A review by jamesflint
Once a Fallen Lady by Eve Pendle
5.0
On my blog.
Galley provided by publisher
You know when you find a new favourite author and you immediately have to devour everything they’ve ever written? That was me last year, discovering Eve Pendle. As such, I’ve been waiting impatiently for this book ever since.
Once a Fallen Lady is about Lydia Taylor, a “widow”, who lives in a small village with her daughter Annie. When Annie falls ill, her teacher, Alfred Lowe, comes to help out, drawn to Lydia for reasons he doesn’t quite know. Alfred supports Lydia throughout Annie’s illness and they follow that usual romance trope of falling in love (complete with the slowburn).
Hands down the best part of Eve Pendle’s books is always the characters, and that’s no different here. Lydia is a single mother just wanting a good life for her child, after being cast out by her family, and Alfred is the complete opposite of the somewhat prevalent “alpha male dickhead” trope (not that that can’t be done well, it just gets tiring after a bit). All both of them are trying to do is their best, and I love them for it. I also love how, when Lydia rejects Alfred, he doesn’t push her into something she feels uncomfortable with. He’s always happy to let her set the boundaries (more of this in romances please).
And then there’s the slowburn! Granted, it’s sort of less of one here, because it’s a novella after all, but still. In that short time, Pendle succeeds in slowly ratcheting up the tension until you’re begging for them to get together. Which is, let’s be honest, pretty much the perfect sort of romance.
So, really, what I’m driving at here is that I desperately need you all to read this. Like, right now.
Galley provided by publisher
You know when you find a new favourite author and you immediately have to devour everything they’ve ever written? That was me last year, discovering Eve Pendle. As such, I’ve been waiting impatiently for this book ever since.
Once a Fallen Lady is about Lydia Taylor, a “widow”, who lives in a small village with her daughter Annie. When Annie falls ill, her teacher, Alfred Lowe, comes to help out, drawn to Lydia for reasons he doesn’t quite know. Alfred supports Lydia throughout Annie’s illness and they follow that usual romance trope of falling in love (complete with the slowburn).
Hands down the best part of Eve Pendle’s books is always the characters, and that’s no different here. Lydia is a single mother just wanting a good life for her child, after being cast out by her family, and Alfred is the complete opposite of the somewhat prevalent “alpha male dickhead” trope (not that that can’t be done well, it just gets tiring after a bit). All both of them are trying to do is their best, and I love them for it. I also love how, when Lydia rejects Alfred, he doesn’t push her into something she feels uncomfortable with. He’s always happy to let her set the boundaries (more of this in romances please).
And then there’s the slowburn! Granted, it’s sort of less of one here, because it’s a novella after all, but still. In that short time, Pendle succeeds in slowly ratcheting up the tension until you’re begging for them to get together. Which is, let’s be honest, pretty much the perfect sort of romance.
So, really, what I’m driving at here is that I desperately need you all to read this. Like, right now.