Blackmoore
Julianne Donaldson
Shadow Mountain
September 9th 2013
Adult | Historical | Romance
From the description in the synopsis I wasn't quite sure I wanted to read this book. Mostly due to the fact it didn't sound like something I would enjoy. But Edenbrooke was such a delight I felt I just had to see what else Julianne Donaldson could write.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.
The opening came across very melancholy and left me rather concerned the whole book would be sad and depressing.
Henry is such a sweet character. I absolutely loved the friendship between Kate and Henry. In fact I think Henry really is the best thing about this book and without him it would really be hard to read. He is the ray of sunshine through all the gloom and unhappiness.
It was hard at first to separate Edenbrooke and Blackmoore in my mind. I would just keep comparing everything Kate said or did to Marianne and they sort of blended. But after a bit even if there are similarities, both trapped and very unconventional society wise plus the male leads are both in a tight bind as to expressing their feelings, it was easy to see Blackmoore as its own story and characters. I think it took longer to get hooked into Blackmoore than Edenbrooke but inevitably I was hooked. A one day 4:30 in the morning read. So lovely! Such a delight. I am definitely picking up a copy for myself and some gifts for others.
A friend of mine shared that the family situation for Kate is very similar to that of Elizabeth from Pride and Predjudice. Ridiculous mother and sister and rather absent father. There were definitely time when Kate annoyed me but thankfully Henry would come around to lighten the mood.
The only reason this did not get five stars in my mind had to do with the ending. It just wasn't quite the traditional happily ever after. More of a semi-realistic vague happily ever after. Meaning it wasn't the one my mind was building up to. Still it was good.
