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BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated The Elusive Miss Ellison (Regency Brides: A Legacy of Grace, #1) in Books

Jan 2, 2019  
TE
The Elusive Miss Ellison (Regency Brides: A Legacy of Grace, #1)
Carolyn Miller | 2017
6
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A beautiful setting and a heart touching tale of forgiveness and redemption. A very sweet story that had me falling in love with Gloucestershire and Beagle puppies! The Elusive Miss Ellison is Carolyn Miller's debut novel and I applaud her creativity and gift for story! The descriptions of the settings, homes, and gowns were so detailed that I can still see the images in my mind.

Miss Ellison and Lord Hawkesbury have so many challenges to overcome. In their personal lives as well as with their relationship with their families and each other. Learning to lay down their pride and lean on God for truth and guidance was a very encouraging thing to witness.

I did enjoy this story and I am very excited to continue the series. However, the flow of the story and some inconsistency in the characters had me confused on multiple occasions. Hence my rating. That being said, the words and language was elegant and soothing. I found it very fun to read terms used in Regency times that I had to look up. This aspect added an extra level of depth to the story. There are several acknowledgements to Pride & Prejudice, which is always a delight to find in books. I am eagerly looking forward to following the author's growth and progress in her books to come. If you enjoy Regency stories with romance and redemption, I suggest you give this one a try!

I received a complimentary copy of The Elusive Miss Ellison from Kregel Publications through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
  
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Jamie (131 KP) rated An Eccentric Engagement in Books

May 24, 2017  
An Eccentric Engagement
An Eccentric Engagement
Donna Lea Simpson | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
3
5.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Sweet romance (1 more)
Good commentary about social justice
Does more telling than showing (1 more)
Felt more like a lecture than a love story
A sweet regency romance
So this was a bit of a non-traditional romance as it takes place after the courtship. Sorrow and Bertram are engaged to be married and the two return to Sorrow’s country home for the wedding. The two are very clearly in the early stages of excitement over a new relationship, stealing kissing and admiring each other — the “puppy love” stage. Neither of the two truly love each other but are already prepared for marriage. The actual romance was more told than shown and it unfortunately just didn’t work for me. The romantic aspect seemed to take a back seat to the other two major plot lines: Sorrow’s altruistic family and Bert’s difficult relationship with his overbearing father.

Both of these plot lines are actually really good, but I felt that they both needed more time to be developed and would have been better in a full length novel. All of the conflict was resolved in a few pages with barely any resistance and the discussion felt more like a lecture that was repeated multiple times. Not that the message was bad, I appreciated the way they approach discussing the mentally ill and the elderly, and I actually liked the Marchand’s way of life, but I think it could have been delivered better.

It also didn’t help that Sorrow kind of annoyed me. When she talks to other people to try and explain her views it again turns into a mildly pretentious lecture. Her insistence on absolute harmony and willingness to throw everything out of the window if she didn’t get her way was also extremely grating. Creating needless drama for the sake of drama is not a good way of filling up pages.

Overall its not bad, it’s a cute and clean love story that will appeal to folks with a strong sense of social justice. It was a fluffy and pleasant way to pass the time, but I didn’t feel much of anything while reading it.