Sometimes, when a gentleman wants to secure his future and mend the errors of his past, all he needs is Faith. Tom Bertram spent his life chasing pleasure until a gate proved too tall for his horse. Now, having faced his own mortality, he is a changed man. He plans to be all that he should be so that he can secure his legacy. If only he had paid more attention to his lessons, he would be able to … attention to his lessons, he would be able to fix his follies on his own. However, he did not, and now, he must enlist the help of a financial expert.
Faith Eldridge has witnessed the devastation of living to excess and possesses the skills necessary to protect her future from such calamity. Despite her best efforts to keep her activities secret, her talent has not gone unnoticed, and she soon finds herself in a position to lend aid to a gentleman in desperate need of assistance in recouping his losses.
When Tom meets Faith, he doesn’t realize that they have met before — well, they have sort of met before — but that’s a secret Faith hopes to keep Tom from discovering. However, when her student turns out to be as clever as he is handsomely distracting, and when Tom finds his tutor more than a trifle alluring, can any secret be concealed? And when tragedy strikes, can Tom secure both his legacy and his heart, or will his heart be the price he must pay for his former behaviour?
Tom: To Secure his Legacy is the fourth episode in Leenie Brown’s Other Pens series of books. If you like well-written stories with charmingly resolute heroes bent on bettering their lives and practical yet compassionate heroines determined to choose their own future, then you will enjoy this story about overcoming the past and learning that love is far more valuable than a healthy financial portfolio.
So, put the kettle on, grab your copy of Tom: To Secure his Legacy, and discover with Tom and Faith that taking risks is necessary when securing a happily ever after.
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A Sweet and Clean Legacy of Love
Tom Bertram, heir to a title and a wealthy estate, wasted many years and squandered money that wasn’t his to lose. But no more. He is determined to change and to restore his good name and the money he lost. Nearly dying often has a profound effect. So does meeting the right woman.
Faith Eldridge lives by certain rules. She has a fine mind, a good heart and a well kept secret. In fact, she has a number of secrets, but all are known to her brother, who has been trying to mend his ways with her help. Her life seems to be going well until Faith crosses paths with Tom.
For a short and sweet novella, Tom: To Secure His Legacy by Leenie Brown is most entertaining and enjoyable. The story is well written with believable dialogue. All of the characters are likable and well developed. Overall this is an easy read with a sweet ending.
“… the male heart which lay beneath the bluster and boasting was a fragile thing.” Quote from the book.
Rating: clean: This is part of Leenie Brown’s ‘Other Pens Collection’ series. These novellas feature ‘stories of redemption and reformation’ where characters ‘find a way to overcome their failures and find their own happiness.’ Tom’s story is part of Brown’s ‘Mansfield Park Continuation Episodes.’ It is suggested that the books in this series be read in the order they were published as characters follow from the previous books and actions and details need to be known in order to understand the motivations of what is going on.
Wow! That was a mouthful. What does it mean? Well… it means Brown took our nefarious characters from Mansfield Park and tried to reform them. Henry Crawford… remember him? What a jerk. He was the first to reform. I did not like Henry Crawford… ‘Sam I am’… I did not like him one bit. Well, dang, if Brown didn’t make him into a half-way decent guy. I still don’t know how I feel about that. I wanted to dislike him forever. But that sister of his was horrible in all the books. Then it was her turn. Mary Crawford… just saying her name made me shudder. You HAVE to read her story. Brown certainly took her down a peg or two. Oh, and her fair-weather friends turned out to be no friends at all. OMG! What a story.
The reason I mention those stories is the reoccurring characters that appear in Tom’s story. Yes, it is our very own Tom Bertram. Alive and well and feeling rather bad about his youthful ways and the fact he squandered away his younger brother’s inheritance. You don’t exactly have to have read the Mansfield Park book; however, it would be helpful due to the many references to events from that story.
Characters: Gabriel Durward, his mother [such a mothering creature and always cold], Charles Edwards, Henry Crawford, and Trefor Linton. It was so nice to see names I remembered from the previous books. Then we have the cross-over visit from characters in another Austen classic. Oh, such fun to see them appear in a scene. It was smoothly done and I enjoyed having them visit.
Tom Bertram nearly died due to his youthful actions. In a moment of carelessness, he was injured and didn’t take care of himself and developed a fever. Where was he? Who took care of him? Austen gave us hints that he was left in the care of servants after his friends abandoned him. Who contacted the family and alerted them to his situation? Brown took that nugget and created a story around what might have happened to Tom during that time. She also gave those faceless ‘Good Samaritans’ a name with their own story. This was delightful as Tom attempted to reestablish his life and his finances on his road to his HEA.
Just when I thought all was lost, the story abruptly turned and then ended. It happened way too quickly. At least it wasn’t a cliffhanger. I felt there was too much financial information in the middle of the story at the expense of the ending. I was left with a lot of questions. There wasn’t an epilogue as to what happened at Mansfield Park. I suppose we can assume things progressed as Tom had indicated. I just wanted to know. Otherwise, I enjoyed seeing Tom… the new Tom… and to have a story about the lapse of time and those Good Samaritans. The declarations were sigh-worthy. Overall, I recommend this story. It is light and not very heavy in the angst department.