Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Review and Giveaway: A Wedding in Springtime

A Wedding in Springtime by Amanda Forester

Published: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Imprint: Casablanca
Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 416
ISBN-13: 978-1402271786
ISBN-10: 1402271786

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Indiebound

Amanda Forester on the WEB: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook

Excerpt from A Wedding in Springtime

Synopsis:

Five minutes into Miss Eugenia Talbot's presentation at court, notorious rogue Mr. William Grant made her laugh, ruining her debut. 
To hush up the scandal, Eugenia's aunt hires a matchmaker to quickly find a suitor - anyone except the infamous William Grant - to help restore Eugenia's reputation.
 But amiable Eugenia shows a disturbing tendency to follow her heart, and is again caught in the company of notorious Grant. 
When a traitor creeps closer, threatening to ruin more than just Eugenia's reputation, her kindheartedness may be her ultimate undoing...


Thoughts:

Amanda Forester brings readers the first in a new regency romance trilogy, A Wedding in Springtime. Stepping away from her previous Highland romances, Forester shows great versatility and a love for good historical romantic fiction in this book. Forester takes on the ton with relish and a good laugh, which is what triggers the ruin of main character Genie Talbot beginning the story with both the innocence of new love and the humor of Murphy's Law: what could go wrong, will go wrong!

There were two things that stood out in this book for me. The characters were both interesting and deep. Also, Forester's use of historical references and overall research into her subject was very well done. 

Eugenia Talbot hopes to redeem herself in the eyes of the ton, after her mother breaks and engagement and marries a wealthy farmer instead of a duke. But Genie doesn't have much luck when she cannot contain her mirth in the presence of the Queen. I liked Genie a lot. She was a young woman wants to make her family proud, yet she isn't willing to compromise her own ideals and beliefs. She is a strong female lead and will have readers cheering for her to find the man of her dreams in no time. William Grant, Genie's partner in crime, so to speak, is also a great character. The typical bad boy rake, who has no intentions of ever settling down, finally meets his match in a young woman, who is his equal in every way. Readers will love his genuine smug demeanor and his sharp wit. Secondary characters like the Duke of Marchford and Penelope Rose compliment the main story line well, with their own secondary plots.

I thought Forester did an excellent job of researching her subject. I have always enjoyed the way she portrays Highland characters and was once again captivated with her knowledge of Regency, England and the ins and outs of the haute ton. She uses some historical characters and events to give the reader a sense of time and place, but also excels at making her characters very much themselves. They interact well in the time period which gives an authenticity to Forester's writing. I am happy to see that this book is the beginning of a new trilogy. Readers will likely fall in love with the characters and want to read more about them and those connected to this story.

Forester hits a home run with her latest book, A Wedding in Springtime!

A Wedding in Springtime will be available May 7, 2013 from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!







Amanda Forester holds a Ph.D. in psychology and worked for many years in academia before discovering that writing historical romance novels was decidedly more fun. Whether in the Highland hills or a Regency ballroom, Forester's novels offer fast-paced adventures filled with wit, intrigue, and romance. She lives with her supportive husband and naturally brilliant children in the Pacific Northwest.







GIVEAWAY DETAILS

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of A Wedding In Springtime by Amanda Forester.

~ You must be a GFC or Email subscriber to participate.
~ US and Canadian addresses only.
~ Deadline to enter this giveaway is Tuesday April 30th at Midnight EST.

1. Please leave comment describing the most memorable wedding you've ever been to, a celebrity wedding you wish you could have attended or something related to weddings.
2. Please fill out the FORM.


9 comments:

June M. said...

A WEDDING IN SPRINGTIME sounds great and the cover is lovely. I love stories where the characters are caught in a scandal, and am interested in finding out who the traitor is :)
Thanks for the chance to win a copy :)
June
manning_J2004 at yahoo dot com

lag123 said...

I wish I could have attended the royal wedding.

lag110 at mchsi dot com

Theresa N. said...

I was maid of honor in a wedding where the groom's father cried all the way through the wedding. Very loudly.
Theresa N
weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com

Chrisbails said...

I would have to say from my own wedding I had something very funny happen. As the flower girl and ring bearer were walking down the aisle, they get closer to the front of the church. I am standing my the top with my dad and all of a sudden you hear the ring bearer, my little cousin, yell at the top of his lungs. "That fat man scares me" and then he takes off running to me. He was scared of the priest. Everyone was dying laughing. Funniest thing ever.
christinebails at yahoo dot com

Angela - Bookaunt said...

I have not been to many weddings - I wish I could have went to Prince William's wedding. Thank you for the giveaway

Anita Yancey said...

I also wish I could have attended Prince William and Kate's wedding. This book sounds really good. Thanks for having the giveaway.

ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

bn100 said...

Would like to attend Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's wedding

Martha Lawson said...

I would have loved to attended Princess Diana's wedding.

Lexi said...

You described this book very well. And it is always refreshing when a historical author does their part for researching.

Good luck to everyone in the drawing!