It Takes Two to Tumble

It Takes Two to Tumble (2017) Cat Sebastian (Seducing the Sedgwicks)

Set in England in 1817

Ben Sedgwick is happy being the vicar of Kirkby Barton. He is engaged to the girl who has been his best friend since childhood, and he feels comfortable about his calling. He might not want to, but when he is asked to take the Dacre children in hand until their father returns home, he does what he feels is his duty.

Phillip Dacre has been away at sea for two years, missing the death of his wife, and most of the growth of his three children–children that have been running wild since the death of their mother.

Although some of beginning reminds me a bit of the Sound of Music (especially the bit about the trees) it quickly turns into its own story.

Phillip sucked in a breath. “I have no intention of harming my children.”

“Oh, I’m certain you don’t. You’d likely call it discipline. But I’m not interested in semantics. I won’t leave your children alone with someone who seems determined to make enemies of them. They’ve had precious few allies these past few years.”

I especially liked Phillip’s confused and conflicted feelings about his wife.

Suddenly he resented Caroline for having died, which he realized was a ridiculous thing to do, but he did so anyway.

There was one thing I especially liked about the story, but that also was in some ways a weakness of the story. The youngest boy has a reading disability, which Ben has discovered, and is one of the reasons he is so protective of the children–because Jamie’s siblings are protective of him.

I really really like that this was an integral part of the story, but I felt that it got resolved a little too quickly and easily. This is mostly because it’s a shorter story, and there were a lot of things to resolve, but it is such a big thing in the lives of those who have to deal with it, I found it a little frustrating that things were just a little too pat.

I know it wasn’t a main story arc, I just wished it had taken a bit longer to resolve, because that would have felt more realistic. Otherwise, I did enjoy the story.

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Rating: 7/10

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