Review: I really liked the book despite its shortcomings.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 26, 2013
As a teenager, I used to love Regency romances, but then I seemed to outgrow them.  And yet, when storycartel.com offered me a free book in exchange for an honest review, the blurbs piqued my curiosity so I downloaded it.In many aspects, the book is faithful to the genre.  Lovely young heroine (Bella), strong male lead (Tristram), diabolical villain (Derwent), a tad of mystery, with plenty of romance and mixed signals/messages until love finally wins out...  And yet, although the situation in itself was faithful to the genre, the characters themselves seemed much more complex than the usual regency fillers.  The main characters were not cardboard, but were shown with their strengths and weaknesses and ably drawn.  The dialog was also very good, except for some anachronisms, such as slang which was inappropriate for the time.  I enjoyed the characters and was tempted to give this book a 4 BUT...there were major problems, in addition to the language problems.  There is a LOT of repetition: scenes were frequently repeated  so that we could hear what different people thought about it.  But while different, they weren't different enough, so that reading it seemed like rehashing the same thing again and again.  Then there were some totally mistaken facts and illogical bits.  One obvious error is the idea that females of the time could inherit a baronetcy. Uh-uh. Her aunt being present for the opening conversation seems odd, as did Tristram's grandmother's "wasting away" to get him to change his mind.  Doesn't seem in character.  And the whole idea of Bella running away with her pregnant mare, puh-lease!  Bella may have been naive, but she showed a good deal of common sense.  Running away with a beloved, pregnant horse just doesn't seem to fall in with her practical bent.  etc. etc.Still, I did enjoy it despite its faults.Note:  This is a chaste romance.  If you're looking for torrid descriptions, you won't find them here.  If you like romances that you'd feel comfortable letting your children pick up, this fits the bill.