I declare cause for much feasting and rejoicing because I’ve finally found a romance novel I wish to give five stars that was not written by Julia Quinn 🎉😂

Kingscastle by Sophia Holloway - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Thanks so much to @allisonandbusby and @netgalley for my advanced copy!

Elevated to the peerage via an unexpected inheritance, Captain William Hawksmoor of the Royal Navy must return to civilian life to become the new Marquis of Athelney, and take up residence at the family seat of Kingscastle in Somerset. There is one issue with his new inheritance, however: he must marry and produce an heir within a year or his estates will continue to be controlled by the trustees who were installed when his erstwhile cousin was heir. With little experience with women, and a pushy, difficult aunt in the dower house trying to marry him off to her timid daughter, this stipulation turns out to be a greater obstacle than he’s first thought.

Needless to say I adored this book: it has bold, vivid characters that I was rooting for all the way through, a good villain, some laugh out loud funny bits and a main plot line that seemed reasonable and wonderful, rather than ridiculous and overdone, which is my real issue with the majority of romance novels. It’s a wonderful light read I simply raced through, and one I’d recommend to even the most casual reader of such romances like me.

Do pre-order a copy of Kingscastle which is out on November 18th. Right, I’m off to get my hands on copies of Sophia Holloway’s other two romances!

A fabulous Regency period romance. Eleanor is the paid companion of Lady Willoughby, but is very unhappy with her, as she says the position wears her down. What will happen when she meets the new Marquis, William Hawkesworth? I leave the reader to find out for themselves, but highly recommend the novel.

Kingscastle by Sophia Holloway

Captain William Hawkemoor unexpectedly inherits Kingscastle and becomes Lord Athelny as opposed by his dishonourable cousin.
A well written easy read with a lot of interesting characters.

Though the main romance about William and Miss Eleanor Burgess seems to be secondary one , compared to Mr Bitton and Miss Greenham.

However An overall very good read though

If you are looking for a clean read, a slow burn romance, and multiple people getting their HEA - this book is it.

We meet our hero, a man who spent years as a naval officer. He becomes inherited with a title and a castle. Problem is, he knows little to none experience at running one or being a man of society. He travels there and he becomes acquainted with his aunt and his cousin who of which she is forcing him to marry (more like already chosen). He instead becomes smitten with his aunt's companion.

I enjoyed this book but I felt like I wasn't wow-ed by it. Something felt missing, but it's not meaning that it's a bad book. My favorite parts of the book are watching the relationship build between the hero and his aunt's companion ; the multiple encounters that he has with his aunt (think the rude aunt from Pride and Prejudice) and her countless set downs by various characters, including the hero.

Maybe I wanted some tension or more set backs when it came to him trying to establish himself. Whatever it was I was missing, it was not enough to give it the full 5 stars it could be. BUT, that is not to say it isn't a bad book. It was a pretty solid book but for me it just felt like it was missing something. For someone else it might just be perfect. I would be willing to read more from this author.

It’s a while since I’ve read an historical romance. And for the most part I enjoyed this one. I have to say it’s not a book I’ll re-read but it made for a pleasant change.

I liked both the main characters Captain William Hawksmoor and Eleanor. But for me the show was stolen by the secondary characters and their romance. Which built nicely and we were with them every step of the way. Whereas the main two spent too much time apart or at odds with each other. Which caused me to start skimming towards the end. My patience was seriously waning by this point.

If I’m being picky and I am.
Lady Willoughby was a little too much at times. With a touch of the cartoon villain about her. And the scene early on with the Marquis in the library with the two women seemed a little cruel and out of character.

I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

I enjoyed this book very much. It had a wide range of characters whose stories were linked together to give a full bodied picture of what was happening. I did enjoy the various romance but also loved the unreasonable aunt and the interaction she had with others. Quite funny at times. I’ll certainly look out for more books by this author.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I thought this was well-written and sweet, although the secondary romance, where the characters actually spent a lot of (page-) time together being kind to one another, was more convincing in the end than the main romance. The protagonists of the blurb were kept apart for much of the novel and spent the last third in the throes of 'a big misunderstanding'. My only other quibble was the scene where the hero is unnecessarily and uncharacteristically rude to the two women hoping to make money out of his (unknown to them) dead cousin. There is a similar scene in Heyer's 'False Colours' which is much kinder.