Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson

Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson

Kate Worthington knows her heart and she knows she will never marry. Her plan is to travel to India instead—if only to find peace for her restless spirit and to escape the family she abhors. But Kate’s meddlesome mother has other plans. She makes a bargain with Kate: India, yes, but only after Kate has secured—and rejected—three marriage proposals. 

Kate journeys to the stately manor of Blackmoore determined to fulfill her end of the bargain and enlists the help of her dearest childhood friend, Henry Delafield. But when it comes to matters of love, bargains are meaningless and plans are changeable. There on the wild lands of Blackmoore, Kate must face the truth that has kept her heart captive. Will the proposal she is determined to reject actually be the one thing that will set her heart free? 

Set in Northern England in 1820, Blackmoore is a Regency romance that tells the story of a young woman struggling to learn how to follow her heart. It is Wuthering Heights meets Little Women with a delicious must-read twist.

~Published September 9th 2013 by Shadow Mountain

Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson is just the kind of book that I like to save for a rainy day, or after the kids are in bed. Because I am a writer, I tend to pick apart books while I read them so that I can learn from them. When I read Blackmoore, I got swept away in the moody setting, and the interesting characters.

At first I had a hard time relating to Kate. She felt very selfish. But as each layer of her past was revealed, and especially toward the end, I understood where she was coming from. I love that she is not two-dimensional, and shouldn't be judged so quickly--a lesson that we should all learn and apply to real life. 

The premise of Kate needing to accept three marriage proposals felt odd in a book where the mood was brooding and introspective. I  like the idea, but felt as if it belonged in a romantic comedy.  

I'm a sucker for symbols, and even though the bird in the cage was a non-too subtle metaphor for how caged Kate felt, I still loved it! 

I am having a hard time describing exactly what it was about the tone and mood of Blackmoore that kept me reading. It had texture. I felt as if I were there, in England, walking the grounds and finding secret passageways. 

I look forward to loosing myself in many more books from Ms. Donaldson.

Purchase Blackmoore on Amazon: Blackmoore: A Proper Romance (Proper Romances)