over come and both really did want to work on their relationship.

Mac really has to open himself up to Isabella, exposing the most emotional parts of himself and Isabella has to let herself trust again and learn to deal properly with the grief of her past.

I found both the characters and story to be engaging and I couldn’t put it down.
I have found a trend that I seen to like historical romances that also have a mystery to them.

This had me crying and laughing.

This series is magical and I can’t want to carry on.

⚠️ Trigger warning: Talk of Miscarriage and Alcohol abuse.

Jennifer Ashley is quickly becoming one of my favorite historical romance authors. I love this series and this family, can't wait to keep reading on in this series soon!

I seem to be in the minority on this book because I didn't particularly like Lady Isabella. The book portrays their marriage as failing because Mac was selfish and immature and Isabella, his saintly perfect wife, couldn't take it anymore. But it strikes me that she wasn't all that immature either. At one point in the book she says "He never thought to ask me what would make me happy, or what I needed from him. Mac did everything based on what he felt, never noticing what I felt." Yes, that is the selfish and made him a bad husband, but, at the same time, why is she waiting for him to ask. Why doesn't she TELL HIM what she wants? Why doesn't she TELL HIM what she feels? Most of the time she seems to communicate with him by passing notes through Ian. This makes her a pretty bad wife too. They were just too young when they married and neither one knew what they were doing. Mac's brother as constantly asking him if he 'fixed it yet' and telling him 'don't mess it up again' but he can't fix it by himself, Isabella needs to see how she played a part in their separation too.

And another thing, she doesn't seem very mature when he's trying to reconcile either. For a strong woman who has learned to get along without him she is very wishy-washy. One minute she's telling him to leave, then she's having sex with him, then she's telling him to leave again, then she crawling into his bed, then she screaming at him. The telenovella level drama was irritating after a while.

The subplot with the faux Mac was interesting but it kept getting overpowered by the relationship drama. It felt kind of like I was trying to watch an interesting show on tv with people arguing in front of the screen. I kind of wanted to tell them to go argue in the other room so I could watch the show. I guess that's why is book is in the romance genre and not the mystery genre.

Oh well, at least there's Mrs Holloway.

More like 4.5. What I loved best about the book is the history the two characters already share at the start of the novel. They are complex people, a heroine who loved her husband dearly but had to leave him if she didn't want to lose her sanity. We basically get the story of how they both come together again, and it's lovely. I may have teared up at the end (which doesn't happen very often in historical romances for me).

4.5 stars

A really enjoyable historical romance with a mystery unfolding throughout the story as well. Reminds me of the early titles in Stephanie Laurens' Cynster series. An engaging writing style that creates empathy for the character's perspectives, without too much introspection. A second-chance story of a married couple re-discovering each other.