This one’s a gem. I’ve loved the Ravenswood series and this features Winifred (Westcott family) and Nicholas (Ware family). Both are almost engaged to others but, as they say, the course of true love….  I wondered how it would all play out and I wasn’t disappointed. The author gives us a summary of the characters at the beginning of the book of the two families, which really helps because there are a lot of them between the ten Westcott books and five Ravenswood books.

Winifred Cunningham and Nicholas Ware first see each other at the Trooping the Colour parade and Nicholas is dazzling in his uniform, leading his horse cavalry. Winifred is there with Owen, Nicholas’s younger brother. They meet again at Winifred’s come out ball. Nicholas is interested in talking to her because he thinks Owen might be getting ready to offer for her. While she is not considered to be a beauty, Nicholas enjoys his time dancing and talking with her. He is thirty-four and is ready to settle down to start a family. He is thinking of offering for Grace who is his general’s daughter. She is beautiful and has perfect manners but she is grieving the loss of two beaus and he wonders how she really feels about him (Nicholas is, of course, cheerful, kind and exceedingly handsome.)

Winifred was adopted by Camille Westcott and Joel Cunningham (Someone to Hold). They have three biological and six adopted children. Joel is a famous portrait artist and Devlin, the Earl of Stratton, invites him and his family to Ravenswood to paint Devlin’s mother’s portrait. Devlin sees how close Winifred and Owen are and does a little matchmaking. He also invites Grace and her parents to join them (for Nicholas). This is a special time as they all spend two weeks together leading up to the summer fete. Nicholas and Winifred are drawn towards each other and as they get to know each other, he sees how beautiful Winifred really is – she is filled with light and warmth. He envies Owen and wonders if there really is a romance between her and Owen or if they are just friends. When Nicholas takes her on her first horse ride, they open up to each other about their lives, their pain and their joys, and they share a kiss.

While they are at Ravenswood, there is a fete which is festive with lots of family, children’s races, music, maypole dancing and a grand ball. I won’t give away any details of the ‘day’ that the title refers to because I was a little surprised by it. I also don’t want to reveal more about how Winifred and Nicholas end up together, but it’s well done! I would have loved a little longer ending and I was overwhelmed in places by all of the family members, but this was a beautifully told story. I look forward to Owen and Stephanie’s stories, the last two books in the Ravenswood series.