Silver Lining

this book was fun! the conceit was a little weird and contrived and made her a little less likeable as a character early on, and there's like a weird thread of cringiness running through the whole novel (girl stop saying poke), but i brave little soldiered my way through that because i liked the rough-around-the-edgedness of lowdown as a character and i am tired of reading about quirky girls with no personality <3 i waffled between 3.75 and 4 on this but settled on 3.75 because i hate the term “poking” 

Truly one of my better recent reads and perhaps one of my top romance reads ever which is almost completely due to the heroine.

Louise/Low Down hasn't had an easy life or any practical knowledge of how to be a lady. Our hero marries her, because he does the equivalent of draw the short straw. A group of men in a mining camp owe Low Down their lives and tell her she can have whatever she wants. She finally and reluctantly tells them that she wants a baby. She didn't technically ask for a husband, but it was part and parcel of the time.

The majority of the book deals with Low Down meeting her new Max's family and building a life with him. Max also had some explaining to do to the fiance he'd left behind, and there are interesting complications on that front.

It's easy to root for Low Down and believe she deserves happiness and there were a number of times when her vulnerability brought tears to my eyes. That's the kind of book, the kind of romance I want to read, rather than a generic kewpie doll heroine who is blandly nice or randomly “spit fiery.”

Good read, will remember it fondly.