FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and JustRead Tours. These are my honest thoughts.
How do I even begin?
I was a little nervous going in to this one. See, I’d only read a couple of westerns by Mrs. Vetsch. Sometimes the quality of books, the attention to detail, lags a bit in the first book exploring a new genre for an author. Rest assured, my friends, that was not at all the case with this author. This Regency era novel perfectly captured the time period, including the settings, costumes, and the hierarchy of the British nobility.
The people populating this fictional world Mrs. Vetsch created were fantastic, even those I found rightfully abhorrent. From the leads (Diana and Evan) to the supporting characters (Louisa, Shand, Marcus, Cian, and Beth) to the antagonists (who I’ll keep secret for you to discover for yourself), they each brought something important and unique to the story. Because their personalities popped off the page so well, I was completely engrossed in their journeys, good and bad and every twist and turn in between. Of course, the hope for certain somebodies to find their fictional comeuppance kept me flipping those virtual pages quickly. But it was the hope strung throughout that kept my heart so intimately connected to the journey of the leads to the very end.
Newlyweds’ stories are typically tough for me to read, because often they come with details I’d rather not read about. Not so, my friends! Mrs. Vetsch perfectly handled the newlywed angle, steering clear of the intimacies yet creating such wonderful empathy that those moments that found the newlyweds quite alone became some of my favorites for how special and sweet they were. This book is definitely a newlyweds-done-right story that hit the sweet spot my clean-romance-loving heart craves so much.
Okay, may I just say that the war horses were amazing? Happy sigh! I adored how the author used these precious steeds. I wish I could say more, but this portion of the story is definitely best discovered on one’s own. Check out the book to see just how amazing these horses were.
The timing of reading about these horses was perfect too, because I just finished reading Joey by Jennifer Marshall Bleakley, which was about a blind horse that became a therapy equine. What an emotional book! If you have the opportunity, go ahead and read that book right before or after The Lost Lieutenant. I believe these books pair up well, even though they’re set in vastly different eras.
Content: alcohol, gambling