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Book Review

Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale

I don't normally review Kinsale's books because I think they are just too perfectly written for my meager attempts at review, but then that's not fair, is it? So, I'll attempt to put my admiration for this book into words...
Jervaulx, the hero of this book, is as flawed and perfectly loveable as all Kinsale's heroes tend to be. And Maddy, our prim and proper heroine, is the typical Victorian miss -- except for her strong spiritual sense and her impressive reserve of courage and integrity.

She is truly an inspirational heroine, in her quiet, unassuming way.

One of the things I like best about Kinsale's couples is that the sense of belonging is right there, from the very first meeting. The conflict is most definitely there, but that irrepressible down-deep knowledge and acceptance of the other exists for the heroine and hero both. This is what really makes a romance novel click for me - the ultimate truth of the "rightness" of the relationship, despite all the things that are telling the hero and heroine that it must be "wrong".

Of course, the dialogue, the narration and the plot are very smooth. Just as one would expect from Kinsale, the characters are intense and very real.

I've read this one four times so far, which means the cover is about destroyed, and I'm going to get another copy very soon.

Highly recommend for all admirers of romance.