About the book: When Annette Downing and her mischievous little brothers are sent to Kellaway Manor for the summer, she hopes for a relaxing escape. But Annette finds her closeted heart in jeopardy when reunited with the handsome Owen Kellaway, a childhood acquaintance and respected gentlemen. When Owen is enlisted to help the boys with their behavior, Annette wonders if he has just as much mischief up his sleeve as her brothers. Bound by a promise she made to her late parents, and amid a frightening mystery, Annette faces a difficult decision when she finds herself falling for Owen’s charm.
My review: I loved this book from the very first page! I loved Annette, her parents had died leaving her with the challenge to take care of her two very mischievous brothers. Unfortunately, Annette and her brothers live with their Aunt Ruth and she's very unkind, even abusive at times. And her brothers have been mischievous one too many times. So she sends them to stay with the Kellaways until the end of the summer, or until the boys behave. And if they don't...well, the boys will be sent to an orphanage.
This would have been a huge burden to have been placed on Annette, always caring for her brothers, at the beginning of the story they are 5 and 7, when her parents died they would have been a baby and 2. I love the way she cares for her brothers with kindness and grace and the way she protects them from her aunt as much as she possibly can.
Aunt Ruth is horrible in this book. I grew up with all brothers, so I know how crazy they can be, but you can't just demand they be good and have them do it, you have to show them examples, and kindness, forgiveness, and charity. Things we all need. I was glad that she was at the beginning of the story and not really anymore. Plus, how do you just send people to someone else's house for the whole summer without warning the people you are sending them to?
I loved the Kellaway's. Grandfather and Grandmother were so kind and were always doing something for either the boys or Annette. Mrs. Kellaway was gracious and kind, even with the circumstances that her family was kind of forced into. I loved the way she was still feeling bad about Annette's parents dying, even 5 years later she felt that she owed an apology to Annette and her brothers.
And then there's Owen...I loved him in this book. I loved the reason he became a doctor and how he felt he had to hide his circumstances from everyone to get a true feeling of how people felt about him. He was a great character, always teasing, flirting, and I loved the way he took Annette's brothers under his wing immediately, trying his very hardest to be a good example for them.
This book has an interesting plot, great characters, and such a fun romance! I didn't want to put it down.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
About the author: Ashtyn Newbold discovered a love of writing early in high school. Inspired by regency period romance, she wrote her first novel at the age of sixteen. Because she can’t vacation in her favorite historical time periods, she writes about them instead. When not crafting handsome historical heroes, she enjoys baking, sewing, music, and spoiling her dog. She dreams of traveling to England and Ireland. Ashtyn is currently studying English and creative writing at Utah Valley University. She lives in Lehi, Utah, with her family.
Labels: Ashtyn Newbold, Cedar Fort, clean regency romance
