A match made at the inn

Historical romance has been hit or miss for me lately, but someone somewhere made mention of author Alice Coldbreath. They talked about her Victorian 

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Prizefighter series and the fact that her protagonists were not dukes or duchesses, but instead middle-class (at best) characters was a real selling point. So I picked up A Bride for the Prizefighter and so glad I did. I think I started smiling in chapter one and continued to do so through the rest of the book.

As the book open Mina's father reveals, on his deathbed, that Mina has a brother she never knew about and that he's contacted this brother to come and get Mina once he dies. The revelation is a shock to Mina, but the arrival of her brother couldn't come too soon as the school she and her father have been running is deep in debt and will be closed. Once her father dies Mina won't have anywhere else to go. Unfortunately, though her brother does come to get her, he has no intention of keeping her. His solution? Marry her off to the taciturn William Nye, a prize-fighter who owns the Merry Harlot inn. Now Mina is married to a man she's just met and helping to run a disreputable inn.

Though Mina would seem to be over-matched by her new husband - certainly Will thinks so - she's stronger and more determined than she appears. It's that determination that allows her to weather the recent changes in her circumstance and her strength that allows her to push for more in her new life. As she does so she and Will finds himself drawn in and fascinated by each new aspect of his wife. 

I loved the way the relationship between Mina and Will progressed and how they took what they learned of one another to build a lasting connection. Can't wait to read the next in the series.