Respectable Lady Katherine Baxton, striving to meet the requirements of her station, has become the ultimate dutiful daughter. And now, the Duke of Blackthorn’s betrothed. Far from a love match, Kate is nevertheless determined to do as expected and marry.That all changes the night she panics at her impending future and runs, stumbling upon a private grove, a mysterious tree . . . and a half-naked … half-naked man.
The youngest son of a viscount widely thought to have purchased his title, Jackson Cooper demonstrates his disdain for the aristocracy by affording himself every luxury available—drinking, wenching, and gambling—while eschewing anything representing the ton. Jackson has little care for his reputation and no desire to marry. His escape from London is all but complete.
Until fate—in the form of a beautiful, mysterious lady—interrupts his plans, enticing him with the very thing he never wanted.
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Another Soul Mate Tree book that is as sweet as they all are. The perfect read when you need a little reminder that there are nice things in the world. This is once again, not my genre. Even though it’s defined as Fantasy/Paranormal, I would call it more Romance/Paranormal. It does have a touch of the historical times to it. A time when even a wife did not refer to her husband by his first name in public. A time when one’s father determined what your best marriage would be. More of what would do the family most good and which Duke or Earl would help to better and financially secure the family. Sort of like a cattle auction.
I’ve said that this is not my genre, but it is probably obvious I enjoyed the book. If I were to be truthful which is after all what these reviews are supposed to be, I did enjoy it. I always say this isn’t my genre, but as I said previously, this was a sweet book but also a well-written and well-edited book.
The Soul Mate Tree books are a series of many different titles written by different authors. All seem to have very good reviews and all I have read have been enjoyable.
***This book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are definitely my own.
This book was an amusing, enjoyable, entertaining read that swept me away for a romantic adventure.
This book is about Lady Katherine “Kate” Braxton, who is on her first season out (available for marriage) and is now betrothed to the Duke of Blackthorn. Kate is struggling with going along with this arranged marriage as she does not know or love Blackthorn.
This book is about Jackson Cooper, who is the youngest son of a Viscount, and spends his days and nights causing all sorts of havoc – drinking, wenching, gambling, and such. He does not care about his reputation, has no plans to marry, and his only goal is to save up enough money to get out of London. Unfortunately, his dad threatens to cut off his allowance unless he cleans up his act, marries, and rejoins society.
While attending a ball Kate decides to step out to get away from her sisters and the pressures about her arranged marriage to Blackthorn. She walks out to a beautiful garden and is drawn to the magical Soul Mate Tree. While experiencing the captivating essence of the Soul Mate Tree she bumps into a half-naked man – Jackson Cooper, who is in a very compromising position with a woman. Although Kate is shocked upon her discovery, she is unable to advert her eyes from Jackson – she is completely mesmerized by him.
Will Kate and Jackson become an item? Will Kate decide to marry Blackthorn? Will Jackson leave London? No spoilers here!! But you definitely will want to read this book and find out!!
This book was a quick, easy, fun read at only 145 pages! I was able to read it over a cozy weekend curled up on the couch.
I really liked the main characters, Kate, Jackson, and Blackthorn. They were realistic and genuine.
I liked that Kate wanted to please her dad and not disappoint him; but I feel like if he’s your dad, he would ultimately want you to be happy and if marrying Blackthorn wasn’t what made you happy then he would understand you not marrying him. However, these were old-fashioned times, and I don’t think women really had much say in these matters, as they were more told what to do, then asked their opinions.
I found it interesting that Kate, being so young, was mature enough to understand and accept marrying Blackthorn – being his dutiful wife. She knew her place and if that’s what she was told to do, she would do it. She said that Blackthorn was a good man, and that she did care for him. Even though there wasn’t that attraction or intimate spark, she said she could do far worse.
This made me think about how this relates to marriages in today’s society. Arranged marriages are less common, but people are still marrying out of duty and responsibility. Perhaps a different take on it, but still the same basics and principles. It’s saddening, because love and passion is what people should be marrying on. Not being able to live without that person is true love and wanting to spend the rest of your life with them is why couples should marry, not for titles or obligations. Marriage should not be a business transaction.
I found it interesting that Kate’s sisters were helping persuade her into not marrying Blackthorn and telling her that she wouldn’t be truly happy with him. It was surprising since her sisters were also put through arranged marriages by their father and said that they were happily married. I liked the witty banter between Kate and her sisters. It was quite comical and entertaining.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Jackson at first, it took some time to win me over. He was just such a womanizer, lazy, carefree, irresponsible, and reckless. But he really worked hard, and you could tell he wanted to improve and change.
I have to do a shout-out to Blackthorn for being such a gentleman through the whole thing. He was so polite, kind, and understanding. I hope he gets his own book and his own HEA! He truly deserves it! He really could have gone another way, but he chose the high road and that truly warrants a gold star in my book!
This book has a great storyline that flows, terrific writing style with detailed scenes, well-developed characters, is steady paced, and keeps you completely entertained through the last page.
This book is book eight of the Soul Mate Tree Book Series. Each book in this series is written by a different author, but all of them tie in to the Soul Mate Tree theme. Therefore, each book can easily be read on its own. This was my second book in the series and I did not have any trouble reading it or get lost in the story.
I will be reading and reviewing additional books in this series and look forward to sharing my take on those books with you soon!
All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely recommend this book to all romantic, fantasy, paranormal readers!
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**