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3rd out of 8 books
—
6 voters
Edenbrooke
by
Julianne Donaldson (Goodreads Author)
Marianne Daventry will do anything to escape the boredom of Bath and the amorous attentions of an unwanted suitor. So when an invitation arrives from her twin sister, Cecily, to join her at a sprawling country estate, she jumps at the chance. Thinking she’ll be able to relax and enjoy her beloved English countryside while her sister snags the handsome heir of Edenbrooke, M...more
Kindle Edition
Published
April 27th 2012
by Shadow Mountain
(first published March 27th 2012)
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I will admit that I have an unfair, blanket aversion to "Deseret Book fiction". I'm not sure why or how the stereotypical cringing came to be, but it exists for me, nonetheless. Having acknowledged that, I was already wary at my first introduction of this book, but since I'll try any clean read, more so if it's recommended to me by someone I love, and doubly if there is talk that it is in any way Austen-esque, I curled up ready for...whatever.
I would have to strongly disagree with the general cl...more
I would have to strongly disagree with the general cl...more
September 2012: Just as good, if not better the second time around. I just love Philip!
April 2012: I loved this. I really loved the cover, I thought it was beautiful and really made me want to read the story and get lost in the setting. I liked it even more once I’d read the book. I loved the writing, it flowed really well and was written in a way that you’re able to get lost in the story and forget that you’re reading. I loved the main characters Philip and Marianne. Philip was very swoon-wort...more
April 2012: I loved this. I really loved the cover, I thought it was beautiful and really made me want to read the story and get lost in the setting. I liked it even more once I’d read the book. I loved the writing, it flowed really well and was written in a way that you’re able to get lost in the story and forget that you’re reading. I loved the main characters Philip and Marianne. Philip was very swoon-wort...more
(As amazing the second time, if not more! i cannot wait for her second novel coming out in September!)
A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! I would give it more than 5 stars if I could!
It really was a 'proper romance' like it says - it satisfied, more than satisfied, my romantic needs and I am such a hopeless romantic!
I loved the whole story and some parts came as a complete shock! It kept me on tender-hooks!
I loved all the major and minor characters! The heroine Marianne is the best heroine! Being my age, I could r...more
A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! I would give it more than 5 stars if I could!
It really was a 'proper romance' like it says - it satisfied, more than satisfied, my romantic needs and I am such a hopeless romantic!
I loved the whole story and some parts came as a complete shock! It kept me on tender-hooks!
I loved all the major and minor characters! The heroine Marianne is the best heroine! Being my age, I could r...more
6/5/12 SO SO GOOD! I absolutely LOVED this book! I started it this morning and I just couldn't stop reading. :) I haven't enjoyed a book that much in a while. I laughed, I nearly cried, my heart pitter-patted through many deliciously romantic moments, I was completely sucked into the world of Edenbrooke and charmed by the characters. I could easily read this one again and again even right now. :) Definitely one of my very favorite books ever. I look forward to more from Julianne Donaldson!
6/27/1...more
6/27/1...more
Update 12/30/12
Readers, please note that this is a negative review and contains negative elements, namely because I despised the book. I have gotten a lot of negative feedback from readers telling me their opinion and what I should or should not write in the review. Please note that I am not going to change a word of this review, and further repetitive comments WILL be deleted, since they all seem to be from the same people, or at least, focused on the same point. I encourage readers who are unh...more
Readers, please note that this is a negative review and contains negative elements, namely because I despised the book. I have gotten a lot of negative feedback from readers telling me their opinion and what I should or should not write in the review. Please note that I am not going to change a word of this review, and further repetitive comments WILL be deleted, since they all seem to be from the same people, or at least, focused on the same point. I encourage readers who are unh...more
I loved this book!!! A new author Julianne Donaldson, writes a story that grips you from the beginning. I didn't want to put the book down!
I loved the characters and writing style!
Just finished reading this again, I think I loved it even more then the first time I read it!! I can't wait until another book comes out by this author!
I loved the characters and writing style!
Just finished reading this again, I think I loved it even more then the first time I read it!! I can't wait until another book comes out by this author!
I don't really read romance novels, so I lack a frame of reference. Edenbrooke tells an exciting regency story while giving insights into the main character. I stayed up really late in order to finish the second half of the book. It really is like nothing I have ever read--in a good way. This book is special.
This was a very well-done Regency period novel. Other reviews are drawing parallels to Jane Austen. That's a fair assessment based on time period only. Let me share a shocking secret with you...Ready? I do not love Jane Austen novels. There, I said it. I do not love Jane Austen novels. It feels good to have that out in the open. I don't feel light or free when I read those books. I feel weighted down. I don't like the societal customs. I don't find the romance engaging and I am bothered by the l...more
Edenbrooke is absolutely delightful. I wish more publishers out there would pick up romance stories like this, without the prerequisite sex scenes. There is none of that here, and instead we are treated to a romance that focuses much more on the emotions of the characters and how they fall in love. So it's a love story, not just a romance. In my experience, those are quite hard to find.
For those of you who aren't big into any kind of romance you'll want to steer clear of this. There is not much...more
For those of you who aren't big into any kind of romance you'll want to steer clear of this. There is not much...more
I absolutely LOVED Edenbrooke. I won an ARC in a blog giveaway and cracked it open yesterday...I was immediately so captivated that I didn't want to put it down. I wasn't able to finish it in one sitting, but rather had to muster the self control to put it down in order to tend to my 21-month-old throughout the majority of the afternoon, but I immediately picked it up again after putting him to bed and read late into the night. I finished the book this morning and I can tell you that I was thoro...more
Feb 19, 2013
Kelly
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites,
georgette-heyer
Having been weaned on Georgette Heyer, my guilty reading pleasure is a well-done Regency Romance (emphasis on well-done...witty & fun as opposed to sappy & "Harlequinesque"). That being said, Georgette's are the only ones I've liked thus far...until now! Edenbrooke was lovely. I enjoyed every word of it and smiled most of the way through. It was no big surprise to read in the author Q&A at the end that she is a Heyer fan...so happy she is and hope she writes more!
WOw! Oh wow! I haven't read a book that drew me in like this in a while! I was hooked from the beginning and I did not put this one down! Yay!!! I have found a new author to love!! The characters in this book were great! They had depth and strength and were well written. The mystery and conflict was done so well. I had no idea what all the secrets were about. And the dialog!!! Oh the dialog was delicious! Move over Darcy, Phillip is here! Oh man this book is a "to buy" so I can read it over and...more
My favorite read of 2012!! Actually it tops as one of my favorite reads ever. Julianne Donaldson is so a kindred spirit! I am in love with Philip maybe even more than my beloved Mr. Darcy :)
I loved this book! I loved the Jane Austen feel the book portrays. The characters are very likable, and I love the setting where the book takes place.
Being the clean romance, Jane Austen lover that I am I LOVED Edenbrooke.
What a fabulous way to spend a morning. Edenbrooke was a book I couldn't put down. I picked it up to read just a few pages before getting out of bed but didn't quit reading until I finished the book. While there may never be another Mr. Darcy it is possible that his twin is found roaming the grounds of Edenbrooke.
Squeaky clean, full of romance, humor and great characters this is a book I highly recommend. Perfect for lovers...more
What a fabulous way to spend a morning. Edenbrooke was a book I couldn't put down. I picked it up to read just a few pages before getting out of bed but didn't quit reading until I finished the book. While there may never be another Mr. Darcy it is possible that his twin is found roaming the grounds of Edenbrooke.
Squeaky clean, full of romance, humor and great characters this is a book I highly recommend. Perfect for lovers...more
What is the essence of Romance?
Is it finding yourself blissfully content?
Pleasantly written true, passionate, long love letters?
Being with your beloved?
Or subtly and confidently charming his way to her heart?
My face grew hot at the look he cast me from under his lashes....more
"Ah, there it is," he said. "I've missed your blush this past half hour."
I glared at him. "I think you do that on purpose."
He chuckled. "What?"
"Make me blush."
"It's the easiest work I've ever done," he said shamelessly. "And t
Marianne is living with her spinster aunt and grandmother, while her father grieves the loss of her mother in France. Her twin sister, Cecily, is living it up in London during 1816. When Marianne receives an invitation to go to Edenbrooke, her mother's friend's estate, to meet up with her sister, she jumps at the chance. On the way there, her coach encounters a highwayman and she ends up at an inn, where she meets Philip.
I love Philip!! He's such a tease and seems to thrive on making Marianne b...more
I love Philip!! He's such a tease and seems to thrive on making Marianne b...more
Oct 2012
I loved this book...AGAIN! Ha! I don't usually read a book again so quick but Mom wants her copy back so I decided to read it one more time before returning it. :) I just think it is a great book and a wonderful quick escape to Edenbrooke!
August 2012
Wow!! I loved this book! I couldn't put it down. It was so refreshing to read a book where the main characters became best friends first and had time to allow their relationship to grow....(although we know it was love at first sight.) The si...more
I loved this book...AGAIN! Ha! I don't usually read a book again so quick but Mom wants her copy back so I decided to read it one more time before returning it. :) I just think it is a great book and a wonderful quick escape to Edenbrooke!
August 2012
Wow!! I loved this book! I couldn't put it down. It was so refreshing to read a book where the main characters became best friends first and had time to allow their relationship to grow....(although we know it was love at first sight.) The si...more
I officially have a new boyfriend. His name is Philip and he makes my heart flutter. Of course, Philip loves Marianne, so that could be a problem. I just won't think about that.
Anyway, Edenbrooke is the most charming and delightful book I've read in quite awhile. I loved everything about it! I snorted with laughter (especially on page 32), swooned so hard my heart was literally pounding (pages 143-145 come to mind), felt like crying (page 175), and swooned all over again (pages 229-255, and most...more
Anyway, Edenbrooke is the most charming and delightful book I've read in quite awhile. I loved everything about it! I snorted with laughter (especially on page 32), swooned so hard my heart was literally pounding (pages 143-145 come to mind), felt like crying (page 175), and swooned all over again (pages 229-255, and most...more
One of my favorite books of all time! I can't believe I just said that. But I haven't stayed up all night reading a book in a VERY long time. This one did it to me. Why? Donaldson hints at some of it herself in the Q & A section at the back of the book. She loves the Regency Era, (who doesn't) but she wanted to make it more accessible to modern readers, so she eliminated the sometimes entangled 1800's language and kept it simple. She also streamlined the plot for accessibility, leaving out t...more
I loved this book. It positively just may be the best historical romance I have ever read. It was such a charming and captivating romance. The book only took place over a week so it was very intimate and delved into lovely conversations and passionate gazes.
The scene with the lesson of a love letter, wow , my cheeks were burning reading that portion. I think it may have been the most romantic thing I have ever read. The whole book is proper and virtuous, so sweet, THE SWEETEST, book I have ever...more
The scene with the lesson of a love letter, wow , my cheeks were burning reading that portion. I think it may have been the most romantic thing I have ever read. The whole book is proper and virtuous, so sweet, THE SWEETEST, book I have ever...more
Posted on Book Chelle.
Julianne Donaldson’s Edenbrooke was perfect. From the moment that I saw the cover, I knew that this would be one of my favorite reads in 2012. I read blurbs that described Edenbrooke as a love story for Jane Austen and Downton Abbey fans. Funny, it’s like the words were speaking to me. Donaldson did not disappoint in this wonderful romance fit for a weekend read.
Separated from her twin after her mother’s death, Marianne Daventry lives a lonely life in Bath. Her father will...more
Julianne Donaldson’s Edenbrooke was perfect. From the moment that I saw the cover, I knew that this would be one of my favorite reads in 2012. I read blurbs that described Edenbrooke as a love story for Jane Austen and Downton Abbey fans. Funny, it’s like the words were speaking to me. Donaldson did not disappoint in this wonderful romance fit for a weekend read.
Separated from her twin after her mother’s death, Marianne Daventry lives a lonely life in Bath. Her father will...more
3.5 stars for this Regency chick lit. Round up if you want to know the suck-you-in-and-turn-pages-til-one-in-the-morning factor. (Philip is obviously a character created by a woman, because he is the perfect man. So of course I enjoyed reading him.) Round down for literary merit. (Slightly anachronistic dialogue, slightly daft protagonist, and 110% predictable.)
After three pages, I worried that the author would not be able to transcend the cliches she had employed. After fifty pages, I knew she...more
After three pages, I worried that the author would not be able to transcend the cliches she had employed. After fifty pages, I knew she...more
**11/19/12 - Just finished re-reading Edenbrooke. Ahhh, how I love this book! It's a good thing I own it, because it will be re-read many, many times.**
Original review:
Loved, loved, loved this book. And after reading the Q&A section in the back, I think the author could be a long-lost sister or daughter. She sounds like me and my girls all rolled into one. How many other people out there started reading Georgette Heyer at age 14 and have read and re-read continuously since then, have Eva Ib...more
Original review:
Loved, loved, loved this book. And after reading the Q&A section in the back, I think the author could be a long-lost sister or daughter. She sounds like me and my girls all rolled into one. How many other people out there started reading Georgette Heyer at age 14 and have read and re-read continuously since then, have Eva Ib...more
Edenbrooke is one of the most satisfying books I've read in a long time, probably since Laura Hillenbrand's lovely book, Unbroken. It's beautifully written, gripping and a truly heart-pounding read. The plot is plausible, believable and simply fun. I adore this period of English history, and all that went into being a lady of that time. The characters are completely satisfying--I adore Marianne, fell in love with Philip myself and was repelled by Cicily's behavior. And the dialogue is a riot! I...more
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6/12: I am a little bit in love with this book and its romance. Very fun and fulfilling read. It's a regency Era romance, not as complex or as crafted as a Jane Austen, but with the light-hearted, likeable kind of herione that fill Austen's books, and it just makes you happy to read. It's more like a 4.5 star book, just for the way it made me feel while reading it. It actually reminded me a little of a Georgette Heyer story, without being filled with as much historical detail fluff. When I finis...more
Miss Marianne Daventry is getting pretty sick of living in Bath, England with her aunt and grandmother and don't even mention her the older man who keeps trying to court her, Mr Whittles! She misses her twin sister, Cecily, and her father. Her dear mother died just over a year ago and ever since, her father has been in Paris by himself, and her sister has been in London having her season. Marianne had no desire to go to London, but would rather stay in her beloved countryside. Luckily for her, h...more
**I just reread this today because I needed a wonderful distraction, and it was even better than the first time I read it. I love this book :). (July 2012)
Marianne is feeling alone. After the death of her mother, she spent the last year in Bath with her grouchy grandmother, while her twin sister lived in London with an Aunt, and her father was in France, she feels isolated and discontented.
There is hope for better things when she gets an invitation to visit Edenbrooke, the home of one of her mo...more
Marianne is feeling alone. After the death of her mother, she spent the last year in Bath with her grouchy grandmother, while her twin sister lived in London with an Aunt, and her father was in France, she feels isolated and discontented.
There is hope for better things when she gets an invitation to visit Edenbrooke, the home of one of her mo...more
May 09, 2013
Belkis
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
0-0-may-colors,
0-audios-done
This was a really hard book for me to get through. I kept reading and waiting to be drawn in by something exciting. But no, it was not meant to be for this book was dull as dirt for me. The Romance between Maryanne and Phillip was a hard sell. Maryanne's character came off very immature and silly, I didn't like Maryanne at all. I understand that her character is seventeen years old however, some of her denseness and clueless behavior made her seem childish. Phillip's character was better develop...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welby Neighborhoo...: May 2013 | 1 | 2 | Apr 18, 2013 08:12am | |
| Edenbrooke- What next? | 8 | 96 | Apr 14, 2013 11:08am | |
| Philip's Age | 2 | 18 | Apr 10, 2013 02:34am | |
| Clean Romances: EDENBROOKE people!!!! | 50 | 271 | Dec 12, 2012 03:59am | |
| Clean Romances: Highly recommended book | 3 | 89 | May 04, 2012 08:44am |
Julianne Donaldson grew up as the daughter of a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot. She learned how to ski in the Italian Alps, visited East Berlin before the wall came down, and spent three years living next to a 500-year-old castle. After earning a degree in English, she turned her attention to writing. She writes historical romance when she is not busy with her four young children and husband. Edenbr...more
More about Julianne Donaldson...
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“To my unsuspecting love.
When I look into your eyes, I lose all sense of time and place. Reason robbed, clear thought erased, I am lost in the paradise I find within your gaze.
I long to touch your blushing cheek, to whisper in your ear how I adore you, how I have lost my heart to you, how I cannot bear the thought of living without you.
To be so near to you without touching you is agony. Your blindness to my feelings is a daily torment, and I feel driven to the edge of madness by my love for you.
Where is your compassion when I need it most? Open your eyes , Love, and see what is right before you: that I am not merely a friend, but a man deeply, desperately , in love with you.
Longing for you.”
—
77 people liked it
When I look into your eyes, I lose all sense of time and place. Reason robbed, clear thought erased, I am lost in the paradise I find within your gaze.
I long to touch your blushing cheek, to whisper in your ear how I adore you, how I have lost my heart to you, how I cannot bear the thought of living without you.
To be so near to you without touching you is agony. Your blindness to my feelings is a daily torment, and I feel driven to the edge of madness by my love for you.
Where is your compassion when I need it most? Open your eyes , Love, and see what is right before you: that I am not merely a friend, but a man deeply, desperately , in love with you.
Longing for you.”
“Isn't that what a gentleman does? Rescues a damsel in distress?”
—
25 people liked it
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