She doesn’t want just any husband though – she wants one she loves and who loves her in return. She is bright and loving and wants a home and family of her own. Her biggest worry in life is that she is a bit overweight and she’s self-conscious about it. She feels ALL of the feelings and revels in all of them. Lady Cassandra Ravenel is the opposite of Tom. “Feelings, I’ve never had more than five feelings, and they’re hard enough to manage as it is. “Damn it, that makes six.” “Six what?” Devon asked in bewilderment. (You are going to fall in love with Tom yourself.) At thirty-one he thinks maybe it is time to marry, but he has to choose carefully because it has to be someone who doesn’t expect him to love her. The previous few years have become sort of lackluster for him – making money isn’t as much fun as it used to be. He has only ever allowed himself five feelings – and love isn’t one of them. Tom has totally closed himself off from emotions – feelings – as he calls them. Tom is totally pragmatic and takes everything quite literally. When he was ten years old, Tom got work at the railway station and took care of his mother and sisters from then on. Tom Severin was raised rough – and raised isn’t the right word, because he basically raised himself. Hmmm – so maybe she is actually the perfect bridge between the two worlds. She wasn’t weak or cowed by the world, she just knew what she wanted and wasn’t willing to settle for less.

Cassandra was a delightful change from the current batch of heroines who would fit perfectly into our modern society. She didn’t want to flaunt society, she wasn’t out to blaze new trails, she just wanted a family with a husband who loved her. One of the things I liked most is that the heroine just wanted a home and a family to love.

Tom severin and cassandra ravenel