Romancing Daphne by Sarah Eden

 In this third installment of Lancaster Family series, seven years has gone by and Persephone's younger sister, Daphne, is old enough to have her first season.  Unlike her sisters, Persephone and Artemis, Daphne is shy, quiet and not at all interested in dances and moving about in society.  Determined to be the beloved spinster aunt, there is only one man she has ever dreamed of,  James Tilburn, who was kind to her on the day of Artemis' coming out ball.  Imagine her surprise, when that very man walks into her sitting room on her first "at home" in London.  His attention is guarded, but polite, and she is delighted when he, over the next couple of weeks, starts to pay her special attention.  Little does she know that he is not paying court to her because under his own volition. Over time, his obligatory attention turns into true regard, but he worries that if she finds out his initial interest was motivated by an over-reaching father's manipulation, she will never be able to trust him again.

This week I was so stressed at work and with family obligations, I started to read three other books and eventually returned them unfinished.  This was the only level of literature that could get me through the week.  It is like the first two in the series in plot, but Daphne is a different kind of heroine. She made me think of the Quiet Power book I read, or maybe of Fanny Price in Mansfield Park.  I didn't really see the mythology tie in until late in the story, so that was kind of fun. It has the same gallant hero and ansurrance of a happy ending as all Eden's other books.  Bless Sarah Eden and other clean romance writers for giving us over-50 women the literature we need to handle life's stress. (2017, 328p.)