Series: Bard’s Rest, Book 2
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 4, 2023
Source: Publisher
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Portia Barnes is the youngest managing partner in her law firm’s history, and she and her stilettos are poised to step into the role of her dreams—leading the firm’s new Boston office. But first she’s taking a summer sabbatical in her hometown of Bard’s Rest, New Hampshire, where she discovers something’s rotten in the midst of the town’s annual Shakespeare festival.
Hotshot commercial developer Benjamin Dane is sniffing around Bard’s, and while Portia isn’t necessarily a Shakespeare fanatic like the rest of her family, she’s not about to let him bulldoze the town’s beloved outdoor theater. Yet to Portia’s dismay, Ben proves as skilled as she is when it comes to outworking, outmaneuvering, and one-upping the competition. While she’s never hesitated to wage war against hyper-successful alpha males, Portia is caught off guard by Ben’s openness and lack of arrogance. As her own long-constructed walls start to come down, Portia begins to wonder if he might be more than an archnemesis.
With her heart on the line and the future of the town hanging in the balance, Portia faces an impossible decision—Ben or Bard’s?—unless she finds a way to broker the merger of her life, and ensures the curtain falls on a happy ending for everyone.
Return to Bard’s Rest, where Shakespeare puns and potential romances are aplenty. In The Dane of My Existence, Jessica Martin’s charming creation of a town is a constant delight, but it’s lawyer and rogue non-Shakespeare lover Portia Barnes at the heart of this tale.
It wasn’t easy to become the youngest managing partner at her law firm, but Portia did it. Now on a sabbatical until she moves into her new office, Portia is at loose ends. She’s not like the rest of her family and the idea of loosening up and not working is alien to her. No dust will settle on her skills though, because Bard’s Rest is at risk. Developer Benjamin Dane is sniffing around her beloved town looking to build condos that could certainly impact the town’s charm and main source of revenue. With a new opponent, Portia’s in her element…until her attraction to Ben knocks her off her feet. Ben is the perfect sparring partner and I really enjoyed their banter. Ben and Portia are well matched on every level. I loved that they understood each other’s commitment to and enjoyment of their work. That they grew to trust each other enough with their whole selves, even the imperfect bits. Portia and Ben’s slide from enemies to lovers to more worked because they had great chemistry and fit perfectly. Portia isn’t warm and cuddly on the surface and Ben likes that about her (as did I) and doesn’t seek to change her, which I really appreciated.
But the course of true love never did run smooth, so of course Martin doesn’t make it easy on her hero and heroine. As much as they’d like to, Ben and Portia can’t forget they’re at odds and if one of them wins it means the destruction of something else to the other. I was very much looking forward to seeing what happened and Martin made all the bumps in the road worth it in the end.
The Dane of My Existence is the second book in the Bard’s Rest series. If you don’t mind some minor spoilers then you can jump in here without any confusion. The Barnes family and their friends bring this town to life in delightful ways and really help the story shine. I liked Portia’s interactions with her sisters, best friends, and townsfolk. Bard’s Rest is a place I absolutely love spending time in and I hope for more romances set in this town.
FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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