3.5 stars 
 Started out strong but then lagged very badly half way through. There was a lot more telling than showing. A lot of the vital bits and pieces seemed to trip and fall off the page. The world building also could have been better. Characters are moving around getting to places without any acknowledgment in the dialogue which was very jarring and confusing to follow. And the characters summarizing internally what happened a week before up to what they are doing present time was confusing and choppy and lacked flow of any kind. I kept losing track of whose POV this was coming from when this happened. So odd. 
 This was my very first Grace Burrowes book, I've heard so much about her writing so I couldn't resist giving this a try. I liked the dark tone and angsty forlorn edge, but the world building and endless glossing over necessary things needs to be way better for me to actually enjoy her storytelling. The overall prose for me was a struggle. The way Burrowes phrases things reads very awkward and hard to understand at some points. I felt like an idiot the number of times I had to re-read parts because they made no sense or read very weird. Maybe I'm just not familiar with this kind of sentence structuring?? 
 He told himself he didn't trust Lucy or Blanche not to harm him, did he allow them to French kiss him. 
 ************ 
 Darius studied his brother, who was drinking tea for a change. "You seem to be a little more the thing. Maybe you needed to put off mourning." 
 ************ 
 He sounded just like John, and Darius saw the hurt that did Vivian. 
 Everything just read very backwards or the placement of words didn't flow well. And big clunky words I didn't even know existed made me truly feel like a foreigner on a new land. I've never heard of a woman's courses referred to as 'lunation'. WTH? And ambit, ruminate, unprepossessing, scintilla are tres fancy but damn if it wasn't distracting. 
 Since the author was quick to get through the MC's 'give me a baby' arc I was expecting more build up following it to balance out the very rushed pacing in the first half but no such luck. There is no birthing scene, we don't see much of Darius's tutelage in pleasurable delights, giving Vivian a makeover, dancing, etc. Instead a good 80% we have our leads pretending they are strangers to each other in public and nothing else. It started to get really tiring the 4th time around when they would force introductions on each other. What was the point of this? I just was left wanting more. And speaking of tutelage, how in the world did Vivian lose her virginity in that straddle position without one cry or twinge of pain?? That was the most careless overlooked flaw in a love scene and completely threw me off. Incredibly unrealistic. 
 I wanted more focus on Darius and Vivian's feelings for each other, not passing thoughts while they go on with their separate day to day lives. Seasons pass in a blink of an eye and these two barely see each other. Darius heartbreakingly misses out on important milestones in Vivian's pregnancy. That bothered me the most. He isn't even there at the birthing and Vivian's shocked reaction to why her husband sent him a letter telling him the baby was born annoyed me to no end. He's the father, of course he would want to know. WTF? I really felt this shift in character portrayal in the second half especially with Vivian, everything that was about discovery, falling in love, and desperate longing just vanished into the background. 
 At one point I was annoyed and resented the interfering secondary characters, William in particular. Of course the old husband has a kind heart and schemed to play matchmaker, saw that a mile away I just wish so much time wasn't focused on everyone holding their breaths waiting for this man to keel over. I feel bad saying this but I got to the point of 'oh just die already' with the endless droning on where nothing happens. And Vivian's endless gratitude to him, fretting and coddling over while sweet made me lose my patience too. What's the point of telling a story about lovers falling in love when they barely spend time together? The chemistry was certainly there, I found the couple endearingly sweet and charming in the beginning. They both seemed very necessary & vital to each other I just thought it was a waste not to show more of that on the page. A lot of the vital parts of their relationship and growing affection happened entirely off the page, we only got glimpses. And they were lovely glimpses: 
 "I miss her." 
 "I miss her in bed," he began, finding his unusual tolerance for pain serving him well. "I miss her over the dinner plates. I miss her out riding, I miss her arguing with me over stupid political questions nobody cares about except the bloody Lords. I miss her teasing John- I miss that a pissing damned lot. 
 He took another contemplative sip and regarded his companion. 
 "I miss having somebody, anybody, to talk about John with, and she was so kind." 
 "She deserves so much better." He was mumbling now, mumbling around the ache that had been in his throat for hours. "She says I deserve better, silly wench. And she smelled lovely, always. How did she do that?" 
 I'm hoping this isn't her general style of writing and more of the 'beget an heir' hurried plot that made the writing suffer. I've really wanted to read her Captive series, I just hope I don't run into the same problem.