I really enjoyed reading this book by one of my favorite authors. Ms Warfield writes a tale of forgiveness and redemption of one mans life. The characters were fully developed with thoughts and feelings of their own.
When Sir Robert Benson life was changed when the father he loved was not his real father. The woman he loved was his half sister. He left that that life behind when he went to London to start over. He didn't want anything to do with Ashmead or the people there. But one thing he cannot forget that his half sister's plea to him to return because she asked.
Robert decides to go back to Ashmead but one little woman with a gun runs him off her land Willowbrook. Lucy Whitaker is loving her life at Willowbrook, seeing to the land and tenants. She doesn't want any man especially Robert Benson to interfere. But she knew one day the heir would return, but she isn't really wanting the heir to be the man she ran off her property. But Robert says it's his land and she must find other prospects to live.
These two people have a fun start to a romance that will bring love and family together.
I really liked this fabulous book and hope there are future ones for us to read.
I appreciate Net Galley for this ARC title in which I gave an hones review.

This was my first book by the author and I will probably look for more books by her.
I felt that the storyline was exciting, the son leaves after the father tells him that he is illegitimate. Feeling betrayed, after years, he is still angry and doesn't want to do anything with Ashmead.
The heroine has a special place in her heart for the land that Robert will inherit, so she will do anything to make sure that everything and everyone within it, will be happy and satisfied. I didn't really connect with her, I even found her annoying sometimes.
Overall, 9/10

❤️❤️❤️❤️
💋

Enjoyable and entertaining read with some great characters in the storyline.
I loved the heroine more with every chapter, such fire and passion in her antics and she brings life to the whole book.
The Hero was good too, but she sold it to me.
There are secrets and challenges all the way through for this couple, but inevitably it ends happily.

I received an Arc copy of this book and chose to post this review

Sent from my iPhone

Talk about drama. When the illegitimate son of an Earl returns home after fifteen years, he is not prepared for what awaits him. The old Earl is dead, but he left Willowbrook to Rob in his will. Sir Major.Robert Benson's life is in London. The last thing he wants is to live and work an estate in the country. Right now his family needs him and his attraction to Lucy Whitaker is constantly on his mind.
A sleazy lawyer, suspicious accidents, missing money and murder mix into family disputes and unresolved issues. A man in uniform makes a hero, but a strong woman makes the man. I hope Rob and Lucy appear again in the series. I consider this a clean romance.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

5 stars

A great start to a series. Lucy is acting as steward at Willowbank. The house and land were originally part of the unentailed land her brother-in-law hoped to inherit but his illegitimate half brother is left it in an acrimonious will. Robbie, our hero, doesn't really want it as it interfere with his career but agrees it is a delightful place. He's intrigued by Lucy and protective of her when villains start to sabotage the livelihood. It's all fairly complicated with Robbie's 'father (mother's husband)', Rob being the landlord of the local hostelry. His Half sister begging him to come back and help her Dad. Her brother Eli, a trainee solicitor, helping to sort the legal wranglings. There is plenty of scope for interesting heros and heroines for the rest of the series. In this case, I thought, the baddie was fairly obvious but it certainly didn't halt my enjoyment. I did feel that if I hadn't been told it was Regency England it would have also worked as a western. The passion is kisses until the later chapter.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Will he let his past anger deprive him of a possible love…

I discovered the author’s work just a few weeks ago and while I was not fond of her heroine, she transported me into a world of adventures, drama and emotions, I checked her upcoming releases.
And I saw this one, alas each time a book launch close to the end of the month, each time I must weight if I will be able to read it, as it is more and more a hectic reading period for me and this month is no different.
Yet, I marked it with a question mark on my reading schedule calendar. But I am weak.
So I switched it and read it in one long afternoon-late evening.
And I just loved it.

This is not the usual regency tale I am used, the characters are far far from perfect, they are not broken but angry, and they often take the coward road all the while they face danger head-on.
Rob ran away years ago when he learned his father was not the one he thought, unable to face the one who raised him and disliking the one who sired him.
Now, urged by his sister, half-sister to come back, he is here and learns he is the missing heir of a much coveted estate. Something he absolutely does not want. He made a successful life for him away from here, so there is no way for him to turn back the clock.
Lucy like most women born from gentry has few means to support herself as men control everything. Yet, with none around her to dictate her steps, she made herself the steward of landownerless property. And she is quite successful but she dreads the return of the missing heir. As from there, her future would become much more uncertain.

The author has knitted a complex tale of deceits, greed and betrayal which turned this story of the return of the prodigal son in a quest for answers, an investigation to comprehend why these lands are so sought-after all the while sabotaged then putting lives at stake.

Rob and Lucy are strong determined characters, they bend to no one, but when it is about their heart content, their choices of life have ill-armed them to understand it and express their soul’s desires. I was from time to time haranguing them to stop retreating or postponing, to fight for their feelings and stop for a while and take the time to explore them, instead of tiptoeing around scared to might be rejected, to have to rethink the course of their life.
5 stars

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 sort of behind closed doors lovemaking scenes.

I have been granted an advance copy by the publisher Dragonblade Publishing, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

I absolutely loved The Wayward Son, by Carolyn Warfield, one of my favorite authors. I have loved her books since I read her Dangerous Series. The characters in that series are among my favorites in fictional literature.

This new series, The Ashmead Heirs, is about the offspring of a notoriously despicable earl who fathered many children, legitimate and illegitimate.

Book #1, The Wayward Son, is about Sir Major Robert Benson, a war hero and born-leader who at a young age, heard the shocking news that the father he adored was not his biological father. The next day he ran away and joined the army.

The story begins when Robert returns to Ashmead for the first time in 15 years. He has been made a baronet, and he learns that his "father," the earl bequeathed him a lucrative estate, (ostensibly to punish his legitimate heir). This is unwelcome news, because Robert doesn't want the property--he just wants to leave Ashmead behind, together with the painful memories he has of growing up there.

Without writing a book summary, which you will read in other reviews, I want to describe the feel of this book. CW has a gift for creating stories with characters, so fully developed and likable, that they remain with the reader well into the future.
Those characters together with the beautiful, well-described setting and events are brilliantly put together to create the evocative "World of Ashmead." The mood and tone of the story were sublime. The mystery at the crux of the story was so exciting, that even though I had a busy week, I stopped everything to read this and couldn't put it down. I finished it in less than 24 hours.

Like I stated earlier, the characters are so lovely, that I am excited to read the upcoming books in the rest of the series (about the other siblings). I highly recommend this book, and if you want to learn more about the world of Ashmead, Carolyn Warfield has created a Facebook page with all kinds of background information and pictures, that I found fascinating. https://www.facebook.com/groups/WarfieldFellowTravelers/learning_content

This ARC was provided by NetGalley, and this review was voluntarily written.
#TheWaywardSon #NetGalley

A soldier who inherite Willowbrook but want nothing to do with it . She manages it and really love that place . The first time they meet she holds a gun at her hands . Great secondary characters .
I received this book from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the first book in a new series.
Willowbrook is the place that she loves. How can she make the heir feel the same way about it?
Robert and Lucy are the perfect pair in this novel of intriguing details and love.
Caroline Warfield writes an intriguing story.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

Major Sir Robert Benson’s life is in London. He fled Ashmead the day he discovered the man he thought was his father had lied to him, and the girl he loved was beyond his reach. Only a nameless plea from his half-sister, Emma brings him back. He will not allow a ludicrous bequest from the earl who sired him turn him into a mockery of landed gentry. When a feisty little termagant with flashing eyes and a musket tries to turn Rob off his land he’s too amused and intrigued to turn away.
Lucy Whitaker’s life is Willowbrook, its land, its tenants, its prosperity, but she always knew it wasn’t hers, knew the missing heir would come eventually. She can’t deny Rob Benson his property; she can only try to make him love the place as she does, for her peoples’ sake. Then accidents start to happen, small at first until a bridge is sabotaged & people are hurt.
The first in a new series & a very well written page turner it is. The characters are SO well portrayed & have lots of depth. The pace is very good & never lags, there’s mystery & a lovely slow burn romance. I loved both Rob & Lucy, he’s the local lad who ran away & has returned a war hero & is now the owner of an estate. Lucy is the sister in law of the local Earl, she’s feisty, intelligent & loves caring for Willowbank. The pair lock horns several times, their banter is highly entertaining but as they fight verbally their attraction is growing as are their feelings for each other. The secondary characters are also delightful & I hope some of them have their stories. I also loved that there wasn’t a ballroom in sight & the story is set in a village in Nottinghamshire - it was a refreshing change. I loved their road to a HEA with mystery, doubts & misunderstandings. An engrossing read which I highly recommend
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read