REVIEW: Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James
19y.o. heroine agrees with the marriage arrangement her father made with 22y.o. Scottish Duke whom she danced with twice at her debut ball but doesn’t remember due to her fevered condition. 
When she sees him again & gets to know him, the attraction becomes mutual and she doesn’t dispute Hero’s desire for a speedy wedding. When they are married, however, she realizes how ordered & crowded their life is. And she has lots of time to devote to her cello after all. Their time together is slotted for bedtime, which proves to be not enjoyable for her. When Hero finds out she’s been less than honest about their marriage, he leaves her & tries to find out if getting more sexual experience may repair what he seems to lack in their marriage.
This is the kind of romance novel that leaves me with a very good feeling after. The writing made my reading go speedily with its emotional tone, likeable and unique characters, good sexual tension and sex scenes, and fully-resolved problems. Both Hero and heroine were people with strong sense of self, integrity, and caring. However, they expressed them in different ways. Hero with his ordered life, filled with his employees he cared for. And heroine with peacemaker role between her father and stepmother. Somehow these didn’t blend very well together when they got married. Their adjustments to marriage and misunderstandings were realistic. It was definitely unique to have a heroine who found discomfort with sex and felt awkward about informing her husband truthfully about it. The aftermath to his finding out about it brought some angst.** But the resolution was satisfying, with Hero sincerely apologetic over how he responded to her and satisfactorily atoning for it. It only highlighted how love and respect grounded their relationship and how well their future together looked.
Highly recommended.
**A different review with SPOILERS is on my blog. Click here. 
