Discovering Grace - Review

Discovering Grace (Inglewood, # 2)

By: Sally Britton

Publication: August 13th 2019 by Blue Water Books

224 pages

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Regency

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Goodreads description--To avoid being sent across an ocean, Grace switches places with her sister. The only man aware of their deception? A dear friend, and her secret love.

Grace Everly has no desire to set sail for the Caribbean, unlike her adventurous twin sister, Hope. Thanks to her sister’s irresponsible behavior and subsequent banning from the journey, Grace’s father decides to send her in Hope’s place. Desperate to remain where things are familiar, Grace proposes an unthinkable plan: that she and sister switch places. They only have to keep up the act long enough for Hope to board a ship in London. When the man who has stolen Grace’s heart learns of their secret, things get more complicated.

Jacob Barnes, soon to be ordained a vicar, has known Grace and Hope his whole life. Though close to both sisters, he’s dreamed of courting Hope for months. When he realizes his friends have switched places, putting the woman he admires out of his reach, he agrees to help with the subterfuge despite his bruised heart. As he watches Grace stumble in her acting abilities, attempting to change who she is, he realizes how much she means to him. But how does he tell her, without risking their friendship?

The deception puts their relationship to the test. As Grace hides her heart and her identity, Jacob examines his feelings, and no one in their community will be happy when the truth is discovered.

Ugh, you guys! I did it again! I am finally sitting down and forcing myself to write my review of Discovering Grace 20 days after I finished it. My real problem is that I don't currently have a regularly scheduled time to sit down at the computer. Real-life has been random and sporadic. And the time I used to sit down at the computer desk has been filled with painting and getting the house back in order from our renovation that feels like it will never end. Besides that, with Husband working from home now, I don't even have a computer desk that I feel like I have access to during the day. Oh well, I'm rambling at this point. Let's get into the book.

Grace is the quiet twin. She is subdued. She's happy to be behind the scenes and let her sister, Hope, take center stage. Hope prefers the attention and adventure anyway. Grace is often the mastermind and Hope gets to take the credit because she becomes the face of whatever Grace has thought up. Of course, up until now, that has never been a problem. Hope is impulsive and in your face. She's outspoken and loud. She's dramatic and fun. And when Hope gets the two sisters into a pickle with their father, Grace has to mastermind again. Hope was set to go on a trip with some friends and while Grace was heartbroken to be separated from her sister, she all out panics when their father told them they will be switching places.

On top of all that, there's Jacob. Grace has been in love with Jacob for as long as she can remember. The problem is that Jacob can only see Hope. And he's also heartbroken that Hope will be leaving. Jacob has always been close to both sisters, and he realizes where no one else does that Grace is pretending to be Hope. He's angry for a couple of reasons. 1) He wanted more time with Hope. Ultimately, he'd hope to make his interest known and perhaps begin courting Hope. And 2) He's going to become a clergyman, and he doesn't feel like he can support the deception that Grace is currently trying to pull off. Yet he won't leave her alone.

I don't feel like there's much to say beyond this that won't spoil the story. I found Grace and Jacob's journey to each other to be enjoyable. Jacob was a little slow on the upswing, but I appreciated the way Sally Britton handled the situation. I wasn't sure how I could be okay with the switch of affection from one sister to the other, but she wrote it in a way that made sense. And I loved that she didn't spell it out word for word for the reader. (**Highlight for spoiler: Basically, Jacob loved the aspects he thought were Hope's characteristics like her altruism while he disliked her tendency to buck societal norms. And the altruistic tendencies that he thought he loved about Hope were actually ideas that Grace had and executed herself while allowing Hope to be the face and get the credit. At the same time, Grace never struggled with chaffing against society like her sister.**end spoiler.)

Favorite quote:

-Pretending to be someone else was tiresome.

I'm a little torn about Hope's book. On the one hand, Sally Britton has done a great job of pulling me into her stories quickly and hooking me. On the other hand, I struggle with characters like Hope at times. Ultimately, I'm putting off reading her story for now because I have too many other review books that I need to read first.

I enjoyed Discovering Grace almost as much as I enjoyed Rescuing Lord Inglewood. Jacob and Grace had a nice journey to each other. Unrequited love can be a favorite trope. Discovering Grace gets 3.5 Stars. Have you read Discovering Grace? What did you think? Let me know!