Third Son's a Charm by Shana Galen

Title: Third Son’s a Charm

Author: Shana Galen

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Publication Date: November 7, 2017

Blurb: Fiercely loyal to his friends and comrades, Ewan Mostyn is the toughest in a group of younger sons of nobility who met as soldiers and are now trying desperately to settle back into peaceful Society. Ewan trusts his brawn more than his brains, but when he's offered a job watching the Duke of Ridlington's stubbornly independent daughter, he finds both are challenged.

Lady Lorraine wants none of her father's high-handed ways, and she'll do everything in her power to avoid her distressingly attractive bodyguard―until she lands herself in real trouble. Lorraine begins to see Ewan's protectiveness in a new light, and she can only hope that her stoic guardian will do for her what he's always done―fight for what he wants.

Review: Third Son’s a Charm by Shana Galen is a breath of fresh air among regency novels.  I love regency novels, but I have found lately that they’ve been getting a little stale.  We’ve always got the young woman who’s unacceptable by societal standards and the rake who wants her.  Don’t get me wrong though, I love that plotline, but I was looking for something a little more exciting.

Enter Lorraine and Ewan.  Lorraine was quite an interesting character.  She was both innocent and daring, bold and reserved.  I never knew what she was going to say when she opened her mouth.   She was a delightful person, if not a bit dense at times but really… who isn’t?  Throughout the novel she became more confident in herself and in being herself.

Ewan was the star of the show though.  He was everything you want your male protagonist to be and more.  I love handsome rakes who have everything going for them, but for once it was nice to get a guy whose only fault isn’t that he finds it hard to express his feelings.  Rakes are always clever, intelligent men who know how to charm their way into or out of any situation they’d like.  That’s not Ewan.

Ewan’s entire life he’s been shamed for his lack of intelligence.  He’s told over and over again that his only redeeming quality is his large size and people expect very little from him other than brute strength in bad situations.  He’s a man with a learning disability, a slight stutter, and low self-esteem.  When have you ever read a romance novel with a man like that?

It was such an amazing treat to get to know Ewan. I loved delving deeper into Ewan’s past and watching the effect that Lorraine had on his belief in himself and his confidence in his own brain.  He was a brilliant character that brought forth a lot of emotion from myself (and I’m sure he’ll do the same for other readers).

I think people will be excited to read about the relationship between Lorraine and Ewan.  They were complete opposites who filled voids in one another that they each didn’t know they even had.  I loved watching the barriers between them break down… and I loved watching Lorraine get a little smarter with each interaction with Ewan.

Pre-order this book if you’re looking mix up your regency collection or even looking to start it. You’re going to want to read it over and over again.