Jane Peart

I argued with myself the entire way through this book.

"This is not a five-star read," I told myself. "The writing is overly earnest. It's pleasant but ultimately just sentimental fluff. Never mind the fact that it involves an American girl getting to go on the trip of her dreams to England. Never mind that there's a romantic and atmospheric interlude on the moors above the Bronte parsonage. Never mind all the gorgeous descriptions of landscapes. And glorious food. This is not a five-star read."

And then, just when I thought the story was winding down the characters were like, "Let's not go home yet. Let's go to Scotland for the remaining 15% of the book."

I paused. They had me cornered.

"FINE," I said. "You've left me little choice. Take your five stars and let's finish this properly."


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*** This is a personal five stars because this book checked allll the boxes for me in terms of things I like. If you're a reader of light romantic fiction but don't have strong personal attachments to all the elements that I did, I suspect this will be a 4-star read at best. Still recommendable!… (mais)

This is part of a series I have vague but fond memories of reading as a teenager. Reading it now is total nostalgia and fluff, but somehow soothing.
I like it more than I want to. Because here's the thing: it's too easy. It reminds me of a children's fairy tale, only with more words. There's a lot of telling and limited showing. It's mostly a lot of "this happened, then that happened, then everyone fell in love and got married and lived happily ever after." Except, the ultimate pairing in this book seems like actually not such a great idea. And one plot twist was so ridiculous I had to snort.
It's set near the end of Queen Victoria's reign in England, an era that is pretty fun for a novel.… (mais)