Book Review : In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint by Alexandra Vasti



In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint by Alexandra Vasti
Genre : Contemporary Romance, Novella
Publication Date : January 23rd, 2023
For seven years, Matilda Halifax and her twin have been the most scandalous ladies in London. But when Matilda accidentally sells erotic drawings of the brooding, reclusive Marquess of Ashford, she has—perhaps—gone a bit too far.

Christian de Bord, Lord Ashford, knows what it’s like to be notorious. Ever since he was accused of murdering his wife, prurient gossip has kept him isolated from society, alone and determined to protect his adolescent sister Bea. But when Matilda Halifax’s salacious pamphlet appears—featuring his own damned face!—he’s thrust back into the storm of public attention.

Bea’s painting teacher quits. Christian’s life is in an uproar. And the only person he can find to replace Bea’s tutor at his terrifying Gothic castle is Matilda herself. The last thing Christian needs is another scandal—especially not one with the most sinfully tempting face he’s ever seen.

But Matilda is determined to right what she’s set wrong. One fake elopement later, Matilda finds herself in a carriage on the way to Northumberland with Christian, whose scowls do little to hide the wounds he carries or the scorching passion beneath his reserve. Only Matilda Halifax could turn Christian’s disciplined life so decidedly inside out—and only Matilda can persuade him that love just might be worth the risk.

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I love novellas like these when they're done right - I feel like they need to have the perfect balance of story and character development which might be hard since it isn't a full length book, but I've loved many novellas in the last few years!❣️✨ I also find it nice that I can finish one within 2 hours and be satisfied!😆 And I just finished In Which Matilda Halifax Learns The Value Of Restraint by Alexandra Vasti which was another excellent one that I enjoyed reading! I read the first novella(Margo's story) last month which made me curious about her twin - Matilda's story too and it was delightful! ⁣
Margo and Matilda - the Halifax Hellions are known for their scandalous reputation. But, Matilda runs into a problem when she accidentally sells some erotic drawings of the equally notorious Marquess of Ashford. And when he confronts her, she realizes that she might have caused more problems than she'd wished to. Feeling guilty, she offers to tutor his sister Bea, as her last painting teacher had quit(after those drawings came out) and to not let her twin know about this, she makes up a story about a fake elopement.⁣
I loved seeing Matilda's side of the story here and it was quite different as Matilda wasn't as wild as Margo. She had her own reasons for her scandalous behavior and perhaps wished to break away from it too. She was more thoughtful and very kind - she cares about everyone around her. Christian was so gruff and grumpy but he was a goner from the moment he met Matilda 🤣 He's been blaming himself for some things in his past and has become somewhat of a recluse but he still wishes to give the best to his sister, Bea. And there's quite an age gap between him and Matilda - but done so well! So, this had an age gap romance+road trip+grumpy hero - hard to dislike this combination lol!😆 Totally wished it'd been longer as I'd have loved an epilogue too! I'm definitely looking forward to reading more full length books from this author!❣️⁣

Do give these a try if you're in the mood for some fun, steamy HR novellas! You can read these two for free when you sign up for Alexandra's newsletter(you've got nothing to lose in my opinion😆).

Alexandra Vasti comes from a long line of romance-reading Vasti women. She fell in love with historical romance at age 11 and still swoons for Laura Kinsale and Judith McNaught.

Alex lives in Louisiana, where she teaches literature at a university by day and writes romance by night. Somewhere in there she also raises three kids and two mostly feral kitties. She’s powered by guacamole and oat milk lattes, though not usually at the same time.

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