Flight for sight!

The Dishonored Viscount (Diamonds in the Rough #8) by Sophie Barnes          

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Lady Louise, daughter of the Earl of Grasmere, has an eyesight problem. It ruins her ability to freely enjoy herself at social occasions. She appears awkward, can’t dance, and becomes the focus for her vindictive societal peers. Louise’s parents are committed to her marrying well, even if the match is not to Louise’s liking. Her father is engineering a match for her with someone’s willing to overlook her disability. For now though he insists she have further treatment, ‘couching’ that is painful in the extreme. A needle is inserted into her eye and the lens pushed aside. Louise knows it will just be temporary. And wants to consult other specialists.

I found  the problem with Sophie’s eyes not only real but gruelling and her experiences during surgery awful.(I felt the pain!)

Once more we see how females at this time (1820’s) are commodities within society.  Males are touted as having superior knowledgeable and understanding. In reality they are given carte blanche by society to be as beastly as they like. 

As far as Louise’s sight goes, convention insists that a father naturally knows better than a daughter what treatment she should have.

Meanwhile the male darlings of the ton are encouraged to look for a dowry rather than a person to wed. After all they can keep their mistresses and banish their wives to their estates.

Louise meets the kindly Mr. Nigel Fairbanks who has won her regard with his gentle treatment of her at social events. However Mr. Fairbanks might just not be all he appears. 

Marcus Berkley lost everything—status, title, lands and inheritance when his father, the Earl of Hedgewick, was convicted for murder. Now he’s a doctor, an eye specialist. It’s to him Louise turns for help with her eyes. This is in secrecy due to her father’s opinion about Marcus coloured by the sins of Marcus’ father. Louise’s brother come to her aid, running interference.

This story has some winning aspects. Beautiful afflicted heroine going against her father’s demands, committed ex viscount who’s turned his life into a noble direction, unfeeling father, marriage uncertainties, mean girls and so much more. And yet my interest waned from time to time. Possibly some aspects were tied up too quickly and at other times a bit flat. Still the story came about and all was well.

A Sophie Barnes ARC via NetGalley