fishgirl182

This is my first read by Delilah Marvelle. I thought it would be a good primer for the first full length book in the series, which I recently purchased. Unfortunately this novella was just OK for me. It did not feel like this novella had a complete beginning, middle, or end. Rather, if feels like we’re dropped right into the middle of things with no back story to make sense of it all. There is little romance in the story. By the time the novella starts, Wentworth is already in love with Augustina and is looking to propose marriage. The hows and whys of it are never explained and I never really understood why he was in love with her. Later on, Augustine admits to herself that she is also in love with Wentworth but again, it seems to happen very suddenly and without any reason. I wish I could say that the sexy times made up for the lack of romance but there wasn’t a lot of that either. The love scene seemed more rushed than anything. Even the ending is somewhat unsatisfactory and the fate of Augustine’s brother remains a mystery. While I think the story had potential, it just wasn’t developed enough. I didn’t feel an emotional connection with the characters and was never fully invested in their fate. I am still going to read the first book in the series (because I have it) and I hope that the format of a full length novel will eliminate some of the problems I had with this short story.