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Generations of Love #4
Honor and Redemption
A childhood love longing to make amends. A daughter fighting to break free. A mother struggling to protect her. Tormented by the past, can they build a better future?
Six years ago, tragedy tore Eloise and Patrick apart. Shouldering the burden of his brother’s death, he spent years drinking himself into oblivion. Now freed from that darkness, Patrick Lennox returns to reclaim the heart of the young lady he left behind.
Can she forgive the man who abandoned her without a word?
Eloise Andrews has enough troubles in her life without Patrick stirring things up. Her mother is a heartless beast who controls every aspect of her life, and Eloise is determined to break free of her—even if it means destroying the perfect reputation her mother is desperate to save.
But not all wounds can be seen, and perhaps something more lurks beneath her mother’s frosty demeanor…
Years of torment taught Emmeline Andrews to shield her heart behind a sterling reputation, and she will do everything she can to ensure her children are protected against society’s cruelty. But with her daughter determined to ruin herself and Emmeline’s own marriage crumbling to pieces, she has to decide whether or not that precious reputation is a shield or a jail.
Jumping between two generations, Honor and Redemption is a story about how our mistakes can shape our world and how the bond between mother and daughter, friends and sweethearts can break when we are afraid to open our hearts.
Six years ago, tragedy tore Eloise and Patrick apart. Shouldering the burden of his brother’s death, he spent years drinking himself into oblivion. Now freed from that darkness, Patrick Lennox returns to reclaim the heart of the young lady he left behind.
Can she forgive the man who abandoned her without a word?
Eloise Andrews has enough troubles in her life without Patrick stirring things up. Her mother is a heartless beast who controls every aspect of her life, and Eloise is determined to break free of her—even if it means destroying the perfect reputation her mother is desperate to save.
But not all wounds can be seen, and perhaps something more lurks beneath her mother’s frosty demeanor…
Years of torment taught Emmeline Andrews to shield her heart behind a sterling reputation, and she will do everything she can to ensure her children are protected against society’s cruelty. But with her daughter determined to ruin herself and Emmeline’s own marriage crumbling to pieces, she has to decide whether or not that precious reputation is a shield or a jail.
Jumping between two generations, Honor and Redemption is a story about how our mistakes can shape our world and how the bond between mother and daughter, friends and sweethearts can break when we are afraid to open our hearts.
308 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 6, 2019
507 people are currently reading
254 people want to read
About the author
M.A. Nichols
38 books481 followersBorn and raised in Anchorage, M.A. Nichols is a lifelong Alaskan, though she briefly ventured south to get a fancy bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree from Utah State University—neither of which had anything to do with why she became an author, but they kept her alive while launching her publishing career.
As a child she despised reading, but thanks to her mother’s love and persistence, she saw the error of her ways and developed a deep and abiding obsession with books. Currently, she writes sweet historical romance and fantasy, but as a lover of many genres, she plans to explore more in the future.
As a child she despised reading, but thanks to her mother’s love and persistence, she saw the error of her ways and developed a deep and abiding obsession with books. Currently, she writes sweet historical romance and fantasy, but as a lover of many genres, she plans to explore more in the future.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
August 25, 2019
This is fourth in a series, but it's only barely related to the others. Eloise in this one is Simon's (from the first book) niece. So you can read this one alone, but I don't know why you would.
We learned in the first book that Simon's mother is a monstrous piece of work. So meeting his sister, Emmeline, in this one confirms the damage his mother has done to all her children. Emmeline is a cold, emotionally-withholding jerk to her daughter Eloise. In a weird twist, she does so in order to adhere to tenets taught by her mother-in-law who was also an emotionally-withholding jerk but less of a jerk than her own mother was to her. So Eloise has my sympathy when her beau takes on a lot of unearned guilt and abjures her when they're respectively 16 and 18.
Only then we get a pack of flashbacks to Emmeline's childhood. Yes, we get to see how crappy Eloise's mother's life was with a manipulative mother and a neglectful father. I don't know what Nichols was thinking in her choice of PoV hopping, but at the quarter I got through we've had Patrick's viewpoint while he takes on the guilt of his brother's death and chooses to destroy his friendship with Eloise because he's a drama monkey looking to suck down all the emotional bananas. And we have Eloise as she gets rejected and then six years later when Patrick deigns to show back up again. And we get Eloise's mother in both past (where she's a kind, loving girl with awful parents) and the present (where she's an awful parent squashing the loving kindness of her own daughter). And I couldn't care less about any of these people.
You'd think that I could attach to Eloise, but she's kind of a hapless waif who reads years younger than her stated 22 years. She has obviously not learned or changed or grown since her rejection by Patrick and that's quite a feat for someone in the stage of life where everything changes at the speed of light. It doesn't help, of course, that we've spent only two scenes with her in the present at this point because Nichols just can't get enough of showing us the carriage-wreck that is Emmeline's girlhood.
So I'm dnfing at this point because there's yet another flashback to Emmeline's childhood and I just can't take any more.
A note about writer craft: I think the biggest problem with this story so far is that these flashbacks aren't doing much of anything at all. The first one established what Emmeline's life was like. We know her mother is a narcissistic jerk and her father is wrapped up in himself and doesn't really care about his children. The other two flashbacks are just more on that same continuum and are all things that you'd assume given the beginning and ending we've seen already. All the other "details" are just busywork that have no emotional resonance and impart no further information. Nichols seems enthralled with the pain of the young Emmeline. But this reader found every new interruption a painful break even though I wasn't that involved with the insipid Eloise.
We learned in the first book that Simon's mother is a monstrous piece of work. So meeting his sister, Emmeline, in this one confirms the damage his mother has done to all her children. Emmeline is a cold, emotionally-withholding jerk to her daughter Eloise. In a weird twist, she does so in order to adhere to tenets taught by her mother-in-law who was also an emotionally-withholding jerk but less of a jerk than her own mother was to her. So Eloise has my sympathy when her beau takes on a lot of unearned guilt and abjures her when they're respectively 16 and 18.
Only then we get a pack of flashbacks to Emmeline's childhood. Yes, we get to see how crappy Eloise's mother's life was with a manipulative mother and a neglectful father. I don't know what Nichols was thinking in her choice of PoV hopping, but at the quarter I got through we've had Patrick's viewpoint while he takes on the guilt of his brother's death and chooses to destroy his friendship with Eloise because he's a drama monkey looking to suck down all the emotional bananas. And we have Eloise as she gets rejected and then six years later when Patrick deigns to show back up again. And we get Eloise's mother in both past (where she's a kind, loving girl with awful parents) and the present (where she's an awful parent squashing the loving kindness of her own daughter). And I couldn't care less about any of these people.
You'd think that I could attach to Eloise, but she's kind of a hapless waif who reads years younger than her stated 22 years. She has obviously not learned or changed or grown since her rejection by Patrick and that's quite a feat for someone in the stage of life where everything changes at the speed of light. It doesn't help, of course, that we've spent only two scenes with her in the present at this point because Nichols just can't get enough of showing us the carriage-wreck that is Emmeline's girlhood.
So I'm dnfing at this point because there's yet another flashback to Emmeline's childhood and I just can't take any more.
A note about writer craft: I think the biggest problem with this story so far is that these flashbacks aren't doing much of anything at all. The first one established what Emmeline's life was like. We know her mother is a narcissistic jerk and her father is wrapped up in himself and doesn't really care about his children. The other two flashbacks are just more on that same continuum and are all things that you'd assume given the beginning and ending we've seen already. All the other "details" are just busywork that have no emotional resonance and impart no further information. Nichols seems enthralled with the pain of the young Emmeline. But this reader found every new interruption a painful break even though I wasn't that involved with the insipid Eloise.
May 28, 2021
I get the Redemption part, but I don’t see where the Honor comes in. This has parallel stories of a horribly managing and shutdown mother and her daughter, the primary heroine.
The mother is horrifically cold, emotional, managing, judgmental and socially conscious to her husband, daughters…heck, her whole family. The heroine starts out as a wronged heroine by the love of her life when he does something reckless that results in a tragedy and goes off the rails. One grows and changes, one doesn’t.
The heroine is likable enough at the beginning, but to get out from under her mother’s thumb makes some stupid and insensitive decisions.
On the other hand, the mother starts out horrible and hateful, and through flashbacks of her horribly sexually permissive parents as well as her cold but “helpful” MIL you get glimpses of why she ended up where she did. This was by far the more interesting portion of the book, but wasn’t much fun as she has already alienated so many people that she loves. She comes around eventually and tries to make amends.
It’s a HEA for everybody, but the only ones I cared about really were the mother and her too much off-page husband.
The mother is horrifically cold, emotional, managing, judgmental and socially conscious to her husband, daughters…heck, her whole family. The heroine starts out as a wronged heroine by the love of her life when he does something reckless that results in a tragedy and goes off the rails. One grows and changes, one doesn’t.
The heroine is likable enough at the beginning, but to get out from under her mother’s thumb makes some stupid and insensitive decisions.
On the other hand, the mother starts out horrible and hateful, and through flashbacks of her horribly sexually permissive parents as well as her cold but “helpful” MIL you get glimpses of why she ended up where she did. This was by far the more interesting portion of the book, but wasn’t much fun as she has already alienated so many people that she loves. She comes around eventually and tries to make amends.
It’s a HEA for everybody, but the only ones I cared about really were the mother and her too much off-page husband.
January 23, 2022
Six years is a long long time
I actually loved the story about her Mother and Father. It was so good and I loved the ending for them. So much pain in this book. The hero was messing around on a carriage with his brother and was very reckless with the reins and he was losing control. He ignored the Drivers request to hand them over and There was a terrible tragedy and the carriage flipped over and trapped his brother, and he had to watch him die. He left his life behind and his love Eloise. He then turned to drinking and carousing and was almost killed in a duel with a jealous husband. So then he comes back into her life and tries to win her back. Then there is another story about the heroines mother and her marriage. It was truly a love match but she let his interfering Mother turn into an Ice Queen. She became rigid and shut out her husband and kids trying to be perfect and maintaining their respectable reputation. But she killed all the joy and love and their love story was far far better for me. I loved the ending. This is Free in KU. The story is very clean and only contains kisses. It dragged a little in places too but it was an angsty emotional read. I like this author enough to read her again.
I actually loved the story about her Mother and Father. It was so good and I loved the ending for them. So much pain in this book. The hero was messing around on a carriage with his brother and was very reckless with the reins and he was losing control. He ignored the Drivers request to hand them over and There was a terrible tragedy and the carriage flipped over and trapped his brother, and he had to watch him die. He left his life behind and his love Eloise. He then turned to drinking and carousing and was almost killed in a duel with a jealous husband. So then he comes back into her life and tries to win her back. Then there is another story about the heroines mother and her marriage. It was truly a love match but she let his interfering Mother turn into an Ice Queen. She became rigid and shut out her husband and kids trying to be perfect and maintaining their respectable reputation. But she killed all the joy and love and their love story was far far better for me. I loved the ending. This is Free in KU. The story is very clean and only contains kisses. It dragged a little in places too but it was an angsty emotional read. I like this author enough to read her again.
May 24, 2020
'They are tormented by the past, but can they build a better future?
Shouldering the guilt of his brother’s death, Patrick Lennox was a broken man. Having spent years drinking himself into oblivion, he has finally pulled himself free from the darkness that engulfed his life. But when he returns to reclaim the heart of the girl he left behind, he discovers that forgiveness is not so easy to find.
Eloise Andrews yearns to be free of her mother’s rigid rules, but when her long-lost childhood love reappears, her ordered existence is thrown into chaos, leaving Eloise unsure of what she truly desires. Does she still love Patrick? Can she ever forgive him for abandoning her all those years ago? Or is it simply better to escape her frustrating life altogether? And is there something more to her mother’s frosty demeanor?'
____________________________________
Honor and Redemption is the fourth book in M.A. Nichols' Regency Love series. The books in the series are connected by each focusing on different members of the same family. Here, the main character, Eloise is the neice of a main character from the first book in the series.
I enjoy Nichols' writing style, the tone she sets, and how her stories aren't over-the-top. Everyone is individually flawed and human. The lovely thing about this book is that we are drawn into the emotions of all four main characters journeys.
I liked that the book gave us the opportunity to understand why Eloise's mother was so cold and rigid in her affections for her family, instead of keeping her as more of a villian in the story. Had we not been given this insight into her past and the rocky upbringing she endured, I don't believe we would have been able to see her redeemed. That being said though, I am not a huge fan of a duel narrative that frequently cuts to chapter long scenes from the past. It worked here, but it did make the reading a little slower for me. That's likely due to my aversion to these cut aways and others may not have experienced this feeling of the plot slowing. Overall, I think that the story would have benefitted from fewer flashbacks.
I enjoyed this book, but I did not find the characters as engaging as I did in the other books by this author I have read. As a result I was not as invested. Everyone just didn't communicate enough, which made sense and was intruiging at the beginning of the book. But as the story progressed and some secrets were shared, while others continued to be held back, it began to feel like things were drawing out too much and as a result causing more problems that didn't need to happen.
I now have read the last two books in this series and have enjoyed them both. I haven't yet read the first two, but plan to go back to read them. The order in which you read this series is quite fexible and each can serve as a stand-alone. From what I have read so far, I recommend this series. Like the rest of the books in this series Honor and Redemption is a clean historical romance.
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I read this book with my Kindle Unlimited membership.
Shouldering the guilt of his brother’s death, Patrick Lennox was a broken man. Having spent years drinking himself into oblivion, he has finally pulled himself free from the darkness that engulfed his life. But when he returns to reclaim the heart of the girl he left behind, he discovers that forgiveness is not so easy to find.
Eloise Andrews yearns to be free of her mother’s rigid rules, but when her long-lost childhood love reappears, her ordered existence is thrown into chaos, leaving Eloise unsure of what she truly desires. Does she still love Patrick? Can she ever forgive him for abandoning her all those years ago? Or is it simply better to escape her frustrating life altogether? And is there something more to her mother’s frosty demeanor?'
____________________________________
Honor and Redemption is the fourth book in M.A. Nichols' Regency Love series. The books in the series are connected by each focusing on different members of the same family. Here, the main character, Eloise is the neice of a main character from the first book in the series.
I enjoy Nichols' writing style, the tone she sets, and how her stories aren't over-the-top. Everyone is individually flawed and human. The lovely thing about this book is that we are drawn into the emotions of all four main characters journeys.
I liked that the book gave us the opportunity to understand why Eloise's mother was so cold and rigid in her affections for her family, instead of keeping her as more of a villian in the story. Had we not been given this insight into her past and the rocky upbringing she endured, I don't believe we would have been able to see her redeemed. That being said though, I am not a huge fan of a duel narrative that frequently cuts to chapter long scenes from the past. It worked here, but it did make the reading a little slower for me. That's likely due to my aversion to these cut aways and others may not have experienced this feeling of the plot slowing. Overall, I think that the story would have benefitted from fewer flashbacks.
I enjoyed this book, but I did not find the characters as engaging as I did in the other books by this author I have read. As a result I was not as invested. Everyone just didn't communicate enough, which made sense and was intruiging at the beginning of the book. But as the story progressed and some secrets were shared, while others continued to be held back, it began to feel like things were drawing out too much and as a result causing more problems that didn't need to happen.
I now have read the last two books in this series and have enjoyed them both. I haven't yet read the first two, but plan to go back to read them. The order in which you read this series is quite fexible and each can serve as a stand-alone. From what I have read so far, I recommend this series. Like the rest of the books in this series Honor and Redemption is a clean historical romance.
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I read this book with my Kindle Unlimited membership.
October 22, 2025
Some books benefit from rereading and this is for sure one of those. Now that I know the story and are not so shaken by it, I appreciate it so much more and it really is a masterpiece. The hurt that is bestowed upon someone by those that are supposed to love and cherish you is something that can keep on making it's mark down the generations if not being delt with and understood. What we can't see or understand we can not change.
This is the story of one woman and her desperate wish to do good by her daughter and shield her from the bad reputation that is the legacy from her own parents, but being ill treated by first her mother growing up and later manipulated by her mother-in-law, had made her incapable of seeing how wrong it all turned out. That her husband choose to be passive and stand aside does everything worse.
It is also the story of the daughter and the young man she has loved all her life but who disappeared after a tradedy and have stayed away for six years until he suddenly shows up again. But nothing stands still for such a long time, how could they possibly find their way back to each other?
Old review:
I really should give this book four stars as it is as well written and with an interesting story, as the earlier books in the series, but this one just hits home too much for me. Three cold and selfish mothers hurting others and ruin their lives is a horried thing, but of course all things are not always as they seem and seeing people finding their way through difficulties always give you a feeling of hope and joy, and there a several persons finding that way in this book.
This is the story of one woman and her desperate wish to do good by her daughter and shield her from the bad reputation that is the legacy from her own parents, but being ill treated by first her mother growing up and later manipulated by her mother-in-law, had made her incapable of seeing how wrong it all turned out. That her husband choose to be passive and stand aside does everything worse.
It is also the story of the daughter and the young man she has loved all her life but who disappeared after a tradedy and have stayed away for six years until he suddenly shows up again. But nothing stands still for such a long time, how could they possibly find their way back to each other?
Old review:
I really should give this book four stars as it is as well written and with an interesting story, as the earlier books in the series, but this one just hits home too much for me. Three cold and selfish mothers hurting others and ruin their lives is a horried thing, but of course all things are not always as they seem and seeing people finding their way through difficulties always give you a feeling of hope and joy, and there a several persons finding that way in this book.
August 7, 2019
Beautiful and heartbreaking
I must have subconsciously found a strong parallel between this story and my own life because I found this book terribly difficult to read, but in a wonderful way. The main characters are all SO FLAWED, but understanding how they each became that way, and then desperately wanting to make things right, was beautiful. This story hurt my heart, but the pay off made it all worth it.
I must have subconsciously found a strong parallel between this story and my own life because I found this book terribly difficult to read, but in a wonderful way. The main characters are all SO FLAWED, but understanding how they each became that way, and then desperately wanting to make things right, was beautiful. This story hurt my heart, but the pay off made it all worth it.
January 4, 2020
This wasn’t quite as good as the previous three books were, but I still enjoyed it. It’s slower than the others in this series and begins quite a while after the last one (like 16 years or so). Instead of following one MC, it follows 2—mother and daughter. Emmeline is married to Norman, Mina’s brother. Eloise is her grown up daughter, having her time in London. It starts off sad—a death, her beloved fleeing because of guilt. She hears no word of him until 6 years later, when he surprises her at a ball. Eloise isn’t happy to see him though. She’s furious. How dare he leave her like he had. It was a betrayal. And she is sick of life as well with her controlling, unfeeling mother, Emmeline.
This story bounces back and forth between 2 lives, past and present, showing why Emmeline has turned so frigid over the years and brought her family almost to ruin. My only hangup with Emmeline's storyline was that there was too much of it. I would rather have read snippets of her childhood, but got bored with some of the long flashback chapters. The other story between Eloise and Patrick—her beloved who has returned—is good. They had many demons to work out between them, and it was a complicated story of forgiveness and redemption with lots of twisty turny angst and heart-tugging (did those words even make sense? Ha ha). Though it wasn’t quite up to par with the other books, this still was a great read and I’m glad I got to journey with these characters as they discovered who they really were deep inside. This author does well with character development, which I love. And the plot had a lot of complicated depth to it as well. Well done.
This story bounces back and forth between 2 lives, past and present, showing why Emmeline has turned so frigid over the years and brought her family almost to ruin. My only hangup with Emmeline's storyline was that there was too much of it. I would rather have read snippets of her childhood, but got bored with some of the long flashback chapters. The other story between Eloise and Patrick—her beloved who has returned—is good. They had many demons to work out between them, and it was a complicated story of forgiveness and redemption with lots of twisty turny angst and heart-tugging (did those words even make sense? Ha ha). Though it wasn’t quite up to par with the other books, this still was a great read and I’m glad I got to journey with these characters as they discovered who they really were deep inside. This author does well with character development, which I love. And the plot had a lot of complicated depth to it as well. Well done.
April 26, 2020
4/20 @12:10pm
Once again, I'm gonna need some time to prepare, but wow! It took a different turn from the first 3 books but the payoff was astounding, in such a differing capacity. But so worthwhile. I'm gonna need some time to think and ponder my write-up, but this was another amazing turn, story and a character study like no other.
MORE TO COME...
4.20 @2:30pm
ohhh-kay, this is going to be an oddball of a review because the premise seems simple but the execution was at times mind-boggling but I trusted Nichols to such a degree that I pushed through. And I was not in any way disappointed. As I stated above, this book strikes differently than the first 3 and at first, you feel wretched because...how dare I, as a reader, expect an Author to simply keep churning out the hits with the same cookie-cutter classics. That is why this takes a moment to get through and then when the payoff happens...wow, prepare yourself for a massive array of dichotomies. Where good people turn bad...and the bad people turn out to be genuinely better than they once were.
I almost want to mirror it with my love for Stephen King's Dolores Claiborne...and there is a weird connection here as in...it's a deeper study of a mother and a daughter connection that defies surface logic. What we see with the naked eye and what we perceive through our own experiences shifts truth.
I don't want to spoil newbies of Stephen King to DC's outcome but suffice to say our memories and/or personal and private moments of our own pains and heartaches sometimes cloud us to what goes deeper. At DC's heart is a mother had killed their daughter's father... and the daughter spends the entirety of the book exploring not just the death, and whys and what fors. And what would motivate a mother to kill a once dear father, someone the daughter felt treasured by. What's even deeper explored in King's work is how we shut off certain bad memories to allow the good to overshadow the myths and legends we'd like to create in our fragile brains; sometimes even betraying our own idyllic views. Many of us have generational parents who grew up in a time of painful silences - we didn't talk about "The Thing" because it just wasn't anyone's business but our own. But we also didn't talk about it because it was uncouth or it was looked down upon. How could someone be so weak, how could you allow such a disgraceful thing to happen?
By no means am I comparing the dark horror of a King novel to Nichols 4th installment of a Regency Love romance story. At their deepest core, these tales are similar, exploring a mother/daughter bond that deteriorated until it fell completely apart...a bad and horrible thing had to happen to ramp up the climax and then mother and daughter go through a 180-degree transformation. One I have only see done similar in King's story with the same blunt-force trauma.
I am telling you there is a butterfly effect on everything, whether good or bad. On the surface, one would assume this book is a simple Mother of The Ton who is trying to climb society ladders to place her offspring at the top, get her the "right" young man for her perfect daughter and make them the BEST married couple to be fawned and flounced over by everyone around them, petted and admired. Except...too much perfection can suffocate and can pinhole one into a box or into a corner in a room they cannot escape, ever. Unless they strive to punch the walls they've built around them out, in order to fall down to climb over and walk toward safety, well, really, happiness and joy.
There are dual stories running here...one of Mother -> Emmeline...she is the older sister to Simon Kingsley. And one of Daughter, Eloise, she is Emmeline's youngest, from quite a number of children she had when she married Mr. Norman Andrews.
I will start with Eloise because a reader will assume she is the main focus, but she will become a mirror to her own Mother's journey, from childhood on into several years deep into motherhood. Eloise's story is told from Present, while Emmeline's will constantly jut back and forth; she will scold and scoff at Eloise, while they argue and butt heads. and then in alternating chapters, Emmeline's backstory will begin to unfold. This might be where some readers turn-off, but there is no need to squiggle and fret, eventually it will matter greatly to why we are sucked into Emmeline's past in order to explain why she is the way she is in Present time to her own daughter, Eloise.
We begin with two brother's racing a stagecoach...Patrick Lennox is the one brother who is best friends with Eloise, and also The Lennoxes and The Andrews are pretty close families since the Mother are best friends, which means their children have often played and grown-up together. As the brother's race and a tragedy occurs, Patrick shoulders all the blame and guilt. So much so that he squanders his growing affections and relationship with Eloise...and he rejects her, throwing her away almost the day of his brother's funeral. It was nearly assumed that Eloise and Patrick would once become engaged to be married.
Six years later, we come up to Eloise, being forced to come out yet again during another drab party under the rigid, unstoppable control of her Mother. Patrick's mother is there but also...Patrick has returned home. He is scarred and deeply remorseful for how down in the dregs he got in his life. He got through it all by thinking of Eloise and keeping his love constant, though he may have strayed. Eloise is in a small "understanding" with a gentleman but not even close to engaged or promised. The problem is...the man she has an understanding with is someone her mother shoved toward her; she barely even likes or tolerates him. Often she will use him to make Patrick jealous.
Eloise is strident in her anger and rage, basically because for a long while once Patrick left ALL OF THEM...they believed him to be dead, because he never got back in contact. and when he did reconnect...he allowed a year to pass and he really only kept in contact with his own mother, possibly Eloise's own mother, too, in secret. Eloise will never be all right with hearing this kind of information because she once thought them closer than friends, on a more intimate level like husband to wife. She thought they had an inexplicable bond and Patrick has never once written or tried to get any information back to her in 6yrs. She is correct in her anger, but little does she want to listen to Patrick excuse himself because she cannot bear to hear his honesty, the real truth.
Though Patrick is the son of a dear friend, Emmeline really doesn't want Eloise and Patrick to rekindle much of anything. She would love for Eloise to keep and hold onto that anger and use it purposefully, so Eloise can marry a PROPER gentleman who will not bring her ridicule or discourse..or even start gossip.
See, because Emmeline knows all too well about ridicule...and being gossiped about...and also being treated as if you were nothing more than dirt. It began with her mother...and her father. Let's be real. She recalls they may have had a loving marriage at some point but then it went sour. So sour that Emmeline's mother went off on her own pursuits and had another child by a gentleman who was not her father, and then continued on to have affairs. And pretty much Emmeline's father pursued not just society women, but also female members of his own staff; one time, he even fooled around with Emmeline's Governess.
Emmeline knows what it is to be shunned and trod upon. She wants the best for Eloise because her children's lives are precious to her as she has lost two children [daughters] and she holds dear the ones still around. Except...it's tough to show it when you've been trained and tamed from how you once began. It took forever, but Emmeline found a "good man" in Mr. Norman Andrews...and her marriage started off very loving and intimate...kisses and cuddles in front of staff and such, but once Norman's mother -Mrs. Andrews/Grand'ma Andrews came into the picture...she tore down and ridiculed Emmeline to BE THE BETTER MOTHER & WIFE...and to basically turn herself into a robotic humanoid who looked and appeared lifelike, but who genuinely went cold at the sign of any deep emotion.
For Emmeline, it becomes the tearing down of years upon years of torture and trauma...her final conversation with her horrid mother was TOP NOTCH - I cheered for Emmeline, knowing she was coming back from the cold darkness. For Eloise, it is a rebirth...and possibly a turn of the mirror to look at her true reflection. She thinks she is righteous and grateful, a good friend and a better daughter than any mother could want.
She takes a turn that reminded me of Emma and Mr. Knightley in Jane Austen's novel...during the picnic on the hill, when Emma turns to her dearest friend, a bonafide Spinster, and pretty much calls her out during their playful bantering. It's a scene I love because there's one of my favorite lines by Knightley which is, "Badly done, Emma! Badly done!"...and here is where Emma has her eyes wide open to how deplorable she has been to everyone and everything around her. And also where she realizes she could lose Mr. Knightley...as also, in this story, Eloise has THAT moment with Patrick. He has spent time and time again, doing everything he can to show and persevere and make actions louder than words, but also using words as best he can. But it often fell on Eloise's deaf ears as she was more comfortable in her anger and disarray than truly finding happiness and joy once again. Patrick bears uncomfortable witness to not just Eloise using another man to make him jealous, but also, in using this "same man" she has ridiculed and hurt one of her so-called dear friends. Patrick is flummoxed to think Eloise has changed so deeply, where is the Eloise he once loved, respected and admired. He gives Eloise a severe dressing down she needed, privately but much much needed to wake her up to her idiocies. Badly done, Eloise, badly done...
This became a great psychological study in never judging a book by its cover. Eloise assumes her mother is horrible...no better than a jailer, keeping her prisoner. But it takes her peeling back layers upon layers built over poor Emmeline, from childhood to grandmother. Can Elosie see they are much more alike than different? For now, their differences keep them apart, but once they can shed those protective shields can they genuinely allow in understanding and a deeper bond with love that was always there to cultivate and grow, before it's too late.
And again, so much tiny details are within this book, it would be a much larger review for me to unfold it all, but I think I gave just enough to start the salivating.
Well done, M. A. Nichols, well done!
Once again, I'm gonna need some time to prepare, but wow! It took a different turn from the first 3 books but the payoff was astounding, in such a differing capacity. But so worthwhile. I'm gonna need some time to think and ponder my write-up, but this was another amazing turn, story and a character study like no other.
MORE TO COME...
4.20 @2:30pm
ohhh-kay, this is going to be an oddball of a review because the premise seems simple but the execution was at times mind-boggling but I trusted Nichols to such a degree that I pushed through. And I was not in any way disappointed. As I stated above, this book strikes differently than the first 3 and at first, you feel wretched because...how dare I, as a reader, expect an Author to simply keep churning out the hits with the same cookie-cutter classics. That is why this takes a moment to get through and then when the payoff happens...wow, prepare yourself for a massive array of dichotomies. Where good people turn bad...and the bad people turn out to be genuinely better than they once were.
I almost want to mirror it with my love for Stephen King's Dolores Claiborne...and there is a weird connection here as in...it's a deeper study of a mother and a daughter connection that defies surface logic. What we see with the naked eye and what we perceive through our own experiences shifts truth.
I don't want to spoil newbies of Stephen King to DC's outcome but suffice to say our memories and/or personal and private moments of our own pains and heartaches sometimes cloud us to what goes deeper. At DC's heart is a mother had killed their daughter's father... and the daughter spends the entirety of the book exploring not just the death, and whys and what fors. And what would motivate a mother to kill a once dear father, someone the daughter felt treasured by. What's even deeper explored in King's work is how we shut off certain bad memories to allow the good to overshadow the myths and legends we'd like to create in our fragile brains; sometimes even betraying our own idyllic views. Many of us have generational parents who grew up in a time of painful silences - we didn't talk about "The Thing" because it just wasn't anyone's business but our own. But we also didn't talk about it because it was uncouth or it was looked down upon. How could someone be so weak, how could you allow such a disgraceful thing to happen?
By no means am I comparing the dark horror of a King novel to Nichols 4th installment of a Regency Love romance story. At their deepest core, these tales are similar, exploring a mother/daughter bond that deteriorated until it fell completely apart...a bad and horrible thing had to happen to ramp up the climax and then mother and daughter go through a 180-degree transformation. One I have only see done similar in King's story with the same blunt-force trauma.
I am telling you there is a butterfly effect on everything, whether good or bad. On the surface, one would assume this book is a simple Mother of The Ton who is trying to climb society ladders to place her offspring at the top, get her the "right" young man for her perfect daughter and make them the BEST married couple to be fawned and flounced over by everyone around them, petted and admired. Except...too much perfection can suffocate and can pinhole one into a box or into a corner in a room they cannot escape, ever. Unless they strive to punch the walls they've built around them out, in order to fall down to climb over and walk toward safety, well, really, happiness and joy.
There are dual stories running here...one of Mother -> Emmeline...she is the older sister to Simon Kingsley. And one of Daughter, Eloise, she is Emmeline's youngest, from quite a number of children she had when she married Mr. Norman Andrews.
I will start with Eloise because a reader will assume she is the main focus, but she will become a mirror to her own Mother's journey, from childhood on into several years deep into motherhood. Eloise's story is told from Present, while Emmeline's will constantly jut back and forth; she will scold and scoff at Eloise, while they argue and butt heads. and then in alternating chapters, Emmeline's backstory will begin to unfold. This might be where some readers turn-off, but there is no need to squiggle and fret, eventually it will matter greatly to why we are sucked into Emmeline's past in order to explain why she is the way she is in Present time to her own daughter, Eloise.
We begin with two brother's racing a stagecoach...Patrick Lennox is the one brother who is best friends with Eloise, and also The Lennoxes and The Andrews are pretty close families since the Mother are best friends, which means their children have often played and grown-up together. As the brother's race and a tragedy occurs, Patrick shoulders all the blame and guilt. So much so that he squanders his growing affections and relationship with Eloise...and he rejects her, throwing her away almost the day of his brother's funeral. It was nearly assumed that Eloise and Patrick would once become engaged to be married.
Six years later, we come up to Eloise, being forced to come out yet again during another drab party under the rigid, unstoppable control of her Mother. Patrick's mother is there but also...Patrick has returned home. He is scarred and deeply remorseful for how down in the dregs he got in his life. He got through it all by thinking of Eloise and keeping his love constant, though he may have strayed. Eloise is in a small "understanding" with a gentleman but not even close to engaged or promised. The problem is...the man she has an understanding with is someone her mother shoved toward her; she barely even likes or tolerates him. Often she will use him to make Patrick jealous.
Eloise is strident in her anger and rage, basically because for a long while once Patrick left ALL OF THEM...they believed him to be dead, because he never got back in contact. and when he did reconnect...he allowed a year to pass and he really only kept in contact with his own mother, possibly Eloise's own mother, too, in secret. Eloise will never be all right with hearing this kind of information because she once thought them closer than friends, on a more intimate level like husband to wife. She thought they had an inexplicable bond and Patrick has never once written or tried to get any information back to her in 6yrs. She is correct in her anger, but little does she want to listen to Patrick excuse himself because she cannot bear to hear his honesty, the real truth.
Though Patrick is the son of a dear friend, Emmeline really doesn't want Eloise and Patrick to rekindle much of anything. She would love for Eloise to keep and hold onto that anger and use it purposefully, so Eloise can marry a PROPER gentleman who will not bring her ridicule or discourse..or even start gossip.
See, because Emmeline knows all too well about ridicule...and being gossiped about...and also being treated as if you were nothing more than dirt. It began with her mother...and her father. Let's be real. She recalls they may have had a loving marriage at some point but then it went sour. So sour that Emmeline's mother went off on her own pursuits and had another child by a gentleman who was not her father, and then continued on to have affairs. And pretty much Emmeline's father pursued not just society women, but also female members of his own staff; one time, he even fooled around with Emmeline's Governess.
Emmeline knows what it is to be shunned and trod upon. She wants the best for Eloise because her children's lives are precious to her as she has lost two children [daughters] and she holds dear the ones still around. Except...it's tough to show it when you've been trained and tamed from how you once began. It took forever, but Emmeline found a "good man" in Mr. Norman Andrews...and her marriage started off very loving and intimate...kisses and cuddles in front of staff and such, but once Norman's mother -Mrs. Andrews/Grand'ma Andrews came into the picture...she tore down and ridiculed Emmeline to BE THE BETTER MOTHER & WIFE...and to basically turn herself into a robotic humanoid who looked and appeared lifelike, but who genuinely went cold at the sign of any deep emotion.
For Emmeline, it becomes the tearing down of years upon years of torture and trauma...her final conversation with her horrid mother was TOP NOTCH - I cheered for Emmeline, knowing she was coming back from the cold darkness. For Eloise, it is a rebirth...and possibly a turn of the mirror to look at her true reflection. She thinks she is righteous and grateful, a good friend and a better daughter than any mother could want.
She takes a turn that reminded me of Emma and Mr. Knightley in Jane Austen's novel...during the picnic on the hill, when Emma turns to her dearest friend, a bonafide Spinster, and pretty much calls her out during their playful bantering. It's a scene I love because there's one of my favorite lines by Knightley which is, "Badly done, Emma! Badly done!"...and here is where Emma has her eyes wide open to how deplorable she has been to everyone and everything around her. And also where she realizes she could lose Mr. Knightley...as also, in this story, Eloise has THAT moment with Patrick. He has spent time and time again, doing everything he can to show and persevere and make actions louder than words, but also using words as best he can. But it often fell on Eloise's deaf ears as she was more comfortable in her anger and disarray than truly finding happiness and joy once again. Patrick bears uncomfortable witness to not just Eloise using another man to make him jealous, but also, in using this "same man" she has ridiculed and hurt one of her so-called dear friends. Patrick is flummoxed to think Eloise has changed so deeply, where is the Eloise he once loved, respected and admired. He gives Eloise a severe dressing down she needed, privately but much much needed to wake her up to her idiocies. Badly done, Eloise, badly done...
This became a great psychological study in never judging a book by its cover. Eloise assumes her mother is horrible...no better than a jailer, keeping her prisoner. But it takes her peeling back layers upon layers built over poor Emmeline, from childhood to grandmother. Can Elosie see they are much more alike than different? For now, their differences keep them apart, but once they can shed those protective shields can they genuinely allow in understanding and a deeper bond with love that was always there to cultivate and grow, before it's too late.
And again, so much tiny details are within this book, it would be a much larger review for me to unfold it all, but I think I gave just enough to start the salivating.
Well done, M. A. Nichols, well done!
August 10, 2019
I enjoy M.A. Nichols writing and this book was no different. Decent historical details, clean content, a message of forgiveness, and willingness to change oneself are all things I appreciate about her stories. The characters featured in this installment were also well developed; they were all so flawed and yet I couldn't help but want them to make healthy changes and be happy.
So why not more stars? Well, I did feel like the hero should've had more page time. A lot of the storytelling was devoted to Emmeline or Eloise. Also, I really don't like consistent flashbacks and these were interspersed throughout the entire book, almost all the way to the end. So that's really just a personal preference. All in all, I enjoyed this and would recommend it to lovers of clean historical romance.
So why not more stars? Well, I did feel like the hero should've had more page time. A lot of the storytelling was devoted to Emmeline or Eloise. Also, I really don't like consistent flashbacks and these were interspersed throughout the entire book, almost all the way to the end. So that's really just a personal preference. All in all, I enjoyed this and would recommend it to lovers of clean historical romance.
September 10, 2025
Listened on YouTube. Two stories told in alternating POVs: both the mother's and the daughter's stories, which delineate how their mental trauma inflicted by their mothers negatively impact both their romantic relationships and their relationships with their children. Sounds exactly like a book I would normally stay away from. But it was very well done. Excellent (human) narrator as well. Not clear if this is book 2 or book 4.
June 19, 2021
I feel like I claim each of my books is my best ever, but I really do have a soft spot for this story. Of the series, this one was the hardest first draft to get written, but the end result was really fantastic. There's so much more to the story than I can put in the book blurb, and I truly hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.
I always love stories about redeemed villains and especially ones that take a previous villain and show the reasons behind their behavior. In this book, you get to know Emmeline (Simon's horrible sister from "Flame and Ember") and see a little more about who she is and why she is that way, which was just wonderful to write.
Enjoy!
I always love stories about redeemed villains and especially ones that take a previous villain and show the reasons behind their behavior. In this book, you get to know Emmeline (Simon's horrible sister from "Flame and Ember") and see a little more about who she is and why she is that way, which was just wonderful to write.
Enjoy!
March 18, 2022
This book is a tough one to categorise. It left me satisfied, yet pondering some deeper issues that I rarely see addressed in romance ; Mother-daughter relationships and generational toxic behaviours passed down sometimes unwittingly from parents to children.
There are two parallel stories being told here. Twenty-two year old Eloise is in London having her season when she reconnects with her country neighbour and teenage one-true-love Patrick, who has spent the last 6 years as a reclusive alcoholic after his brother's tragic death, and Eloise's mother Emmeline who is a stickler for propriety and decorum.
Eloise feels constrained by her mother's rules and dictates and decides to push back to get more freedom. In typical young adult fashion, she acts first and realises the consequences later. Eloise reminded me a bit of Jane Austen's Emma. She thought she was helping people, but her actions are self-centred and sometimes hurt people. Though she doesn't realise it she is actually quite spoilt and cosseted from the realities of life in the real world.
Emmeline we see in dual timelines; the present with her current interactions with her family and friends, and also throughout her childhood and early married life.
Emmeline had a rough childhood. She was well-off but her parents were truly awful. She was completely neglected by a mother who was off having affairs and ignored by her father who engaged multiple nannies and governesses to rear his children instead of taking any interest himself. Her parents' indiscretions were well know amongst the Ton, and despite Emmaline being a good and caring girl, she was tainted by their reputation.
She ended up loving and marrying a sweet man who saw past the rumours and wanted her anyway.
Unfortunately because of Emmaline's woeful parents, her maternal vacuum was filled by her toxic mother-in-law who changed Emmaline's beautiful, loving, outgoing personality into a facade of ice and propriety. The impetus for the change and subsequent fixation on propriety was the fear that Emmaline's behaviour would somehow ruin her children's reputations in the same way Emmaline's parents had affected hers. But all her sacrifices end up doing is push her devoted husband away and cause her daughter to doubt her mother's love and then act out. Basically, by wanting to protect her beloved family from what she went through, Emmaline created a scenario where history has repeated itself anyway.
The really sad thing was that Emmaline had been so starved for a mother figure that she allowed herself to believe that the terrible way she was bossed about by her MIL was a sign of affection.
The whole thing was heartbreaking to read but fortunately all is well in the end and everyone gets their HEA, including restoration of the relationship between Emmaline and Eloise.
This is a clean romance with no descriptive love scenes.
There are two parallel stories being told here. Twenty-two year old Eloise is in London having her season when she reconnects with her country neighbour and teenage one-true-love Patrick, who has spent the last 6 years as a reclusive alcoholic after his brother's tragic death, and Eloise's mother Emmeline who is a stickler for propriety and decorum.
Eloise feels constrained by her mother's rules and dictates and decides to push back to get more freedom. In typical young adult fashion, she acts first and realises the consequences later. Eloise reminded me a bit of Jane Austen's Emma. She thought she was helping people, but her actions are self-centred and sometimes hurt people. Though she doesn't realise it she is actually quite spoilt and cosseted from the realities of life in the real world.
Emmeline we see in dual timelines; the present with her current interactions with her family and friends, and also throughout her childhood and early married life.
Emmeline had a rough childhood. She was well-off but her parents were truly awful. She was completely neglected by a mother who was off having affairs and ignored by her father who engaged multiple nannies and governesses to rear his children instead of taking any interest himself. Her parents' indiscretions were well know amongst the Ton, and despite Emmaline being a good and caring girl, she was tainted by their reputation.
She ended up loving and marrying a sweet man who saw past the rumours and wanted her anyway.
Unfortunately because of Emmaline's woeful parents, her maternal vacuum was filled by her toxic mother-in-law who changed Emmaline's beautiful, loving, outgoing personality into a facade of ice and propriety. The impetus for the change and subsequent fixation on propriety was the fear that Emmaline's behaviour would somehow ruin her children's reputations in the same way Emmaline's parents had affected hers. But all her sacrifices end up doing is push her devoted husband away and cause her daughter to doubt her mother's love and then act out. Basically, by wanting to protect her beloved family from what she went through, Emmaline created a scenario where history has repeated itself anyway.
The really sad thing was that Emmaline had been so starved for a mother figure that she allowed herself to believe that the terrible way she was bossed about by her MIL was a sign of affection.
The whole thing was heartbreaking to read but fortunately all is well in the end and everyone gets their HEA, including restoration of the relationship between Emmaline and Eloise.
This is a clean romance with no descriptive love scenes.
May 17, 2020
This is the most thought provoking and intense of M.A. Nichols' romances yet. This book jumps from past to present and from four different characters' perspectives trying to make sure that we get the entire picture of the story which the book succeeded in doing wonderfully. There was so much to follow with this story because of it, yet it was never overwhelming for me which was something I greatly liked. The characters were all so flawed and grew more and more broken as the story went on. This caused me to shed a few tears but it was all worth it in the end as we got to watch them get put back together and fix their lives. There were four main characters, Emmeline, Norman, Eloise and Patrick. My favorite out of all of them was Emmeline. We got to see a little bit of her in the first book of the Regency Romance series and while it was obvious that she was an unlikeable woman who forced perfection on everyone around her she was pushed to the side and ultimately a bit forgettable. In this book we get to hear her backstory and realize why she acted the way she did. All the things that happened to her life make it so easy to understand her personality and need for perfection. The sad thing was that she was truly trying her best to be a good person and a good mother but she only ended up hurting the ones she loved for years on end without even realizing it. Eloise, Norman and the rest of her family suffered for years because of her behavior. Though despite all this Norman stood by her side for several decades loving her and being there for her despite all she had done. This made me respect and really come to love Norman for his loyalty. Eloise had such a strained relationship with Emmeline throughout the book. While it was hard to read Eloise resent and spurn her mother without knowing the truth behind Emmeline's actions it was understandable. All the characters got over their flaws so perfectly and it just made the book so good. The depth behind this book was so good making it a great addition to the series.
August 13, 2019
The fourth novel in the Regency Love series, deals seriously with themes of regret, forgiveness, acceptance, and ultimately change; it is not Regency fluff. It is told in an unusual style, alternating between frequent flashbacks and current day. It is a plot device I enjoy and it is used effectively. These flashbacks explain Emmeline's behavior. It's very sad.
All main characters are flawed and redeem themselves in the end. A few secondary characters are genuinely good from start to finish. However, Amelia Kingsley is toxic. Thankfully there is an HEA, two in a way.
I love Nichols' writing style and there are few grammatical errors. This book is clean, which is important to me.
Although Simon and Mina's children's ages are unknown, a continuing saga would be interesting. Mina remains my favorite character.
All main characters are flawed and redeem themselves in the end. A few secondary characters are genuinely good from start to finish. However, Amelia Kingsley is toxic. Thankfully there is an HEA, two in a way.
I love Nichols' writing style and there are few grammatical errors. This book is clean, which is important to me.
Although Simon and Mina's children's ages are unknown, a continuing saga would be interesting. Mina remains my favorite character.
August 23, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. Sometimes I found it was a harder read but only because the author wrote so well I could feel the characters emotions and they had some tough hills to climb. I felt for them. I think the author did a good job in giving the reader some food for thought through her story and characters. The two main couples had to forgive and needed forgiveness as well. I wondered how I would like the flashbacks to the mom's younger days. I ended up enjoying it & was able to see why she did what she did. How easy it is to overcompensate and make happen what we set out to not have happen in the 1st place. Also, maybe give people a little grace as we don't see the hidden injuries. I think the characters were well developed and had depth. The changes and growth the two couples experienced felt real and the story flowed well. I think this was my favorite in the series.
October 13, 2019
This story is about a young woman, who needs to learn to trust in the man she loves, but had betrayed her once and about her mother, who tries to free herself from the influence of he mother-in-law, who has a tight grip on her even beyond her grave, to save her love, her marriage and the relationship with her children.
The book has flashbacks to the mother's past, showing why she became the way she was and her struggle to undo the damage.
The book is interesting on many levels - it is more than just a historical love story. The human interest aspect is strong.
All in all, the book ins entertaining, has depth and is easy to read. A good blend in a book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The book has flashbacks to the mother's past, showing why she became the way she was and her struggle to undo the damage.
The book is interesting on many levels - it is more than just a historical love story. The human interest aspect is strong.
All in all, the book ins entertaining, has depth and is easy to read. A good blend in a book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 14, 2019
Expect frequent flashbacks.
This is the first book of this author’s I have read and it is the fourth book in the series but it reads well as a stand-alone. After reading some of the reviews I got a pretty decent idea of what occurred in the other books. I found the book a very good read with flawed characters and with a message of forgiveness, acceptance, along with growth and change. These characters are so well-developed and the book is very well-written you may even find it hard to read at times because the author has been able to induce strong emotions in the piece. High praise and I highly recommend this book. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
This is the first book of this author’s I have read and it is the fourth book in the series but it reads well as a stand-alone. After reading some of the reviews I got a pretty decent idea of what occurred in the other books. I found the book a very good read with flawed characters and with a message of forgiveness, acceptance, along with growth and change. These characters are so well-developed and the book is very well-written you may even find it hard to read at times because the author has been able to induce strong emotions in the piece. High praise and I highly recommend this book. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
December 9, 2019
More serious and comlplecated than her usual
This is a book about 2 women. A mother and her daughter. The mother, Emmaline, has lost her way due to the machinations of her mother and mother-in-law. The daughter, Eloise, has lost her way because she is confused by her mother's behaviour. Enter Patrick, Eloise's childhood love. All of these characters are rich and complex. They all need therapy. Even though this is not a lighthearted love story. It is compelling and led me willingly to a satisfactory ending. Again Ms. Nichols has written a good book. Enjoy!
This is a book about 2 women. A mother and her daughter. The mother, Emmaline, has lost her way due to the machinations of her mother and mother-in-law. The daughter, Eloise, has lost her way because she is confused by her mother's behaviour. Enter Patrick, Eloise's childhood love. All of these characters are rich and complex. They all need therapy. Even though this is not a lighthearted love story. It is compelling and led me willingly to a satisfactory ending. Again Ms. Nichols has written a good book. Enjoy!
March 28, 2020
Two Romances in One
This is really the story of two different but connected romances. First there is Eloise and Patrick, childhood friends, separated when a tragic coach accident that kills Patrick’s brother sends him into a tailspin and he pushes Eloise away. Six years later, he returns to society and still wants Eloise but she has changed. Her broken heart from Patrick and her strict mother’s expectations change her from a sweet person to a selfish, user young woman. So, much of the story is about Eloise maturing and accepting her behavior and how she used and hurt others.
The second romance is between Emmaline, Eloise’s mother, and her husband Norman.
This is really the story of two different but connected romances. First there is Eloise and Patrick, childhood friends, separated when a tragic coach accident that kills Patrick’s brother sends him into a tailspin and he pushes Eloise away. Six years later, he returns to society and still wants Eloise but she has changed. Her broken heart from Patrick and her strict mother’s expectations change her from a sweet person to a selfish, user young woman. So, much of the story is about Eloise maturing and accepting her behavior and how she used and hurt others.
The second romance is between Emmaline, Eloise’s mother, and her husband Norman.
May 28, 2021
I really struggled to like this book. Because I enjoyed the other books in the series, I still gave this one a chance. I just didn't like the story, heavy on infidelity and selfishness. It is technically a romance, but it was more of a mother/daughter redemption story. It has a dual timeline going on with the mother's story, and every time a chapter came where we went back in the mother's life, I just lost interest. I just felt unease reading a lot of it. Despite the story being about ruined reputations and infidelities and selfish behaviors, it's still clean. It was just a topic that I didn't love having a whole book centered around.
August 14, 2019
Most Regency books have hard things that are still polished and polite. This is a Regency book with a rawness I’m not used to. It was so much more realistic and thought provoking. Two characters whose stories were expertly woven together. Clean romance and very well written.
June 12, 2023
Was the last couple chapters of happiness supposed to make up for all of the misery in this book? Well. It almost does, but I am still really upset. I should have just tossed the book when Emmeline almost gets raped. Side note why does the " clean romance" fanatics never care about that? How is a lecherous man pawing at a young lady and chasing her better for your delicate senses than two married people having sex?
So this book goes back and forth from when Emmeline was young to now when her daughter Eloise is coming out. Both time frames are miserable. Emmeline grows up with parents that hate each other and sleep with anyone willing. Their behavior ruins the reputation if their children hence Emmeline almost being raped. Then she meets Norman(one of the only good characters) and they fall in love but his mother poisons her mind the other way and makes her a cold woman. Now instead of trying to get rid of her mother's reputation, she is pushing away her husband and children to make Mother Andrews happy.
In the current story Emmeline is still very strict and she is making her daughter Eloise crazy. But here's the thing, after she says no to her suitor she thought maybe she wanted to be with Patrick ( one of the only good characters) but instead she goes out of her way to try to ruin her reputation because she sees that as a way to a free life. Somehow she forgets that her friend Kitty has no friends because she us ruined.
I wanted to throw this book so many times. It was pure misery. Emmeline was unhappy in the past and in the present. Eloise was unhappy and clueless. I had every intention of reading straight through all of M.A. Nichols books but this book gives me serious pause.
So this book goes back and forth from when Emmeline was young to now when her daughter Eloise is coming out. Both time frames are miserable. Emmeline grows up with parents that hate each other and sleep with anyone willing. Their behavior ruins the reputation if their children hence Emmeline almost being raped. Then she meets Norman(one of the only good characters) and they fall in love but his mother poisons her mind the other way and makes her a cold woman. Now instead of trying to get rid of her mother's reputation, she is pushing away her husband and children to make Mother Andrews happy.
In the current story Emmeline is still very strict and she is making her daughter Eloise crazy. But here's the thing, after she says no to her suitor she thought maybe she wanted to be with Patrick ( one of the only good characters) but instead she goes out of her way to try to ruin her reputation because she sees that as a way to a free life. Somehow she forgets that her friend Kitty has no friends because she us ruined.
I wanted to throw this book so many times. It was pure misery. Emmeline was unhappy in the past and in the present. Eloise was unhappy and clueless. I had every intention of reading straight through all of M.A. Nichols books but this book gives me serious pause.
October 3, 2020
Outstanding, poignant and painful
M A Nichols brings flawed characters to life in such a way that our hearts engage. When Eloise’s story was interrupted by a flashback to her mother’s childhood, I was a bit annoyed. But really, Emmeline is the heart of the book. Her experiences, fears, abandonment shape her responses to life, and in so doing, they impact on her whole extended family. In the drama that ensures, the complicity of others is made clear to them also. In many ways this is a hard book to read. The characters’ pain was so real. Yet, redemption is a joy devoutly to be sought. So if you are in the mood for froth and bubble today, this is not your read. This is a book with heft.
M A Nichols brings flawed characters to life in such a way that our hearts engage. When Eloise’s story was interrupted by a flashback to her mother’s childhood, I was a bit annoyed. But really, Emmeline is the heart of the book. Her experiences, fears, abandonment shape her responses to life, and in so doing, they impact on her whole extended family. In the drama that ensures, the complicity of others is made clear to them also. In many ways this is a hard book to read. The characters’ pain was so real. Yet, redemption is a joy devoutly to be sought. So if you are in the mood for froth and bubble today, this is not your read. This is a book with heft.
June 19, 2021
Wow!
The synopsis does not do this novel justice. I wanted to slap Eloise, and hug Emmaline, her mother, though the woman would not have liked it. . This was as much about Emmaline & Norman, as Patrick & Eloise, and I would have liked to have seen Norman feature more. That said, i am rarely moved to tears but this story almost broke my heart! Huge appreciation of author’s storytelling skills; she has a new fan! ❤️
The synopsis does not do this novel justice. I wanted to slap Eloise, and hug Emmaline, her mother, though the woman would not have liked it. . This was as much about Emmaline & Norman, as Patrick & Eloise, and I would have liked to have seen Norman feature more. That said, i am rarely moved to tears but this story almost broke my heart! Huge appreciation of author’s storytelling skills; she has a new fan! ❤️
March 21, 2022
So depressing...
It does get boring when the men are always rakes, the women are shunned for far less than men ever do, and the usual romance formula crap. This did have a happy ending but man, I had to suffer the whole book to get there.
It does get boring when the men are always rakes, the women are shunned for far less than men ever do, and the usual romance formula crap. This did have a happy ending but man, I had to suffer the whole book to get there.
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November 28, 2022A note to readers, this book contains MANY parts that could trigger emotional distress. The author touched on rape, emotional abuse, immorality (a lot of this), substance abuse, and verbal abuse.
I struggled with this book. So much so, that I can’t rate it. It’s not that it doesn’t deserve a rating, I just can’t do something that could affect the author’s standing because of my opinion and what mood I found myself as I read the story. My emotions shouldn’t reflect on the author, so I won’t leave a rating, but below is my review. Take from it what you wish, but remember to form your own opinion. I’m mostly writing this to remind myself why I didn’t enjoy it because I read so many books at a time it’s hard to remember certain aspects of some books.
That being said, the constant leap from one POV to another and from the past to the present ruined this book for me. I would get into the story, only to have another POV pull everything to a screeching halt. I ended up skipping through specific point’s of view/chapter’s, because I didn’t care about what was happening. Most of it felt entirely unnecessary. I feel that Emmeline’s story could have been done by her telling Eloise the story of her past rather than bouncing back and forth between Eloise, Patrick, Norman, and Emmeline’s POV. I think at one point there may have been a few paragraphs that were from the perspective of Patrick’s mother, but I can’t remember for sure because it was so confusing. The editing wasn’t great, but not as bad as other books in the series. I don’t know if it was just my mood that made me dislike the story, the writing, or just the story itself, but it was not a favorite and I won’t read it again. I may not even be able to continue the series for a while. I need to step away and read something that isn’t so emotionally draining.
I struggled with this book. So much so, that I can’t rate it. It’s not that it doesn’t deserve a rating, I just can’t do something that could affect the author’s standing because of my opinion and what mood I found myself as I read the story. My emotions shouldn’t reflect on the author, so I won’t leave a rating, but below is my review. Take from it what you wish, but remember to form your own opinion. I’m mostly writing this to remind myself why I didn’t enjoy it because I read so many books at a time it’s hard to remember certain aspects of some books.
That being said, the constant leap from one POV to another and from the past to the present ruined this book for me. I would get into the story, only to have another POV pull everything to a screeching halt. I ended up skipping through specific point’s of view/chapter’s, because I didn’t care about what was happening. Most of it felt entirely unnecessary. I feel that Emmeline’s story could have been done by her telling Eloise the story of her past rather than bouncing back and forth between Eloise, Patrick, Norman, and Emmeline’s POV. I think at one point there may have been a few paragraphs that were from the perspective of Patrick’s mother, but I can’t remember for sure because it was so confusing. The editing wasn’t great, but not as bad as other books in the series. I don’t know if it was just my mood that made me dislike the story, the writing, or just the story itself, but it was not a favorite and I won’t read it again. I may not even be able to continue the series for a while. I need to step away and read something that isn’t so emotionally draining.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2022
Six years ago, tragedy tore Eloise and Patrick apart. Shouldering the burden of his brother’s death, he spent years drinking himself into oblivion. Now freed from that darkness, Patrick returns to reclaim the heart of the young lady he left behind. Can she forgive the man who abandoned her without a word?
Eloise Andrews has enough troubles in her life without Patrick stirring things up. Her mother is a heartless beast who controls every aspect of her life, and Eloise is determined to break free of her—even if it means destroying the perfect reputation her mother is desperate to save.
But not all wounds can be seen, and perhaps there is something more lurking beneath her mother’s frosty demeanor… Years of torment taught Emmeline Andrews the power of shielding one’s heart behind a sterling reputation, and she will do everything she can to ensure her children are protected against society’s cruelty. But with her daughter determined to ruin herself and Emmeline’s own marriage crumbling to pieces, she has to decide whether or not that precious reputation is a shield or a jail.
OK - I've enjoyed a few of the author's books, but this one was a little hard for me to enjoy - I plowed through to the end for no other reason to finish. I could not find much sympathy with either of the main characters. Even as the story unfolded, I still didn't find much to recommend them. The storyline jumped between two generations of mother and daughter. It was confusing - perhaps it was their names were similar enough to confuse me or the various siblings that were thrown in, some there and some deceased, even though we never got the full story. At any rate I give it 2.5 stars
Eloise Andrews has enough troubles in her life without Patrick stirring things up. Her mother is a heartless beast who controls every aspect of her life, and Eloise is determined to break free of her—even if it means destroying the perfect reputation her mother is desperate to save.
But not all wounds can be seen, and perhaps there is something more lurking beneath her mother’s frosty demeanor… Years of torment taught Emmeline Andrews the power of shielding one’s heart behind a sterling reputation, and she will do everything she can to ensure her children are protected against society’s cruelty. But with her daughter determined to ruin herself and Emmeline’s own marriage crumbling to pieces, she has to decide whether or not that precious reputation is a shield or a jail.
OK - I've enjoyed a few of the author's books, but this one was a little hard for me to enjoy - I plowed through to the end for no other reason to finish. I could not find much sympathy with either of the main characters. Even as the story unfolded, I still didn't find much to recommend them. The storyline jumped between two generations of mother and daughter. It was confusing - perhaps it was their names were similar enough to confuse me or the various siblings that were thrown in, some there and some deceased, even though we never got the full story. At any rate I give it 2.5 stars
May 4, 2024
Not sure where to start. There were 2 parallel stories which wound around each other like a rope: a mother and daughter. The flashbacks for the mother were heart breaking and set the stage for her seduction by her husband's evil mother: not sexual but mental and emotional. She became her evil and shrewdish mother-in-law and almost destroyed her entire family in the process. The daughter was so desperate to get away from this controlling, manipulative mother that she assumed some of the same manipulative attributes and almost lost everything in the process.
When the alive but absent father and husband had finally had enough, it created the tidal wave that finally woke his wife up and she began to heal and become her own person without the shrew of a mother-in-law controlling/whispering in her mind. She started slowly to realize everything she had attempted was a failure and that she was hated and distrusted. It was amazing how her family and friends could forgive once she offered her own sincere apologies and wish to redeem critical personal values. Her quest involved a journal which was 'borrowed' by the daughter and which formed the basis for her own redemption.
This was a tough book to read. There were so many emotional battles that just left me fatigued but wanting more. The daughter never knew her mother loved her! How tragic. Love became the key motivation for the healing of this family within themselves and their friends. Love was stronger than hate.
When the alive but absent father and husband had finally had enough, it created the tidal wave that finally woke his wife up and she began to heal and become her own person without the shrew of a mother-in-law controlling/whispering in her mind. She started slowly to realize everything she had attempted was a failure and that she was hated and distrusted. It was amazing how her family and friends could forgive once she offered her own sincere apologies and wish to redeem critical personal values. Her quest involved a journal which was 'borrowed' by the daughter and which formed the basis for her own redemption.
This was a tough book to read. There were so many emotional battles that just left me fatigued but wanting more. The daughter never knew her mother loved her! How tragic. Love became the key motivation for the healing of this family within themselves and their friends. Love was stronger than hate.
July 30, 2024
I agree with others that Emmeline's story is dragged out longer than needed. It is important to the story, but I skipped the last two flashback "installments" because by then I well understood what happened to the poor woman and how that impacted everything. I also agree with others that Eloise does some incredibly immature stupid things trying to exert her own independence, but in reality I have known young people who were raised by a super controlling unaffectionate parent who have done some incredibly immature stupid things trying to exert their own independence once they work up the courage, so I put Eloise in that group. Fortunately, just like many of the real life young people I have known, she realizes the error of her ways and does an about face, so forgiveness is due. The over telling of Emmaline's story and the second stupid thing Eloise does, which is a bit too much out of character, knocked this book out of the four/five star range for me, but I love the abundance of insights that Ms. Nichols always provides and the positive theme of forgiveness that frees us to move on. I saved many great quotes from this one as with all of my Nichols books. For these reasons, and some great character development, I still do recommend this book, though IMO it's not one of MA Nichol's best.
May 23, 2021
This book was... unusual for the genre. The first part was so confusing and boring. I was ready to call it quits. But I rarely leave things unfinished, so I prodded on. This is more a story about a mother and a daughter. Actually I loved Emmeline more than her daughter. I didn't care much about Eloise - she was egotistical and immature. Maybe the problem was that the author showed us more how Emmeline developed as a character, but we didn't see Eloise growing up and her relationships with others. Norman was also not my favorite character - with his passiveness he drove me crazy. Patrick I liked.. but again we didn't see much of him. So why not 1 but 3 stars? Because at the end the book became engaging for me - enough to make me shed some tears. And really I think Emmeline was the main heroine here. I really felt for her and rooted for her. And as boring was this book at the beginning, the end was satisfying enough.
Narrative: 3rd person following two couples: Eloise and Patrick, Emmeline and Norman
Religion: none
Sensuality: clean, but some uncomfortable moments of forsed sexual attention and talk of infidelity
Narrative: 3rd person following two couples: Eloise and Patrick, Emmeline and Norman
Religion: none
Sensuality: clean, but some uncomfortable moments of forsed sexual attention and talk of infidelity
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