I'm a big fan of Marguerite Kaye and I enjoyed the story. I loved that the hero and heroine are both older AND not dukes or nobles! So different from most historical romances! And it's highly emotional, both in its setting and the unexpected love between these two honorable people.

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I will admit that I didn't really have high hopes for this one. Yes, it sounds interesting but lately, I have been struggling and not liking Harlequin Historical books at all so I didn't have any expectations.

I am so glad I read this one because I loved it. I loved the characters and the story was one that kept me reading. Also I enjoyed the fact that the couple is older than most Historical romances.

I am giving this 5 out of 5.

Good book. There were two things about this book that made it unusual in the historical romance genre. First, the couple is older, with Constance being forty years old and never married, and Grayson being forty-three. I love having a couple with some life experience. Second, neither of them is part of the aristocracy. Grayson is a self-made man, a successful shipbuilder. Constance is a teacher who has turned to writing political essays.

The story opens as Constance witnesses the cruelty of the Highland Clearances. The pain of seeing the village go up in flames is magnified by knowing that her former fiancé is the one enforcing them. The tragedy is compounded when her father suffers a heart attack and dies as they watch it happen. Constance packs up and goes to Edinburgh to live with a family friend. Six years later, she has made a life for herself penning articles about the Clearances and their effects, hoping to open peoples' eyes to what is happening. Unfortunately, most people don't seem to care. There is more excitement over the impending visit of the King.

Grayson arrived in Edinburgh from Glasgow looking for accommodations for his family during the King's upcoming visit. His teen children want to see the King and participate in the festivities. Grayson is a widower whose children are the most important things in his life, with his business coming in a close second. He is also caught in a quandary because his late wife's parents, who never approved of him, keep trying to get the kids to live with them. They are aristocracy and believe that they can offer a better life than he can.

I loved the first meeting between Constance and Grayson. Constance went for a walk to clear her mind and consider the fact that her quest for justice appears to be fruitless. Her ruminations are interrupted by Grayson, who had also gone walking. They immediately connect, two people who don't realize that they are lonely until they meet someone that calls to them. Underneath the easy conversation, there is also a simmering attraction that they choose to accept and act on. Both agree that it will last only as long as Grayson's stay.

I enjoyed watching the relationship between Constance and Grayson develop. Though the passion they experience is strong, so too is the connection they share. I liked seeing them spend time together, able to talk about almost anything. The more time they spend together, the deeper the bond grows, but neither believes anything can come of it. Grayson is fixated on his responsibility to his children and doesn't think adding another person is a good idea. Constance gave up on marriage long ago and believes that her work for justice is more important. Both have moments when they fear their growing closeness and try to pull back, but the attempts at distancing never last. Each of them also hides a secret. Grayson hasn't told Constance the identities of his in-laws, nor has Constance shared her writing life with Grayson. I ached for them when the time came for them to part. Both agreed seeing each other again would be a bad idea.

However, like before, their vows to stay away from each other don't last. Both were miserable when they were apart, but still don't see a way to be together. The time apart has brought about some changes. Grayson's point-of-view of his in-laws has undergone a shift, thanks to his conversations with Constance. Meanwhile, Constance has a new plan for her future. It was painful to see how much Grayson and Constance loved each other, and their steadfast refusal to believe in a future together. There were some interesting scenes during the King's visit that seemed to be Fate pushing these two stubborn people together. I loved the scene where Grayson saw the light. His speech to Constance was fantastic, romantic and emotional, and yet practical too. The epilogue was excellent, and I loved seeing the changes over the year.

I loved the attention to historical detail. The Clearances and the hardships suffered by the Highlanders were vividly described and heartbreaking. I also enjoyed the vision created of the King's visit to Edinburgh. I could easily picture the crowds and the events. I laughed at Shona's description of the Drawing Room. It was interesting to see how Sir Walter Scott influenced the pageantry and attitudes.

Marguerite Kaye is one of my favourite authors and is someone I know can be relied upon to create interesting characters and situations that are firmly grounded in their historical settings, while also crafting a compelling and emotional romance between her hero and heroine.  Readers – like me – who are always on the look-out for historicals featuring non-titled heroes will want to give A Forbidden Liaison with Miss Grant a look, as will those interested in reading a love story between a more mature couple.

In 1822, the city of Edinburgh is frantically preparing for a highly anticipated visit by King George IV, the first visit to the city by a reigning British monarch since 1651. Miss Constance Grant watches it all with a sense of frustration; after the clearance (a common practice at this time, wherein landowners evicted their tenants to make way for more profitable flocks of sheep) of the Highland village of Clachan Bridge left her homeless, she was offered a home by a dear friend of her late mother’s and now resides with that lady in Edinburgh.  It’s perhaps not what she had envisioned for herself, but during the last four years, she has found renewed purpose in working tirelessly to bring to light the horrors being committed in the Scottish Highlands in the name of progress, to speak out on behalf of those who are unable to speak for themselves - the ever dwindling numbers of Highland inhabitants who are likely to soon face eviction.  However, as she approaches her fortieth birthday, Constance is starting to wonder if her efforts have been in vain:

Had this crusade lost its purpose, leaving her in limbo, unable to give up on it, yet failing to make any headway?... Six years was a big chunk of a life to be rootless and homeless, expending her time on a cause few cared about.

Grayson Maddox, a widower in his early forties, is the owner of a successful shipbuilding business on the Clyde.  He’s the epitome of the self-made man; he’s worked hard for what he has and now enjoys a life of considerable comfort and ease, but he never forgets where he’s come from.  After the loss of his wife eight years earlier, he’s devoted his life to two things – his business and his children – and has had no time, or desire really, for anything else.  Until he meets a confident, alluring woman down at the Leith docks and feels an immediate sense of familiarity and connection the like of which he’s never felt with anyone.  After they make their introductions, Grayson finds himself babbling about his reasons for being in Edinburgh (to secure accommodation for his family during the King’s visit), about his business, about his children… and when he collects himself and apologises for pouring all this out to a complete stranger, he offers to leave Constance to enjoy the view in solitude – but she stops him.

Ms. Kaye evokes the instant connection and attraction that zings between Constance and Grayson superbly well, creating something so visceral that it leaps off the page.  After a little more conversation and then a shared meal, during which the couple acknowledge the strength of their mutual attraction, they spend a passionate afternoon in bed, something as unexpected as it is intensely fulfilling for both of them.  Afterwards, Grayson sees Constance home, and as they prepare to say goodbye, they realise that they don’t want to, that the connection they feel is something extraordinary and that they want to spend more time together, just talking and, as Grayson puts is “letting the world go hang” for a little while.  He’s in Edinburgh for a few more days – Constance agrees to see him again until the end of his visit.

Both Constance and Grayson go into this … whatever it is… knowing that it has an end date and with no expectations of each other.  But it’s very clear to the reader that the damage has been done and they’re already more than half in love with each other – and that they know it as well, although they’re both in strong denial.  They both have their own very different lives to go back to, so wanting something that simply can’t be is pointless and will just make their eventual parting even more painful.  But as we follow them through the week it’s obvious they’re made for each other; they talk about their lives, their pasts, their hopes -about almost everything… but that ‘almost’ is the thing that may eventually divide them.

The author’s eye for historical detail is superb; the visit by George IV to Edinburgh was greeted by almost delirious enthusiasm and elevated into a grand spectacle by Sir Walter Scott, who invented many rites which were subsequently hailed as ancient traditions in his quest to present the King as a new Jacobite monarch who was as much a Stuart by blood as Bonnie Prince Charlie.  It was a three-ring-circus and then some, and I enjoyed Constance and Grayson’s quiet cynicism about it all.

On the downside however, some of that detail was perhaps just a tiny bit of overkill at times, as I found myself eager for the next conversation between Constance and Grayson about something other than the ridiculous pageantry or shipbuilding.   It was all very interesting, don’t get me wrong, I just found it interrupted the flow of the romantic storyline at times.   And also, while the romance is utterly gorgeous and the genuine emotional connection between the leads is palpable, when it really comes down to it, the reasons keeping the couple apart are not all that convincing. Grayson has devoted his life to his work and to his children – which also brings with it a complicated family situation - while Constance has devoted hers to her writing; and while I can see how her ‘radical’ sympathies could cause problems for Grayson, they spend so much time thinking about how they can’t be together, that they don’t stop to consider what they could do in order to make it possible for them to make a future together.  And in the end, it’s all sorted out in a couple of pages.

Those quibbles apart however, A Forbidden Liaison with Miss Grant is a beautifully sensual character-driven romance featuring an attractive couple whose life experience and maturity makes for a refreshingly different and thoroughly enjoyable love story.

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I’m not sure I have the words to express my feelings on this story. It is so heartbreakingly beautiful, this mature love story. It’s doomed from the start, but can one really avoid fate? This is a story that will stay with me for some time...

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.