Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! HFVBTs is one of the very first touring companies I started working with as a 1st Year Book Blogger – uniting my love and passion with Historical Fiction and the lovely sub-genres inside which I love devouring. Whether I am reading selections from Indie Authors & publishers to Major Trade and either from mainstream or INSPY markets – I am finding myself happily residing in the Historical past each year I am a blogger.
What I have been thankful for all these years since 2013 is the beautiful blessing of discovering new areas of Historical History to explore through realistically compelling Historical narratives which put me on the front-lines of where History and human interest stories interconnect. It has also allowed me to dive deeper into the historic past and root out new decades, centuries and millenniums to explore. For this and the stories themselves which are part of the memories I cherish most as a book blogger I am grateful to be a part of the #HFVBTBlogTours blogger team.
I received a complimentary copy of “Love At Last” direct from the authors Michelle Helen Fritz and E.A. Shanniak in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
On why I appreciate the Regency:
I’ve been reading Regency Romances since I was either eight or nine, as honestly I cannot remember my exact age when I was shifting from reading Agatha Christie & Nancy Drew into the anthological Christmas Regency Romances which set my mind aflame with stories about the Regency — from the balls & the propriety of society to the ton and everything that came from that particular era of manners & etiquette.
The appeal of course were the details and depictions of the Regency; the glamour of the style and the structure of the society. There were different rules of propriety back then and it was a curious adventure to see how each new author I was reading (from childhood to my life as a bookblogger) would elect to feature this generation as everyone had their own approach as much as their own individual influences. Generally speaking it was either Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer or the two of them together. For me personally, I am a Janeite and haven’t quite sorted out Heyer, as she tends to remain an author I simply find not my cuppa.
I love getting caught inside the dramas of the Regency and the gaiety of its celebrations whilst I love finding realistically drawn characters who are multi-layered without being too predictable and one-dimensional. I like the joy of feeling surprised and entertained whilst carting myself back to one of the eras I prefer to read a Historical Romance – the second being the Victorian. For these reasons and others, Regencies for me are a lovely light of joy but having said that – I am also quite discerning and particular about the tone & execution of how a Regency Romance can reflect both the timescape and its flare within its genre of presence. The last Regency I loved reading was An Unlikely Duchess which was a beautiful presentation of the era and wickedly kept me feeling enraptured by the drama of the characters’ situations. For me, that’s when Regency lifts my heart and grants me immeasurable #bookJOY.
Love At Last
Subtitle: A Bramley Hall Regency Romance
by Michelle Helen Fritz, E.A. Shanniak
Source: Author via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
As the Parson’s daughter, Mariah Morten has spent much of her life inside the stone walls of Bramley Hall. Before tragedy struck, she had fond childhood memories made alongside her two brothers and the Earl’s son: Harrison Pembroke.
Years later, she has done her best to ignore the yearning of past memories and futile dreams of becoming the next countess. If only she could secure her own happiness and let her heart have it’s one true desire.
Harrison Pembroke is the seventh Earl of Bramley. He’s spent the last four years trying to reconcile his heart after being jilted so that he can focus his energy on those under his care. Except no matter how much he wishes to keep his walls up, the draw he feels toward a certain set of sparkling sapphire eyes can’t be ignored.
An invitation arrives, sweeping Mariah and Harrison into the midst of balls, soirees, family meddling, and one memorable night under the stars. Will outside forces keep them separated forever, or will their own wants persevere allowing them to find Love At Last?
Love At Last is a clean Regency Romance and the first book in a three-story series that will entertain and delight you with its swoon-worthy heroes and the compelling leading ladies that capture their hearts. Each book can be read as a standalone, but are best read in release order.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 979-8985288100
Published by Clear Springs Books LLC
on 15th December, 2021
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 282
The Bramley Hall Regency Romances:
Love At Last (book one)
Love That Lasts (book two)
Love Ever Lasting (book three)
(*) as disclosed on E.A. Shanniak’s author site
Converse via: #HistFic or #HistNov as well as #BramleyHall
+ #Regency, #RegencyRomance or #HistRom and #HistoricalRomance
as well as #HFVBTBlogTours
Available Formats: Trade paperback and Ebook
About E.A. Shanniak
E.A. (Ericka Ashlee) Shanniak is the author of the successful fantasy romance series – A Castre World Novel. She is hobbit-sized, barely reaching over five feet tall on a good day. When she wears her Georgia Romeo’s not only does she gain an inch, she is then able to reach the kitchen cabinets. Ericka loves to write at her desk that her daughter’s cat destroyed. Fortunately for everyone, she can see over it.
About Michelle Helen Fritz
Michelle Helen Fritz was born and raised in Maryland and Arizona with lots of traveling throughout the States. She began her literary career as a personal assistant to Indie authors and loves to see the process of an idea turn into a finished book. Michelle loves to write about dashing heroes, and the compelling women that tempt them, with a dash of intrigue, an abundant amount of romance, and scenes that hopefully make her reader’s swoon. She is the mother of four children whom she homeschools and currently resides in Maryland with her own jaunty hero who makes all of her dreams come true.
As you first begin Love At Last, you’re blessed with the interior thoughts and musings of Mariah – a young woman wanton and hopeful of her future whilst blissfully reminiscent of her past. It is through her eyes we start to see the expanse of Bramley Hall. A large estate who had a young man inherit ahead of his time through tragedy and a place of both remembrance for innocent days and a place of serenity for Mariah to be ‘herself’ rather than the box of manners society has placed her inside due to her father being the community’s minister. You can’t help but feel caught up in her thoughts as she is out on a beloved ride on the grounds of Bramley Hall. She was quite accurate about the freedom of riding and being one with the horse – whilst at the same time, it also allows a different perspective on your most immediate environs and I felt this was a great way to introduce us to both Mariah and the history of Bramley Hall.
A lot of the thoughts swirling inside Mariah are the kind of thoughts a young girl whose grown up in the shadow of an Earl might contemplate when she’s on the brink of womanhood. As Mariah has come out in society but she hasn’t yet settled down and her heart and mind seem to be encircled with the daydreams of a crush she’s had on her best friend the Earl. You can’t blame her really – she’s lived so close to his own estate all of these years and the fanciful thoughts of youth can cart away anyone’s heart given the chance.
Yet, Fritz and Shanniak fell into a pattern of only highlighting the lighter bits of Mariah’s life rather than tuck in a bit closer to the fuller drama of a rounded life being lived in a very close-knit community. At one point it was a bit too sweet for me as a Regency Romance as although I do like my Regencies to be effervescent with the goings on of the era in which they are set and the lengthy depictions of both the era and the lifestyles of the characters set within that perimeter – however, I do like a bit of realism mixed into the background as well. This story felt a bit too light on drama for me and a bit too sweetened in regards to how it was written.
I found myself skipping forward in the narrative to find where the sweetness took a hiatus and the drama of the characters would begin as this wasn’t patterned to be a romantic comedy due to the nature of it’s description and yet, perhaps that might have helped a bit if it had become one as I just found myself losing footing with the story. I am a hybrid reader (ie. mainstream and INSPY) wherein I read quite a heap of Sweet Romances and INSPY Historical Romances alike – but in regards to how this particular story was written – I think it would suit best a different kind of Regency reader than myself. I don’t like everything to feel as if there is no surprise coming to me i the context of the story nor do I like things to feel as if they are too easily resolved. I like to see things play out over the course of a novel – not to have it so tightly told to where there is no flexible room to watch the characters evolve and find their own way towards resolution and restitution. Sadly I couldn’t read any further and took a direct exit within the opening chapters.
on the historically romantic styling of michelle helen fritz and e.a. shanniak’:
Both Fritz and Shanniak have a sweeping arc of presenting to us the joys and histories of Bramley Hall as it is both an estate and a legacy within this small community. It reminds me fondly of other Regencies I’ve read which reside on country estates or in smaller rural areas outside the bustle of the larger cities (especially of London) wherein you get to peer into the Regency from a different angle than most Regency Romances allow. It gives you a chance to see more of the life past the cities and to still be everpresent for the revelations that only a Regency can afford to give readers.
Whilst Fritz and Shanniak did give the Earl a tragic past, I was hoping they wouldn’t fall short on the emotional side of the story because there is of course a transition there I was expecting to find – where a young man inherits his legacy not only as a teenager but as a person much younger than normal to inherit and that would levy an expectation in my mind that there is plausible cause to show conflict and angst within the Earl for both the inheritance and his station in life. I was a bit surprised how carefree he appeared earlier in the story when Mariah was just introducing us to him, as it felt as if perhaps he needed to be a bit more guarded or at least a bit more reserved to where perhaps his emotions weren’t quite as evened out as they appeared? Again, this goes back to how sometimes the Regency especially one written in a Clean Romance styling can become a bit too sweet if it forgets to ground itself in drama and reality.
They have the period conversations and intonations of the Regency presented well but part of me was hoping for something which was absent from their narrative. It was hard to pin down as I was reading but something just felt amiss for me as a reader. Again, part of what I kept returning too is that everything felt a bit too neat and tidy; all wrapped up in a bow and without any conflict or drama. Even the curiosity about Mariah’s brother Simon’s wife didn’t fix this absence because the whole affair felt too orchestrated and planned. Almost as if it was just a matter of fact to disclose and that was that – without any repercussions either and part of it just felt too fanciful to be real especially if you consider whom he married and his absence of title.
This style of Regency Romance would be better suited for those who appreciate lighter Historical Romances without feeling a weightier drama percolating behind the fanciful aspects of the Regency.
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{SOURCES: Book cover for “Love At Last”, book synopsis, author biography, author photographs of Michelle Helen Fritz and E.A. Shanniak, the tour host badge and HFVBTs badge were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Book Spotlight banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2022 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
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