SOLVED. Historical romance: H writes letters to h on behalf of friend, whom the h has a crush on. Both friend and hero in army. [s]

[Justine]

Plot: Regency romance. Heroine likes a guy who is in the army. He is not good at written communication so his friend, the hero, who is also in the army, writes letters for him. This is done with the friend's knowledge. Heroine, of course, doesn't know this and they exchange letters for a while. They all meet (at a garden party, I think) when the men are on leave. Heroine talks to crush but thinks he is nothing like in his letters. Finds hero more interesting. I think the heroine's name is Rose (not at all sure).

Please help. It was a good book and it's driving me crazy that I can not remember the title. Thanks in advance!!

[Juels]

I doubt any of these are your book, but since they have a similar plot, I thought you might enjoy them. I'll keep looking.

Love in the Afternoon
Lord Sebastian's Secret
Letters From Home

[Kris]

Justine, can you tell us more about the heroine and hero - how the heroine met the hero's friend, rich/poor, personalities, interests/skills, etc.?

What's the tone - romantic, funny, angsty, steamy, sad, etc.?

[SparksofEmber]

Could it be something inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac?

Sounds like it could be Miss Maitland's Letters

[Justine]

Juels wrote: "I doubt any of these are your book, but since they have a similar plot, I thought you might enjoy them. I'll keep looking.

Love in the Afternoon
[book:Lord Sebastian's Secret|300141..."

Thanks for the suggestions!! They do sound interesting. I am starting with L in the A...

[Justine]

SparksofEmber wrote: "Could it be something inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac?

...

I don't know.
And it's not Miss Maitland's Letters. The plot is somewhat similar though. Thanks for looking into it. :)

[Justine]

Kris wrote: "Justine, can you tell us more about the heroine and hero - how the heroine met the hero's friend, rich/poor, personalities, interests/skills, etc.?

What's the tone - romantic, funny, angsty, steam..."

It's a clean romance. Possibly a short story (??!!). The heroine and the crush don't know each other too well. The crush is a handsome, good-natured guy, but not too complicated. He is not too witty or intellectual, hence unable to write back to the heroine, who is both. So he asks hero to formulate a reply. I think the hero dictates to him.

At the party, there is a scene where the crush is excited about a friend's shiny new curricle and the hero is indifferent. The h thinks the crush is juvenile. She keeps thinking at different occasions that the friend (i.e. our hero) suits her so much better.

I can't remember how she finally finds out the truth but there is a scene where she kisses the hero in the dark, thinking he is the crush, and there is fireworks (metaphoric) but when she kisses the crush, it's not very exciting.

I am almost sure the heroine's name starts with R and hero's name with C.

The hero is titled I believe.

That's all I am able to remember. Phew! Thanks for your interest.

[Summer]

It's definitely inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac, and the military history, letters, and C and R names make me think the author was going for a close parody, though the play had no curricles or fireworks. Any chance you remember the names Christian or Roxane in the book?

[Justine]

Summer wrote: "It's definitely inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac, and the military history, letters, and C and R names make me think the author was going for a close parody, though the play had no curricles or firew..."


Thanks for your reply. I don't remember any mention of Cyrano de Bergerac in the author's notes or anywhere else. I did feel the hero's name could be Christian or more likely, Christopher, but I have gone over the details so many times now that I am just not sure. I do get the increasing feeling that it was a short story. The book was light-hearted and a clean romance.

By the way, there were no actual fireworks. It just felt like that to the heroine. ;-)

Thanks again for your interest. :)

[LaSorella]

I believe it is Midsummer's nigt in the book Where's My Hero?

There is Christopher, but Simon is the actual hero and he is titled.

[Justine]

LaSorella wrote: "I believe it is Midsummer's nigt in the book Where's My Hero?

There is Christopher, but Simon is the actual hero and he is titled."

Hello. Sorry, it's not. :( The book I read was definitely English. No Scottish people in it. Thanks , though, for taking the time to answer.

[LaSorella]

I have read it, so I had to keep looking. Lets try P.S. I Love You

Christian and Rossanne
A short story
Part of At the Duke's Wedding

[Justine]

LaSorella wrote: "I have read it, so I had to keep looking. Lets try P.S. I Love You

Christian and Rossanne
A short story
Part of At the Duke's Wedding"

YESSSS!!! YES IT IS!! I can't believe you found it. Thank you so much...

I don't delete a book once I have read it but this one seems to have gone missing from my shelf. No wonder I couldn't find it.

Thank you once again....!!! :) :) :)