Review: Almost Perfect Historical Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 15, 2014
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.My absolute favorite genre of romance is the historical romance. Therefore I jumped at the chance to read and review Moonstone Obsession by Elizabeth Ellen Carter. There were parts of the book that I absolutely loved but other times I was confused and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of history included in the book.So let’s break this review down into two sections – the romance part and the historical part. As far as a romance goes, Moonstone Obsession was wonderfully delightful. I loved the hero and heroine from the beginning. Selina Rosewall is a smart, independent, strong-willed woman who is determined to plan her life so that she is not a burden to her brother. But after meeting James Mitchell, Lord Penventen, those plans go out the window.James is everything I would want in my historical romance hero. He’s titled, handsome, rich, debonair, patriotic, caring, loving (the list could go on and on.) When James waltzed Selina around the room he won both of our hearts. The relationship between the two was passionate and I was rooting for them from the beginning.  Together, James and Selina were a force to be reckoned with. The chemistry was instantaneous and their love was enviable.Selina is not your typical historical romance heroine and I applaud that. She was able to be an equal partner in solving the mystery of “Fidget” and she used her knowledge of French to help the Prime Minister and others. James not only loved her for her intelligence but never treated her as “the little woman” who should just sit back and let the men solve all the problems.I even loved all of the secondary characters, good and evil. The cattiness amongst the women in the ton was so realistic that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cringe.  Ms. Carter created multi-dimensional characters that came to life on the pages of Moonstone Obsession. Her imagery of the dresses, balls and more allowed me to completely lose myself in the book.Set amidst a compelling time in French and English history, Moonstone Obsession, we are treated to adventure and intrigue as Selina and James seek out a traitor. Ms. Carter has obviously done her research. Her attention to detail is unbelievable and she created a picture of that time was so real that I felt transported in time. However, her amazing ability to write stunning details sometimes left me feeling that I was reading a college history textbook rather than a romance novel. While I appreciated Ms. Carter’s efforts, I just wonder if she could have left some factual information out. By 85% of the book, the hero and heroine had their happy ending. The rest of the book dealt with the intrigue and spy plotline. While I enjoyed the suspense, my ultimate focus was on James and Selina and I didn’t need so much mystery.Moonstone Obsession is the first book I have read by Ms. Carter and my impression was favorable. In fact, the only thing keeping me from giving Moonstone Obsession all five stars are the lapses into history textbook. Overall though, I would recommend this book when you need your historical romance fix but still need a high quality book.