“The perfect quick read for fans of Regency romances as well as Victorian happily-ever-afters, with shades of Austen and the Brontës…” -RT Book ReviewsA PROUD BEAUTYWhen the tragic death of her gamester father leaves her destitute and alone, society beauty Sylvia Stafford finds work as a governess in a merchant’s household in Cheapside. Isolated from the fashionable acquaintance of her youth, … fashionable acquaintance of her youth, she resigns herself to lonely spinsterhood…until a mysterious visitor convinces her to temporarily return to her former life–and her former love.
A SCARRED BEAST
Colonel Sebastian Conrad is no longer the dashing cavalry officer Sylvia once fell in love with. Badly scarred during the Sepoy Rebellion, he has withdrawn to his estate in rural Hertfordshire where he lives in near complete seclusion. Brooding and tormented, he cares nothing for the earldom he has inherited–and even less for the faithless beauty who rejected him three years before.
A SECOND CHANCE
A week together in the remote Victorian countryside is the last thing either of them ever wanted. But when fate intervenes to reunite them, will a beastly earl and an impoverished beauty finally find their happily-ever-after? Or are some fairy-tale endings simply not meant to be?
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Loved this book. Couldn’t put it down. Wonderful characters, excellent writing.
It had some good surprises in it. A good read.
Very well written so that you felt you were there with the characters within the story as if it was real…………..
I enjoyed this story very much, especially the ending.
I really enjoyed this story. I felt sorry for Sylvia and really wanted to see her get her happily ever after. I felt the characters were written well and was glad that this Beauty and the Beast story ended so well.
Very good story and no yukky sex, Yea!
I was unable to put this book down once I opened the first page. I was drawn into the characters lives. I would recommend this book.
I absolutely loved the way this author spun this story. It’s one that I’ll read again.
Enjoyable to read
I loved this book and it’s wonderful characters.
I was surprised that I enjoyed this book. A previous review had not been favorable because of the ‘boy loses girl again’ episode in the story line. Perhaps I was paying closer attention to the scenes working up to that episode. I did see where the heroine was coming from. So the story held together. The author writes grammatically correct sentences and has a nice way with words.
Just okay, I like her other books
I really enjoyed this book. I can’t wait to read more from this author. Her style of writing is extremely entertaining
The Letter is a deeply moving romantic novel that is well written. This reader was deeply moved by the character’s pain and love for one another.
I enjoyed this tale of love lost through a misunderstanding. It contains the usual class barrier issue common to British lit. I appreciated the attraction between two unlikely protagonists.
Ms Matthews is a very skillful writer with a facile ability with the language. She creates fully developed characters and unique situations. Just enough history to cloak the story in realism but not so much that you’re bogged down. It’s easy to be engaged by her work.
I loved this story and the characters in it! I loved the hook of the lost letters and could not stop to go to bed, I had to keep reading. Loved it!
Excellent story, I’ve read it several times.
I adored this book. It was so achingly tender that I found myself crying at times. So beautifully done. Just perfect.
A very beauty-and-the-beast-style story, which I will never say no to. I liked Sylvia and I sympthized with her and her story. She was proud and hard working and was willing to try to make a life for herself instead of relying on others fo her every need. The fact that she was willing to humble herself from a baron’s daughter to a working-class family’s governess. And even though life hadn’t been kind to her she was still kind and caring, instead of wallowing in self pity and taking it out on others. Very respectable character.
Sebastian on the other hand, was very prone to wallowing and taking his resentment out on others. As well as projecting his feelings and opinions of himself onto others. But it didn’t make him an unlikable character. His abrasive personality is completely fitting. It makes sense for what he has been through and he gradually grows and improves throughout the story.
He was willing to go outside his comfort zone for her and in the end, I was really happy how things turned out.