Preston Blake had it all—wealth, a picturesque estate, and a growing affection with his childhood best friend Caroline Avery—until an unfortunate accident leaves him badly scarred in more ways than one. Isolated by the cruel eyes of society, Preston’s only wish is to find where he now belongs.Caroline Avery is recently out in society, and thanks to Preston Blake’s broken promises, finds herself … finds herself being chased by a determined earl instead of courted by her best friend. When, after a year’s absence, Preston finally accepts an invitation to visit her family’s estate, Caroline is determined to feign indifference to his company.
But being back together proves more challenging than either friend conceived. Caroline longs to return to the past, but Preston cannot let go of his fears. How could they possibly have a future together?
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I enjoyed reading this sweet short story with a fairy-tale twist on the Hans Christian Anderson classic story of The Ugly Duckling. These wounded, yet charming characters warmed my heart. This is the first story in this Forever After collection that I have had the pleasure to read. I believe the stories each stand on their own and are joined with the theme of fairy-tales. I do hope to read the other stories as well.
We each mask pain in various ways. Often by pushing away the very ones that love us the most. The enemy takes the opportunity to whisper his lies, and before we know it feelings of unworthiness, and depression creep into our very souls. We lose our focus and our identity when we take our eyes off our loving Creator.
There were moments that I laughed out loud with the characters, gasped in surprise and smiled while happy tears pooled in my eyes. If you are looking for a sweet regency romance to enjoy, I highly recommend this story. I look forward to reading more from Megan Walker in the future!
(I purchased a digital copy of this book from Amazon for my own collection. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own.)
Love the twist on this fairytale and how beautifully the emotions of each character with written. Such a satisfying happily ever after!
Megan Walker has a true gift when it comes to describing emotions. She makes me laugh, she makes me cry. This is her debut Regency romance and it is absolutely fantastic. She writes like a seasoned author and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
After a heroic act leaves him scarred, Preston Blake withdraws from the thoughtlessness of society. He is persuaded to visit close friends and meets once again the childhood friend he’d promised to court. Caroline Avery is hurt she was pushed away when her friend was injured, and is now determined to be indifferent. Will they find a way compromise or will their love be in vain?
The fairy tale this one is based on is The Ugly Duckling. In my opinion, it was a bit of a stretch since it is someone who becomes ugly, but it was an interesting take. I felt for Preston and his desire to protect himself from the fickle and malicious words of society. As an introvert, I completely understood how easy it is to remain at home.
This made it harder to warm up to Caroline. She adores society and going out. It felt as though she was pushing beyond what was helpful in trying to get Preston to do the same, and she didn’t think of a compromise. It is Preston, in the end, who has to make concessions (adjusting what he was comfortable with to please her), and this just didn’t seem fair.
There is a rather cute side plot involving a duckling injured by an unknown predator that Caroline is seeking to help. Romeo seemed a hilarious name for a duck, but obviously made it memorable.
Overall, a sweet enough tale. Easy to read, I would recommend this to readers looking for a quick afternoon read.
Preston and Caroline have known each other since childhood and were planning a future together. But, when tragedy strikes and leaves Preston scarred and broken, he’s not sure he can ask Caroline to be a part of his altered life. Meanwhile, Caroline feels abandoned and estranged. But, when Preston and his mother come for a visit, the emotions are too real to ignore. But, can they overcome the emotional and societal obstacles?
I liked the main characters and their romance felt genuine. Preston’s mental anguish over the tragedy felt real and I appreciated how Caroline grew to understand him.
However, my complaint with the story is with the fact that I struggled to follow the connection to the fairy tale, especially with the ending. It didn’t seem to fit with the fairy tale ending of the duckling who is not a duckling after all, but really a swan and everyone sees it with new understanding that it’s not ugly after all, but beautiful. Instead, it felt more of an ending that matched a Jane Eyre retelling. I wanted an ending that supported the fairy tale, but instead got something different.
Romance – PG / kissing
Language – PG / some hurtful comments, nothing vulgar.
Violence – PG / fistfight, blood mentioned
My rating – 3.5 stars
A beautiful story about sacrifices for the ones we love even when those sacrifices are misguided. But love will end up the victor if we let love overcome our scars and others opinions.
I thought this was a great fairytale retelling. I liked the h and her spunk. The romance felt genuine and real between the H & h. The author was able to draw you into the story. The friend Thomas I think could’ve been a better friend. However, this was a novella and the story was more revolved around the h & H so I understand you can’t get deep into every detail. The story had a nice flow and detail and characters.
Wonderful characters! I was instantly pulled into the story, the characters kept me engrossed in this book. The hurts, dreams and self worth lost to only what love can bring, healing. This book made me want to reach out to Preston and assure him he is still the same person. The author does an amazing job at pulling the readers heartstrings. A beautiful story that will stick with you!
Was given a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
If you love sweet, clean, beautiful, romance with happy endings you’ll love this book! I did! I’ll be looking for more from this author.
I received a complimentary copy of the book. All opinions are my own and are expressed voluntarily.
So, if I read correctly, this is Ms Walker’s first published book? This is a story of the ugly duckling acted out by regency era people (with a cute injured duckling on the side). This was a will written novella and an enjoyable and relatable story. So often, we meet – or are – a person with physical or emotional scars. To feel worthy of being loved can be hard sometimes. This was a good reminder that we are and will be, no matter our scars; and isn’t it grand when these reminders come in the form of a will written story? I look forward to seeing more works from Ms. Walker, thank you to her and KU!
An absolutely beautiful debut. Caroline and Preston each have their fears and trials to overcome, and watching them grow to trust each other once again made for a heartwarming and emotional story. The dialogue is fantastic, and the romance is so sweet that you’ll just want to curl up with this novella until they final find their happily ever after. Wonderful writing, incredible characters. Megan Walker is an author to watch!
Loved this re-telling of the Ugly Duckling Fairy Tale!! Great book, and wonderful story line!!
SETTING: How does a person recover emotionally after an accident or illness that drastically changes their appearance or abilities? The emotional recovery often takes longer, as noted by Preston Blake’s mother, of him: “his body was scarred, but so was his mind, his heart, his very soul…..”
Preston Blake, a handsome man with the world at his feet and a beautiful woman on his arm, thought he had lost everything when he was burned rushing into a fire to save the family of one of his workers. He faced “varying degrees of pity and distaste” by those he met out in society once he ventured forth after healing. He believed Caroline Avery would no longer want him with his scars, and broke off their “understanding” without even seeing or talking with her, in effect punishing her for his change in appearance. His mother gave excellent advice to him, and to anyone who has had a life-changing illness or accident:
“For too long you have cared what others think or say about these scars. I understand that fate has given you a difficulty that cannot easily be dismissed. But your life is right in front of you.”
Just as Preston had to change his thinking from one of self pity and focusing only on what he had lost, not on what abilities he still had, many of us need to make the same changes in our outlook on our life.
CRITIQUE: A sweet story, which not only tugs at our heartstrings, but also teaches us a valuable lesson about how to adjust our thinking when we are faced with a dramatic change in circumstances. The storyline is well developed, and we find ourselves liking Preston and Carolyn and hoping they can find a way to have a bright future together, their HEA. A good book for all ages.
I’ve never considered a retelling of the Ugly Duckling, but Megan Walker did a great job. For a while I felt it was more a story of Beauty and the Beast, but she surprised me in the end. Caroline is such a wonderful loving woman. It is no surprise that she sees past Preston’s scars or doesn’t see them at all. I loved the close friendship these two shared and their deep love for one another.
This book is not historically accurate as Preston and Caroline would have had a chaperone at all times, but I didn’t mind. I don’t know that it would have been as beautiful a story if they’d conformed to all of society’s rules. So if you’re a stickler for historical accuracy you may not enjoy this one.
Childhood friends, Caroline and Preston, had slowly developed from friends to best friends to almost promised. A heroic deed has left Preston with scars that disturb the good folks of the ton. Thinking to ease her pain, Preston has written and released her from any understanding, then dropped all communication. However mothers are forces with which to be reckoned, even a recluse hero cannot ignore his. Megan Walker has given us a good story with excellent insight into the attitudes of people towards those that are disfigured, both good and bad.
I LOVE that their romance was based on a long friendship… and that we’re allowed to see the love and trust in that friendship.
This is the first book I have read by Megan Walker. That makes sense since it his her debut work. This novella is part of the Forever After Series. It is a Ugly Duckling story retold. It was the perfect little romance between friends Preston and Carolyn. Preston was injured in a fire and was scarred badly. But his spirit is also scarred and he is a “broken man”. A year after his accident he returns to visit his lifelong friends Carolyn and his brother Thomas. Carolyn has hopes for a match with Preston before the accident. Now she has to convince Preston of his worth and that she still loves him.
This is a short, sweet love story. Megan did an excellent job on her debut book.
A Beautiful Love is a well-written romance that was my pleasure to read. Preston and Caroline are both very likable characters that are easy to relate to. They went from childhood friends to the cusp of a romantic relationship before Preston was badly scarred in a fire. I loved Romeo, the duckling, and Tybalt. The plot moves along quickly and the dialogue flows well. There is a wonderful proposal and HEA. I recommend this to readers of clean, wholesome romance and to fairy tale lovers, although you don’t have to be to thoroughly enjoy the story. I received an ARC. I chose to write a review and share my opinion.