The Heiress and the Hothead by Sabrina Jeffries

Stunned by the heat of an unexpected kiss on a cold winter’s eve, two strangers from vastly different worlds turn hotheaded principles into burning passion.

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This story was first featured in the 2015 anthology What Happens Under the Mistletoe. Although it’s quite a recent book, you might want to check you haven’t got that book before purchasing this as a stand alone story. Although I do quite like having my favourite stories as stand alone books.

This book is one of the Sinful Suitors stories. Amanda first appeared in The Art of Sinning and we also meet characters in this book from future books in the Sinful Suitors series. You might be enticed to read more of the series but this book does stand alone quite nicely.

Amanda and Stephen are quite opinionated and both hold strong views on mills and mill reform - which is the backdrop to this story. What’s nice is that while the mills are a big feature, and richly described, they never take away from the story or from Amanda and Stephen’s romance.

I liked that both Stephen and Amanda were made to work hard for their happily ever after. Both were stubborn and opinionated and both had to realise their own faults stood in the way. It wasn’t just the man, as is often the case in these kind of stories, that made a mistake and had to right his wrong before it was too late.

The consummation of Stephen and Amanda’s love was a little different - at least the location was! I won’t spoil the story by saying too much but while it wasn’t hugely sexy (at least compared to Jeffries’ other works), it did seem realistic and fit the circumstances.

Sabrina Jeffries is one of my favourite authors and this story doesn’t disappoint. Lively characters, strong emotion and an unusual premise give this tale something more than most and it’s a story I’d happily recommend.