Sally MacKenzie has a way with tension that makes you keep reading a book from cover to cover. I couldn't put down LOVING LORD ASH because after every chapter I just had to know what would happen next. I was sorry to see this end of the series, but I'm hoping she'll include the Duchess of Love as a side character in future books, as this family is just so heartwarming (and nosy) I want to read more about them. This book featured a well-rounded hero and heroine with a complicated past. I loved that Jess was not part of the gentry, but a "lowly" groom's daughter who had known Ash since childhood. In a way, it's sad that a misunderstanding lay between them for so many years before the book started. In life, there are always could-have-beens and wasted time. This book shows their regrets but also how they finally move past them.I especially loved that MacKenzie included well-rounded and likeable gay characters in the cast of this book. I found Lord Trendal to be a fun and engaging side character and would have liked to see more of him (even though his predicament is separate from Jess's and therefore doesn't transect often). The one scene I was sorry not to see was their promise to paint/sketch each other. The chemistry between Ash and Jess crackles off the page, so I find believe that would have been a fun, flirty catalyst for their story. But even without that scene, MacKenzie sets herself above the competition once again with an unforgettable, sigh-worthy book. If only she wrote faster, because I want the next! Happiness is an historical romance that makes me laugh, smile and retreat into the lives and concerns of the characters complete with well-meaning by interfering family members. Sally MacKenzie managed to present all of those elements and more in Loving Lord Ash, the first I have read by this author or in this series, but found delightfully entertaining with no struggles to catch up with past characters or information. Kit and Jessica married for love, but situations and circumstances, and naked men have caused a rift, and the two have been estranged for eight years. Kit retreated to his family estate, and with his brothers both deliriously happy in their own marriages brings him to decide the time is right to make a decision about his marriage. Jessica was never a member of the ton, in fact as the daughter of the head groom, she was in that social middle ground: not quite trusted to behave with propriety by the ton, but too ‘refined’ for most of the help. Unwilling to acknowledge the rumours about the men in her house, and not being given the benefit of doubt by her husband: Jessica has quite a battle in front of her. Of course, Kit’s family is aware of the rumours and EVERYONE has an opinion, part of the difficulty in this whole situation is that Kit and Jessica are so very much in love: just unwilling to admit it. The story takes estranged married couple and adds several twists and interferences, rumours and even some sweet memories to fuel the connection between them that is apparent almost from page one. Both Jessica and Kit are well-developed and easy to like, even as neither takes the simple step of simply asking direct questions and getting the real answers: unhindered by rumours, preconceptions or agenda. This is an angel’s food cake with strawberries sort of story: light, sweet, tasty and the perfect afternoon’s treat read when heavy thought or tension just won’t work. I received a paperback copy of the title from Zebra/Kensington for purpose of honest review for the Jeep Diva. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
