What a great debut novel. While it started a little slow for me, it definitely built in intensity. I loved the premise of the story. Torn between helping a friend and expected societal demands, I wasn’t sure where the story would go. The adventure and intrigue combined with the engaging characters make this a worthwhile read and put Ms. Taylor on the list of authors I will read again.

*Regency Romance
*Second chance at love

I really enjoyed this debut novel by Amanda Taylor. I quickly came to love the characters and was rooting for their reuniting. They had a love match but not long after their wedding James leaves for 5 years to fight in the war. When he finally returns their reunion isn’t as easy as Sarah has dreamed. They have both changed much and it takes some challenges for them to come back together and fall in love all over again. It was beautifully written and I look forward to seeing what she comes out with next.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me a copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you Shadow Mountain Publishing for the eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own!

This historical fiction romance brought a complex yet loving story to life. Amanda Taylor did such a great job bringing some complexity to a romance told so many times. I felt like this story was so real. Lady Sarah Whitfield is the newest member of English nobility when her husband, Lord James Whitfield inherits the family estate and title. It would seem her life to be one of comfort and ease, but things are not always what them seem. After a five- year post in the navy, James has returned from the war a very different man that he left. Cold, stoic and tortured by an unresolved past and navy experiences. How can he carry on with life of wedded bliss when his oldest friend is starving in a French prison? Sarah is heartbroken by her husband's changes and leaves for London. James, haunted by the war and the loss of his wife, cannot make sense of his pain and regret. With all his pain, he knows one thing he cannot let the women he loves slip through his finger.s He swallows his bride and follows her to London. He also decides to face his past to save his friend and reclaim his future with Sarah. Can he get both?

Content: War memories, separation, sadness, abandonment
Read if you enjoy:
Romance
Second Chances
Overcoming War memories
Navy
Historical Fiction
Regency
Clean Fiction

What a wonderfully written and beautiful story! I have heard mixed things about this book, but I really loved it! It is a little more on the sad side, but it has a happy ending. I really felt for both Sarah and James. Sarah suffers with the neglect from James. James suffers from the guilt that he has for his friend. What I love, is that both characters (after James comes to his senses) work hard for their marriage to remain intact. And then help each other. And spoiler, I loved when they got back together romantically, very well done. Overall, I thought this was a great story and I definitely recommend!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

This book is moving, powerful, and so much more. Whenever I picked up "An Uncharted Devotion", I was whisked back in time to the Regency Era, and went on such an emotional journey with this poignant story.

Amanda Taylor's writing in her storytelling and world-building is phenomenal. i could truly envision each and every moment, and her characters, those from history as well as those original to this novel, all jump to life right off of the page. I found myself truly pulling for James and Sarah to find happiness together.

(Possible Spoilers!)
Oh my goodness, James and Sarah truly bring out the best in each other. When James returns from war, after having been through so much, he is still completely understandably dealing with the trauma from everything, and tries to shut everyone out in order to not hurt them. Sarah wants to help break down his walls, and to wants to help him begin to heal, while also respecting his boundaries. As the reader, I could feel both of their yearnings, their desire to want to be there for one another, but not being sure exactly what that could look like, or the best way to do so. With time, patience, and love, their find their way back to each other, and truly are able to support one another in such a beautiful way.

At times throughout this book, the pacing felt a bit uneven to me. I can't quite put my finger on exactly why, but, it just felt a little off. However, even with this said, I so look forward to reading the next book in this series!

If you enjoy Historical Fiction and / or Regency Romance, I highly recommend this book! I look forward to reading what Amanda Taylor writes next.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Covenant Communications for the ARC of this novel! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

"You have rescued me in more ways than I can number. You never gave up on me."

An Uncharted Devotion was definitely heavier than the other books I normally read set in the regency period, but I still throughly enjoyed it.

James struggled to find his place when he returned home from war. Instead of leaning on his wife, he was withdrawn, selfish, and mean to those around him. He failed to realize how lonely and worried she had been while he was away. It took his wife leaving him for him to realize he couldn’t continue living the way he was.

Taylor did a great job conveying the different emotions the characters were feeling. My heart ached for Sarah and James throughout the story and rejoiced with them when they found their way back to each other. The action at the end of the book was a nice surprise and the ending was everything I had hoped for. This was a great debut novel and I can’t wait to read what’s next.

**This is a closed door romance with a few kisses.

Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes and I especially love it when the second chance comes to a couple that's already married. Sarah and James' story begins at their wedding where we can see they are so in love, then we fast forward 5 years to James' cold greeting upon returning home from fighting in the war. This was not the James she had married. "That man was gone forever. If he would've remained as he was then, the sea would have broken him."

Oh, did I want to give James a slap upside the head and a stern talking to. I know he had been in the war and had to come home and take over the estate when his older brother died but it hurt to see how he continued to push Sarah away. I cheered when Sarah had had enough of James ignoring her and left for London. James comes to his senses, somewhat, and follows her to London but then almost throws their second chance away for a fellow navy man.

I enjoyed this debut novel even though I spent a lot of it being upset with James. Sarah's kindness made up for it as did the characters of Lord and Lady Ramsey. I was relieved when Sarah and James were able to work things out and mend the distance in their marriage.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I thought this book was well written. It wasn’t the typical silly regency- it had some realistic relationship struggles.
I liked the characters and I wished they would have just talked things out.
The ending was satisfying (I wasn’t sure if it was going to end that way).
This was a great debut novel- I would read more by this author.

I enjoyed this book. I liked how we saw the romance between Sarah and James develop after he returns from being gone for 5 years. I liked how at the beginning we saw how much they loved each other at their wedding but then we got to see how James being gone to war changed him. I liked seeing how they struggled and that they had to work at being a couple. I liked how Sarah helped James to heal and be willing to open up to her about what was keeping him so distant from her. I thought the story was well done and I loved the characters. I also liked learning a little bit more about this time in history.

I received a complimentary book from publishers, publicists, and or authors.  A review was not required and all opinions and ideas expressed are my own.

Sometimes a second chance is exactly what is needed. In a world where divorce isn't done, it is essential,

Sarah had a love match. Or so she thought, Her husband left shortly after their marriage to return to the Navy. She was welcomed by his family and cared for under his brother's watch. When his brother dies, James returns to inherit the estate and the title that comes with it. He knew he had married for love but the James that returned was not the James who left.

This is a beautiful story of rekindling what once was. It is a journey through heartache and lost time. It is well-written and a beautiful story, I devoured this and found myself empathizing for both of our main characters. James who is left to unravel what was left to him and Sarah looking for the love that she knew before. Both had changed and both wanted their world to right itself again,

This was a lovely story of second chances, The characters had good chemistry and I cheered them on. This was a strong story and I highly recommend it.

I received an early copy as requested through NetGalley and this is my honest review.

A rekindling of a love after being separated for five years, this was a beautiful and heartbreaking story that absolutely pulled at my heartstrings. Shortly after marrying Sarah, James heads out with the navy and returns a changed and broken man. He carries with him the guilt of surviving and making it home safely while his good friend was brutally beaten by the French and carried off, presumed to be dead. He is cold and stoic and barely speaks to her, but Sarah is the picture of patience and gives him the time he needs to heal. But one can only take so much heartbreak, and after being ignored and brushed aside one too many times, she decides to leave for London. James realizes his mistake and goes after her, but just when things are looking promising, he finds out his friend may be alive. He needs to decide whether to go after his friend, or reclaim his future with the woman he loves.
This was an absolute gem of a story! This was a debut novel by Ms Taylor, and frankly I can't wait to see more of her work! Filled with such feeling and emotion, I couldn't put it down and became completely invested in James and Sarah's story. This was an utterly delightful story with well-developed characters that I immediately fell in love with. A must read for lovers of sweet Regency romances. So glad to have had the opportunity to read this!
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Wow! I am so impressed with this debut novel! It starts with a happy wedding and then James leaves for his naval duty. Sarah patiently waits at home with her in-laws but after five years, James comes home a changed man. This is a beautiful story of reconnecting, getting rid of guilt, and not giving up on caring for those you love. The story flowed beautifully and I love all the side characters!

I love this so much! Beautiful story of a couple working through the hard stuff. I really loved all the characters, had some great laughs, and enjoyed every moment of this read.

Ugh. I had this whole review written up and then my iPad crashed. In a nutshell, I found this book lacking in the backstory that would have made me believe there was any legit romance between Sarah and James. It just didn’t really speak to me.

The story was decent, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if Sarah and James just would have communicated even a little bit. So many of their issues would have been solved with a simple conversation. I was happy when Sarah finally stood up for herself, making James realize that their relationship was actually important to him. Sitting on the sidelines and watching him re-court her was enjoyable.
With some polishing, this could be a 4-star story.

What a beautiful Debut novel! I LOVED everything about this book. I felt SO bad for Sarah, after waiting for her husband to come back from war for years, only to find that her husband is a shell of what he once was.

James is broken, not only did he see SO many horrible things at war, he was forced to leave behind someone who helped him through it all, while he returned home, safe and sound to his wonderful life.

It was so heartbreaking to hear both of their viewpoints of what they were thinking and what they were both going through not being able to communicate with one another. I cannot wait to see what else Amanda Taylor has in store for us in the future. This book was amazing!

*I received a copy of this book as an ARC reviewer, but a positive review wasn’t required. All thoughts are solely what I personally thought of this beautiful book.❤️❤️❤️

I have been so excited to get to read Amanda Taylor's debut novel for so long. And it's finally here! I just love the cover. And the story inside is as amazing as the cover.

I loved that this book had a different kind of plot than you usually see. Sarah and James are already married as the book starts. But due to circumstances beyond their control, they've grown far apart. And neither has any idea what to do about it.

Sarah is just a sweet woman. She wants her life and relationship with James to be as it once was. But he came back a different person from the war. And she doesn't even know him. I loved how strong Sarah was. She knew that she wanted something different from James. But, in the end, she needed to heal and protect herself. So she went away.

I loved James, too. He had a lot of reasons that he wasn't who he used to be. He just wasn't sure how to fix any of it. Not himself, or his relationship with Sarah. I loved that he was willing to listen to his mom's advice (see the above quote). And that made all the difference for him.

This was a sweet second chance story. I loved to watch these two characters learn about each other and fall in love all over again. And I loved the element of danger in it, as well.

This is a great debut novel. Hopefully there are more books to read by Amanda Taylor soon!

This is a beautifully written, second chance clean romance by Amanda Taylor. At the center of this story is the struggle to move past expectations, trauma and grief for another chance to love after being apart for several years. The somber reality of this husband and wife’s situation eventually rise to joy and love once again. I love how this novel addresses commitment and the work required to stay in love with your spouse. This book has a lot of heart and depth and I am grateful to Covenant Communications for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for a review.

All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Although I enjoyed this story it was not my favorite. The author did really well in writing a new and fun story but it seemed to be slower paced than I usually like. Overall I liked it.

An Uncharted Devotion by Amanda Taylor is wonderful!

I loved so many things about this book. The experiences of the characters. The dialogue that exemplified their pain and heartache. The way James worked so hard to redeem himself from catastrophic low to unquestioningly forgiven. He has been through horrible things and allowed himself to become hardened and isolated. The navy changed him and he was not ready for his new role and title. Sarah had missed him terribly and understood a grace period of transition would be needed. Instead, she watched him sink further into his hole of isolation and destruction. I love that she recognized the right time to leave for her own mental health and well-being. The Ramsey’s are the kind of friends we can all hope for. They give her freedom to be herself and a safe place to crawl back out of her shell. James comes after her and determines to befriend his wife. I love that she doesn’t let him off easily. He hurt her, deeply, and she doesn’t trust her heart, her hope, or her future with him. While wooing his wife, he remembers how it feels to love, be loved, and make friends again. Despite his own grieving and determination to right his many wrongs, he starts to live again. Then another phase of the story takes flight. James has a chance to finish a work he started before he left the military. His wife, not ready to lose him again so easily, enlists the aide of her friends. Reminiscent of the Scarlet Pimpernel, the conclusion was a beautiful demonstration of their love, of friends, and a determination to put others above yourself.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.