“Fans of the ‘Parish Orphans of Devon’ series will adore this final installment, reuniting the orphans and their loves.” —Library Journal, STARRED reviewAn Instant USA Today BestsellerShe Needed to be Seen…As a lady’s companion, Clara Hartwright never receives much attention from anyone. And that’s precisely how she likes it. With a stormy past, and an unconventional plan for her future, it’s … stormy past, and an unconventional plan for her future, it’s far safer to remain invisible. But when her new employer is invited to a month-long holiday at a remote coastal abbey, Clara discovers that she may not be as invisible as she’d hoped. At least, not as far as one gentleman is concerned.
He Wanted to be Heard…
Neville Cross has always been more comfortable with animals than people. An accident in his youth has left him with a brain injury that affects his speech. Forming the words to speak to his childhood friends is difficult enough. Finding the right things to say to a lovely young lady’s companion seems downright impossible. But Miss Hartwright is no ordinary companion. In fact, there may not be anything ordinary about her at all.
During a bleak Devon winter, two sensitive souls forge an unexpected friendship. But when Clara needs him most, will Neville find the courage to face his fears? Or is saying goodbye to her the most heroic thing he can do?
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The Winter Companion by Mimi Matthews
Parish Orphans of Devon #4
Neville Cross is someone I have been hoping would get a happily ever after from the time I first met him. I knew there was more to him and was pleased to find out that he was not only handsome, big and strong but also gentle, kind and a truly good person. The connection between his thoughts and putting those thoughts into words was a struggle but he was not lacking in wits…not at all. So, when Clara Hartwright walked into the stable with Bertie the Pug I was on tenterhooks waiting to see how their story would develop.
I found Clara to be the perfect person for Neville. She could read him and knew he was a fine person and a man she could trust…after she got over her first misgivings. She really didn’t see a future for herself beyond being a lady’s companion and later being secretary for her brother and had left many dreams behind as she worked as a lady’s companion. There was more to her, too, than met the eye and Neville saw her beauty of face, form and intellect right away.
That the four friends, once orphans struggling to survive, were together for Christmas and there for one another was a heartwarming. It was so nice to see how the men and their ladies were doing.
What I liked:
* Neville: such a wonderful person inside and out – a gentle giant – perfect for Clara
* Clara: a woman I could feel with and for – brilliant woman in a time that did not appreciate women as they should
* The couples met in the first three books of this series – getting to see them again and hear about their lives was a bit of fun
* The dogs – so glad that Bertie got to join the pack for awhile
* The part about the Dartmoor ponies – had fun looking them up online
* The strength of both main characters – they faced what they had to and did so brilliantly
* All of it, really except…
What I did not like:
* Clara’s brother Simon – seemed a self-entitled son and brother that had had smooth sailing too long
* Simon’s tutor – a cad, creep and callous male that deserved a thrashing
* That both Neville and Clara had spent time questioning parts of themselves and were made to feel “less”
Did I enjoy this book? Definitely
Would I read more by this author? Without a doubt
What I might like to still know? What happens to Edward/Teddy
Having been a neurosurgical intensive care nurse and then having worked in a nursing home for mentally alert but neurologically impaired I have known people with injuries like Neville’s. The ability to “come back” from those injuries is not easy and often is not 100%. I am so glad that Neville found his place in the world and a life that was so rich and rewarding.
Thank you to NetGalley and The Perfectly Proper Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
This is the sweetest of Mimi’s books. It had such a good feel about it. I think it is one of her shorter books. I so worried how she would create a hero out of Neville. He is a man with a brain injury and I worried he wouldn’t be done justice. She did a great job with him. His goodness shown through but also his intellect and abilities. I loved reading their romance. This is a stand alone sorta. Lots of other characters are in this from the first three books. You might be lost at first so it’s best if you just give yourself the gift of reading the whole series before you read this one. This is a sweet proper romance with some sweet kisses.
Clara Hartwright has spent the last few years working as a lady’s companion, sending her wages to support her brother’s education at Cambridge. But a life of keeping her opinions and observations to herself is not a position to which she is well suited. Clara wants a life spent enriching her education and feeling useful. In fact her greatest dream is to work as her brother’s secretary when he begins his career as a natural scientist.
Neville’s life has been one of routine. A childhood head injury has left him with a speech impediment that makes it difficult to converse easily with others. As a result he feels most comfortable in the company of animals and since moving from the convent to Greyfrair’s Abbey with Justin four years ago he has filled his days by caring for the horses annd the dogs. And while Neville’s life has remained very much the same, everyone dear to him has moved on to find love and happiness with their new wives.
The two unexpectedly meet during the Christmas gathering at Greyfrair’s and find a connection and friendship in one another that will prompt changes in both of the plans for the furture.
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The Winter Companion is the fourth and final book in Mimi Matthews’ Parish Orphans of Devon series. Although I am sad to see this series end, it was such a sweet book that I truly think it was the perfect way for the series to end. I am also very much looking forward to the novella(s) connected to this series that will be following.
Mimi Matthews has a real talent for depicting her characters in a way that they are very human and relatable whilst we simply get to know them over the course of just few days of their daily life.
But they display so much depth and heart that you forge a connection with the characters right at the start of each book.
I just loved Clara and Neville, individually and together. Another gorgeous cover. I’ve said it about every book in the series, but I loved this book. I think this might actually be my favorite in the series. It’s a toss up between this one and A Convenient Fiction for me.
Simon absolutely infuriated me. I know that his views are not exacty novel for the time period, but to have to little appreciation for the work and sacrifice of others. He shocked me because he was not what I was expecting. I give her so much credit for keeping her composure. What an ungrateful and arrogant young man. Poor Clara! But I won’t say anymore on that account because I don’t wish to spoil.
I love that neither of their dreams were compromised for a life with the other, but instead they morphed and grew into a dream that they could both realize together.
I cannot express enough how much I recommend this series. This book, as well as the three that preceeed it, can serve as a stand-alone, but the series as a whole is best. As with the other books in this series, this is a clean romance.
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I would like to thank the author, Mimi Matthews, for sending me an eARC of The Winter Companion. This is my honest opinion.
After reading the first book in this series and being introduced to Neville, the quiet one, who had suffered a traumatic brain injury as a teenager, I knew that his book was the one I most wanted to read. Neville was a wonderful hero, outwardly quiet, yet inwardly he had plenty of thoughts, hopes and dreams. He just isn’t sure how to go about making a life for himself independent of his friends until he meets Clara who inspires him to dream of a bigger life than the one he’s currently leading. I loved Clara also. She had big dreams that were constrained by the expectations placed on women in Victorian times as well as by the circumstances she found herself in. She worked as a paid companion to earn enough money to pay for her younger brother’s Cambridge education, while hoping all the while that she’d eventually find a place as his secretary so that she could at least be adjacent to the research that she longed to conduct herself.
Once Neville and Clara meet at a month-long Xmas house party thrown at the Abbey, it’s like two kindred souls recognizing the other half that will complete them. They are so clearly meant for each other that it gives them both the courage to reach out and finally take control of their own lives. This book left me with a happy glow. I also loved all of the period details that the author threw in. So many historicals are just wallpaper in regards to their setting whereas this one took the time to get the details right. I think Mimi Matthews is just hitting her stride as an author and I look forward to her next book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book from Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
‘All she’d known was that she wanted nothing more than the formidable safety of his arms.’
Mimi Matthews brings us the last book in her ‘Parish Orphans of Devon’ series and now I am so sad that there aren’t any more books in this series. A friend recommended Mimi Matthews to me last month and I quickly read the first three books in this series and found them absolutely wonderful. This one is Neville Cross’s story. Sweet, strong Neville. We find all four men, former orphans who were treated so despicably by the orphanage director, together for a winter reunion. Justin, Thornhill, Tom Finchley, and Alex Archer are all married happily and Neville feels his life will always be what it is now: living on Justin’s property caring for the horses and animals. He loves the animals and he loves his friends, but deep inside he yearns for more.
Clara Hartwright is at the Thornhill’s for the winter reunion, serving as a companion to Mrs. Bainbridge. Clara wants nothing but to remain invisible in order to keep her stormy past in the past. But she soon discovers that there is something about Neville that she is mightily touched by.
As we watch Neville trying to back away from Clara, fearing he will be frowned upon because of his inability to speak everything on his heart because of a traumatic injury in his youth, we watch love unfold and blossom between these two sensitive souls, it is the most precious thing to behold. I wept several times during the reading of this book. Neville is a most wonderful hero, in this reader’s opinion. His heart is enormous! It’s as if God created these two especially for one another. And Mimi Matthews’ weaving of this tale together is magnificent. I was captivated by her writing, as I was during the first three books in the series. She deftly moves through the story, carrying the reader along feeling every emotion in these characters’ hearts. I dearly wished this series didn’t have to end. I loved every single moment of these books. Well done! Highly recommended.
*My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book via Net Galley. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Reading Progress
Sooooo good!
Truly a beautiful love story! I have looked forward to reading Neville’s story after reading the first three books. I wasn’t certain he would be a typical romantic lead who would touch my heart–but he was. In the previous books (which I loved) Neville was in the background, but I always felt sorry for him due to his inability to speak like everyone else (due to an accident). Mimi Matthews portrayed him brilliantly. She didn’t change his character to make him more appealing to her readers, but she allowed us to get inside his soul and to read his thoughts in a natural way. He was a beautiful person, caring about others (his friends, and especially the animals in the book), strong and reliable. In fact, he was my favorite character in the series, which is saying a lot.
Usually I relate to the female lead, but there is something so relatable about Neville, that I cared more about him, than about Clara.
I also loved the plot. It got more and more interesting as the book progressed. I thought it was just going to be a short book describing a typical Christmas celebration with friends, but it was so much more.
I preordered the book, but I asked Ms. Matthews if I could have an ARC, because I just couldn’t wait until February to learn what would happen to Neville. Ms. Matthews is one of my absolute favorite authors. She has not written a book I didn’t love.
Reading this series I felt I was transported back in time. I read this installment in one day as I did not want to stop reading. I love the tone and style of writing style: well-paced, unrushed, and sufficiently descriptive I felt I was standing in the off, watching the action unfold.
All four parish orphans are united in Devon for the holidays, but this is Neville’s much deserved story.
Neville avoids people due to his speech impediment, but he and Clara grow close in their mutual interest and love of animals. Clara is a strong and pragmatic young woman; revisited by her past, she proves her mettle.
I read a free advance copy; the thoughts expressed are my own.