Third Son’s A Charm by Shana Galen

Ewan Mostyn has only ever felt useful in the midst of war, where he served with a sort of gentlemen’s special ops team. With the war over he is just a disowned third son working as a bouncer, that is until a desperate duke hires him to keep his daughter Lorraine away from her beloved– who happens to be Mostyn’s smooth talking cousin.

Third Son’s A Charm is an energetic battle of the wills as Lorraine and Ewan try to make it through the London Season, from dawn to dusk from operas to balls.

Ewan is more than happy to keep his cousin from Lady Lorraine, because he’s still carrying the emotional scars from when he was bullied and kicked out of school for his reading disability that we now know is dyslexia. But you know people back in the day were ready to ostracize and torture anyone who was different.

Let’s face it when it comes to historical romance we are buying into a fantasy version of the past, a lot of the times we don’t always talk about the unfortunate and complicated (so complicated) ideas of that time period. I do however wonder if it’s easier for romance writers to re-litigate how those who had disabilities were historically treated. I think dipping into this pushes back the veil just a little on the fantasy historical world. I also appreciate that Ewan doesn’t need to be “fixed” to get his HEA.

Lorraine is a plucky heroine and I liked her tenacity. She’s extroverted, energetic and isn’t afraid to talk about her curiosity in the opposite sex. Lorraine also has a bit of anomaly when it comes to parents. In Regency romance, with all the inheriting and entailing, often the parents are either dead or the mom’s super marriage minded or there is a jerk dad but Lorraine’s parents were in a loving relationship and are working to build their broken marriage.

A delightful and surprising read. If you think historical that takes place in the ballroom aren’t for you think again. This is how you do a ballroom !

Okay, so this book opened my eyes to how little I know about the Napoleonic War. Like I was seriously head-scratching at all of the countries and locations that were involved. I need some background. Does Dan Carlin have an episode ? (I promise I’ll stop referencing Podcast in my post.)

For some reason the name Lorraine really stuck out to me. It’s not a Regency name you hear that often.