shaira ✨'s Reviews > A Daring Pursuit

i had 5 hours until my library loan for this book was due and a quiet saturday morning all to myself. pure fucking bliss be thy name ☀️

just one thing to add as a personal note—
reading this book with brazil by declan mckenna playing in the background made me feel a certain kinda way that words cannot even describe 🤭

the premise of this story was, in many ways, verrryy similar to its predecessor. two families in the middle of a rivalry spanning back centuries and smack dab in the heart of all that chaos, we have two kindred spirits in the form of carys davies and tristan montgomery. what these two have—playful banter, passion, fervour, love, hate, yearning, gravitational pull towards each other, whatever you wanna call it. it’s ALL there and i relished every second of it 🤌🏽

so y’all know how i am absolute trash for an immaculate dirty talker but trust that sweet talking tristan montgomery will hold the unparalleled power to bring one to heel, hitting all the right spots with all the flirty energy (even when said sweet talker gave a comprehensive rundown of certain architectural planes and how they compare to other “planes”, iykyk).

the icing on the cake—
the fact that he built his new house for his “future” while subconsciously envisioning carys as one of it’s inhabitants ?? my dears, if your love language is the giving and receiving of gifts, you need not look further bc what we have here is straight out of a dream 🥹

also, carys was an absolute gem to read about. have y’all met julie baker from the movie flipped ?? yess ?? bc carys is THE regency embodiment of julie baker and I AM LIVING FOR THATT. all that luminous energy and carefree spirit—i fell so utterly in love. makes sense that tristan would too. but like also both of them together ?? DOWNRIGHT FUCKEN ELECTRIC ⚡️

i just loooved everything about this story. from carys trying to untangle the intricate mess that is the grasp patriarchy and the eyes of “gentle society” to tristan being the unapologetic malewife and reserving the right to ride right through every storm together while loving and cherishing and protecting carys every step of the way 💅

also, i think i mentioned this in my review for a reckless match but can we just talk about how amazing the other characters are. i mean, gryff as a love interest in book one was ✨something✨ but this brooding welsh man as a an unproblematic yet loving and protective brother to carys mADE ME FUCKING WEAK IN THE KNEES.

idk what else to say. just 👏🏽 so 👏🏽 fucking 👏🏽 utterly 👏🏽 good 👏🏽

if you’re reading this, plzz go do yourself a favour and devour this story immediately (and read the first book too while you’re at it 🤍).

also as a final note—
consider this my unofficial pledge to devour anything and everything that kate bateman writes (both backlist and upcoming releases) ☝🏽