I was a big fan of the Fox television show House during its original run so when I learned there was a regency romance inspired by the curmudgeonly doctor it immediately went on my TBR….and stayed there for like 3 years, lol.
Our heroine is Linnet Thrynne, the notoriously charming daughter of a Viscount who–through a series of complicated misunderstandings–finds herself agreeing to a marriage of convenience to Piers Yelvrton, Earl of Marchant, a reclusive, arrogant grumpy doctor who secludes himself in his castle-turned-hospital in Wales. The doctor, who (stop me if you heard this one) walks with a limp and thinks everyone is an idiot resists having Linnet in his home but soon falls hard for her charms.
This was a romantic, heartfelt and entertaining read that not only follows Linnet and Piers slow burn romance but also the stories of the others populating the dreary castle/hospital. Fans of the show House will have a lot of fun with the easter eggs.
This book came out in 2011 and it’s got a couple of those egregious racist metaphors that show up in historical romance. The heroine is not only compared to a gypsy but also an Indian slave girl more times than seems necessary.
Susan Duerden is fantastic as the narrator, I think Piers’s sardonic tone is hard to pick up in writing and Duerden absolutely nails it in her performance.
*spoiler* I feel like I should warn that there is an epidemic in this book–IDK, those always feel like jump scare after living through a global pandemic.
