Valerie S. (VolunteerVal) -
The Matchmaker's Lonely Heart by Nancy Campbell Allen was my first Proper Romance which I define as "chaste without faith elements."
The premise: In Victorian London, Amelie (AH-meh-lee, not Eh-meh-lee, as readers as told more than once) Hampton is a 21-year-old striving to be a Woman of Independent Means. With her beloved cousins Charlotte and Eva, she works as an advice-to-the-lovelorn columnist for The Marriage Gazette (owned by their aunt) and lives in a boarding house owned by that aunt.
While secretly observing (spying on) a couple's first date she arranged, she encounters police detective Michael Baker who brusquely requests her assistance in investigating Harold Radcliffe, the man on the date. Ms. Hampton is initially attracted to Mr. Radcliffe, but as she learns about him and the reason for Detective Baker's investigation, she fears for her safety and that of others who know him while also becoming intrigued by the detective and his work.
This was a fun change of pace from my usual genres, even though it contained more violence and murder than I anticipated. The secondary characters and the "quotations" from various publications at the beginning of each chapter were delightful!
At times the novel read like a melodrama, but also included deeper plotlines, such as Detective Baker's backstory. I enjoyed the strong "Miss Scarlet and The Duke" (PBS Masterpiece) vibes, although the romantic relationship between the novel's hero and heroine progressed much faster.
I hope future installments in the series will focus on each of Ms. Hampton's cousins. Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing and Edelweiss for the review copy and the introduction to the genre.
The premise: In Victorian London, Amelie (AH-meh-lee, not Eh-meh-lee, as readers as told more than once) Hampton is a 21-year-old striving to be a Woman of Independent Means. With her beloved cousins Charlotte and Eva, she works as an advice-to-the-lovelorn columnist for The Marriage Gazette (owned by their aunt) and lives in a boarding house owned by that aunt.
While secretly observing (spying on) a couple's first date she arranged, she encounters police detective Michael Baker who brusquely requests her assistance in investigating Harold Radcliffe, the man on the date. Ms. Hampton is initially attracted to Mr. Radcliffe, but as she learns about him and the reason for Detective Baker's investigation, she fears for her safety and that of others who know him while also becoming intrigued by the detective and his work.
This was a fun change of pace from my usual genres, even though it contained more violence and murder than I anticipated. The secondary characters and the "quotations" from various publications at the beginning of each chapter were delightful!
At times the novel read like a melodrama, but also included deeper plotlines, such as Detective Baker's backstory. I enjoyed the strong "Miss Scarlet and The Duke" (PBS Masterpiece) vibes, although the romantic relationship between the novel's hero and heroine progressed much faster.
I hope future installments in the series will focus on each of Ms. Hampton's cousins. Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing and Edelweiss for the review copy and the introduction to the genre.
Frankly, I cannot imagine the high rating of this book. I found it plodding and tedious. Pushing feminism did not seem appropriate for the era. This is more of a murder mystery with a bit of romance added. I did not find the characters engaging or compelling.
Amelie Hampton is on the staff of her aunt's Marriage Gazette. She answers correspondence from young ladies seeking advice about love. When Amelie watches a couple dine (that she put together), she meets Detective Michael Baker, who is also watching one of the diners. That diner is Harold Radcliff, and Baker suspects that he killed his wife. However, no evidence proves his supposition, so Baker keeps watching.
When Baker, Amelie, Harold Radcliff, and Amelie's cousins are at an evening's entertainment, the main entertainment is killed and placed in a sarcophagus. This is when the story really gets squirrelly. Baker allows Amelie to take notes while they interview the guests for information. The police also hire the female cousins to take pictures of the crime scene.
I think this book would have been better if this book had been edited more tightly. It meandered too much. I think this book would have been better without 50+ pages of extraneous material. They could have started with the stupid quotations at the beginning of each chapter.
Amelie Hampton is on the staff of her aunt's Marriage Gazette. She answers correspondence from young ladies seeking advice about love. When Amelie watches a couple dine (that she put together), she meets Detective Michael Baker, who is also watching one of the diners. That diner is Harold Radcliff, and Baker suspects that he killed his wife. However, no evidence proves his supposition, so Baker keeps watching.
When Baker, Amelie, Harold Radcliff, and Amelie's cousins are at an evening's entertainment, the main entertainment is killed and placed in a sarcophagus. This is when the story really gets squirrelly. Baker allows Amelie to take notes while they interview the guests for information. The police also hire the female cousins to take pictures of the crime scene.
I think this book would have been better if this book had been edited more tightly. It meandered too much. I think this book would have been better without 50+ pages of extraneous material. They could have started with the stupid quotations at the beginning of each chapter.
