FIVE STARS
This book tore my heart out. Christian, Duke of Jervaulx, was wealthy, a bit of a rake, and a brilliant mathematician until a stroke took away his ability to communicate and left his right hand impaired. That was sad unto itself to see this vivacious, active man diminished to a child-like state and committed to an asylum by his family. They didn’t understand what had happened to him and didn’t really care to give him viable help. They just wanted his money.
Maddy Timms is the daughter of a fellow mathematician who works with Jervaulx. Her father is blind so relies on Maddy for taking notes and often sends her to Jervaulx home with messages and has her wait for responses. It sometimes takes hours and she finds the duke to be thoughtless, making her wait all that time. But what sets her apart from the rest is that she’s a Quaker. She’s not to mingle with the worldly ones let alone develop any sort of friendship with one.
When she takes over a position in a home for the mentally ill with her cousin, she takes over his care. His “keeper’ is an ignorant brute and Christian hates him. Maddy sees that Christian isn’t mad and seems to understand that his brain isn’t functioning properly. She sees what everybody else fails to see.
I’ve never read such a mismatched pair. They had nothing in common. He’s a man of the world. She’s a Puritan. He’s wealthy. She keeps everything as simple as possible, believing any sort of frivolity is a sin. He’s filled with angst and frustration. She is, too, but for different reasons. She’s torn between two worlds. She wants to help him in any way she can, but just how far will she go?
This book is filled with angst, heartbreak, and surprises. I have to admit that I had trouble getting into it at first because there was so much math (apparently, the author is a brilliant mathematician, too) and I was lost. Math is not my thing, but it was important to the story. I also have to hand it to the author for Maddy’s dialogue and keeping it all straight. Thee, thy, thou, art, etc. It took some getting used to, but was so part of her character and kept her pious when Jervaulx was a sinner, if not the devil himself. I also loved how the author got inside Christian’s mind and allowed the readers to see what he was thinking, but couldn’t say.
I got choked up a few times, laughed a few times, and shared Christian’s frustrations with trying to recapture what he’d lost. I wasn’t sure how this was all going to come together and was glad to get that happily ever after.
There were some steamy love scenes, a heck of a plot, and some awesome story development that earned this an easy five stars.
Purchase at your favorite online bookstore.
Hanging out with Kristi 