The Winter Bride
3 Stars

A sweet romance with likable characters, but all of the conflicts are resolved too easily.

Freddy's easy-going charm and rakish reputation conceal an honest and truly caring man. Damaris sweet shyness masks her incredible strength of will and resilience. Their betrothal of convenience develops into a lovely slow-burn romance that is a joy to read.

Unfortunately, the rest of the storyline comprised of several secrets is rather mundane and lackluster. Whether it is the alienation between Freddy and his parents or Damaris's traumatic past, these secrets never live up to their full potential and come across more as filler than true plot points. The resolution of these threads feels very rushed and saccharine.

All in all, The Winter Bride isn't as engaging as the first book, but I am interested enough in the secondary characters to continue with the series. ( )

In The Autumn Bride, Abby helped her sister Jane escape from a brothel with two other girls, Damaris and Daisy. The four girls have been unofficially adopted by the elderly Lady Beatrice and have become a family, the Chance sisters. This is Damaris's story. She escaped from China, where her father was a missionary, and was sold to a London brothel, but escaped before servicing any clients. There's a big secret in Damaris's past, so she never wants to marry. Instead, she is working to save enough money to buy a cottage so that she can live a peaceful, solitary life. When Freddy Monckton-Coombs offers to buy her the cottage if she will pretend to be betrothed to him, she accepts against her better judgment.

I liked kind, witty, charming Freddy and strong, honest, dependable Demaris. They really deserved a happy ending. I thought this book was an improvement on The Autumn Bride, and enjoyed it. ( )

I liked this! Almost gets on the angst shelf but not quite. Some of my favorite elements. While they do not name it what it was, Damaris was raped, and Freddy is vengeful and protective, just like I like. 3.5 stars ( )

Anne Gracie rarely disappoints. This was another charming book. I liked both the hero and heroine. I did think that the hero's language switches styles without any real rhyme or reason. Sometimes he spoke in that buffleheaded regency style made popular by some of Georgette Heyer's heroes. See Sherry Sheringham in [b:Friday's Child|311178|Friday's Child|Georgette Heyer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320483880s/311178.jpg|2093216] (Great book BTW). Both the hero and the heroine were strong characters who had something bleak in their pasts which they thought kept them from deserving love. Together they were stronger. I loved how Freddy reacted to Damaris' secret. He was a real hero there. I totally enjoyed his lighthearted approach to life in face of his own secret. Damaris also showed herself a true heroine in her response to Freddy's parents. I did feel that since they didn't really change in the face of the scene at their home that their change of heart at the end was not believable. Loved seeing all the characters from the first book here and am looking forward to the next one. ( )

Very enjoyable, just not quite as good as The Autumn Bride. Damaris is an excellent romantic lead, with a mysterious past. Freddy, the other lead, displays and discovers new aspects of his personality. ( )