A while back, I had the pleasure of reviewing another of Hazel Statham’s works, “My Dearest Friend,” and also of interviewing the author herself. Today I review “His Shadowed Heart,” Hazel’s latest Regency romance.
Richard Moreton, Earl of Waverly, is still in mourning for his wife, Elizabeth, who died in childbirth. Their little daughter Julia is now three, and needs a mother, but Richard doesn’t want to think about it, especially when pestered about it by his well-meaning sister, Victoria. Haven’t they been doing well enough on their own? It’s not like he hasn’t had many chances to remarry—it seems every eligible woman in the area has let him know how willing she would be to consider it, but his heart is elsewhere.
When Caroline Northam comes to the country to stay with relatives, the Earl meets her at the christening of a new baby. He doesn’t consider to her to be beautiful at all, and in fact, seems to feel that being introduced to her is a large burden. But later, while attending a ball at her cousin’s house, he pays her special attention. She falls for him almost immediately—there’s just something about a darkly brooding man.
When he proposes to her, she understands it will be a marriage of convenience, and that he doesn’t love her. She can live with that—her love for him will be enough. But as his memories of his dead wife keep him from moving forward, Caroline begins to wonder if she’s doomed to live in coldness forever.
Just when it seems the Earl is ready to accept her into his heart, strange things begin happening, threatening to tear the new couple apart.
Written in the Regency style, “His Shadowed Heart” captures the feeling of the era, from the clothing and the food to the customs of the time, and wraps it all up in a romantic ribbon.
(This book was published in 2008 by Wings ePress, Inc.)
Related Blogs:
Author Interview: Nicola Beaumont