A scarred and lonely viscount and an independent young woman are forced into an arranged marriage. What hope do they have for a happily ever after?
Rebecca Devon lives under the severe eye of her aunt and the iron will of her father. Though she wears what she is told and befriends the people they choose for her, she spends every moment longing to do as she wishes. Knowing freedom will only come … wishes. Knowing freedom will only come through marriage, her hopes for a happy union are stolen away when her father arranges her marriage to a complete stranger.
Christian Hundley, Lord Easton, has learned the hard way that English society won’t accept a person who looks or behaves differently than their ideal. He has hidden himself away from scornful eyes for years, until his aging grandfather takes matters in hand and finds Christian a bride. Knowing he must agree to the marriage, Christian shields his heart. If the whole of society cannot accept him, why should his bride?
Rebecca knows she must have love in her life, but Christian is convinced there is nothing so fraught with danger and pain as entrusting one’s heart to another. Rebecca does everything she can to change his mind, but Christian is determined to remain aloof. Can an arranged marriage ever be anything other than a business partnership?
While this is the fifth book in the Regency romance series, Branches of Love, it can be read as a stand-alone romance.
Other titles in the series are:
Martha’s Patience, a prequel novella
The Social Tutor
The Gentleman Physician
His Bluestocking Bride
The Earl and His Lady
Miss Devon’s Choice
…and Book Six is coming Spring 2019.
more
Ms. Britton’s book was a lovely story. She has an elegant way with words and her stories remind me of Jane Austen. If you enjoy old British novels, you will definitely love Sally Britton’s books. You can see my full review of “Ms. Devon’s Choice” here. https://youtu.be/v4op8gh2YTw
Oh My! Woowza! Goodness:] Dang Girl! What a romance, what amazing characters:} In my opinion this is Sally’s best work. I could not put this down! Everything else had to wait till I finished this. This is the 5th book in this series “Branches of Love”. I would read the other books first it gives this so much more depth and you are more involved in all the characters. Everyone in this story has been in the other 5 books. This is Rebecca’s and Christian’s story. These two have an awesome story. They are good characters with so much story to tell. There love story broke my heart and made me laugh. I enjoyed there banter and arguments so much. There is so much to like.
I can not wait to see what this author has up her sleeve next! More please:}
Loved it
A grandfather and a father are forcing a scarred and lonely viscount and an independent young woman into an arranged marriage. Rebecca Devon lives under the severe eye of her aunt and the iron will of her father. Though she wears what she is told and befriends the people they choose for her, she spends every moment longing to do as she wishes. Knowing freedom will only come through marriage, her hopes for a happy union dash away when her father arranges her marriage to a complete stranger. Christian Hundley, Lord Easton, learned the hard way that English society will not accept a person who looks or behaves differently that their ideal. He has hidden himself away from scornful eyes for hears. Then his aging grandfather takes matters in hand and finds Christian a bride. Knowing he must agree to the marriage, Christian shields his heart. If the whole of society cannot accept him, he does not think his bride will. Christian is convinced there is nothing more fraught with danger and pain as entrusting one’s heart to another. Rebecca does everything she can to change his mind. Christian is determined to remain aloof. – Rebecca is a positive and loving woman, despite her mean father and aunt. Both treat her bad and have only their interests in mind. Christian has had a sad life. His mother died when he was 6, and his father soon took him to live with his grandfather, who was controlling and mean. Christian is hardened to anyone caring for him, but Rebecca is determined. This is a wonderful story.
I have finished this last book in the series and now I feel bereft. I want another book! Such a wonderful story! Such a wonderful series! I love the Devon sisters and also having gotten to know Harry Devon for the first time, I love his feelings for his sister Rebecca and his support of her happiness and well being. Christian turned out to be a wonderful gentleman. As a matter of fact, I love all the characters in this series. Ms Britton is an expert in developing them. They are the backbone of her stories and I feel that they have become my true friends, exclusive of the demons of course. Their father is the demon and even he is a character one loves to hate. I could go on and on but suffice it to say, these books are very well written and enjoyable to read. I recommend them very highly for anyone who loves historical fiction with romance.
The fifth book of the Branches of Love series by Sally Britton was excellent. I was hooked from the very beginning to the very end. I loved seeing the growth between the two main characters and the chemistry is one every romantic wishes to have. If you like regency time period novels, then you will love this one.
This was the last book in the series Branches of Love. I was a little disappointed in this book only because the first four were so good. The story is sweet and the characters were likeable but I wanted a little more for the youngest sister. Ms Briton is an excellent written and her stories keep you turning pages, this series was an awesome read.
(I received this as an ARC for review.)
Miss Devon’s Choice is the next book in Sally Britton’s Branches of Love series!
And I have to say that this one was my favorite one so far!! Being forced into an arranged marriage, Rebecca Devon makes the choice to make the most out of it and chooses to fall in love with Christian Hundley, Lord Easton. At first he pushes her away and wants nothing to do with love. And even wants to void the marriage contract. As they get to know one another, he finds himself softening towards her. He also discovers how her father and her aunt treat her, Christian determines that he doesn’t want her to be hurt and chooses to embrace his growing feelings for her. In the end, their marriage was a welcomed event by all those who loved them. This was a beautiful story of love, sacrifice, and acceptance! I really enjoyed it!!
Rebecca lives with a controlling aunt who reports to her even more controlling father. However, when she learns that her father has arranged her marriage, she decides to make the only choice that remains – the choice to look for ways to love him. Therefore, when she leaves for her cousin’s house party, she asks her cousin to extend an invitation to her betrothed.
Christian lives in seclusion because he’s learned the hard way about what society likes and doesn’t like. So, he asks his grandfather to find him a bride even though he no plans to exhibit any emotions to her. Yet, when he arrives at the house party and learns of her plans to love him, can he maintain his distance?
What follows is a sweet story of love conquering even the coldest heart. Rebecca is determined to remain hopeful in the success of her plan and it seems to be working. But, what will she do if he ultimately refuses to return her affection? Can she live with a husband who refuses to love her back?
There’s a lot to like about this story. The pacing works well for me as it was easy to stay engaged in the story. I also liked the character development. I felt that I got to know the characters and their motives behind their behavior. Finally, I liked getting to meet the other characters again – many of whom have been featured in previous books.
Romance – PG / Kisses
Language – PG – references to “curses”
Violence – reference to past bullying; verbal threats and abuse
My rating – 5 stars
This book honestly felt like such a treat! Sally Britton continues to show her skills and ability to engage her audience with a beautiful story between Rebecca, the last unmarried Devon sister, and Christian Hundley, a scarred Earl in more ways than one. Add in an arranged marriage set in place by their father figures, Rebecca’s determination towards love despite her circumstances, as well as the eternal quest towards finding one’s place and feeling accepted, and you have another winner in this series (though it also stands alone).
Of course, Kim Bretton’s narration made it all the more wonderful by bringing all the characters to life. Christian’s Italian accent was on point, and the romantic moments with Rebecca were pretty swoony. She also nailed every nuance in this story, from worry to anger, as well as tenderness, caring, and everything in between. Truly, this audiobook is completely recommended!! ~5 stars
I received a free review copy and this is my honest review.
It was wonderful to read it again. The only thing spoiling it was the interuptions when I had to leave it to do something else.
Richmond did an excellent job with this book. It kept you on your toes throughout and the characters personalities were so displayed that you became a part of the story. There was one time that I actually gasped, which is unusual for me. I would highly recommend this book if you love strong women, the regency era, and a little bit of suspense. This would make an incredible movie!
Miss Devon’s Choice (Branches of Love #5) by Sally Britton is a clean Regency romance. Though fifth in a series of the Devon sisters and friends, the book can be read, understood and appreciated on its own. This lovely heartwarming story includes an attractive cast of characters along with a couple of heartless villains, good writing, and a sweet romance. This was an enjoyable read.
Update: I just listened to the audio version of this book and the narrator, Kim Bretton was fabulous. Her reading was a huge asset, as we all know the narrator can make or break the audiobook. I loved it. And I was reminded in listening to the book how much I liked the kiss. I don’t usually care much about kissing scenes but this one was well done and swoony. I loved the book and I loved the audio version.
******************************************************************************
Ms. Britton has is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Despite having a HUGE cue of books waiting to be read, I want to go back and reread all the books in this series. Sometimes when I read certain authors I find myself rolling my eyes or cringing a little about something with the plot or the writing but as I was reading this one, I realized that I didn’t ever feel any negatives like that. I just enjoy her writing.
Rebecca was interesting because she was able to appear to be what her aunt and father wanted her to be without losing who she really was inside. She knew that argument was futile so she allowed the awful aunt to dress her hideously and bowed and curtsied as necessary. But it never changed her.
Christian was great even though he started out as a emotionless character. But he really wasn’t ever without emotions. He just had thick walls that allowed him to ignore those emotions. In truth he was kind and thoughtful at heart. Even when he had his walls up, he still cared about Rebecca’s needs in the moment. He was very sweet. Unless he wasn’t. As a defender he was devotedly ruthless. I was so thrilled to see him stand up to Rebecca’s terrible father and awful aunt. I wanted to stand up and cheer. I think all the torment he took in his youth had scarred Christian more deeply than his physical scars but it allowed him to be both tender and sympathetic to those that are wronged and ruthless to those doing the wronging. What a great hero.
The only thing I really wondered about was that the awful aunt threatened Rebecca with retribution against her younger brother if she didn’t comply. She would marry in a couple weeks and the awful aunt would lose all power over her personally but not her brother. The story didn’t really deal with that threat. Did they try to make his life miserable to punish Rebecca? I have faith that were it to be known, Christian would rise to the occasion to once again put the awful aunt and terrible father in their place but we don’t get to know for certain. Perhaps in the next book…
Very entertaining, I loved it!
Got from the library. Wow. I’m loving this series. I love the characters, plot, dialogue, scenery, conflict and resolution. It’s so authentic and lovely. I’m delighted by how much I identify with aspects of the characters and learn about myself. Hooray for a great read.
I have finished this last book in the series and now I feel bereft. I want another book! Such a wonderful story! Such a wonderful series! I love the Devon sisters and also having gotten to know Harry Devon for the first time, I love his feelings for his sister Rebecca and his support of her happiness and well being. Christian turned out to be a wonderful gentleman. As a matter of fact, I love all the characters in this series. Ms Britton is an expert in developing them. They are the backbone of her stories and I feel that they have become my true friends, exclusive of the demons of course. Their father is the demon and even he is a character one loves to hate. I could go on and on but suffice it to say, these books are very well written and enjoyable to read. I recommend them very highly for anyone who loves historical fiction with romance.
My new favorite by Sally Britton!
Another well written story. I believe that I will add Sally Britton to my list of must reads. One more to go in this series and I’m sad to see it end. Thank you for giving us some wonderful diversions when we need them.
( I listened to this as an audiobook)
*spoiler alert*
Story: (5 stars)
Miss Devon makes a decision and follows through. Her stubbornness to her cause finally wins over her betrothed who then protects her from all the horrid members of her family whilst bringing the loving members of her family into her inner circle.
I liked how the angst in this story vacillated between the two characters in a very believable way as they came to know one another better and fall in love.
I did feel that the grandfather should have been dealt with in a more detailed manner. He was a horrid old man and, in the beginning, Christian bowed to his every demand. As a reader, I wanted to see Christian and Rebecca stand up to him as they did to her controlling relatives.
A well-written story and, even though this is book 5, I was able to easily follow the characters who must have been the heroines in some of the other books.
Narrator: (4.5 stars)
Very good narrator! She had a variety of British accents at her disposal and read at a good pace with expression. Many of her characters had an inherent laugh in their voices and I always love it when a character’s cheerfulness comes through the voice of the narrator. (Her Italian accent seemed a bit forced, the word, “carina” sounding especially British in pronunciation.)