Review: Such a Cute Story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 10, 2014
I really enjoyed this cute little short story.  Candice Hern is a very talented author who writes books set in the Regency period that are very authentic--by which I mean, she has her characters behave in a manner that is true to the time period in which they are set.  Furthermore, her writing style tends to be a bit more form, in line with authors such as Georgette Heyer and others of her ilk.  Although this is a very short story, Ms. Hern manages to develop her characters to such an extent that I was able to relate to them.  This is particularly true of Lady Ann, for whom I felt a good deal of sympathy regarding her sheltered upbringing which seemed very lonely and suffocating.Lady Ann, daughter of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester, is all set to marry the man to whom she has been betrothed since childhood.  With the betrothal scheduled to be formalized the following day, she decides that she will have an adventure on this, her last day of freedom.  Sneaking out of her father's house, she gets stuck in a tree while trying to climb over the surrounding property wall.The Earl of Evesham, heir of a dukedom, is passing by the property and notices the young woman in the tree.  Knowing that the property belongs to Prince William, his future father-in-law, the earl cannot believe that the woman in the tree is his betrothed--because surely a well brought up young woman of the royal family would not behave with such a lack or propriety?  Nevertheless, out of curiosity, he approaches and offers his assistance.Very quickly, he realizes that the woman is indeed his intended, Lady Ann, who blithely announces that she is running away for the day to have an adventure before she sacrifices herself on the altar of duty.  LOL  Without revealing his true identity, the earl offers his assistance to his errant fiancée, but only if she agrees to let him accompany her on her day of adventure.  When she agrees the two embark of a delightful day of fun.  From there the story quickly progresses to its conclusion, complete with HEA.The story that unfolds is extremely sweet, and very satisfying.  I really liked the earl and Lady Anne.  I thought it was very fortuitous that they had the opportunity to get to know one another in such an unconventional way before they met to formalize their engagement.  Otherwise, the two might never have come to realize how much they had in common--or at the very least it would have taken them years!  The ending is a bit rushed, as is often the case with stories of such a short duration.  Yet still, for me it was a very satisfying read.  Five stars for this lovely short story.  FYI, as you might expect, this is a clean romance.  Happy reading!