The Winds of Change
Series: Lords of Sussex #3
Author: Lillian Marek
Published May 25th 2021 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.

Goodreads Synopsis
She is rooted in the traditions of the past. He envisions a different future.

Lady Clara Grammont, daughter of an earl and niece of a duke, has the world at her feet, or so it must seem to those looking on. However, she is bored by the gloss and gossip of polite society. She is tired of gentlemen who see nothing but her status and her dowry and expect her to be charmed by their posturing.

John Smith is the orphaned son of a poor shopkeeper. He has grown wealthy through his own efforts and is now committed to bringing England into a new age. He can see the enormous benefits that railways can bring, transporting goods cheaply and enabling people to travel quickly. He despises the idle aristocrats who will stand in the way of progress to protect a fox hunt, but he needs approval from Parliament to build the railway. And he needs the support of Lady Clara's uncle, the powerful Duke of Ashleigh, to get that approval.

Lady Clara is intrigued by the idea of a railway. To the distress of her family, she is even more intrigued by John Smith. He, in turn, finds himself far too attracted by Lady Clara and is in danger of losing sight of his reason for meeting her. Then, the powerful forces opposing the railway put both of them in danger.

They must defy everyone to be together.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

As the daughter of an Earl, and granddaughter and niece of a Duke, Lady Clara Grammont knows that she is expected to marry well. But, she's seen her mother in a loveless marriage to her cruel father, and then find happiness with her stepfather, and she wants to marry for love, not status. When she meets John Smith, an orphaned son of a shopkeeper, who has made his way in the world and is flourishing through his efforts to promote the new railways, she's smitten. But, John needs the support of Clara's family to gain approval from parliament, and he hates having to pandering to idle aristocrats, though Clara is different. When it seems that they are going to be able to be together, and John with finally get the approval he needs for his venture, forces opposing both efforts come to light, and danger may be on the horizon.

I liked this book, particularly for its inclusion of the Darlington-Stockton railway, and visits to the North East of England - where I'm from - but I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as I had the previous one. I never really grew to care much for John or Clara, and though the book was only 263 pages long, I felt moments of it dragged. The danger and intrigue was promising, as were the moments we saw of previous characters, but those characters seemed very much different to how they'd been in books 1 and 2, and not always for the better. All in all, an okay book, but missing something.

Dates Read:
May 28-29, 2021

Rating
3 Stars