Tag: Jane Charles

Weathering Captain Storm by Jane Charles

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Weathering Captain StormWeathering Captain Storm by Jane Charles
Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Spirited Storms, #2

Release Date: June 16, 2016

Nathaniel Storm first met Isabella Valentine after being injured on campaign. He was instantly smitten with her but kept his distance because he believed she was married, but by the time he learned she was the sister to Dr. Valentine and not his wife, he was sent away. In the meantime, Nate befriended another woman, Mary Soares, she was married to Major Soares, a man who treated her poorly, Nate would defend her and spend time with her, and ultimately was sent away after an altercation with the Major. He worried for Mary, but his biggest regret was not trying to court Isabella.

Isabella was just as smitten with Nate as he was with her, but she was sure he was in love with Mary. She kept her feeling to herself and was more than a little heartbroken when he was reassigned. She never expected to see him again, but a year later when Napoleon escapes Elba and the fighting begins again, they are reunited in Brussels.

This time Nate is not going to let the chance to woo Isabella pass him by and after they finally clear up the misunderstanding about Mary and their feelings, it seems like the HEA Nate imagined could come true. The night of the Duchess of Richmond’s ball, Nate confesses his feelings, kisses her and asks her to wait for him. She returns his kiss and sends him off believing she will be waiting when the fighting is done.

But Isabella has not intention of waiting for Nate, she does love him, but she has a secret that she is sure will cost her his love, so when the fighting is done, she tells him to leave her alone and refuses to talk to him. Nate is hurt and confused by her sudden change of heart and thinks it is the grief of losing her younger brother in battle. He plans to give her some time to mourn and then try to talk to her again – but she disappears.

It will be two long years before they meet again and this time Nate will not quietly accept her rejection, he had tried to stop loving her and move on, but he can’t, especially once he learned that Isabella is not who she says she is. For her part, Isabella has never stopped loving Nate, but is sure her secret will make him hate her, so she at first avoids him and then refuses to see him. It doesn’t seem like they will ever be together, but the timely intervention of her brother, may give them a second chance at happiness.

This was a well written novella, with wonderful characters and quite a bit of heartache. I loved Nate and my heart just broke for him when Isabella rejects him. But as far as Isabella is concerned, I didn’t feel like her reasoning for rejecting him made any sense and her continued refusal to see him in London dragged on way too long. Overall, I thought this was a sweet story, I was delighted for Mary, and I especially liked seeing characters from other novellas/series living their HEAs. This novella is part of a series, but it can easily be read as a standalone title with no problems.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eBook that was provide to me.*

The Forgotten Marquess by Jane Charles

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Forgotten Marquess (The Other Trents - Book 1)The Forgotten Marquess by Jane Charles

Tracy’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Other Trents, #1

Release Date: October 8, 2019

WARNING: Parts of this review might be spoilerish…

Elaina Trent, the Marchioness of Hopkins and her husband Tristian have been married for three years. Theirs was a love match and they are now the parents two children, life seems perfect. But today, Elaina and Tristian are having a fight, she wants to go to France to see her dying grandmother, Tristian refuses to even consider a trip because of the war, but Elaina refuses to listen and when Tristian leaves on estate business, she takes the children and leaves. When Tristian returns to find them gone, he is angry, but when his children are returned without Elaina, who was lost at sea, he is heartbroken.

Three years later, Tristian has been trapped into marriage and is forced to have Elaina declared dead. But Elaina is not dead, she is on the island of Alderney suffering from amnesia and on the brink of becoming betrothed herself – that is until Tristian’s brother Harrison finds her and returns her to England.

Tristian is overjoyed at her return and quickly has his marriage cancelled and Elaina’s life restored, while he is doing that Elaina is sent to stay with her brothers – small bits of her memory return and her brother Xavier, a doctor refuses to let anyone tell her anything, insisting that she has to remember in her own time. The problem is Elaina doesn’t remember Tristian or their children at all and even after reading her journals from her life before she married, no memories return, she does however begin to come to know Tristian and thinks she is falling in love with him all over again.
After weeks of staying at her brother’s house, Tristian insists that they return to their home, but for some reason, Elaina is terrified at the prospect. Tristian hopes going home will unleash the memories she can’t seem to grasp, but at the same time, he worries that seeing their children could destroy her.

This was a good story, but honestly there were just things that didn’t work – first and foremost, there was a man on the ship that saved her, he heard someone shout her name and his memory was intact – so he obviously knew where the ship was headed – why didn’t anyone try to find her family? Why didn’t Tristian hire investigators? Second, Tristian’s “secret” marriage, it was far-fetched and unbelievable – he was able to have her declared his wife who has been “missing” for three years declared dead in less than a week without any sort of investigation? And then when it turns out his dead wife is not dead – the marriage is just dissolved? Personally, I saw absolutely no point for the marriage to have taken place – betrothed, fine, but the marriage was unnecessary and pushed the limits of believability for no reason, at least nothing that furthered this story. I also found myself getting annoyed with Elaina, she would read something in her journals and then get angry at Tristian about it, it seemed incredibly immature. I thought the writing was good and the story did flow nicely and I liked watching them rediscover each other, but I don’t think I would read it again.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me.*