Tracy’s review of Love is Blind by Elizabeth Cole.
He was a walking scandal, she was a proper young woman…
A rake’s cruel prank leaves the blind Olivia Blake ripe for humiliation on a ballroom dance floor. Then an even more notorious rake sweeps her into his arms. Soon she is seduced by the charm of Adrian Calwell, the scandal-chased Baron of Norbury.
Adrian’s only goal in rescuing Olivia was to thwart his rival’s heartless trick. But Olivia is well worth rescuing, and Adrian is eager to put his life as a rake behind him. Can Adrian rise above his sordid past to win Olivia’s love?
Set against the backdrop of Regency London, Love Is Blind is a sweet and surprising novella that proves innocence and experience can be a perfect match.
Olivia, who has been blind since the age of seven, is at a ball with her companion and cousin, Emily, when she is asked to dance. Olivia agrees but after a minute or so the scoundrel leaves her standing in the middle of the floor. Olivia’s not sure what to do and is starting to get pretty distressed when another man comes up to her and takes the place as her dancing partner. The man is Adrian Calwell, Baron Norbury. He was watching when the rake Crombie led Olivia to the dance floor and had a bad feeling about Crombie’s intentions.
After they dance Adrian and Olivia head off into the garden and Adrian is charmed. Olivia’s mother, however, is not charmed when she sees who is returning her daughter from her dance. Norbury is apparently a horrible rake himself and definitely not someone that she wants her innocent daughter associating with.
Adrian knows he wouldn’t be welcome in Olivia’s home so he works around that and not only calls on her but takes her for a carriage ride before she is told that she is never to see or talk to the man again. Adrian’s sneaky though and continues his courtship in a stealthy way.
It was exciting to see Adrian and Olivia together. I love the secretiveness of their meetings and his charming gifts. Of course had it been my daughter I probably would have been just as crazy to keep them apart as Olivia’s mother was! Adrian, for all his rakishness – and that had been in the past – was a kind man. He saw the good, kind person that Olivia was and didn’t only see her as a blind woman. Olivia was pretty innocent but she had some steel under her skin and I liked seeing that steel come forth.
While the story was pretty short and the couple got together quickly (fyi – no sex) it was a really good story. The couple was very sweet together and I loved reading it. The author had me completely involved with the characters and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. We met Olivia’s cousin, Emily, that I mentioned before and Adrian’s best friend, Robert, as well. I’m hoping we get a little story about them as well.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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This book is available from SkySpark Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.