My March local reading group selection. I haven’t read a Laura Kinsale novel in years. She hasn’t written one in years either. Her book Flowers from the Storm was one of my favorite reads back before I overdosed on long, angsty, historical romance novels. I’ve taken a very long break from historical romance but I think I’m ready to slowly delve back in with this here book.

Lady Callista Taillefaire (Callie) is cute and has a tremendous fortune but because she is painfully shy she’s been left at the altar three times. She has always had a problem making chit chat with men and now at 27 she has given up on marriage and is content to remain a wallflower, move in with her younger sister and continue her quiet life contentedly breeding her prized bulls. As she’s doing her best to disappear into the woodwork at a society event in walks her childhood friend/crush Trevelyan Davis D’Augustin (I’m calling him Trev from here on out) who she hasn’t seen since they were young teens and her father scared him away. He’s been off in Paris attempting to secure the family dynasty (or at least that’s what he wants people to believe) and has grown up to be quite the hunk. When she sees him she tries even harder to disappear but it doesn’t work. He spots her and immediately heads straight her way and sets her heart all a-flutter with his charm. She is surprised that she can still talk to him without struggling to find the right words now that he’s all grown up. He’s come home to nurse his mom who is dying and Callie offers up her assistance once she learns about the dire situation.

When they were teens Callie took French lessons with Trev’s mom. Callie and Trev were on their way to becoming way more than friends when her dad put an end to it. No daughter of his was going to be soiled by the likes of Trev. Now that he’s back all wealthy and sexy Trev appears to want to pick things up right where he left off so many years ago. Will she be able to resist? Seriously, did I just ask that question?

Anyway, this book is pretty charming so far as I’ve read. It’s fluffy and light with likable characters and witty dialogue and it is not annoying or boring me. I’m actually disappointed whenever I have to put the book down to get back to reality. In the beginning it’s a somewhat slow moving book focusing in on its characters instead of a rip-roaring adventure or crazy-ass subplots (though we get a few of those later on). It may not be for everyone but it’s working for me. I can see that even though Trev has a shady past that is following him and that he is probably going to keep secrets for far, far too long, he really is a big softie when it comes to making Callie happy. And Callie deserves happiness. She’s a likable heroine, with a sly sense of humor who enjoys nothing more than working on the farm and caring for her bulls. Actually, her love for one of her bulls nearly brought me to tears a time or two. Trev’s arrival changes everything up and Callie soon realizes just how much she missed having her adventurous trouble-prone hunky best friend around.

I was sorry to see this book come to an end and I don’t say that kind of thing often being the crab that I am. Trev and Callie were fabulous together; two truly likable characters that were meant to be together despite all of the obstacles and everything the ton had to say. There were moments when they mistrusted each others true feelings and where they withheld things that should have been said. Trev was also hot-heated and impulsive but these things didn’t annoy me as they usually do because you get to know them both so well that their faults, doubts and insecurities are understandable and forgivable. If I didn’t have such a huge and forever growing tbr pile this book would definitely be reread often. I may even dig out another historical romance from the pile soon.