Dances Long Forgotten: Winsford Green Book 1, Ruby Moone

I truly enjoyed where we ended up with this story, but I will warn that it took more heartbreak and secrets badly revealed before we got there.  Speaking of the story within the story (pretty much the main story since it was pretty much the only one we got in depth), both men were charming, but as we only get one POV, it's a bit skewed in favor of feeling more strongly for Hugo than for Lyndon.  There was a sweetness to where they began as children and a satisfaction to where they ended up once all the chaos settled, it just hurt a lot in between.

One thing to note, in my opinion, was that the story, though well-written, was unnecessarily complicated.  It was secret after secret, reveal after reveal, heartbreak after heartbreak, and was just far too much for a shorter story.  At least one or two could have been dropped and we would have had a much more engaging story.  With a total of three couples being featured in varying degrees it made for too much to bring together at the end.  That being said, if it had been simplified, I would have adored the whole thing.  Each couple was interesting enough with their own complications and hearts to sort out and they all got their HEA in the end.

The "main" couple that we started out with served as a vehicle more than a feature point and that was another missed opportunity.  There were quite a lot of little details that needed some fine tuning and an objective eye, but the overall story had excellent bones and a wonderful ending full of family, feels, and forgiveness.  It was worth the read.

*$2.99 on Amazon

On Christmas Eve, Dylan, the man of James Pell-Charnley’s dreams, is on the point of walking out. Then they hear the faint strains of a waltz in the library of the empty abbey. The music is said to be heard only by those truly in love, and it gives James the courage to tell Dylan the story.

In December 1841, Lord Hugo Pell-Charnley is in a terrible mess. The youngest son of the late Marquis, youngest brother of the incumbent, never felt to fit. When his life comes crashing down, and his life and his family are threatened, he is forced to face his elder brother and confess his deepest secret. When he arrives at Winsford Abbey he finds he must also confront the shame from his past in the form of Lyndon Cross. The boy he’d loved but betrayed in school.

As they clear the ghosts from the past, they dance in each other’s arms in the library to the soft strains of the waltz, but long buried secrets threaten to destroy their happiness.

Two hundred years later, can those dances long forgotten give James and Dylan the courage to hold on to love?