Review: The Secret Life of Miss Anna Marsh (The Marriage Game) - ENG

Author: Ella Quinn
Original Title: The Secret Life of Miss Anna Marsh
Release Year: 2013
 
Literary Genre: Romance 
Setting: England, regency
Series: 2° of The Marriage Game series



Vote: 7





(Presto il commento in italiano)

THIS NOVEL WILL BE RELEASED ON 7 NOVEMBER

I enjoyed The Seduction of Lady Phoebe quite a lot and I was waiting to read the second one from The marriage game with trepidation; Anna has already charmed me in the previous novel (more than Sebastian, which by the way, hates his name, and I actually can't understand his dislike, I love it) and I had to know how their long lasting, deep, sometimes difficult and undefined relationship would develop.

There could be some liiittle spoilers:

Miss Anna Marsh has always loved Sebastian Rutherford, since her childhood when she often followed him and his best friend, as well as Anna's beloved brother Harry, everywhere.

During her first season she has hopped and dreamed of Sebastian asking for her hand in marriage but unfortunately the worst tragedy landed on their life when Anna received the agonising news of her brother Harry's death in Spain, during a mission.

Anna's life is completely overturned and she, who had secretly vowed to continued the work her brother valiantly died for, needs to address her commitment to the cause, putting definitely aside her hopes for a love story with Sebastian, who, on the other side, doesn't seem to think about a deeper relationship with the girl.

Anna's priority now is to continue her brother secret work, and Sebastian, were he to discover it, would never deem her a suitable wife.

Sebastian has always known he would marry Anna, and he is quite sure about it, but when he finally takes the decision to court her, her response is unexpected: she dismisses his advances.

But Rutherford doesn't give up and unexpectedly he discovers a different Anna, an intriguing, strong, smart and independent woman to whom he starts to feel something stronger and deeper and now to whom he needs to prove they belong together.

There are many things I liked about this novel, first of all, as I said in The seduction of LadyPhoebe, Quinn can create amazing characters, with outstanding personalities.

There is a lot of passion here and when the first part of the romance is dedicated mostly to the love stories developments and the protagonists' feelings, the second part his much more thrilling, with a marked spying turn and exciting and touching relationships stabilisation.

I must say I don't completely share nor truly understand why the author developed so much Georges, Madeleine and Florian's story; they are secondary characters (who clearly have a certain meaning in the principal plot) and their personal lives and relationships sometimes overloaded the storyline, especially at the beginning; speaking specifically about Georges and Madeline, at the novel end they are not really “settled” so I suppose it's a sort of “to be continued...”, I believe we'll know something more in Gervais's romance (the fourth of The marriage game: Lady Caro's accidental marriage) and honestly I hope so too, Georges' personality fascinated me very much. Ok, maybe I bite off more than one can chew...well, Gervais is one of Sebastian's friend.

On the other side I truly loved Harry's chapters, they are intriguing and touching and when finally he reunites with her beloved sister Anna and the rest of his family, the main plot acquires a lot. I loved his relationship with Emma, they are so good together, there is something deeply sweet, strong and visceral about how they instantly support and trust each other. I often enjoyed their moments more then Sebastian and Anna, especially in the last part.

Sebastian and Anna: I truly liked him; his mistakes and sometimes his not particularly happy decisions or behaviours, make him quite real and human.

Anna is perfect, and it isn't a subjective perfection or a personal preference, she practically always knows what to do, what to say, when to say it and how to say it! But she definitely isn't irritating because of that (the only thing is I honestly think at twenty-one is a bit to early to be so great, despite the epoch). Regarding her, my esteem grew up exponentially when she argued with Sebastian who betray her trust (it was to protect her, but still...).

I confirm my opinion about Ella Quinn, she is so talented, I really, really enjoy her style and her descriptive and creative abilities. I love her characters and there's a lot more I would like to know about them, and I'm also talking about the new introductions: Huntley and Featherton.

In the next one from The marriage game we'll meet again the extremely funny Robert, Viscount Beaumont, I can't wait! 

 

Buona lettura! 

M.E.G.

The Marriage Game series: 1. The seduction of Lady Phoebe (Phoebe, Marcus)

                                     2. The secret life of Miss Anna Marsh (Anna, Sebastian)

                                     3. The temptation of Lady Serena (Serena, Robert) 

                                     4. Desiring Lady Caro (Caroline, Gervais) 

 ** I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Kensington Books in exchange for an honest review, thank you for the opportunity.