☠☠☠☠☠
If ever there were two book characters to emulate – none could be as emulation-worthy as Lady Henrietta Sedley and Savior Whittington (aka – Hattie and Whit / aka – Hattie and Beast). Since readers already have an idea of the traumatic circumstances surrounding the Bareknuckle Bastards – the horrific tutelage under their father’s care and later, their occupational successes – I’m not ruining anything by discussing Beast’s humanitarian side.
The Covent Garden siblings may have made their fortunes under the greyest echelons of the law, but like his brother and sister, Beast is all about giving back. He could have been a glorified, bullying bruiser (and after the daddy-dearest years who could blame him) but instead, he rose above his past, he rose above his disappointments, he fought for space in an unforgiving world and gave a two middle finger salute to society’s rules. Beast, Devil, and Grace are rulers of their Garden kingdom and only ask that their people live within the Bastard’s laws. They treat their people with respect and bring hope – emulate away!!
Hattie is too smart, too tall, too outside the conventional, not pretty enough, not thin enough… my goodness… what peer of the realm came up with this nonsense list of qualifications? Did Hattie allow popular opinion to hurt her? Yes! Of course, she did! Words hurt, people (see *Note)!! She definitely mourned one or two ton-blocked paths, but she never sacrificed the one thing she knew would bring her ultimate satisfaction and purpose (her plans may have erratically veered left and right after meeting Beast but hey… understandable…). She persevered. She may not have verbosely told off the peerage, but Hattie didn’t slump or hide in a corner either – she created a new set of dreams for herself and went after them. I rest my case. Operation Emulate is a GO.
*Note – Chapter 13 – Hattie describes dancing a waltz with a young baron three years ago – annnnd, I’m gutted😢
*Note – Daring and the Duke is the third Bareknuckle installment and will be out sometime in 2020 (let it be late winter early spring FTLOG). I know I’m not the only one dying for Ewan and Grace💙💙💙
I thought MacLean couldn’t top Devil’s story in Wicked and the Wallflower but she sooooo did. Beast and Hattie’s story will warm your insides and make you smile (and cry…). Brazen and the Beast deserves all 5 Stars (or skulls… moody much…). If you would like to order the second Bareknuckle Bastard’s story, the Amazon link is below. If you would like to receive an email when I post new reviews, Subscribe Now!
