Date published: April 2012
ISBN 9781619371552
Regency romance
E-book
Reviewed by Helen
Obtained via publisher
Sarah Louise Montpearson and Ethan Williams have been in love with each other for ever, but she’s only fourteen when he goes off to war and although their parents would have agreed to a marriage, he refused to risk leaving her as a widow when she was scarcely out of the schoolroom.
When he returns six years later they have both changed enormously, but both still love each other. The question is whether they can overcome the intervening years to fall in love as the adults they are now.
I liked the main characters very much. Sarah Louise is a wonderful heroine, multifaceted and full of life and energy. Ethan is more quiet and staid, but a perfect foil for her and his love for her is evident. Minor characters Lawrence and Oliver are also well drawn and their brief entry into the story is well done.
I found the author’s refusal to use contractions in speech annoying. I assume why people do this is to sound more “period-like” but a quick look at the poetry and plays from the period will demonstrate contractions were used, and they flow much more smoothly to the modern reader’s ear.
Oliver’s son is almost four and pulling buttons off his coat. Oliver worries that the child might swallow them. He is also pleased that the boy is “talking already”. This made me wonder if the author had forgotten how old the child is, or else she hadn’t done her research on four-year-olds.
There was also a strange inconsistency in one of the secondary character’s actions. It seemed to me it was there just to move the plot along, because the reasoning for such an about-face wasn’t explained.
So, a middle-of-the-road book. Overall worth reading, mainly for the heroine, but not one I’ll reread.
This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.
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