I have gotten away from reading Regency-set romance novels over the past several years as mostly they involve an older noble hero, a young and dewy heroine who is sheltered and coddled and everyone is very, very white.
Notorious has a hero-Gabe nee Jabril- is in his twenties and is half Arab. The heroine, Drusilla, is slightly older than the usual 18 year old girl and longs to improve the lots of women and poor people.
The drawback of this books is that it includes one of my least favorite romance tropes--the forced marriage. Why is this still a thing?
Thankfully, Drusilla has been attracted to Gabe since she first met him so there's no ickiness there.
Gabe is given a significant amount of back story that really contributes to the overall story arc as he and Drusilla learn to trust and love each other. This is the first book in a series, the follow up unfortunately does have all of the things listed above that have caused me to stop reading Regency romance for the most part.
Notorious has a hero-Gabe nee Jabril- is in his twenties and is half Arab. The heroine, Drusilla, is slightly older than the usual 18 year old girl and longs to improve the lots of women and poor people.
The drawback of this books is that it includes one of my least favorite romance tropes--the forced marriage. Why is this still a thing?
Thankfully, Drusilla has been attracted to Gabe since she first met him so there's no ickiness there.
Gabe is given a significant amount of back story that really contributes to the overall story arc as he and Drusilla learn to trust and love each other. This is the first book in a series, the follow up unfortunately does have all of the things listed above that have caused me to stop reading Regency romance for the most part.