As You Are (The Jonquil Brothers #3)

Corbin has a hard time expressing himself and feeling comfortable in social situations. After meeting the widowed Mrs. Clara Bentford he begins to wish this wasn\’t the case, that he could talk to her without freezing up. Clara is in hiding, but she would give anything for her children to be happy and safe. As their paths begin to cross more, Clara past begins to threaten her new life more and more. But Clara can feel safe around Corbin and his family, and evem more importantly, she feels that her children are safe with them. I really like how shy and awkward Corbin was. As a socially awkward person I love when the main character of a book isn\’t always incredibly witty and clever when interacting with other characters. Let me read about some awkward little potatoes every now and again and I\’ll be happy. I found his failed attempts to follow his brothers\’ advice to be cute and amusing. I felt that the children were the stars of the show, they were cute and they knew it. Buuut this has been my least favorite of this series so far. The story felt a little predictable. Clara is terrified of men but this bumbling awkward man doesn\’t feel threatening to her. After a bit of a Pride & Prejudice type beginning where she think he\’s arrogant and condesending. He thinks that she\’ll never be attracted to a simple man like him. But with two very similar villains out and about making life harder for Clara, he becomes her knight in shining armor and has no issue with stuttering or getting his thoughts out when his in the midst of protecting her. Then we have an entire cast of shining knights that come riding in on their trusty horses to save Clara from her legal predicament and intimidate the villians were their bravery and manliness. Ugh, no thanks. Then it\’s pretty insta lovey and there\’s a whole outpouring of emotion and it\’s just not really my cup of tea. But besides being a little inclined to storyline tropes, it is pretty engaging and a quick read.

Absolutely wonderful! I just downloaded it tonight and flew through the entire book in one sitting. I have loved all the books in the Jonquil series and have been waiting, waiting, waiting for this latest installment. It did not disappoint! Sarah\’s characteristic wit combined with her fluid/effortless writing style and the uplifting values she weaves throughout make for a wonderful read. This is yet another completely clean and very believable romance to her credit. I loved that characters from her other books made appearances and that Philip and Sorrel\’s story gets furthered as well (weren\’t we all wondering at the end of Friends and Foes whether her leg would get better?!!). This was such a fun read! When Corbin tried to talk to Clara, I had flashbacks to that hilarious old 70\’s short film, The Phone Call, where the poor teenager can\’t figure out how to talk to the girl he likes (\”what kind of weed killer do you use?\”) and takes karate classes to bolster his confidence. If you\’ve ever gotten poor advice from friends or family on how to woo the opposite sex, you will be able to empathize with Corbin! This book can be read without first reading the other books in the series. However, I think it\’s much more fun to read (in order) Kiss of a Stranger, Friends and Foes, and Drops of Gold prior to reading this latest book, As You Are. To fully appreciate the Duke of Kielder, you should read Seeking Persephone as well. Awesome job Sarah! Loved it, LOVED IT!!!

I absolutely adore the Jonquil brothers. Each one has a place in my heart but I think Corbin may well be my favorite. Corbin\’s awkward personality made me smile through out the book. And feel bad for him too. I am not sure how many times I\’ve read or listened to this book since I didn\’t note each time here in my records but in the beginning readings I wondered how in the world Corbin and Clara could misunderstand each other so much. Now I see what lens they each look through in every situation. Their own insecurities made them unable to believe what is obvious to the reader and their past experiences make them unable to believe any differently. Clara\’s position is the most obvious. She has been abused by every man in her life. How can she possible believe there are good and caring men at all? She has never seen anything different. As she learns that not only is there one good man, but a whole family of good men, plus their friends that are all willing to help, it makes me feel all swoony. Yes, I love the Jonquils. In addition to feeling the swoon and loving seeing how wonderful Corbin is as a loving and caring father, this book also appeals to my sense of justice. I LOVED the Duke of Kielder\’s appearance in this story and his ability to do what no one else seemed able to do. He is able to make evil men stop. Not because they desire to change but because he scares the beeswax out of them so they fear continuing on their evil path. And as there are two evil men in this story, I also loved how they handled getting rid of Finnley. He is awful. And they are able to use his own bad conduct against him. Slimy man. He makes me shudder. But I love those Jonquils. Sex: no. A little innuendo. Language: no Violence: references to past physical and emotional abuse. Some self defense. And some well deserved threatening behavior.

I\’ve never heard of this author or read any of the previous books, but I found I enjoyed this book tremendously. It took a few chapters for me to get hooked, but I soon fell I love with the characters and Corbin\’s gentleness. I am now going to start at the beginning of is series and read them all!

If you are looking for a feel-good, warm hearted kind of read on a rainy afternoon, this one is a good choice.

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