"Blackmoore"

This book was an unexpected delight. I mean, I knew it would be good, she also wrote the book "Edenbrooke" and I LOVED that one, so I had high expectations for this one. I just didn't know that "Blackmoore", by Julianne Donaldson, would be as good as it actually was. It's my favorite kind of romance because A-it's written in the Regency period and B- the main character, Kate, is an independent woman who doesn't care about societies stupid rules. Kate has made it well known that she never plans to marry. She doesn't care what people say or think about it, she is not going to marry. Instead, she is going to travel to India and escape the life that she has always found intolerable.

The only hitch is that in order to go to India she had to make a deal with her mother, a most uncaring and repulsive woman. Kate has to receive - and reject - three marriage proposals while visiting the seaside home of her most beloved friend Henry. Kate thinks that life couldn't be better. A visit to her friend where she can escape her family, secure three proposals, and then set off straight to India never to return. Once she arrives at Blackmore, however, she realizes that this is going to be a lot harder than she thought. Henry's soon-to-be fiancé shows up and throws a wrench in things, making it very awkward. Then she finds out just how hard it will be to actually get three men to propose to her. In a desperate moment she reaches out to Henry and asks him to help her, but neither of them realized how close it would bring them together and the truth about Kate's decision never to marry finally comes out.

This book was full of delightful little surprises. The author threw in little pieces and details here and there that made the story so fun to read. You fall in love with the characters from the first few pages and you become invested in them. I couldn't put the book down because I HAD to know what was going to happen to my "best friend" Kate. It is a clean fun romance with a main character that could become a fictional role-model to younger girls. It's fairly short and is easy to understand. I give this book five stars and highly recommend it.