Books › Dare I Be Happy?
Dare I Be Happy?
321 pages
A classic romance steeped in the anxious tension of a past mistake threatening to unravel a hard-won happily-ever-after.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping into a classic, earnest romantic melodrama where the stakes are entirely matters of the heart and reputation. The narrative moves at a brisk pace, sweeping the reader from the dizzying heights of naive infatuation into the comforting embrace of genuine love, only to pull the rug out with a sudden, suspenseful twist of fate. The mood is a compelling blend of tender romance and creeping anxiety, as the shadow of a past mistake looms heavily over newfound domestic bliss. Written with a traditional, emotionally focused prose style, it explores the tension between youthful indiscretion and mature devotion. It will delight readers who crave vintage romance layered with the delicious tension of a secret waiting to be exposed.
- Mood
- anxious
- tender
- suspenseful
- melodramatic
- Tone
- earnest
- dramatic
- romantic
- moralistic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- naivety and experience · shadow of past mistakes · true love vs infatuation · hidden secrets
- The writing
- Traditional and earnest, focusing heavily on internal emotional turmoil and the stark contrast between worldly manipulation and genuine affection.
- The arc
- Moves from naive infatuation and sharp disillusionment to the safety of true love, only to be plunged into anxious suspense over a hidden past.
- Who it's for
- Readers who enjoy classic, dramatic romance where past indiscretions threaten newfound domestic bliss.
Content notes
- emotional manipulation
- infidelity themes
About the book
Marigold was very young, very inexperienced, and very trusting - so perhaps it was hardly surprising that as soon as she met the well-known author Lindley Marne, handsome, worldly, and - or so he claimed - unhappily married, she should fall wildly in love with him. But of course it was the usual story, as Marigold found out to her shame and horror in the middle of a shabby little episode with Lindley from which she luckily managed to escape before any real harm was done. Her rescuer was Paul Irving, as different in every way from Lindley as he could be, and the feeling he soon engendered in Marigold was real love which ended in marriage. The marriage should have been blissfully happy - but how could it be, when Marigold learned that Lindley, the one man in the world who could and would wreck it in a word, was Paul's brother-in-law?
Description from Open Library.
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