Book Review: Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson

Book: Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson
Genre: a "proper" romance!
Rating:★ ★ ★ ★ ★
For: Fun (supporting local authors too)
From: Bought at launch party just last week

I must admit, I was a little nervous about this book. Mostly, because several reading/blogging friends have read it already and said...."yeah, it's good but not as good as Edenbrooke."

So, I was nervous!

But I'm happy to say now that actually, I think I liked it BETTER than Edenbrooke!

True, Edenbrooke had all that fun bantering and wittiness from our main characters. That was awesome fun. And we had a new blooming romance, which is awesome fun too.

But in Blackmoore we have a long time friendship that turns into romance, which I've always been a fan of. And we have a sort of dark and mysterious house (namely Blackmoore) complete with secret passages, set on the foggy and slightly creepy moors, which gives this book a delicious Gothic feel...something else I'm also a big fan of.

Yes, this story was more serious and less fluff, which I like and makes me get into it on a deeper level. There are secrets, and manipulations and crass moms and unfeeling friends and... did I say secrets? There's a secret so terrible that it sets the course for the whole book.

By way of summary, we have our heroine, Kate, who wants two things very badly, first, to visit Blackmoore, the sort of "vacation" home of her childhood friends Henry and Sylvia, and second, to go to India with her aunt. Her mom, however, only wants her to get married and to marry well at that. However, Kate has vowed to never ever ever get married. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn exactly why.

So, they make a little bargain, and Kate hopes that she will win this sort of "bet" while she is at Blackmoore and in the end, go to India. So off to Blackmoore she goes with high hopes.

Things aren't as peachy there as she expected. After awhile, all she wants is to get out of the deal she made with her mom and just go to India and forget everyone and everything. But of course it's not going to be that easy, not by a long shot. Let's just say things get way worse before they ever get better.

Have I mentioned the romance yet? In comparison to Edenbrooke, I thought the tension and chemistry were much more intense in this one, which I of course, liked very much. Yes, they didn't banter as much, but the steaminess was heavy! They put themselves in a situation that causes all sorts of feelings and sparks. It was awesome and awful at the same time!

Bottom line: I loved it. I love this author's style and I love how she presents these stories. I am a fan for the long haul! Bring it on!

Other Reviews:

It is an easy, fun, romantic read. And who doesn’t need one of those every once in a while? From The Bluestocking Society

Thanks to Julianne for helping me out of a reading funk and for keeping me on the road of Regency Romance with clean content. From Fire and Ice

The ending was not what I was expecting, either, and I absolutely loved it!! From Mel's Shelves

Blackmoore is an enthralling, heart-twisting romance with a depth that I greatly appreciated. From LDS Women's Book Review

Everything about this book is beautiful. The story, the setting, the characters, even the not so nice ones. From Min Reads and Reviews