reviewsbyerin

Juliet Catesby is the strong, compassionate oldest daughter on an indigo plantation. She despises the necessity of slave use and secretly works to free as many of them as she can. Her keen mind comes in handy when she must occasionally stand in for her father in his business dealings due to his ill health.

When a visiting tobacco lord from Scotland comes to the area, Juliet sets about making a match with Leith Buchanan and her younger sister. Much to her surprise and chagrin, she discovers her father has already taken matters into his own hands, and if she will agree to marry Mr. Buchanan herself, their family's debts will be wiped away.

Faced with a choice, Juliet weighs options. She hates what the tobacco lord stands for, but the alternative is to leave her father in immense debt. She loves their colonial Virginia home and would not choose to go to Scotland with him. But events unravel that soon force her hand.

I love Laura Frantz's work, but I never felt connected to either Leith or Juliet or their marriage of convenience. Both are proud and withdrawn for various reasons, which made it hard for me to get to know them. The last third of the book is also completely different from the opening sections, diving into the Scottish legal system. You can tell the author combed through mountains and mountains of research material to make this as authentic as possible.

I appreciated the themes of the novel and I believe other readers will enjoy the characters of Leith and Juliet. I enjoyed the minor characters in this novel and all they brought to the scenes as well.

I received my copy of the book from NetGalley. All thoughts in this opinion are my own.