About the series:
While most stories set in Regency England focus on the rich, the young, and the beautiful, award-winning author Carolyn Miller decided she wanted to give readers something different for a change. Her new Regency Wallflowers series follows the commoners, away from the hustle and bustle of 1810s London, out in the Lake District of England. She tells the stories of women who are slightly older and have few prospects for marriage, women who might be considered “wallflowers.”
Midnight’s Budding Morrow is the second book in the Regency Wallflowers series. The first book in the series is Dusk’s Darkest Shores.
About the book:
Can real love grow between a wallflower and an unrepentant rogue?
Sarah Drayton is eager to spend time with her best friend at her crumbling Northumberland castle estate. Matrimony is the last thing on her mind and the last thing she expects to be faced with on a holiday. Yet she finds herself being inveigled into a marriage of convenience with her friend's rakish brother.
When James Langley returns to his family's estate, he can't be bothered to pay attention to his responsibilities as the heir. War is raging and he wants only distraction, not serious tethers. But his roguish ways have backed him into a corner, and he has little choice but to obey his father's stunning decree: marry before returning to war, or else. Suddenly he finds himself wedded to a clever and capable woman he does not love.
Sarah craves love and a place to belong, neither of which James offered before returning to the battlefront. Now everyone around her thinks she married above her station, and they have no intention of rewarding her for such impertinence. It isn't until her husband returns from war seemingly changed that she begins to hope they may find real happiness. But can she trust that this rake has truly reformed?
When tragedy strikes, this pair must learn to trust God and his plans. Will they be destroyed . . . or will they discover that even in the darkest depths of night, the morning still holds hope?
Review:
I am not sure I have all the words I need to do this book justice. Sarah gets pulled into marriage when she goes to Northumberland with her friend. She agrees to this marriage in spite of her misgivings. Her husband immediately goes back to war. What is unexpected is the changes that have occurred in him while he is gone.
Sarah seemingly has everything under control, helping her father-in-law with the crumbling estate and being undermined by the servants at every turn. The perception of the neighborhood does not entirely reflect the true happenings which makes for some interesting twists and turns.
What I found the most poignant in this story was the separate faith journeys of Sarah and James. Aside from that, their relationship has to build as they were strangers when they married and he had a deserved reputation as a rake. The story then is of building trust - in God, in themselves, and in each other.
Their journeys were organic and relatable. I could feel the struggles and empathize with all that they were going through. I felt like a fly on the wall watching and cheering them on. While they had not truly chosen each other when they married, they came together and learned to complement each other. The journey was not easy, but the outcome was beautiful.
I received an early copy from the publisher and this is my honest review.
About the author:
Carolyn Miller is an inspirational romance author who lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children.
A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer’s Regency era, Carolyn holds a BA in English literature and loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. She enjoys music, films, gardens, art, travel, and food. Miller’s novels have won a number of RWA and ACFW contests. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Australasian Christian Writers.
Learn more about Carolyn at www.carolynmillerauthor.com, or find her on Facebook (Carolyn Miller Author), Instagram (@CarolynMillerAuthor), and Twitter (@CarolynMAuthor).
Giveaway:
