Arietta Richmond

Not actually plain, just has a mean family and was picked on a lot. But boy, this is an insecure heroine! And I love me some Regency Era Regina Georges. The male antagonist was a little too rapey for me to be alright with the female antagonist being forced to marry him. She is a bitch, but that doesn’t make it okay. But, this book was just too cutesy for me. I love the archetypes, but they just came across as bland, in my opinion. I was reminded of the characters from the book Mia is writing in [b:Four Nights With the Duke|21331590|Four Nights With the Duke (Desperate Duchesses by the Numbers #2; Desperate Duchesses #8)|Eloisa James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417802158l/21331590._SY75_.jpg|40640797]. I Felt like it dragged a bit at the end. I think that clean romances are just not my thing, and that I should skip them.… (más)

Love Touched Hearts, a 5 books/novellas collection from various authors; I chose to review the contribution by Isabella Thorne.

STORY-LINE LOVE TOUCHED HEARTS, VALENTINE'S DUEL BY ISABELLA THORNE:

In Love Touched Hearts containing Valentine's Duel by author Isabella Thorne, the reader finds Miss Mary Highland and her family. Mary's tanned skin color and dark hair, far different from her sisters fair skin and blonde hair, sets her apart. Mary's in love with her brother's best friend, Captain Vincent Darten. Just back from the war, he cut a large swathe through society. Never mind the fact he's engaged to another, Mary's heart belongs to Darten.

Helen, her bluestocking sister, dropped a valentine, which Mary picked up and threw in a drawer long with the accompanying note/poem containing strange numbers. Why would Helen receive this strange lace valentine? Then of all things, Darten kissed Mary. Still on a high from his kiss, her father tells Mary, she's to wed the Baron of Millersmit. What did it all mean? How could she marry another when she loved Darten? What was Helen hiding? A lot's happening in this household. My romance review of Love Touched Hearts, Valentine Duel follows.

CHARACTERS, PLOTTING, AND DEVELOPMENT:

In Love Touched Heart, Valentine Duel, Thorne crafted a Regency romance with many threads. Bringing all the threads together to a successful conclusion, the reader closes the book satisfied. Presenting Helen as the bluestocking of the family, Thorne shows the plight of women in the Regency era of history. Helen's a forward-thinking intelligent woman; she finds herself out of step in Regency England. Helen's holding secret ambitions close to her chest. The family dynamic between sisters, Mary and Helen, grew throughout the story as they progressed from enemy to friend. Helen gave Mary the support she needed and became a true friend and loving sister.

Darten's character's many faceted. He's a gambler, wastrel, and womanizer. However, his love for Mary and a crisis will make a man of him. I really did not care for him very much in the beginning of the novella, however, as the story progressed and his character grew, I found him worthy of Mary's love. He faced his situation head on; a fiancée he did not love, Mary who he did love, and took control.

When faced with a crisis, the Baron sees marriage to Mary in a different light as he realizes the love Darten and Mary share. With pacing in line with the length of story and well-developed characters, I enjoyed this short Regency romance. Authors are unable to develop the characters and story-lines in a novella as they can a full novel. However, Thorne included everything needed for an enjoyable read. As a result, I would not hesitate to buy this book for my self or a friend.


LOVE TOUCHED HEARTS, VALENTINE'S DUEL RECOMMENDATION: STARS 4

FINALLY, PLEASE NOTE:

In addition, I borrowed this book from kindle unlimited and chose to voluntarily review the book/novel with honest for romance book reviews, Love Touched Hearts, Valentine's Duel Furthermore, book reviews of any novel are dependent on the book/novel review author’s opinion. Consequently, all book/novel reviews on-line and on my blog, are my opinions. No one influenced my voluntary romance book reviews for Love Touched Hearts, Valentine's Duel.… (más)