Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Hidden in the Heart

by Beth Andrews



      Lydia’s impoverished family can only afford a Season for one daughter, so it is pretty Louisa’s chance to snare some nobleman while plainer Lydia visits her aunt in rural Sussex. She thinks it will be boring, but a battered and burned corpse appears in the woods soon after her arrival. This starts a thrilling adventure involving the innkeeper’s son, Aunt Camilla’s handsome French friend, and combing the local woods by night looking for smugglers.

What an unusual Regency romance, and what a pleasant change it makes. Not that I don’t enjoy the usual kind, but a departure is surely a good thing to keep the genre lively and interesting. Lydia doesn’t hope for a Duke or an Earl, but has the innkeeper’s son in her sights. Bluff John Savidge and his father are a world away from silver-tongued charmers but have an earthy appeal that I personally preferred. The story had me turning the pages late into the night with its involving, although fairly simple, plot. It tended to stay in the mind afterwards, due to its originality. Lydia is a pleasant and sensible heroine, and the exploits of her sister in London make for comic reading, as does her father who closely resembles Mr Bennett. Maybe the book could start a new trend?

The Book

Robert Hale
31 July 2006
Hardback
ISBN-10: 070908109X
ISBN-13: 9780709081098
Historical Romance / Regency, Sussex, UK
More at Amazon UK
Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Rachel A Hyde
Reviewed 2006
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© 2006 MyShelf.com