Grace Burrowes has a really leisurely way of developing a story, so her books are not exacting fast-moving. But if you are in the mood for a nice long read(over 400 pages!) that you can sink your teeth into, then that's the time to pick up this book. It was a lovely story and her characters are all such nice people. No rakes!

Someone is trying to harm the H&H and sabotage their homes (they are neighbors), and at times I confess I was impatient to see what would happen next, so I skipped ahead a bit, but then I went back and read every page because it is well-written, and she does a great job developing atmosphere and settings and sensuality. I noticed even more than in the first 2 books of the series, the focus on male friendships. There are a lot of scenes with just the hero and his brothers and good buddies hanging out together, talking, working, eating, and even skinny-dipping! You have to suspend disbelief as to whether 19th century British aristocrats were really such sensitive, touchy-feely, New Age guys, but who cares, they are all so hunky and lovable! And it was great the way they all protected Ellen and Valentine and helped them solve the mystery of who was trying to harm them and then get rid of the bad guy.
I liked the heroine OK, but I loved Val! I thought Ellen hid her secrets for too long. And the author outdid even her previous books with lengthy erotic love scenes.

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I enjoyed the first two books of the series and I really liked Valentine in the other books. But this book was just painful to read. Absolutely hated it. Ellen was the dumbest women in the world, her big secret and guilt over what happened was so contrived. It was a really boring book on top of that. There was so much she could have done with Valentine's problem but it just ends up with him being whinny. Such a disappointment.

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The Virtuoso was faster-paced than the two previous installments of this series. The characters were relatable and their interest and attraction to each other made sense. I loved the "heathen" and the entertaining dialogue between all the characters.

That being said, this story, like the others in the series, had the main conflict being secrets that seemed unnecessary to keep. I understood initially why Val didn't want to disclose his station and parentage, but eventually it seemed rather silly. Ellen's secret did make more sense, but once they were deeply involved, her secrecy also seemed irrational especially since it was clear that nobody trusted the villain in the story.

As with The Soldier, this book also contained pointless references to the heroine's menses and way too many scenes of men being naked together. Even in today's society, where things are considerably more permissive, men rarely wash each other unless they're in a relationship. Burrowes' need to include scenes like that in every book is just kind of weird. I'm glad her male characters have deep and loving friendships, I just find the frequency of men being naked and rubbing each other a bit out of place in a book about a male and female romance.

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Ugh. It was almost better to watch my nails dry than complete this one.


This one was a tough one for me to get through. About halfway through the story I wanted to quit but I kept reading because I was determined to finish it. But then, it started grasping my attention more toward the end. I really, really liked the ending. I just wish the beginning of the book had been as good. As always, Grace Burrowes writes superbly. The characters were likable and believable. The heroine was a bit of a tart, but it's understandable I suppose since she was widowed for 5 years. The hero was sexier in other books (in my humble opinion).

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