[KVA]≡ PDF Free After the Wedding The Worth Saga Volume 2 Courtney Milan 9781717220578 Books

After the Wedding The Worth Saga Volume 2 Courtney Milan 9781717220578 Books

Download As PDF : After the Wedding The Worth Saga Volume 2 Courtney Milan 9781717220578 Books

After the Wedding The Worth Saga Volume 2 Courtney Milan 9781717220578 Books

There are a half-dozen or more current authors who write good historical romance novels (Sarah MacLean, Eloisa James, Julia Quin, Lisa Kleypas, Loretta Chase, Elizabeth Burrowes, etc.). But, Courtney Milan takes the genre and makes it great.

What I loved:
1) The main characters are not "broken" and in need of love to set them right.
2) The main characters are diverse in many ways, and ...
3) their lives aren't awful because of their differences.
4) Their problems aren't because they made bad choices--sometimes there are no good choices.
5) They're not miserably unhappy.
6) They don't fix each other's problems--in solving their own, they make choices that bind them together.
7) While a duke and an earl are peripheral characters, the story centers around two "average" people.

That said, I found some things that may be an issue for some people:
1) Perhaps it was just me, but I felt as though a thread of sadness ran through the book. If you want a bubblegum historical fantasy to cheer you up before bed, this is not necessarily the book for you, despite the Happily Ever After ending.
2) While I personally appreciated the allusions to modern jokes (the "Nigerian money scam" scene was hilarious), I know not everyone likes those in their historicals.
3) The diversity of the main characters may be an issue for some people. Personally, I loved the new life Milan breathed into the genre, but there's no doubt that from the get-go, Milan is not pulling any punches in her depiction of the intersectionality of racism, microaggressions, fitting into different social classes, sexism, homophobia, and denying family because they don't fit into your worldview. I think it enriches the book, personally.


Tags : After the Wedding (The Worth Saga) (Volume 2) [Courtney Milan] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Adrian Hunter, the son of a duke's daughter and a black abolitionist, is determined to do whatever his family needs—even posing as a valet to gather information. But his mission spirals out of control when he’s accused of dastardly intentions and is forced to marry a woman he’s barely had time to flirt with. Camilla Worth has always dreamed of getting married,Courtney Milan,After the Wedding (The Worth Saga) (Volume 2),CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,1717220576,Arranged marriage,England - Social conditions - 19th century,Historical fiction,Man-woman relationships,Nobility - England,Romance fiction,FICTION Romance Historical General

After the Wedding The Worth Saga Volume 2 Courtney Milan 9781717220578 Books Reviews

So, this was definitely worth the wait.

Camilla and Adrian are perfection. This book is a little unusual because the conflicts the leads face isn’t because of massive secrets—rather they are refreshingly honest with one another. The romance itself is a slow burn, but it was lovely watching Camilla and Adrian’s relationship develop. And at its core, this is a book about hope. This bit just got me right in the feels “Hope is not weak. It takes courage to hope and hope and hope, when nothing comes out right. It takes strength to continue to believe that this time everything will come out right when it’s always gone wrong before.”

In many ways, this book feels more like the first in the series and the actual first book feels more like a prequel. There are so many interconnected, intricate plot lines that it could have been a complete mess. Thankfully, the author managed to set the stage for the rest of the series deftly, without overwhelming the central romance for this book.

I also really appreciated how the Camilla’s reuniting with her family was handled. There was clear love and joy, but the challenges they all faced after years apart in difficult circumstances wasn’t sugarcoated. Also, I love all the Worth siblings, but Theresa is my favorite. I know her story will be several books down the line, but I can’t wait.

Overall, an excellent book with a delightful set of characters. Also props to the author for having a historical romance set in England without an all-white cast.

*I received a copy of this book for free courtesy of Netgalley. I also purchased a copy*
Courtney Milan is a very good HR writer and she also has a great social conscience. Her active participation in the #MeToo movement is admirable, as is her stance on various social issues with regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. I'm with her all the way.

So that's great. I'm all for being open-minded, open-armed, and inclusive. I'm even trying to be open-minded and tolerant about all of that being inserted not very subtly into a romance novel. Here we have a taste of just about every social issue. (1) There's a biracial hero (mother white, father black) looking for acceptance in a white man's world; (2) There's a heroine who is bisexual (actually she seems merely to have dabbled in bisexuality, IMO) and who has fallen from upper-class status to now being a maid; (3) There are rich and powerful men of the church showing their true selfish, intolerant selves; (4) There's the eternal struggle of women to not be oppressed by men; (5) There are characters of various races and ethnicities and social levels to be found. And there's probably more but I got tired of looking for "woke" stuff and can't remember.

Somehow, it seems to me that an author truly wishing to deal with a social issue would be better off to choose one and develop it in depth, rather than giving the readers a superficial tasting menu of many. But the good part about all this is that it's all inserted into a mostly charming and romantic story. There are many humorous incidents, many romantic ones and many that tug at the heartstrings.

Camilla, the heroine (and perhaps my least favorite character) is the prodigal sister of the Worth family which was first introduced in ONCE UPON A MARQUESS. After the disgrace of their father, the Earl of Worth, she chose to leave the other siblings and live with their rich uncle. No longer with him, she's come down in the world and is struggling. She's also, strangely enough, hopeful, always hopeful, that some day she will be really, really loved, even though she feels she probably doesn't deserve to be.

All the while she internally and endlessly ruminates about this on page after page, I kept hearing Linda Ronstadt singing her 1970s cover to that 1960s Everley Brothers' song "When Will I Be Loved?" Yes, I know I'm dating myself with that mention, but to all you young'uns who don't know, the lyrics are "I've been cheated, been mistreated. When will I be loved? I've been put down, I've been pushed 'round. When will I be loved?" All this sung to a bouncy, upbeat (hopeful) melody.

Then there's lovely hero Adrian, son of a duke's daughter and a black abolitionist. He's one of 4 brothers. His 3 older brothers fought in the U.S. Civil War and two of them lost their lives. Adrian, as the youngest, stayed in England to help run the family pottery business. He feels a touch of survivor's guilt but manages to be an optimistic, sunny individual, eternally hoping for acceptance from his mother's upper-class white family and also waiting to meet his perfect soulmate, whom he will choose to marry (as his mother and father did).

He meets Camilla, who is working as a maid at the home of a rector, when he, posing as a valet, is sent by his uncle, a church bishop, to gather information on a rival church official. Just do this one last thing for me, says his uncle, and then I will really, really acknowledge you and your brother as part of our ducal family.

Naturally things aren't going to work as planned. Before Adrian has any success at gathering intel for his uncle, he and Camilla are set up to be found in a compromising situation and are forced at gunpoint to marry. And then they are sent in disgrace out of the rector's home. Obviously, Adrian, member of a well-to-do family, has somewhere to go so he takes his sort-of-wife Camilla with him, only until they can get an annulment. They can't stay married. They did not voluntarily choose each other.

He requests help from his bishop uncle for this annulment. But not so fast, says said uncle. You still don't have that info I sent you to gather. Get that and then we'll see. By now, you're getting the picture about what kind of guy this uncle is, right?

And so on and so forth. Camilla all hopeful to be chosen as someone worthy of love and not feeling worthy of love or the family she deserted. Adrian all hopeful about choosing that perfect person to love and also about being accepted by the family that disowned his mother. I got that. Huge desires to be loved and accepted.

Along the way to the HEA we readers are often entertained by various interesting, well-drawn secondary characters and little side stories. I'd go so far as to say this was often a charming, heartwarming tale, when it wasn't on that almost endless loop about hope, love, and acceptance. This is better than Worth Saga #1. That one was endlessly tedious and precious and for the birds.
There are a half-dozen or more current authors who write good historical romance novels (Sarah MacLean, Eloisa James, Julia Quin, Lisa Kleypas, Loretta Chase, Elizabeth Burrowes, etc.). But, Courtney Milan takes the genre and makes it great.

What I loved
1) The main characters are not "broken" and in need of love to set them right.
2) The main characters are diverse in many ways, and ...
3) their lives aren't awful because of their differences.
4) Their problems aren't because they made bad choices--sometimes there are no good choices.
5) They're not miserably unhappy.
6) They don't fix each other's problems--in solving their own, they make choices that bind them together.
7) While a duke and an earl are peripheral characters, the story centers around two "average" people.

That said, I found some things that may be an issue for some people
1) Perhaps it was just me, but I felt as though a thread of sadness ran through the book. If you want a bubblegum historical fantasy to cheer you up before bed, this is not necessarily the book for you, despite the Happily Ever After ending.
2) While I personally appreciated the allusions to modern jokes (the "Nigerian money scam" scene was hilarious), I know not everyone likes those in their historicals.
3) The diversity of the main characters may be an issue for some people. Personally, I loved the new life Milan breathed into the genre, but there's no doubt that from the get-go, Milan is not pulling any punches in her depiction of the intersectionality of racism, microaggressions, fitting into different social classes, sexism, homophobia, and denying family because they don't fit into your worldview. I think it enriches the book, personally.