Tracy Emro's Reviews > An Affair in Winter

** spoiler alert ** **I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

4.5 star

I really enjoyed this story - I LOVED Gray - he is not perfect, but he is wonderful. He loves his family and will do anything to protect them, even when they don't think they need protection.

Gray is bound and determined to break up his brother's engagement to a "title grabber" , his brother has been hurt before by such a woman and Gray doesn't want him to go through that type of pain again. Now, I had a hard time with this, it just didn't make sense to me - when his brother was engaged before, he was in love with Elise and she left him for a Duke with more money - she refused to see him and broke his heart. Celia is his new fiancé and has not been anything but up front with Lucien (Gray's brother, the Earl) - she wants a title in exchange for her dowry. There is no emotion between them and no deception. I don't know exactly how Gray thinks she is going to hurt Lucien and I was bewildered by Gray's determination to paint Celia as an evil woman set on destroying his brother.

Aside from that - I really liked the book. Rosalinde is a great heroine - Ms. Michaels was able to convey in words all the emotion that Rosalinde was capable of. Rosalinde is such a giving, loving and generous person, you can't help but like her. She loves her sister and feels guilty for her past actions, which she believes have made her sister agree to marry the Earl.

Rosalinde and Gray meet at an inn and share a night of incredible passion (still fanning myself!) and separate the next day, thinking that they will never cross paths again.

Imagine the surprise they both share when they see each other the next day at the Earl's home! Gray is angry and believes that Rosalinde deceived him (the man has trust issues) and Rosalinde is upset and confused by his cold reception of her. When they finally talk and Gray tells her that he doesn't want his brother and her sister to marry - she is angry and even more determined to make sure they do.

These two dance around each other and try to ignore the connection they feel - Gray is still set on "saving" his brother and he knows he must stay away from Rosalinde - but he can't.

Days before the wedding, a major twist changes everything and these two both do a complete about face in their thinking. This twist changes everything for Gray and Rosalinde and I have to give props to Ms. Michaels for pulling it off perfectly.

This book is well written, flows nicely, has secrets galore, has great secondary characters, super STEAMY/HOT love scenes, a villainous family member and finally a sweet HEA.

I did have a problem with incorrect usage of formal address - but as this is a ARC, I am hoping that those will be resolved before publication and won't address them in this review. **Update 6/25/16 - this is no longer an issue - the incorrect usage was fixed by the author + 1/2 star in my review

I would happily recommend this book and am looking forward to the rest of the series!