4+ starsStill reeling from finishing the book... not quite ready to do a full review on it yet. I'm so overwhelmed with the story and emotion, I can't possibly do a review justice. This is such a bittersweet story - lovely, horrible, joyful, sad, tragic, hopeful.... such a gambit of emotion! A sort of Romeo-Juliet story, but one that shows the lovers through the years and how the tradition of the day affected what they did and how they reacted. Makes me think that perhaps Romeo and Juliet had the right idea, after all, even if it didn't work so well for them. I'm so very happy that these "traditions" have changed for most of the world. While there might be something to be said about arranged marriages versus "love matches", one can't deny that, despite the heartache and heartbreak a love match might bring with it, no one wants to be trapped in a loveless marriage with a cruel, despotic husband.I'm quite happy about how the book ends for Lady Emily and Colin. Hard to tell whether the author had this in mind for this book or a future book, but I suspect that Lady Emily fans put some pressure on.Colin is part of the book, but he seems to fade into the background a bit. Wonder if this is a trend going forward? I realize that, especially in this book, he & Lady Emily were working together, just dividing the work with each going his or her own way during the day. But... I missed some of the warmth of their time together, when they had it; the descriptions were just too short. I also realize that this author's take on romance is to leave a lot private and appeal to the readers' imaginations, which I don't disagree with. It's her style and she's consistent - hasn't given in to, what I'm sure, has been a lot of pressure to be more descriptive in the love scenes. I just felt as if the past 2-3 books, while Colin and Emily were together in the same city, they were rarely together in person.More later...
