Impossible is a historical romance by Darcy Burke and is the 5th of the Phoenix Club Series. This book wasn’t on my reading list for the month. But, when I received a copy from NetGalley, I couldn’t wait to start reading it. I loved the other books in the series and couldn’t wait to read Ada Treadway and Maximillian Hunt, Viscount of Warfield.
Ada is the bookkeeper at the Phoenix Club. She is enlisted by the owner to help out an old friend of his with the estate accounts. When Ada arrives to help with the estate, she finds it is not in a good condition and meets Viscount Maximillian Hunt. He is grumpy and growly with everyone around him even with Ada. She decides to not let him put her off and finish her work. Slowly, she starts wearing him down. Both of them have scars from the past.
Impossible is the retelling of Beauty and the Beast. A good retelling, I think. It captured the essence of the classic story and made it fir for the historical context of the plot. Ada is friendly, sunny, smart, and determined while Max is exactly the opposite of her. He doesn’t care about anything, not even himself. Though he is rude to her and everyone, Ada decides to not let his behavior affect her, and she does wear him down. I liked the way their relationship developed. It was quick, but it was a natural progression because the characters had great chemistry from the start. They realize that maybe they are not so different after all.
Their romance is beautiful, and it develops really well. From reluctance to attraction to love it all seems realistic in the way it unfolds. Ada has a past that has scarred her so does Max. Both the characters show different ways of dealing with grief and difficult circumstances. Ada tries not to let it get her down and enjoy life in the present moment. Max’s guilt and grief weigh heavily on him; he doesn’t see a way out. It is with Ada’s help of course, but he is the one who decides to slowly and steadily pull himself out and start letting go.
I couldn’t put the book down once I started reading it. The story is kind of divided into two parts- one is at Max’s estate and the other back in London. Romance plays a big role in the story, and their relationship is strong; they maturely deal with issues by talking about them. Their romance is cute, steamy, and dreamy, which is a perfect combination. The characters have journeys to go through and overcome and face their past. It is one of the strong points of this book.
I loved this book. It is engaging and has good characters. I wasn’t sure what to expect because these are characters we haven’t known about much in the previous books, especially Max. I must say it was a pleasant surprise. It was exactly what I needed a historical romance with good characters. The Beauty and the Beast aspect was unexpected, but it is one of my favorite fairytales, so overall I loved reading it.
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