Blog Tour and Review: Isabelle and Alexander

by Rebecca Anderson

Publisher : Shadow Mountain (May 4, 2021)
Language : English
Paperback : 368 pages
ISBN-10 : 1629728470
ISBN-13 : 978-1629728476

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Manchester, 1850

Isabelle Rackham knows she will not marry for love. Though arranged marriages have fallen out of fashion, hers has been settled for some time to combine the upper-middle-class wealth of her father’s coal mines with Alexander Osgood’s prospering Northern country textile mills. Though not a man prone to romantic gestures, Alexander is well-known as an eligible bachelor. His good looks have turned more than one head, so Isabelle is content to think of herself as Alexander’s wife.

However, her marriage is not what she expected. Northern England is nothing like her home farther west in the lake country. Cold, dreary, and dark, the soot from the textile mills creates a gray hue that seems to cling to everything in the city of Manchester. Alexander is distant and aloof, preferring to spend his time at the mill rather than with her at home. Their few conversations are brief, polite, and lacking any emotion, leaving Isabelle lonely and desperately homesick.

Sensing his wife’s unhappiness, Alexander suggests a trip to his country estate. Isabelle hopes this will be an opportunity to get to know her new husband without the distractions of his business. But the change of scenery doesn’t bring them any closer. While riding together on horses, Alexander is thrown from his and becomes paralyzed. Tragedy or destiny? The help and care that Alexander now needs is Isabelle’s opportunity to forge a connection and create a deep and romantic love where nothing else could.

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This book was really an emotional one for me. It is told from the point of view of Isabelle, and you are able to feel connected to her right away. However, it was Alexander that really drew me in.

Alexander and Isabelle have just had an arranged marriage and barely know each other when Alexander suffers from a tragic accident. Isabelle is trying to find where she fits in with this new situation, and we see her many struggles. Alexander is very quiet and can come off as moody and cold. It was finding out who the real Alexander was that I really loved.

I also loved how raw and realistic this book was. Everything wasn’t daisies and sunshine. Bad things happened and people’s lives changed because of it. However, there were also tender moments that helped bring them together as a couple and everything they went through made them stronger.

I look forward to reading more from Rebecca Anderson.