Well, this is a bit of a departure from my normal reading material. I came across this book during one of my internet searches and… it looked interesting. And light and fluffy. So, why the heck not. And who knows, it might even mention Josef Jakobs! On top of that, this gives me a bit more time to finish off another blog on the Yvonne Sommerfeld saga.
The Book
In short, this fictional book has echoes of the author’s real life. Margaret or Maggie (the book’s main character) is the 20-something daughter of one of the Tower of London’s Yeoman Warders (or Beefeaters). Having broken up with her slimy boyfriend, Maggie has moved in with her father who lives inside the Tower of London. With a degree in history, one would think that Maggie would be a shoe-in for an on-site job at the Tower, but alas, she is languishing in the Tower’s exterior ticket office, dealing with cranky tourists and nasty co-workers.
On one fateful day, Maggie is storming back home through the Tower precincts and crashes into a tall, handsome young man. Blushing to the roots of her fiery red hair, Maggie mutters apologies and carries on. The following day, she is rushing to work (late, again) when she stops suddenly in front of one of the Guardsman stationed inside the Tower, in this case, a stoic member of the Grenadier Guards. It is the same young man that she crashed into, or who crashed into her, since they both weren’t watching where they were going…
From there, we are off on a romantic adventure, following the twists and turns of the budding friendship between Maggie and Freddie. Is he royalty? Why does he only want “friendship”? Will Maggie ever burst out from her embarrassed shyness? Will she ever find a “nice” guy on Tinder? Readers will have to dive into the book to find out.
Review
I rather feel like I am admitting that I love Harlequin Romances but… I do love this book. It was, as noted earlier, light and fluffy with just the right amount of suspense to keep me reading well into the night. The other characters are well-filled out and one gets a small sense of what it might be like to actually live in the Tower of London.
Alas, Megan (the author) does not touch on any of the 20th century Tower history, neither Josef Jakobs nor the spies from the First World War. Perhaps these stories are still considered too dark and raw and not good material for a light rom-com.
The author, Megan Clawson, did indeed live in the Tower for 3 years with her Yeoman Warder father, and even developed a romance with one of the Scots Guards, George.
Review Score
5 out of 5 – What can I say, I loved it! Even a serious writer needs some light reading every once in a while!