Reading for Romance Lovers Book Club July 2011 meeting. Tagged with "American historical" due to the main character (raised in American frontier) and the story behind the mystery, ie The Massacre at Spinner Falls that takes place during the French and Indian War.

3.5*
The time period of this book is Georgian, as it takes place in 1764. The setting is England, but since the story revolves around the French and Indian War and has an American hero, the book has a distinctly "American" feel as well.

This is the first time I've read this author, and I liked her writing style. It spurred me into doing a little research on the War and also refreshing my memory of fashion and dress of the time. Her characters feel real, and the dialog was natural sounding and appropriate for the most part. Her heroine wasn't a 21st Century lady stuck in the past, as so many characters in historical novels seem to be these days. She was very much a product of her time, and in a way that made it more difficult for this reader to relate to her. While I appreciate that the author doesn't make the heroine too modern, I wish she's made her more approachable, warmer. I also felt there was a lack of tension and build up in the relationship between Emeline and Samuel. I rarely felt their connection strongly. I'd love to give this book four stars, but couldn't quite do it, since it fails (barely) to grab the reader emotionally.

I'm intrigued enough, however, to look for the next in this series. I also enjoyed the ongoing folk tale, Iron Heart, that begins each chapter of the book. I rarely like chapter openers and often don't read them, but I admit I not only read this ongoing retelling of the folk tale, I eagerly awaited each installment, and had to prevent myself from reading ahead!