Violet Reverie

This was a slower paced romance set in a not-specified time between the world wars in England.Nathan has been sent away from his abusive father to their country estate because of some sort of stress-induced breakdown that nearly resulted in Nathan's death. The details of this event aren't revealed fully until the latter part of the book so I spent much of the book just thinking he was an overly-dramatic toff. An earlier reveal might have made me more sympathetic to his plight.Besides the housekeeper and a new member of the staff, the world seems set against Nathan. He has had little support and two major male figures in his life (his father and the family physician) are abusive to the point of physical violence. This doesn't follow the normal pampered rich boy trope you see in so many historical romances with higher ranking members of society, though it's hard to say which is the more realistic. There is a supernatural element to the story but it's not as important as the cover of the book makes it seem. Nathan seems to have medium or psychic abilities which mostly manifest when he's stressed. These abilities include seeing someone's death or hearing sounds of warning around certain people (most notably his father), none of these are exactly desirable and seem to be a real detriment to Nathan's mental and physical health. I'm not sure if it was because it's set in the same time in the same type of setting, but Nathan really reminded me of Colin Craven from [b:The Secret Garden 2998 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327873635l/2998.SY75.jpg 3186437] who also spends most of his book ill from an unrevealed sickness. The romance is between Nathan and the newly hired gardener Peter. It's a very slow and gentle romance with very little sexual elements besides Nathan trying to hide his physical desire. They spend much of the book just being friends but when it does turn romantic, it takes a slight left turn to the unrealistic. Nathan goes from lusting after Peter and a chance of real companionship to upending his entire life to live as a farmer on Peter's family's farm in a very out relationship. The drama of his brother and his brother's fiancee is mostly for sequel purposes because it doesn't really help forward the story other than Nathan realizing that being more honest with Peter is important. Also the final confrontations between Nathan and the doctor or his father were both very childish in writing, like villains you'd see in children stories like [a:Lemony Snicket 36746 Lemony Snicket https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1199734355p2/36746.jpg] books. Why would the Viscount want to actually murder his son just because he had headaches? Why was the doctor so vehemently against Nathan? These questions aren't answered and both characters are very one-dimensional.Overall, like many other reviewers stated, this would be good for people who enjoy more slow-paced stories or readers who aren't big on historical romances but, for me, the elements presented didn't mash together very well.