Content warnings: Much discussion of infertility; fear of pregnancy; fear of birth. 

Book number two in this trilogy focuses on Poppy, the elder sister and middle child of the Stafford family, who is happily married already to the Marquess of Darlington, Gabriel. I say happily, but she is deeply upset by the fact that they don't seem able to conceive a child, while Gabriel is rather glad about this as he was traumatised by his mother dying in childbirth when he was young, and fears Poppy would also die if she were to get pregnant. They devote themselves to the local home for poor women and children, and help a young woman who arrives one day, heavily pregnant and claiming she doesn't want to keep her baby. 

This was my least favourite book of the series, for the simple reason that I don't enjoy romances that focus on pregnancy. I liked both Poppy and Gabriel and their interactions - it's lovely to see an established marriage, and makes a change of pace to have the relationship be focused on facing life's issues rather than just getting married. However, I wasn't a fan of the main plot: as I say, I read romance for light-hearted fun, not to have heavier subjects like this front and centre, but I also had a particular problem with two elements.

Firstly, [SPOILERS AHEAD] I didn't like that Poppy somehow magically got pregnant just to provide a happy ending, undoing all the emotional work she had put in to come to terms with her infertility, and secondly, I didn't care for the way that the pregnant woman, Dinah, was treated. She does not want a baby, having been raped by her employer and then kicked out, and has no desire to be a mother as it will stop her achieving her dreams, so having Poppy nurse her back to health while spouting platitudes about how wonderful motherhood will be and how she will instantly love her baby felt in bad taste, and I thought it was extremely dismissive of Dinah's character to have her realise, once the baby is born, that she did want the baby after all. Obviously this does happen to some women, but the story would have been stronger if it had presented the idea that some women don't want to be mothers and that's okay, rather than making motherhood out to be the be-all and end-all of a woman's existence. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. 

So this wasn't one for me, but it was a perfectly sound read, and offers another perspective on the over-arching series plot.

A good introduction to the writing style of Ms Burke.
I look forward to delving into a longer novel format. I applaud the communication that exists between her characters and admired the creative way to present the story of a married couple.

a beautiful heartwrenching story about two people wanting different things and losing all hope. but miracles do happen and they both realize they are a family no matter what and can overcome anything with love.

2.5/5 Stars.

So let's get one thing straight, I read Darcy Burke quite often. She's one of my go to authors when I want something quick, simple and un-complicated. The charactes, plots and the writing always make for an easy read - and you're never dealing with heavy emotional concepts.

However, in this book I think the content was such that it required a deeper emotional context, which is definitely missing in the book. The plot line of a married couple who love each other deeply, but have been barren for 3 years isn't one to be handled with kid gloves. Or at least, in my opinion such a topic isn't an easy-breezy romance trope that can be dealt with in a novella length book.

The romance while beautiful (the added benefit of a married couple meaning that there are more steamy scenes than usual) is good, but since the story is more about their inability to conceive; Poppy's agony at not being a mother, and Gabriel's fear of loosing his wife in childbirth - it's less of a solving of all these complicated emotions than a romance. Even those complicated emotions are often muted and rushed through, so you never really connect or feel for the protagonists.

The plot with Gabriel thinking of adopting the baby of a woman who'd come to the shelter his family ran seems far-fetched. A marquess adopting a son, that isn't even his and making him his heir is some fantasy level bullshit. Even if Gabriel - the sweet, loving and caring man that he's shown to be - would be okay with this, there would be someone amongst his peers who'd tell him what a monumental idiotic idea that was.

Anyhow, I will still read DB in the future, but I sincerely feel such hard-hitting emotional stories need more time, work and length to really have effect.

**I received a copy of the book from Netgalley and the author in exchange for an honest review.*

As always Darcy has managed to add in a social commentary to her Historical Romance series of novels.
In this book we consider the issues of illegitimacy; rape by aristocracy of housemaids and the inability of the maids to bring them to justice; poor laws and the dreadful houses for single women with children that separated them and failed to provide a means to earning a living; sterility when you need an heir and spare for the title; and finally childbirth and the dreadful rates of deaths in childbirth and of babies.
There were 3 main causes of childbirth death up till the 20th century.
1. Puerperal fever or Pyrexia - which was carried by doctors and midwives on their hands and clothes from one patient to anther due to lack of washing, disinfecting etc.
2. Placenta previa or separation of the placenta and thus haemorrhages. If the uterus failed to contract after birth or there was some trauma, all of these could cause blood loss which they were unable to stop and of course, there were o transfusions then.
3. Eclampsia or pre-eclampsia.
In all, there were up to 25 deaths in childbirth for every 1000. And still births were not recorded so we have no knowledge of just how many babies were born and not named. It was the custom for many families not to name the child until it had lived for a week or even a month. And thus a death would not be officially recorded.
It was no wonder then, that people feared childbirth... I know I would have died in childbirth if I had lived then and so would my son.
All the above not withstanding, it was a well crafted story with a nice romance and good story-telling. I enjoy her books and they do tend to make me think about the social inequalities and other social issues, which is a good thing, and makes these stories just that little bit more.
4

The Gift of the Marquess is the second book in the Love is All Around trilogy series by Darcy Burke. The book is a stand-alone, but if you have read book one you might notice that at least a part of their timelines is overlapping, so some events might seem familiar to you.

The blurb of the book reveals everything the reader has to know about the main characters and their back story, so you can see whether or not you will enjoy the book (theme, triggers etc.) just by reading the blurb. The rest of the book is about the way our characters express their feelings, their struggle of wanting, but not having a child and finally communicating as they should have done a long time ago. As a married couple, there is communication, but they don't deal with their want or lack of a child.

I liked how everything that had to do with pregnancies was handled. Poppy wants a child so much, but she hasn't had one so far, while there is another woman who is pregnant and doesn't want her child. If the characters lived in the 21rst century things would have been so much easier for them and that made me think a lot.

Overall, the book was good. There was some angst, but not much. My heart hurt for Poppy and Gabriel and I understood why Gabriel wouldn't want to risk the life of the woman he loved by getting her pregnant. The story was good and I also liked the glimpses we got of Calder and Felicity's story. I would recommend the book!

This was the 2nd in this series for Darcy Burke. I loved the holiday novella and it was a good continuation from the first book. I’m looking forward to the final book. Thank you to netgalley for the arc!

The story of Poppy and Gabriel is one of the struggle of infertility and all the e.options that go along with it. Many struggle with the condition. There is a happy ever after ending. I felt this book while a great story is a set up for Calder's story. This is an ARC from Net Galley.

4.5 stars

Quite a bit of Pathos with this story. It's the second one in a series: Love is all Around. The first was about Bianca and this one is about her sister Poppy. Poppy is married to a Marquess and really wants a baby. It doesn't seem to be happening for her and Gabriel. He's not to unhappy about this, as he's lost relatives to child birth. I liked their romance and felt for Poppy. It's a lovely story with quite a bit of sexual passion. I believe the Author has written about this issue from personal experience and probably this is why we get the epilogue that most readers would expect. I think I'd have liked it a bit more open ended. There's a problem with Poppy and Bianca's brother that has followed through both books and I'm eager to find out how that's resolved. I think you will like these stories.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I don’t like saying this, but I did not care for this book. I had a hard time getting into it, which is unusual. There wasn’t anything wrong with it I just could not connect with it. The characters, writing and story were good, but just not for me

Another great book by Darcy Burke.
The Marquess and Marchioness of Darlington fell in love and married 3 years ago. They have had a wonderful marriage and care deeply for each other. Unfortunately, they have not been able to conceive.
Poppy longs to have a child and Gabriel is scared that she'll die if she does. The struggles that both go through is heartening. The need for alone time to deal with the infertility clashes with their need for each other. Even though there is a little lack of communication, they learn that it's best to be completely honest with each other.
I loved these characters. They are kind and giving, not only to each other, but to strangers that come to Hartwell House. I hoped for them throughout the story and was not disappointed in the end.
I am looking forward to reading the last book in this trilogy. I'm very curious as to what made Poppy and Bianca's brother so cold and uncaring.
I received an advance readers copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

A heartwarming and emotional tale of Gabriel and Poppy’s attempt at parenthood. Poppy was lost in a valley of hurt, and angry because she was still childless after having three years of marriage. In this book, Gabriele and Poppy had to deal with their emotional baggage individually. This created a tense and emotional environment that caused them some sleepless nights. The way these two worked out their difficult and tense situation is awesome, it shows the level of love and trust they had for each other. Who could have known? that Saint Nicolas Day would bring with it such miracles. Now Gabriele had another deep gulch to overcome and one he had to cross real fast for their lasting joy.

So I will start off by saying that this book does an at least vaguely smart thing for a romance novel, which is focusing on infertility as a legitimate concern, as well as highlighting the issue of maternal mortality. Great! However, that is sort of where the smart things stop. Gabriel and Poppy have been married for three years, and they are having trouble having a child. Poppy is pretty miserable about this, but Gabriel is secretly fine with it, since his mother and sister both died in childbirth. So did Poppy's mother! (I mean... look, I appreciate drawing attention to maternal mortality as much as the next girl, but I do want to point out that the risk was somewhere between 0.5 and 6%, so the death rate here is pretty impressive, even for a romance novel.)

This leads us to everyone's motivations for the entire book: Poppy wants a baby, and Gabriel wants to give her a baby. This is literally the only plot line aside from some random strangeness with Poppy's brother that never actually gets resolved. These aren't inherently bad motivations. They are, in fact, understandable! But here's where this book lost me: Gabriel offers to let a sick, pregnant woman from the local women's home come stay in their guest cottage. He's not, however, doing this out of the goodness of his heart, he wants the baby. And both he and Poppy tell her this! The book spends a lot of time with Poppy reassuring the woman that she can keep the baby if she wants to, but there's this weird coercive element to all of it. Neither of them seems to recognize that the woman is in a really difficult position, where she is relying on them for shelter, food, and medical care. She's also from a lower class background, so she's socially conditioned to give people of their rank anything they want. The power dynamic is skewed completely in one direction, which makes the whole, "Stay in our guest house, by the way, if you don't want your baby, we'll take it, but it's cool if you do, but by the way, really, it would have a good home with us!" plotline really sketchy.

The book offers pretty stereotypical views on gender roles, has some questionable consent issues with the other woman's baby, and is overall a little lackluster. Two stars.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Gift of the Marquess is the second book in the new series Love is All Around. The series is based on the Duke of Harwell (Calder) and his two sisters Lady Bianca and Poppy, the Marchioness of Darlington. The first book was Lady Bianca’s story and this book is Poppy’s. They can be read as standalone, but they are better if read in series. They take place around the Christmas holiday and some parts of the books overlap in time.
This story is unique in that Poppy is already married to Gabriel, the Marquess of Darlington. They have been married for three years and have had no children. Poppy is devastated, but Gabriel is secretly glad because he fears losing Poppy in childbirth, like his mother and Poppy’ mother. When Poppy learns of Gabriel’s feeling she feels betrayed and sad. She decides to go back to helping at the Hartwell House, an orphan’s home, only to learn that Gabriel has brought a young pregnant girl, Dinah, to stay in a cottage on their estate. After confronting him and learning the Dinah’s situation, she dedicates her time to Dinah and trying to convince her to keep her child. Poppy and Gabriel are in a dilemma, they would love to raise Dinah’s child as their own but know that Dinah would regret giving up her child later in life.
I loved the characters and could feel their pain of wanting a child. This book touches the heart of those who have suffered the same but also gives us hope. I can’t wait to read Calder’s story and learn what had happened in his past to cause his bitterness. I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This is the second book in the Love All Around series. I did not enjoy this book as much as the first. I felt that it was focused solely on Poppy and Gabe’s infertility. I would have rather had some mystery or crime they solve as the main focus of the story and their fertility issues as a side issue in the story. I am looking forward to reading Calder’s story. I received an ARC for my honest review.

This is such a lovely and emotional story, short and sweet but really stays with you and makes an impact. Can't wait to read more from this author.

A pleasant continuation for the first book of the trilogy. Although I got to admit I felt more for this book than the previous. I felt sincerely sad for Poppy and Gabriel as their problems became evident. It was the first time I’ve read a regency novel where the MCs are already married and it was a good change too. It showed the married life of the couple clearly and problems rising from it. I am happy for the ending as it clearly gave both our MCs the happiness they deserved.

Another beautifully written historical romance novella from Ms Burke. It has an entertaining back story with lots of steamy scenes and I really liked Poppy and Gabriel and you could feel the love between them. This book can be read as a standalone, but it would probably be a good idea to read the first book about Bianca and Ash first, if possible. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest opinion. I will be reading many more books by this author in the future.

Wow. There’s quite a lot going on here. And for anyone who has struggled with fertility issues, this story could be considered slightly triggering. Poppy and Gabriel are fantastic characters. Having been married for several years now, they’ve already made it past most of the worst miscommunication problems that often plague the newly wedded. That doesn’t mean their journey is all smooth sailing though; they still have their moments of ‘humans behaving badly’ where they don’t talk the issues through. No matter what else is going on, it’s easy to feel the love these two have for one another. I thought their emotional vulnerability came across as very realistic and I loved that both characters had growth they needed to accomplish. I felt that their issues resolved a bit too easily, but I realize that it happens that way in real life on a fairly regular basis. I’m dying to see what happens in the next book now.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley.

A sensual historical romance about a young couple who is already wed. The story is about their differing views about having children. You will sympathize with both Poppy’s view and Gabriel’s concern. My surprise was a scullery maid who was literate and could cipher. Call me elitist but I didn’t think people who were not high born were educated enough to read Shakespeare. I felt there could have been a story there, but it was not followed through. A lovely story.