The Viscount and the Vicar's Daughter by Mimi Matthews

She was a prim vicar's daughter. He was a notorious rake. They were ill-suited by societal standards, but the attraction between them was too strong to ignore.

Valentine's beautiful society mother was pregnant and alone when the vicar married her to save her. Val grew up understanding her mother was a fallen woman, a sinner, and her father endeavored to ensure that Val did not follow her mother's path.

The death of her father brings Val to be the companion of a vain and shallow beauty who forces Val to wear dowdy clothes and glasses. Val dreams of escape by going into missionary work abroad.

Unaware, Val is brought to a gathering of dissolutes, ensembled for a drunken and adulterous spree. There she meets Viscount St. Ashton, the devilishly handsome rake with a score of conquests behind him, an heir to fortune who has made nothing of his life. St. Ashton is attracted to the girl and when he makes advances he is not repulsed. He proposes to Val, but she believes he is motivated only by societal expectations, expiating for a drunken and unwise moment of passion. A time apart is forced upon them.

As St. Ashton tries to prove he is a changed man, both to his father and to Val, she discovers her true heritage and is offered other options. Misunderstandings arise as St. Ashton constrains his desire. The road to love is rarely smooth. And in Victorian society it is fraught with concerns that have little to do with the human heart.

Mimi Matthews employs her deep understanding of the Victorian world of 1861 in this romance.

Learn more about Matthews books and blog at https://www.mimimatthews.com

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The Viscount and the Vicar's Daughter: A Victorian Romance
by Mimi Matthews
Perfectly Proper Press
Publication January 23, 2018
Ebook: $2.99
ISBN: 9780999036426

Mini Reviews: The Queen Reads and a Victorian Romance

Alan Bennett's short comic novel The Uncommon Reader was my local library book club pick of the month.

The plot involves the Queen of England stumbling into reading, a habit her family and staff do not approve of. As she becomes immersed in her books she becomes bored with her public life and neglectful in her dress. She begins to think, and that leads to writing. A dangerous past time for sure!

An early abettor in her hobby is a young gay staff member whose reading preferences inform his choices for the Queen. Later the Queen picks up books by people she met, or who were connected to titled families.

Authors and book titles are often dropped without the context of what the Queen thought about the books or how they specifically influenced her. We do know she did not care for Jane Austen, the late Henry James, or the early George Eliot. I wanted know more.

I was familiar or had read many of the books mentioned, but not all. Not knowing, for instance, Nancy Mitford's work it would have been nice to know a bit about the books and what the Queen liked and why. Without familiarity, it felt like I was missing an inside joke.

I did resonate to the Queen's interest in what people are reading. As a teen and young woman I always had a book with me, almost like a talisman which might draw other readers to me. I am afraid that for at least forty years I have judged people by the books they read. I am endlessly boring people about the books I am reading.

A charming, slight read with some laughs.

*****

The title of Mimi Matthew's novel The Lost Letter: A Victorian Romance tells you what to expect. It is a romance novel set in the Victorian Age in which a lost letter leads to the separation of true love. Each believes they have been rejected by the other.

I have been reading Mimi Matthew's blog (https://www.mimimatthews.com/blog/) for several years. It has high style, great writing, deep research on subjects relating to Victorian Age literature, history, and romance. I pre-ordered The Lost Letter.

Sylvia Stafford "was the first and only woman he had ever loved." Sylvia was so drawn to Sebastian Conrad she did not resist their mutual attraction, acquiescing to give him a lock of hair and even, gasp, a kiss! Then he was called to war.

Sylvia wrote Sebastian a letter of declaration, but received no letter in return. She taught herself to give him up. When her father's finances toppled and he killed himself, Sylvia was shunned by society.  Now on her own, she hired out as a governess.

Sebastian's sister, Lady Harker, has come to her door and requested that Sylvia pay her and her brother a visit. Sebastian has suffered brutal war injuries, and his sister implies that he is disconsolate. Only Sylvia can save him.

Informed by Beauty and the Beast with a touch of Jane Eyre, this romance has more misunderstandings and twists as the lovers misunderstand each other while fighting against their strong attraction. It is a charming read with just the right amount of historical detail.

Publisher: Perfectly Proper Press
Published: September 2017
ISBN-10: 978-0-9990364-1-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-9990364-0-2

I will be reviewing Matthew's next novel, The Viscount and the Vicar's Daughter soon!