What a delicious read! Since Payne & Minerva's book I was eager to get my hands on Thorne and Kate's story. Samuel a.k.a Corporal Thorne and Miss Kate Taylor really captured my interest and heart from the get-go. Thorne is a gruff monosyllabic lumbering brute of a hero with a dark past and secrets to spare which include some intriguing tattoos. Yum yum YUM. He was pushing all the right buttons for me as a brooding quiet hero. He reminded me a lot of Kev from Seduce Me at Sunrise one of my all time favorite HR heroes. His all-consuming love and quiet devotion and yearning for Kate was just enthralling and heart melting. The quiet protector who keeps watch and makes sure the woman he cares for is happy and safe. Made me melt. His intensity and lengths he went to just to protect Kate and insure her happiness was sweet and very sexy. Like DAMN. I do wish we got to see a little more of that insatiable lustful carnal appetite of his play out on the page which was hinted at here and there. *sigh* I kept wishing he didn't hold back for Kate's sake. :P I thought Kate made a wonderful heroine I was happy she found her long-lost family she yearned to find for years. The Gramercy family were quite colorful and eccentric, just what Katie needed to fit in and feel welcomed. I will say Lord Dewe, Evan did push my buttons a few times, especially near the end with his outrageous incensed reaction to finding out Kate and Thorne are getting married. That was kind of a jumping the shark WTF? moment for me that I wish didn't happen. His no impulse control was ridiculous. That whole 'battle' between the two guys during the ball came off a bit silly and I wanted someone to knock dear cousin Evan unconscious the way he was going off and intent on literally killing Samuel. 
 Of course there is a deep 'dirty' secret Samuel is hiding and trying very hard to keep from Kate the entire year since he came to Spindel Cove. They shared a history together long ago that Kate has no recollection of. It was exciting to see how it all played out and seeing the puzzle pieces slowly come together until the final reveal. While Kate's reaction after finding out was expected and understandable I wasn't really pleased with how she handled it. I thought her words to Thorne were cruel and unfair. Yes he went about it the wrong way but it came with good selfless intentions. I couldn't help but feel protective of him given what he went through and how much he sacrificed for her. I thought she was unfair and hypocritical given how she finds out the Gramercy's were hiding something from her as well the very same day but handled it differently. What annoyed me was how she realized her hypocrisy over her reaction between the two circumstances but didn't do a thing about it and shrugged it off thinking it was too late. Really Kate?? I thought her better than that. 
 For a tormented hero with an ugly inscrutable past I think Samuel may be my fav Tessa Dare hero, and Ms. Dare has a catalog full of them from what I've read so far. lol He kept breaking my heart and turning me to mush with his actions and non-verbal ways of showing his adoration of Miss Taylor. <3 I'm the kind of gal who loves guys who have this all-consuming near obsessive kind of devotion towards the woman they love. It's delicious. And to try and hide all that pent up love from them? All the more delicious and intriguing. There was a Beauty and the Beast vibe to the story which I found charming and sweet and not contrived. I adored that Thorne tried to make himself a gentleman for Kate and took dancing lessons from Payne (which cracked me up) something he was clearly not comfortable with or happy about. He constantly views himself below Kate and undeserving of her, he's not educated and has a checkered past that he tries hard not to reveal. He broke my heart how little he thought of himself and his low self esteem and self worth. I really wanted someone to champion him and make him see he was deserving of a lady like Kate and he could indeed make her happy. Dare really loves her tormented grumbling passionate heroes and Thorne was no exception. He excelled at being abrasive, quiet and keeping to himself yet hiding a very vulnerable good heart. Loved him! <3 
 I was a bit worried that the hero was sacrificing/changing too much of himself to fit the image of a gentleman for Kate. While it was romantic and sweet I didn't want him to give up his own dream just to make Kate happy when she made no request for him to do so. I'm glad there was a compromise in the end and the epilogue was a nice finishing touch. I like how two 'lost' people found family, love and happiness in each other after everything they went through. 
 I could go on and on about this book. I know there is more that I enjoyed from this story that I'm probably forgetting. I almost didn't want to finish it I was enjoying it so much. Wonderful story and beautiful adorable couple!