Whitney Award Winner for Best Historical Romance 2018Miss Belle Heartstone—heiress and savvy businesswoman—needs a husband. Immediately. As in, yesterday would not have been soon enough. Her mother’s attempts at matchmaking have been disastrous. So Belle decides to solve the problem her way—survey the market and purchase the best groom available. Colin Radcliffe, Marquess of Blake—debt-ridden and … Radcliffe, Marquess of Blake—debt-ridden and penniless—needs a large infusion of cash. Desperately. Preferably cash that does not come with a wife attached. It is no surprise, then, when he receives Miss Heartstone’s brazen proposal—her cash, his title, their marriage—that he politely declines.
But before he leaves her, Blake suggests something truly radical: Maybe before finding a husband, Belle should find herself.
His simple words send them both on an unexpected journey, spanning continents and years, entwining their lives in ways neither could have foreseen. Can two lonely souls move past societal expectations and forge a unique life together?
Please note: The basic storyline of Seeing Miss Heartstone was originally published as a novella titled, An Invisible Heiress, in the Spring in Hyde Park anthology. This current novel is a greatly expanded version of that plot, adding over 200 pages of text and creating a more robust, well-developed story.
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Original. The plot takes some interesting turns.
Liked the strong leads and relationship development
I loved every word of this book!
Delightful story, the best I’ve read in a long time.
I loved how Miss Hearstone grew in confidence and developed as a person. It was a very good read.
What a great historical romNce…formatted uniquely, and with interesting characters and twists! Would definitely try this author again!
This book had a unique opening that had me hooked. This shows the author knows the importance of catching the readers attention with the first paragraph.
Enjoyed!!
I love everything by Nichole Van
All of Nichole Van’s books are amazing!
This was an original plot from beginning to end. I have read over 300 historical romances and never come across anything similar. It was impossible to put down as I always wanted to see what happened next. This book is definitely in my top 10 favorites.
Loved it
Good clean read. Went to the library to find more by this author.
A lovely romance without the normal formula
This love story is beautifully crafted via seven years of long distance letter writing between business partners. She intended simply to fund his venture; he assumes her gender to be male, of course. The letters forge a friendship.
I have always enjoyed an author’s tactic of using correspondence between h/H to advance the plot, revealing thoughts and sentiments in a way prose cannot. The use of riddles plus the ins and outs of their various endeavours kept the story moving.
When they are reunited in London, she’s initially a coward about admitting her identity to him. He’s attracted to her, naturally. There’s also the reputed way in which she heads off marriage proposals at the pass; whenever she tries to speak her truth, he presumes she is letting him down easy and not giving him a chance.
And talk about a romantic proposal of marriage in the end! . . .
Miss Arabelle Heartstone is unusual in that her father trained her, from an early age, to participate in the financial world. And when he died, his will left her in charge of managing the family fortune. She is a genius at sussing out trends and making wise trading decisions. The only difficulty was that her mother kept trying to marry her off, and Belle did not want a life of subservient passivity. So begins Seeing Miss Heartstone, and the plot thickens when she approaches Lord Colin Blake regarding marriage. Of all the regency romances I’ve read, this novel is far and away the best. The characters, their emotions and intelligence, are endearing and drawn in depth. This book definitely goes into my “great reads” collection.
What a lovely story. Very enjoyable read.
I really liked how the main characters built a relationship over time and how it was based on mutual respect and admiration. The riddles were also fun and entertaining. I liked the happily ever after ending, it was a sweet read.
This book is that wonderful, so-sought-for rarity — one where the characters actually act like reasonable humans instead of emotionally overwhelmed nitwits.
When confusions arise, sure, they react with emotion, but they recognize their own emotional responses, and want to work things out. They talk. They listen. Omg!
None of the “I thought someone said they’d heard someone else say that they’d overheard he did this, so I’ll never speak to him again” that is an all too common, lazy lazy plot device.
So many kudos for a well written, and enjoyable story!
I laughed. I cried. I fell in love with Belle and Blake. What a beautiful story!
Along the line of Georgette Heyers’ best works. Well done!
Very, very good.