The Land Steward's Daughter

Prodigious Info-Dumping and Language Issues As one who has written fiction that I've never published (and non-fiction that I have), I have a soft spot for debut novels. Unfortunately, this one did not live up to my hopes and expectations. When I read the book description at one of my favorite book review sites, I liked that it had the steward's daughter as a heroine. I read a lot of Regency and Victorian romances, and I don't think I've ever seen a book with a heroine with that background. It immediately sets up a story that has the potential for conflict between the classes. Unfortunately, the book turned me off right away, and I actually DNFed it before 10%. For one thing, the start of the book was an intense and long information dump. This is a proper novel, nearly 300 pages, and the author could have used some of that space to more artfully and naturally share that information. I was also turned off by the use of so much modern language. I don't expect a book written by a contemporary author to sound like Jane Austen, but an author of historical works should use terms and sentence structures from the time of the book. Or she should at least aim for elevated language even if it isn't authentic. At the very least, she should refrain from using so many modern terms that people of those times wouldn't have known or used. A woman of those times wouldn’t be known as a “party planner”; they have deemed her something more like an excellent hostess. I actually find myself wondering how many historical novels the author has read and how much research she did into the time period. Because of all these issues, I just could not get into the book. I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

What a future childhood friends have. Written in two parts this is the tale of Will Winter and Elaina Walker. Will is off fighting in Napoleonic Wars as Elaina awaits him back home. Years go by but still, she waits even through at 25 the pressure to wed is pressing on her. When Will does finally returns home he knows that Elaina is who he wants but like all good romances his family and society thinks a land steward daughter and the second son of a duke is just not right. The author has done a splendid job of showing the challenges that they faced and she made the romance so much more realistic by the slow build-up. The characters had a depth to them there is a tiny bit of heat but really the book is just a well-written historical that I am happy to recommend. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.