A Grand Tour by Anthea Lawson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Grand Tour is an anthology that specifically focuses on the heroine in each story traveling on a grand tour, a fabulously sounding tour that goes across Europe and Africa and chronicles how they meet their love interest along the way. I received a copy via ebooks for review in exchange for an honest review.

A Lord's Chance, Falling in Rome and A Secret Arrangement are all colorful, engaging sweet romances. The reader cannot help but like each of the love interests as they are very well drawn. For example, Henry is this driven, focused anthropologist who never bothers going to his own apartment in Cairo and lives day and night at his dig site until circumstances plant him in front of Evelyn and he is finally drawn out of his own world to realize maybe he might do things differently than he planned, or not planned in this case. Ken in Fallin in Rome is also another gifted historian who has a scholarly level of knowledge about Julius Caesar which draws him to Italy. I cannot blame him as I am always drawn to Italy to the point that I study the Italian language and culture and visit as often as I can.

One thing struck me about these books. I take for granted that I can go out and gain the same types of degrees that men can obtain and compete for the same jobs. Each of these stories reminded me that these women all were intelligent and in Fall in Rome, Eleanor has the desire to do similar work to her great, world-renowned, scholar father, but, because she is a woman in Victorian times it is unheard of. Interesting that there are woman leaders but, other women are not allowed to lead in things not related to keeping a home. In those countries where there were women leaders you would have thought they would have been a lot more progressive, but, it goes to show that until women realized they wanted more no one would fight for them to have more which also is greatly portrayed in Fall in Rome and to some extent in A Secret Arrangement. Each of these stories is a great romance with a couple who the reader can relate to and each gives a bit more in portraying how things were for women at the time.

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