Red Hot Books
Anyone in the mood for a virgin blacksmith hero? Do I really need to ask??
Kristen Callihan delivers again with this novella installment in her Darkest London series. If you don’t already read her books, don’t worry. This works 100% as a standalone. (But the series is so great, I tell you without reservation… go read it now.) This story only ties with the other books by the slenderest of threads.
More than anything this is a Cyrano story. Aidan has been betrothed to a woman he has never seen and has no desire to marry. (I think he is gay, but he never comes out and says so.) He does take his family name seriously, though, and does not want to go back on his father’s word. So he resigns himself to going forward with the wedding. When his betrothed sends him a letter, his inability to read and write prompts him to ask his brother Eamon to write to her on his behalf.
Eamon thinks it’s crazy for his brother to marry a stranger, so he starts the letters out with the intention of driving the girl away. However, he ends up falling for her after writing back and forth for years. She falls for him, too, only she thinks it is Aiden she is forming a relationship with. So when it’s time for her to finally go forward with the marriage, she travels to meet her betrothed and finds a man nothing like she expected.
The story is short and I don’t want to give away all the twists and turns. I will say, though, that it may be humanly impossible not to love Eamon, at least a little bit. He is such a good man. Quiet. Strong. His size and unusual gifts have made him a bit of an outcast and his red hair had his father convinced he was the devil’s spawn. But he loves Lu so much. He is so sweet with her. And he saved himself for her, even when he thought she could never be his. (*swoon*)
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I especially liked that Kristen Callihan actually allowed Eamon to be so awkward on the wedding night! The story is sweet and sexy and moved quickly. I only wish there had been more.
Rating: B+