I have been looking forward to reading this since I started The Duchess War and it was everything I hoped for. Violet is so clever, funny and self deprecating I have to admit she reminds me a lot of myself. Plus she is so formidable and terribly strong, she is by far one of the best heroines I have ever had the pleasure of reading. And Sebastian wasn't too shabby either, his good points are very similar to Violet's that it's easy to see why these 2 are best friends. But while Violet can be more of a serious wallflower, Sebastian is a beautiful butterfly being social and loved by most who have the pleasure of knowing him.It was so refreshing to read a love story where the characters were best friends. You could truly feel the love and respect they had for one another. It's the kind of love you would think everyone would want to aspire to. Overall this was a beautiful novel that flowed easily and was hard to put down. Highly recommended if you love love! Probably more like 3.5, but I rounded up because of the wonderfully supportive hero of this story. Sebastian made what could have been a marginal story and turned it into something much better. But, first things first ...The enjoyment of this story really hinges on whether or not the reader likes the heroine of this story, Violet. Lots of negative reviews focus on the dislike of her. If she irritates you, it is likely that you will struggle with this story, but if you like her, the story should appeal to you. I happened to like Violet. She is a woman with issues after a less than stellar marriage ended with the tragic death of her husband. The background details of what made that marriage a difficult one are central to understanding Violet's treatment of Sebastian during the first half of the novel. She is absolutely terrified of feeling anything or showing those feelings to others. She bottles everything inside this gigantic wall she has erected around herself to protect her from being hurt. However, as important as this back story is, it really is secondary to the greater story of Violet's scientific genius being hidden from the world because of societal expectations. Violet has hidden her talents from everyone for as long as she has lived. She makes important discoveries, but no one will read about them because she is a woman. Her workaround this problem is to use Sebastian as her public face. He presents her research, receives credit for it, and people listen ... because he is a man. Only Sebastian knows Violet's talent. Only Sebastian knows Violet at all ... and he loves her for it.Sebastian has loved Violet since he was five years old, but Violet never realized it. She went on to marry another, suffer in that marriage, and then live the life of a widow alone ... all while Sebastian stayed true to her as her closest friend and confidant. Violet is somewhat cold towards Sebastian at times, flinching if he ever touches her, even in comfort. Any mention of feelings puts her immediately on edge. Lots of critics of this story hate the way she treats Sebastian. While he is patient and caring, she seems so impatient and distant. But for me I felt as if Sebastian's behavior toward Violet in the midst of her sometimes abrupt mood swings is the thing that saved this story. Have you ever known a person and thought, "I could never be married to someone like that." But then that person finds someone to marry who is absolutely perfect for them. Sure, maybe that person wouldn't work as a partner for me, but for that other person they are ideal. That is how I viewed Violet when seen through Sebastian's eyes. Violet had character quirks that many/most people could find irritating, off putting, or absolute deal breakers. But Sebastian could see through all of the illusion and get to the real Violet. He could truly SEE her when others could not. He saw beauty and kindness and sweetness and intelligence, and instead of turning away from that he was drawn to it. I loved the way he loved Violet. They were perfect for each other in their imperfections.It was nice in this story that there really wasn't a lot of relationship angst. Sebastian declares his love fairly early on in the story, and although things don't go totally smoothly, Sebastian and Violet do stay true to each other and their feelings for the entire story. That is refreshing. I am getting tired of the I-love-you-but-we-can't-be-together-for half-the-book story lines that dominate these stories. Instead we get a couple that have been friends forever, through good and bad. Theirs is a friendship that can withstand a lot, so there doesn't need to be a ton of angst to drive the plot. Instead, this story is driven by the story of an intelligent woman trying to be her own self in a world that doesn't want to acknowledge her or others like her. It was interesting ... and probably wrapped up WAY too easily. Violet's path really seemed much too smooth, so I felt like this story maybe ended a bit too perfectly. I was happy for that ending, but I still found it hard to believe that any "Violet" out there in the late 19th century would have had such an easy transition into science academia after running such a fraudulent activity for years. But either way ... this was a nice little story with a hero that I really admired. Interestingly, Sebastian also needed to get the people around him to SEE him as well. He had to get others to see the real man behind the public persona. Although his problem was similar to Violet's, it was for entirely different reasons, and I found that fascinating. He made this story work, enough for me to give it four stars.
Do You like book La Conspiración De La Condesa (2014)?
4.5 stars, really. So many feels for heroine and hero both. Ever so many.
—Debbie
