Book Review and Giveaway: Blackmoore

I loved Julianne Donaldson's first book, Edenbrooke, (which is specially priced on Kindle at $1.99 for September. You can find it here) and I will admit with no shame that that book has been my go-to rainy day book since I read it.  Until now.  Blackmoore is so hauntingly beautiful, I know I will be reading my favorite passages from it for a long time to come.

The thing that sets Donaldson's work apart for me is her memorable characters.  Kate and Henry in Blackmoore had me hanging on their every interaction.  There are moments that are funny, moments that are sentimental, as it should be between two childhood friends, and moments that are so romantic you find yourself sighing along with the heroine.  It was so easy to identify with them, the societal rules that cause problems, the family that keeps them apart, and the undeniable connection that brings them together.

Kate's longing to go to Blackmoore and her joy in being there (that is only marred by the bargain she makes with her mother) makes Kate's character leap off the page and brings the reader into being right there with her and feeling what she is feeling.  The scenes up in Henry's secret hideaway were truly phenomenal and he was a hero that every good romance should have.  Not to mention the twist at the end that kept me up far past my bedtime so I could see how it played out. Donaldson does not disappoint on any level--the characters, the setting, the story, they are all well done.  I highly recommend this one to any historical romance fan.

If you want to win a copy of this book, just go like Julianne Donaldson's Facebook page here and then come tell me you did that in the comment trail.  Winner will be announced next week.

Here's the back copy:

Kate Worthington knows her heart and she knows she will never marry. Her plan is to travel to India instead—if only to find peace for her restless spirit and to escape the family she abhors. But Kate’s meddlesome mother has other plans. She makes a bargain with Kate: India, yes, but only after Kate has secured—and rejected—three marriage proposals.

Kate journeys to the stately manor of Blackmoore determined to fulfill her end of the bargain and enlists the help of her dearest childhood friend, Henry Delafield. But when it comes to matters of love, bargains are meaningless and plans are changeable. There on the wild lands of Blackmoore, Kate must face the truth that has kept her heart captive. Will the proposal she is determined to reject actually be the one thing that will set her heart free?

Set in Northern England in 1820, Blackmoore is a Regency romance that tells the story of a young woman struggling to learn how to follow her heart. It is Wuthering Heights meets Little Women with a delicious must-read twist.