Lisa Berne

Actual quotes from the book as Livia arrives in her new home: "It was a place to LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE!" and "Now it was filled with LIGHT, LOVE, JOY." (attempting not to gag)

Good story but so, so poorly written. It feels like it's trying way too hard to be a Jane Austen romcom.

At first I didn't like a single character in this book. Livia comes across as immature, constantly playing the victim with a "woe is me" attitude. And Gabriel? He's just a Mr. Darcy wannabe.

Now, I love cheesy, show more over-exaggerated historical romances, but this book takes it to a whole new level of bad writing. The cheesy elements just don't stick.

Finally, just when I start to gain some interest, the book takes a sudden turn in a completely different direction. It's frustrating how it often starts on one storyline, like a tense conversation in the parlor, and then abruptly shifts focus to Livia's internal monologue for the next three pages. Did the conversation even finish? How did it end? And then, it tries to snap back to said conversation or without warning, it's suddenly the next day.

The book rambles on, leaving stories hanging in the middle of the page. It leaves important things out and then overstuffs it with random nothings.

Overall, liked the story, detested the writing. show less

** 3.5 Stars **

Well, I hardly know where to start in order to explain my rating. This was a frivolous, lighthearted read that is just the kind of thing I needed after all of the dark and grim books that this COVID pandemic seems to have generated. It was humorous and the dialogue was witty. It also had some of the most immature and silly lead characters I’ve ever read – with that applying more to the male lead than the female. I liked the characters, but I felt they were more on a show more maturity par with the eight-year-old than the other adults in the book. BUT – all of that said, I enjoyed the read and it was a breath of fresh air among all of the grim releases.

Miss Jane Kent shows up at the door of Surmont Hall, home of the Pehallows. Jane is shivering, shabby, emaciated, starving, and desperate. She’s there because of a letter she found – and it is her last hope. After her great-grandmother Kent passed away, Jane was all alone in the world – with no skills and no funds. She knew she couldn’t stay in their home because she had no funds, so she was cleaning out the attic to prepare for leaving when she discovered an old yellowed letter tucked inside one of her great-grandfather Kent’s pamphlets. The letter was written to Charity, her grandmother, and indicated a relationship with the Penhallow family. Jane swallowed hard, packed her very few belongings, and made her way to Surmont Hall. When Henrietta Penhallow saw Jane, she immediately recognized the family connection because Jane looked just like her grandfather, Henrietta’s son, Titus.

Anthony Farr, the Duke of Radcliffe, is definitely a different kind of duke. He wasn’t supposed to be the duke, he is different from all of the other members of his family, and his sister constantly tells him he is the worst duke in the world. He isn’t polished in his dress, he hates London, he adores his pig (Duchess) who always wins ribbons at the fete, he adores his 8-year-old son Winfield, and he absolutely, completely, and totally hates marriage. He was trapped in a loveless marriage until his wife died five years ago – it wasn’t just a loveless marriage, each of them loathed the other, but he was forced into it. Now, he is free and he never ever intends to marry again no matter what his vile-tongued sister has to say about it.

Jane becomes friends with Wakefield through the local vicar because both Jane and Wakefield are taking lessons there. Wakefield invites Jane to go home with him to meet the Duchess (the pig) and she ends up meeting Anthony as well. Anthony and Jane immediately like each other and enjoy spending time together. Jane’s feelings are steady and they grow over time – until she knows she’s in love with Anthony. Anthony, on the other hand, blows hot and cold. He smothers her with kisses one minute and treats her as a stranger the next. He continues that way until he realizes he may have lost her forever – she is in London having a season – and it turns out she is very popular and has received several proposals. Uh-Oh!

Now, for a brief comment about Margaret, Anthony’s sister. She is a gosh-awful shrew who makes everybody’s life miserable. She’s vile, hateful, and mean spirited. I just don’t understand why Anthony would continue to put up with her. He doesn’t have to. She is a widow who was kicked out of her former husband's home by the man who inherited her husband’s title. Anthony took her in and instead of being grateful, she makes life miserable for everyone. Why wouldn’t a rich, powerful duke like Anthony just provide Margaret with a small home somewhere away from him and let her live her miserable life there? I just don’t get it – and it seems a lot of authors write these kinds of characters.

Anyway, I enjoyed the read, but I just didn’t connect with the characters. Something has to be wrong when the most mature character in the book is an 8-year-old. I did love the final chapter because it did a wonderful wrap-up for all of the threads that had run through the book – as well as a lovely view of what life was like for Anthony, Jane, and Wakefield several years down the road.

If you are looking for a rather inane, fairly witty, lighthearted read, this might be just the book for you.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. show less

Christopher Beck was a delightful hero, you couldn’t help but love him. As a very young man, he had a contentious relationship with his father. His father didn’t understand Christopher at all and was constantly pushing him into things that Christopher just hated. So, when Christopher was twenty, he decided to leave home – and when he told his father he was leaving, but would write – his father told him not to bother. He left that night, traveled the continent working at many odd show more jobs, and didn’t return home for several years.

Gwendolyn Penhallow is another delightful character – you’ll love her as well. She comes from a large, happy, boisterous family – you met them in the last book, The Bride Takes a Groom. Gwendolyn has missed her friend from next door over the years. She’s wondered what happened to the troubled young man to whom she once proposed – when she was ten and four. Now, she’s in London for her delayed London season – and she’s already engaged to the most handsome, most wonderful man. It was love at first sight – they literally saw each other ‘across a crowded room’ – and they were lost in each other.

Two things happened at about the same time, but they weren’t related. Gwendolyn began to have small, niggling, subconscious doubts about her engagement and Christopher Beck returned to England – London specifically. As more and more life events happened, Gwendolyn became less and less sure of her decision to marry the earl.

As Gwendolyn and Christopher renewed their friendship, she fondly remembered the young man he had been before he left and she valued him as a friend – someone to whom she could talk and someone she could trust.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope you will as well. I had trepidations about the book because I assumed (wrongly) that it contained infidelity. Yes, she and the earl were only engaged, but to me, it is still just as wrong to take up with another man without resolving the current relationship. That isn’t what happened. She considered Christopher a good friend and was always happy to see him.

Be prepared – there are LOTS of people, plots, and sub-plots you have to keep straight, but they all make sense. Well, except one – I have absolutely no idea how Gwendolyn could ever have thought that Christopher was smitten with Helen. Goodness, Helen was an awful person and it was readily apparent that was the case.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own show less

Alasdair Penhallow is the laird in the title. Since he just turned thirty-five, it turns out there's a rule that he must find a bride or lose all, including his life. Fiona Douglass is an unwilling candidate for his hand according to the rules, but both decide fairly quickly that marriage between them won't do. So Fiona watches the other three candidates vie for Alasdair's favor in a series of Bachelor-type contests.
As it turns out, Fiona and Alasdair are married much to their dismay and show more must find a way to create a real marriage despite issues from their pasts.
I just read the first book in this series and enjoyed it, so I moved on to this one which I also liked very much. Ms. Berne has an engaging writing style that makes the reader want to keep going in the book (even when she should turn the light off and go to sleep). I liked both Fiona and Alasdair; they were a good match. I especially liked the way the author treated the beginning of their marriage. There was no instant seduction and grand sex scenes. Instead, we have a blase and perfunctory joining that is solely for the purpose of procreation. Too often I read historical romances where the hero and heroine dislike each other, but are immediately drawn into the throes of passion. I found this a nice change.
I was annoyed a bit with the book of rules and the device used for the marriage, but that was a small bother in an otherwise enjoyable read. show less