Monday, November 23, 2020

Book Review with featured author: A Proposal of Marriage by Cheryl Bolen

A Proposal of Marriage by Cheryl Bolen

 


 

Publisher & Release: Harper & Appleton, November 30, 2020


Time and setting:  Regency England


Genre: Historical Romance


Length: 225 Pages


Heat Level: Mild


Rating: 4.5 Gold Crowns


Book Description: 


The bespectacled, very bookish Miss Rebecca Peabody, who pens enlightening essays under the name P. Corpus, simply must marry. Since she abhors that disgusting “bedchamber business,” she decides Lord Aynsley is the perfect man to become her husband. At the advanced age of three and forty, he surely has gotten that repellant bedchamber business out of his system.

For reasons quite unknown to her, he accepts her bizarre marriage proposal, though he assures her a chaste marriage is NOT what he has in mind.

John Compton, the Earl of Aynsley, needs a wife to see to his brood of seven motherless children, a wastrel ward, and an uncle with a most peculiar habit. But he’s not interested in the way-too-young Miss Rebecca Peabody . . . until he discovers she is the brilliant P. Corpus who writes political essays with such passion, a passion he vows to unleash. Thus he embarks on the adventure of his life . . . that of tutoring his young wife in the ways of love.

 

Buy Links:

 

Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Proposal-Marriage-Brazen-Brides-Book-ebook

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-proposal-of-marriage-cheryl-bolen

KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-proposal-of-marriage-1

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cheryl_Bolen_A_Proposal_of_Marriage

 

Add to Goodreads & BookBub:

 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55234524-a-proposal-of-marriage

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/a-proposal-of-marriage-by-cheryl-bolen

 

Vikki’s Musings

 

Thanks go to the publisher and Net-Galley for the complimentary copy of A Proposal of Marriage by Cheryl Bolen. I voluntarily agreed to read and review this delightful novel prior to publication. My opinions are mine alone, and no one has influenced them.

 

A Proposal of Marriage is a lovely Regency romance with engaging characters and a traditional plot for this genre. I thoroughly enjoy the marriage of convenience troupe, and Ms. Bolen is a master at making them work. The pacing of the story kept me enmeshed from the beginning to the end, making it a pleasure to read.

 

Rebecca Peabody is an endearing heroine. She has lived in the shadow of her beautiful sister unable to see her own beauty. She has several facets to her character because she goes from bold to retiring throughout the book. Her boldness has her proposing to the hero, a man who is much older than she. When it doesn’t reap what she expects, she returns to retiring persona.

 

John Compton, the Earl of Ainsley, is an honorable hero, my personal favorite. He has a large family, and his children are the most important responsibility he has, and one he relishes. Although a widow, he is not looking for a wife. I loved his determination to do right by his six boys and a daughter ready for her first London season. 

 

When he comes to the realization his younger sons need a woman’s love and his daughter needs guidance, he goes to Rebecca and proposes to her. Even though, she believed he is too old to be interested in the physical side of marriage, he is confident he can change her mind. I love how he gets her to understand her sexuality exists, and it’s something she desires.

 

The romance between Rebecca and John is a slow build as they learn more about each other once they wed. I’ve never been a fan of spring and autumn relationships, because for me, I could never find a man so much older than I attractive, so it’s hard for me to accept other women do. Rebecca is an old soul, mature beyond her years while John has remained young at heart, so their marriage works beautifully. I could see Rebecca and John as soul mates and wanted them to find their happy ending.

 

If you enjoy Regency romances with the signature aspect of building sexual attraction, and one with characters you’ll grow to love, then you will find A Proposal of Marriage an engaging reading experience as much as I did. I have read Ms. Bolen’s novels for years, and this one is an excellent example of why I enjoy her books. I’m glad I found this while searching titles on Net-Galley. Happy reading!

 

Author Bio:

 


Cheryl Bolen is the New York Times, USA Today best-selling author of more than three dozen Regency-set historical romance novels. Her books have placed in several writing contests, including the Daphne du Maurier, and have been translated into eight languages. She was named Notable New Author in 1999, and in 2006 she won the Holt Medallion (Honoring Outstanding Literary Talent) for Best Short Historical Novel. In 2012 she won Best Historical in the International Digital Awards for eBooks published the prior year, and one of her 2011 novellas won Best Historical Novella. Her books have become Barnes & Noble bestsellers, and she's been an Amazon All Star Author multiple times. 

Many of her readers love her many marriage of convenience stories. Her lighter books have been compared to Georgette Heyer, and her more emotional reads (where the heroine has many obstacles before her happy ending) have been compared to Mary Balogh. 

Cheryl recently returned to her first love of romantic suspense and mystery with fast-paced plots featuring heroines in peril and the strong men they can lean on. It was these books which first got her noticed in the publishing world when her manuscripts won many contests.

 

Social Media:

Website: https://www.cherylbolen.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CherylBolenBooks/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bolen0580/_created/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cheryl-bolen

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/298660.Cheryl_Bolen

 

 

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