Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

When I used to be a blog tour hostess for Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, I loved their *Pure Romance* imprint of Historical Romances – each of them were a warm and cosy story within a genre I personally love to read and each other choose how to approach writing their #HistRom’s a bit differently from one another. When the blogging program discontinued I started hosting Cedar Fort’s blog tours with Singing Librarian Books until Sydney decided to close her touring company late this Summer, 2020. Therefore, I wasn’t sure if or when I’d get the chance to hear about forthcoming and new titles by Cedar Fort for awhile as most of their authors are in charge of their own marketing and publicity online or otherwise. Happily I found Ms McConkie was part of the Clean Romance for Christmas showcases via Prism Book Tours which is why I am celebrating her latest release with you today!

I originally read “Love and Secrets at Cassfield Manor” wherein I had this to share about the story:

What kept me grounded in the narrative though is the intricate natures of all the characters – their queues of moving in and out of the foreground, the flashbacks to yesterday where other truths are letting out their angst(s) of revelations and where, everyone is moving ‘towards’ each other and towards a larger moment of revelation. Each of them are acting on what they know or their instincts; some are making hard choices to thrive out of the necessity of choosing someone to walk through life together granting a better balance of equity and stability of accounting whilst your simply hoping those of whom have a harder road ahead of them have the courage to overcome the odds they never knew they had to face.

There were the usual hang-ups – the bloke who is a twin and whose business affairs on the surface look nefarious but what if the suppositions against him are the workings of a rumour mill? The girl who feels she has everything (Ivory) but longs to have the self-confidence to believe in herself? The quiet soul (Meg) who doesn’t seek for much and humbly accepts what comes her way. Whilst the bloke who has the most to gain, may or may not be the best of characters to trust? As you vacillate between which of the gentleman (Robertson or Davenport) are the better match for any girl who fetches after them with an open heart, you start to see the larger picture unfold through how McConkie draws you closer to where she wants you to walk past your assumptions and truly see her characters as the flawed individuals they always were but of whom could hold a few redemptive qualities within themselves.

Ms McConkie has writ an intricate drama – where the lives of four girls’ lingers in the balance against the men they choose to feel is their rightly match in life, love and a continuance of wealthy gains. Such was the hour of enlightenment in the Regency – girls’ were meant to marry well and secure their futures and the futures of their families. The men had a bit more flexibility but only justly so as everyone was under the same pressures and reputation had a lot of do with everything when it boiled down to marriage, matches and fortunes.

One of the pluses to reading this story is the ways in which the intrigue steps out of the shadows of a traditional scene of the Regency. Finding new entries into the romance and the courtship is a nice discovery to be made – for me, what I love most is how McConkie doesn’t let you rest on the laurels of what she discloses per each of her characters’. She wants you to think about everything that is happening in the story whilst countering that knowledge with the hopefulness she has etched into the path each of the girls’ are walking towards their own personal destiny. They each have different personalities with different goals – some are taking life as it comes, others are trying to curate the path they wish to walk and the others, wells, I think they are halfway between the duty and obligation of marriage and the carefree joy of youth.

I was blessed Singing Librarian Books had the blog tour – whilst I am now thankful to be hosting this spotlight for Prism as I hope more Cedar Fort authors might consider moving their tours to be hosted by Tressa @ Prism Book Tours as she has such a wonderful way of hosting, organising and featuring the kinds of stories and genres Cedar Fort is known for in the reading community.

Likewise, I look forward to adding this lovely release to my list for stories I want to be reading in 2021! It is nice to revisit an author you’ve previously read – seeing the changes in their style and voice as a writer since you’ve last read them whilst continuing to see how they’ve developed their niche within the craft of storytelling. I happen to love complicated love stories and this one – as it begins on the auspicious premise of a deathbed promise sounds like a lovely one to dive inside because what the heart wants and what is once promised could become two very different things!!

Curiously – what draws your eye into reading #HistRom’s? Do you like the lighter side of the Historical Romance genre wherein you’re either reading releases by publishers like Cedar Fort and/or through routes which feature INSPY narratives OR are you a bit more traditional seeking mainstream Historical Romances? Which eras are your preferred timescapes to explore and which authors would you recommend to me?

MISS SUZANNA SPENCER has successfully avoided marriage,
waiting for love and equality in a husband of her choice.

Yet when her father suddenly becomes ill, she agrees to his dying wish—to marry Mr. Lacy and secure her future. Cast suddenly into a mourning period, Suzanna and Mr. Lacy agree to keep their engagement a secret until the proper six months have passed. But when Suzanna and Mr. Lacy find themselves thrown together with Miss Grysham and her handsome uncle Lord Haversley, everything becomes complicated. If only Lord Haversley didn’t expose his true bravery.

If only there wasn’t so much more to him than a gaudy Lord in Parliament. If only he would leave Suzanna alone. As the threat of smallpox looms close, all four friends must work together—and apart—to save the lives of those they love. Forced into keeping a promise, or securing the promise of her future, Suzanna must reconcile her obligations with her heart as she searches for a love she never had.

Add to LibraryThing | ISBN: 978-1462135806

Converse via: #CleanRomanceForChristmas and/or #HistoricalRomance OR #HistRom
as well #SweetRomance and/or #CleanRomance or #CleanReads

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