What begins as a pleasant holiday with a new friend in Brighton quickly turns to devastation for Anabelle Milton when she receives the tragic news: her parents are dead. Turned out of the only home she’s ever known, Anabelle is sent to live with an aunt and uncle who are strangers to her. Heartbroken, she arrives at Bellingham Cottage, a cozy home on the sprawling grounds of the Bellingham … estate, to find an unexpectedly warm welcome—not only from her own family but also from the family of their aristocratic neighbors, Lord and Lady Bellingham.
Anabelle soon attracts the attention of the heirs of Bellingham—brothers who, though connected by blood, could not be more different. As she slowly begins to distance herself from the polite and obedient young woman her mother trained her to be, Anabelle is free for the first time to choose her own path. She knows she must be true to herself, even if it means risking unrequited love—but can she trust that the gentleman who has stolen her heart will not break it?
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Sweet regency romance from a debut author! When Annabelle loses both her parents and her home, she is whisked off to live with her aunt and uncle who live in a cottage on the Bellingham estate. She becomes acquainted with the Bellingham family, including the oldest son Peter who has his own tragic backstory.
I enjoyed some of the characters – I especially liked Robert and Andrew! Peter was a great as well and I would have loved to see more of the Lawrences. I enjoyed the plot, it was somewhat unique for a regency and highlighted the unfair property laws for women during the time. The romance was very sweet and I enjoyed the slow buildup of attraction between Annabelle and Peter.
I had a hard time liking Annabelle at times as she seemed immature and almost selfish but I am sure that was part of her character development. I would have loved to have some of the book from Peter’s perspective as well. There were also times when characters did not behave or speak like I would have expected for the regency era, especially Annabelle’s choice of words and the actions of Lucy and Lord and Lady Bellingham, but I anticipate great things from this author and look forward to reading more from her. 3.5 stars for this debut novel!
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher but am voluntarily leaving a review of my own opinions.
In the midst of a proposal, Annabelle Milton receives devastating news- her parents have died. With nowhere to go, Annabelle is sent to stay with her aunt and uncle on the lands of Bellingham. On her trip to her new home, Annabelle meets the Alexander brothers, Lord Peter Alexander, Nathan Alexander and Captain Hollis Alexander. When she arrives in Bellingham she quickly becomes good friends with their fourth brother, Robert, who she feels is the younger brother she never had.
As the Alexander family gets to know Annabelle, she becomes more comfortable with who she is as a person and finds that maybe all her mother’s suggestions aren’t correct and home isn’t a location, it’s where you can be with those who support you and love you.
For her debut novel, Katie Stewart Stone hit a home run. Filled with engaging characters who you easily connect with and either like or hate (namely Nathan, he deserves to punched half a dozen times or more), you are quickly drawn into the story. I love the relationships between the characters, especially Annabelle and Robert, because we never see platonic relationships between male and female characters in regency stories. Peter is my exact preference for a romantic interest, strong, broody, but secretly sensitive(i.e. strong Mr. Darcy vibes), he is the perfect match for Annabelle.
I enjoyed Annabelle’s journey of finding herself in the midst of her grief and the encouragement her friends gave her to be happy despite what society would think. I liked that she had moments of sorrow but she had moments where she was happy and could be herself. Grief is it’s own person and Katie did a fantastic job in showing that it isn’t always weeping into your pillow. Such a modern notion for a modern audience.
I can’t wait to read more by Katie Stewart Stone and hope she will be writing a story about Robert and Lucy because I can’t get enough of them
A sweet debut from Katie Stewart Stone, Coming Home To Bellingham touches on themes of family, love, and hope.
In general, I am not partial to first person point of view because it often feels like I only read the ramblings of the character, and I felt that often with this story. I had a hard time connecting with Anabelle, and I wish there were at least a few chapters from Peter’s point of view to help break up some of the monotony of Anabelle’s thoughts. There were many moments of tension, which I do like and Stone wrote them well, but there was no relief from the tension except disappointment that nothing had happened.
Stone did develop the characters of three of the Alexander brothers well, but I wish we learned a bit more about Nathan and his issues. Overall, Stone told a sweet and inspirational story, one that is easy to read and will brighten an afternoon. 2.5/5 stars.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Coming home to Bellingham is a sweet clean regency romance. I believe this is Katie Stuart Stones’ first novel and I thought she did a good job. The story moved along at a good pace. I did think there could have been more depth and twists in the story. The characters were well developed. I did have some confusing thoughts about Robert and Anabelle. Their relationship was fun but, I felt like they were close in age and yet acting like Robert was a young boy. I look forward to more stories and growth from this author.
As an avid reader, writer, and teacher, I recognize and appreciate all the elements of a novel: the plot, conflict, setting, etc. However, nothing draws me in more than interesting characters and their relationships with each other. In Coming Home to Bellingham, Katie Stewart Stone has written character relationships that not only draw me in, but keep me reading clear through the final page.
Anabelle is engaging on her own, and her relationship with Peter is incredibly well-written, but it is her relationships with the other characters that made me fall in love with this book. Her friendships with Robert, Andrew, Lucy, Katherine, and Lady Bellingham made this one of my favorite regency romances of the year.
A beautiful story of friendship and love. 4 stars
Robert was quite possibly my favorite character in this book and I love the friendship the author created between Anabelle and Robert. The love between Anabelle and Peter was beautifully developed as well; even still Anabelle and Robert’s interactions were my favorite. There were some other relationships in the book however that just left me perplexed. They seemed to only be there to move the plot forward with little depth and a lot of confusing interactions. I didn’t connect with Anabelle as much as I would have liked, however I did really appreciate her character growth at the end of the book. This book wasn’t exactly the historically accurate awesomeness I’m used to associating with this publisher, but it is a debut novel, so I’m hoping for only good things to come from this author.
A promising debut from a new author, Katie Stewart Stone brings a cute clean romance to life in her novel Coming Home to Bellingham. The highlight of this book is definitely Lord Alexander and the romantic moments he and the main character Anabelle share. The buildup of their romance kept me interested in the story and I easily read this in one sitting. Anabelle definitely was flawed, but as the novel is told from her perspective, the reader is able to see her moments of recognition and growth. The secondary characters also grew on me like a big family which in essence they were. Fans of clean romance will definitely want to give this book and author a try.
I received an advance reader copy of this novel. I am leaving a review because I enjoyed the book, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was a sweet story and I liked Peter Alexander quite a bit–and I think I would have liked the book more if it had alternated his viewpoint with Anabelle’s, but it didn’t. I didn’t really connect with Anabelle as the main character, so this book didn’t quite win me over. I’m sure other readers will love this clean Regency romance, however. 2.5 stars.
I read an ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I loved Anabelle and the Alexander family! 5 stars
It’s the first time that I read a book by this new author Katie Stewart Stone. I wanted to give her chance by reading her first story ‘Coming Home to Bellingham’! What a nice surprise, she didn’t disappointed me at all! It’s truly a well written engaging story filled with charming characters. The author did a great job describing Anabelle, the Alexander family and the Bellingham Estate, it swept me away into their world. It was very hard to put it down and I can’t wait for more books from this new-to-me author. I strongly recommend so give her a chance as I did!
Anabelle suddenly learns of the death of her parents. Confused and sad of her loss, she needs to get away and make a fresh new start. She lost everything, even their family home. Penniless, she is suddenly accepted by her aunt and her husband who work for the Alexanders who welcomed her with joy and sincerity. Lord and Lady Bellingham have four sons, Lord Peter their eldest, Robert, Nathan and Hollis married to Katherine! I also found charming Lucy, her maid and little Andrew. The three brothers love her very much in their own unique way. One will be too persistent for my taste! Will a loving relationship start with Anabelle and one of them? Will finally find a place to call home? Phillip and Amelia, Lord and Lady Bellingham are so sweet and charming! You’ll easily fall in love with all of them!
I would rate this book as a 6 if I was given the chance.
I wish to thank Covenant Communications and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my own honest review. Thank you for giving the chance to discover this new author!5 star