Something in me just goes 'nope' when this happens. Mostly this arises in paranormals where there is a villain who engages in some sort of mind-control, but situations like Sophie's also qualify. One of my least favourite tropes is having a protagonist who can't trust their senses or mind. Part of it is completely me, not the book. This was something that really, really didn't work for me. Her diary says that Julian did something unforgivable on the night of their engagement, and even though she doesn't remember it, that must be the truth, because it's written down. What's in her diary becomes the reality of her past. Sophie's way of dealing with this is chronicling everything that happens to her in her diary, and then coming back to it. Basically, as far as I could understand it, her memories start fading away pretty much as soon as they are formed. See, Sophie has a memory-related disability. Yes, they were complex, but that was kind of the problem. What didn't work so well for me were the characters. I've never really thought about the subject all that much, but it was surprisingly fascinating. I love a romance with a painful past, and I loved all the stuff about Sophie's inks, which are more a mission than an occupation. There was a lot here that appealed to me.

He's convinced the letter supposedly written by the previous Duke as he lay dying is one, and that Sophie has a lot to explain.

Julian knows she's good at it, just as he knows she's good at forgery. Now Sophie makes a living by making ink, the best ink in the country. However, that ended badly when Sophie inexplicably cast him off at their engagement party.

Before he left he had been betrothed to Sophie Roe, a young local lady. The Lover's Knot shares many of those characteristics, but didn't work quite as well for me.Īfter 10 years Julian has returned to the part of the world where he grew up, having unexpectedly inherited a dukedom. I loved the complex characters with fascinating passions outside of each other, as well as the mood and the vivid sense of place. I loved Erin Satie's début book, The Secret Heart. But as long-buried secrets and betrayals come to light, Julian may be the man to set her free. Sophie is hopelessly entangled in the past. He intends to find out just why she rejected him-and why she’s lying about the old duke’s death. Julian has never been able to forget Sophie. And the man she jilted is the new duke: rich, powerful, and determined to think the worst of Sophie. Her benefactor, the Duke of Clive, is dead. Now Sophie barely scrapes a living in trade. Sophie Roe was once a wealthy young lady, with an adoring fiancé.

The Secret Heart by Erin Satie