Historical romance has never been my genre of choice, but when I came accross this book I was sucked in and wanted to read more, and I am very grateful that I took the plunge. I absolutely loved this book! I tend to find period novels stuffy and convoluted but shattered dreams was far from it. This story is about the true meaning of courage and what it meant to be different in a world when no differences were tolerated.
The Earl of Charfield is a wonderful example of a wonderfully rakish rogue who's world turns upside down when he meets the woman of his dreams. The true challenge will be convincing Lady Elyssa that she is every bit as perfect for him as he is for her.
There is a secondary love story wrapped into this wonderful novel that is every bit as sweet and readable as Brent and Elly's story, and it provides the premise for a good dose of suspense and intrigue in the mix.
An excerpt from Laura Landon's website
Their horses raced neck and neck. Brent moved Danza closer, determined to do whatever it took to protect her. He focused his gaze on the vision beside him and she looked at him. Their gazes locked and he was struck by the most remarkable sensation he’d ever experienced. Her face was more perfect than that of an angel. Her features more delicate. Her cheeks were a rosy-hued pink, flushed from the excitement of the race.
She pursed her lips to evidence her determination. But it was the color and shape of her eyes that speared through him. His breath caught and for just a fraction of a second, his heart skipped a beat. Her eyes were huge, big and round and colored a brown so dark they seemed black. Brent knew the excitement of the race had turned them dark and a certainty flashed through his mind that they would be this same color at the height of passion. Except, it wasn’t the size of her eyes or the rich color that caused him such hesitation, but the expression in them when she looked at him. She spoke to him with only a look. But she wasn’t sending him a message. Or a plea for help.She was daring him to race her.
She issued her challenge with a gleam in her eyes. Her confident expression defied him to ignore her.
“Bloody hell,” he may or may not have said out loud. He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that she seemed to know the instant he accepted her challenge because...
...she smiled.
Together they raced toward the hedge that blocked their path, the great and mighty Arabians enjoying the challenge of charging across the field together. Brent had never felt this great a sense of exhilaration in his entire life. He didn’t think his blood had ever rushed through his veins as fast or furiously as it was doing right now. Together, as one, the riders and their horses neared the hedge. Without hesitation, they took the initial leap that lifted their front legs from the ground. In the same breath their powerful rear legs gave a mighty push that propelled them through the air.
As one, they cleared the hedge.
Time stood still. It was as if he, the beautiful woman beside him, and the two magnificent horses beneath them were suspended in mid air. As if time halted and every exhilarating emotion he’d ever experienced came back to revisit, only a hundred times more intensely. And still he soared through the air, the height of excitement continuing to build within him.
Together their horses reached the apex of their jump, then held. For what seemed a thousand remarkable seconds they were frozen in time. Then, with a euphoric rush, they began their descent.
Their landing was smooth, almost as perfect a conclusion as the journey. Nothing could compare with what he’d just experienced.
The hedge was behind them now and ahead of them a thick grove of trees formed a barrier to the meadow clearing. He sensed the woman slow her horse and followed suit.
They both galloped a short distance farther, giving their horses a chance to recover their wind, then she stopped and he pulled alongside her.
She turned to him, her huge, dark eyes shining with excitement, her cheeks colored even deeper, her full lips open to give him the most exuberant smile he’d ever received. And she spoke, her voice so deep and rich he knew if he ever fell under her spell he’d be lost forever.
“That was marvelous!” she said with more unbridled enthusiasm than he’d heard from a woman in his whole life. “You were marvelous! Your horse was marvelous! Oh, I haven’t enjoyed anything so much in...forever!”
Brent stared at her in wide-eyed wonder and a rush of molten heat surged to every part of his body. He felt as if he’d been struck by something more powerful than lightning. She was without a doubt, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Being near her, listening to her voice, seeing the excitement in her eyes, drowning in such a wide, inviting smile, affected him like he’d never been affected before.
“I was marvelous?” he asked, unable to believe she’d complimented him. “You matched me stride for stride. You took that hedge as if it were nothing more than a bump across the road.”
He leaned back in his saddle and looked into her face. Never before had he met anyone who possessed such grace, such beauty, such daring. It was as if she were an extension of the horse beneath her. “That was the most expert horsemanship I’ve ever witnessed. Where did you learn to ride like that?”
She blessed him with another open smile. The laugh that followed sent him soaring through the heavens.
Brent thought of the one stipulation the Marquess of Fellingsworth had made – that Brent woo their recluse sister away from her knight in shining armor without breaking her heart.
He wanted to laugh. There wasn’t a chance in hell he could possibly be attracted to Fellingsworth’s sister. Or that he would allow her to become attracted to him.
Not when he’d just met the most perfect woman on earth.
