Edenbrooke

By Julianne Donaldson

 Marianne Daventry will do anything to escape the boredome of bath and the amorous attentions of an unwanted suitor. So when an invitation arrives from her twin sister, Cecily, to join her at a sprawling country estate, she jumps at the chance. Thinking she’ll be able to relax and enjoy her beloved English countryside while her sister snags the handsome heir of Edenbrooke, Marianne finds that even the best laid plans can go awry.

From a terrifying run-in with a highwayman to a seemingly harmless flirtation, mariann finds herself embroiled in an unexpected adventure filled with enough romance and intrigue to keep her mind racing. Will Marianne be able to rein in her traitorous heart, or will a mysterious stranger sweep her off her feet? Fate had something other than a relaxing summer in mind when it sent Marianne to Edenbrooke



I had heard nothing but good about this book since it came out; ladies were saying they'd cried, they'd laughed and they'd already read it about eight times. I wasn't overly inclined to read it until I kept hearing similar reports. I was afraid of a 'I'm trying too hard to be Jane Austen' author. I was warned that it was cheesy in a lot of ways, but it was a really cute book with a great CLEAN romance. That's one of the major selling pitches for the book. It is absolutely clean. Something I miss tremendously when I do get in the mood for a little romance. Erotica is revolting for me. So when I picked up Edenbrooke and started in on Marianne's story, I was immediately sucked in to the warm fuzziness of the book. It's got the romance, a mystery, an almost murder, personal tragedy, and character development. My personal favorite touch was that Marianne wasn't looking for romance...she didn't need it to survive, it happens and it's lovely. This book was so beautiful in so many ways, and it touches you. Now, for the criticism.  Being a history stickler, there are quite a few little things in this book that I knew would never happen in the Regency era between a man and a woman, and that irritated me just enough to rate this book a little lower than normal. I guess I'd call it over-familiarity?  It's nothing huge, just me being OCD. The other is the few cheesy parts that were even a little too much for this cheese lovin' gal. But overall, this is a great book for women who need a good romance in their life that doesn't come with the hot and heavy stuff.

I give it a 4 out of 5 (just because it was so refreshing to read a clean and proper romance)