Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings

Starting Again at Crofton Hall by Rebecca Cohen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Robin Flint is not who you think he is.

From previous appearances in the Modern Crofton novels we may have been given the impression of a guy who floats around behind his Hollywood film star secret boyfriend, hiding in the role of Dorian’s PA, and not really caring much.

But Robin’s not that at all.

He’s a deeply wounded soul and has dealt with some serious trauma in his past which has meant he’s basically pushed aside a lot of his natural personality to live in Dorian’s shadow.

Here we finally get the background of how Robin ended up in LA working as Dorian’s PA, the pain behind his fall from grace and just how much is too much when push comes to shove.

The story opens with a massive blow out between Robin and Dorian when the film star announces he’s fake marrying his fake girlfriend who’s also hiding behind her relationship because she’s got her own secret girlfriend.

Robin hightails it out of Dorian’s house and to a flat his family own in LA before eventually getting in touch with Ben and Ashley and heading to Crofton Hall. What follows then is a romance which is the opposite of everything Robin’s ever known as he meets a local man, Simon, and discovers the joy that comes from being able to publicly demonstrate your feelings for someone.

I absolutely love the modern Crofton books (I love the historical ones too as well!) and the way Rebecca has gathered together a found family to go along with Ben’s aristocratic blood one. With his staff finding love at the Hall, it’s now time for his friend Robin to do the same.

With all the usual suspects on hand and a secondary plot which revolves around an incident at the Hall, what you get in this book is an exploration of how someone can take control back of their own destiny and begin to find their feet again.

It’s super sweet, Simon has his own bruised spots which Robin is more than happy to make him feel good about and they’re actually a brilliant pairing, each bringing their own strengths to the partnership.

We also get to meet Robin’s family and I absolutely adore off of them, as well as get a glimpse into Simon’s long distance ancestral past which brings a touch of humour to proceedings.

This is another great entry in the series and I’m really glad that Robin was able to come out from the toxic relationship he and Dorian had ended up in. Now I wait eagerly to see if Rebecca can rehabilitate and redeem the film star himself so he can find his own happy ending.

As ever, I beta read this book.

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review

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