The second novel in the Worth saga.
Plot: Camille’s father and brother betrayed the British Crown and paid for it with their lives. She chose comfort over keeping what was left of her family, and paid for it by never being loved again. In fact, while they’ve had each other, she’s lost more and more and more of the life of her youth, until it felt more like a dream than a memory. She’s working for half-wages in the middle of nowhere, constantly on the edge of panic, and desperately lonely when she meets Adrian Hunter, terrible valet and terribly handsome and also the secret nephew of a Duke and bishop here to spy on her employer. Shenanigans ensue.
I read this book last year and forgot to review it somehow (also having missed the first in the series and the novella) so I decided to read it again and strangely, it didn’t capture me as much as it had the first time. It really struck me how even if I feel like the same person, just being in a different space or a different mood can really affect how you connect with a story.
I think part of the issue is the obvious theme Milan is going for with this series that I had been entirely oblivious to on my first read. Judith, Daisy and Camille have survived on little more than perseverance powered by hope. That’s a timely message if there ever was one, but the same one over and over gets a little stale, and it’s such a big part of each story. Especially with how much time Camille spends trapped in her own head, where the repeating soundtrack of wanting someone to love her and knowing she didn’t deserve it became so tedious I had a hard time buying our hero falling for it. What I’m saying is, don’t binge all three. Give them some air between. You’ll enjoy them a lot more that way.