Delightful story!

This is the first time that I read a book written by this new author Olivia Elliott. I enjoyed reading her second story A Soldier and his Rules.

Patience is a passionate artist and Richard a former Major in His Majesty’s army. Their romantic story is filled with ups and downs. A well written western romance of two beautiful souls.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book sent by BooksGoSocial and NetGalley . These opinions are my own.

Healed by love!

Patience Pemberton was in her ninth season. She was content to hover around the edge of the ton events. Patience is a talented portrait painter and wants nothing more than to enter a painting into the Royal Academy’s Exhibition
Lord Richard Winter, newly made Viscount has returned from Spain wounded and suffering from severe injuries and the appalling memories of the aftermath of the battle at Badajoz where men had behaved like little more than ravaging animals.
He is intrigued by the young woman who challenges him at a ball after he lets drop some unflattering comments.
Of course that woman was Patience who had been appointed by Richard’s mother to paint her portrait. Now what?
A lively telling of love found, of an injured and maligned hero, and the woman who sets out to heal him.

A BooksGoSocial ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

This is Olivia Elliot’s second historical romance and it’s wonderful! Here we meet Richard, returned from war on the continent and suffering with PTSD. He meets Patience who has avoided marriage and is a talented painter, overlooked because she is a woman. The tension here is about the manners of the time, Richard’s secrets and perceptions of masculinity. These are two lovely people with great chemistry who fall for each other. He doesn’t understand the intimacy of marriage and feels shamed by his war experiences.

Patience is clever and attractive, but also practical and is actually well equipped to support him. There’s backstory around his abusive father, and this provides a necessary complication for them both as it impacts Richard’s place in society and the way Patience’ family view him.

I loved the little bit of queerness and acceptance. There’s so much chemistry between Richard and Patience, plenty of yearning and pining and steam 🌶️ 🌶️ and they are well matched.

There’s sufficient historical detail to be immersive. Unfortunately there’s also modern sensibilities and dialogue - this took me out of the moment at times. Apart from that quibble, Olivia has written a thoughtful and poignant romance. Recommended!

Thank you NetGalley, Olivia Elliot for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

Sexy historic romance. A little stiff but the romance is there and the writing is entertaining. Interested to see PTSD represented in this time period.

*I’d like to thank NetGalley, BookGo Social and Olivia Elliott for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“A Soldier and his rules” is Olivia’s Elliott second full-length novel in the Pemberton series and follows the story of Lady Patience Pemberton and Lord Richard Winter.

Patience is an artistic gifted spinster who has given up on two things: finding a husband and looking good in an empire waist dress. No wonder she is tremendously looking forward to painting the dowager viscountess Winter and perhaps kickstart a successful career in art. Shortly before sitting with the elderly woman, Patience runs into her son Lord Richard Winter. Already angered by comments made by her parents, Patience confronts the aristocrat after overhearing him making distasteful comments about young women at a ball. Afraid that her actions might endanger painting Lady Winter, Patience is unaware that her action had a reverse effect. Intrigued by the woman who doesn’t seem an inch afraid of him, Richard can’t stop thinking about the curvy Lady Pemberton. Though sworn off to marry ever again after experiencing the worst at war, Richard has a hard time staying away from the woman he shares so much in common with. When he takes the place of his mother in her painting endeavours, the tension goes from a simmer to a boil. But Lady Pemberton is about to be promised to another man, and Richard’s reputation is blocking his road to her parents’ approval, but an unchaperoned stay at Richard’s country estate might change it all…

“A Soldier and his rules” was a pleasant regency romance which was very reminiscent of Netflix’s Bridgerton. Both of the main characters, Patience and Richard, were well crafted and convincing. I liked how Patience had her growth in her career but also in the way she pursues the things she wants. She is a very compassionate character who finds herself often at the wimp of others because of her nature. Though being a dreamer through and through I loved how she was completely naive and a total romantic. Richard on the other hand had much greater struggles to overcome. I certainly have to highlight how well his panic attacks were written. PTSD can be difficult to depict, but I think Elliott has done a good job, showing the hardship of struggling with this condition. Sometimes I wish there was little more depth in Richard’s obsession with rules as well as his difficult relationship with his father. His family’s reputation played a huge part on why Patience’s parents were against her affiliation with the man, but I felt like it could have been explored a little bit more and maybe how it coincides with Richard’s PTSD and rule confinement.

My favourite side characters had to be James, Richard’s younger brother, and Grace, Patience’s younger sister. Both of them had such fun and bubbly personalities that often added a certain light heartedness to the heavy plotlines. Not to mention Potato the pug who was menace to Lady Pemberton’s life and the solace to Grace’s daydreaming.

The overall writing style is closer to the one you often find in contemporary rather than historical romance. Additionally, the characters certainly have a modern edge to them which not everyone enjoys. However, I think novels like this make the genre of historical romance more accessible to readers of other genres as well as non-English speakers seeking to read in English. It is a very simple style which is certainly not my personal favourite, but something I do not mind too much if the rest of the story is rather convincing.

Though the novel has quite the number of plotlines, in the end everything is wrapped up rather neatly and I feel I can already tell who will be the next main character in the following installation. I certainly appreciated how even the side characters had their little arch, perfectly setting up the rest of the series as well as giving a glimpse into the future of the prior story.

The romance was sweet and definitely captivated me with its ups and downs. The beginning felt a little sudden as the couple kissed rather unexpectedly in my opinion. However, in the end I started appreciating the inability of the main characters to hold back their attraction to each other. It definitely had its charm to have two people who are very much into each other.

Overall, a pretty decent second novel by an upcoming historical romance author. I’ll definitely check out the rest of the series moving forward.

5 stars

I enjoyed this book 2 more that book 1. Richard has got PTSD and doesn't think he will ever get married. Patience is an artist that likes Richard and can't see any good reason for them not to have their HEA. Her brother is very protective of her but in her view unnecessarily. I liked this book.


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

A Soldier and his Rules while being spicy, beautifully addresses PTSD and how it is perceived by others. I really liked the characters in this story and thought the other did a great job of blending an adult romance, historical fiction, and mental health.

Thank you netgalley for A Soldier and his Rules by Olivia Elliott

A lovely, very well-written historical novel, “A Soldier and his Rules”, by Olivia Elliott, features strong, compelling characters, and is a pleasure to read.
There are several things I loved in this story: the large, stern yet so tender and thoughtful hero, the genuine, impetuous, smart heroine, the writing, the humor.
The way they meet, the surprise, enchantment and seduction, is also engaging. How vibrant, intuitive Patience sees through Richard’s walls.
Richard is a war hero, a protector, haunted by the horrors of war and a traumatic childhood.
I loved the indirect characterization, and the power of suggestion in Elliott’s language - to describe the hero’s size or the serious mental health issues he is facing.
The romance contains elements of tenderness, cuddling, sensuality and eroticism that are also interesting to read.
There’s also knowledge about social rules and etiquette and showing how the leads choose not to follow them.

Fun regency romance with just right amount of drama-enough to keep me reading and engaged with the characters but not so much that it’s heavy.

I have not read a regency romance in some time, and this one did not disappoint! If you are looking for a fast-paced gentle read centered around two interesting main characters look no further!

The connection and chemistry between Patience and Richard were there from the start. Patience is a strong willed 27-year-old woman who has met her match in Richard and he in her and their journey to acknowledging their love for each other was addicting and made it hard to put down the book (I read it in less than 24 hours). I found myself looking forward to their next encounter to know how the story would progress. Not to mention that the side characters had an important role to play and added something special to the story.

Although PTSD wasn’t a mental health diagnosis until the late 20th century, it was interesting to see how the author added the symptoms as a topic of discussion in the book and how society perceived those suffering from such symptoms.

I liked that the book was written in third person. It made it easier to understand each character’s point of view, feelings, and emotions.

This is my first time reading a book by this author, and I liked it.

Patience, the heroine is slightly older, and her maturity in character comes through, especially at the end of the book. She's an artist, so she has the ability to see through emotions. She's outspoken, she does not care much for societal strictures, she's brave, she's bold and all round kickass.

Richard is a returning war hero, and the war has wreaked havoc on him, physically but more so mentally. It's Patience fortitude that helps him heal. It's her love and support that helps him live.

Their romance is explosive - it's fraught with issues, hindered by misguided family members, but they pull through for a hea.

A nice read that was well written with good dialogue and steamy scenes.

#netgalley #ASoldierAndHisRules

This is a short and sweet Regency romance., pretty standard in its tropes and character backgrounds/traits. The relationship between Patience and Richard progresses quite fast, to the point that I felt removed from the story. Brother George is too dramatic by half, but I don't enjoy the overprotective older brother trope, so that's on me. All in all, this was about what I expected.

Review
A Soldier and his Rules
by Olivia Elliott

1. Overview:
It is a classical historical romance novel set in the Regency era. The author Olivia Elliott characters resonate because she reveals full characteristics in all of them, good and bad. Major Richard Winter, Viscount a soldier at heart struggles with the fine line between order and chaos more so when he meets the intriguing Miss Patience Pemberton. The Baron’s daughter challenges the viscount and all his rules in the most humorous forward way.

2. What did I like:
- The way the author overlaps the time in moments out of different characters' experiences. It made me feel like I was there in the ballroom myself.
- The humor was evident and enjoyable without the characters trying to be funny.
- I love it when authors title their chapters without giving away any storyline beforehand.
- That there are deep in-bedded issues that are being addressed and I will not say more so that I do not give away the plot

3. What did I not like:
- The Lord's name being used in vain. This is most off-putting regardless of the genre of a book.
- The explicit in which the sex scenes are being described leaves no room to the imagination.

4. Ratings and Final thoughts:
I did enjoy the book and the challenges the characters face. I did not put the book down until I finished it at 2 o'clock in the morning. The story’s pace is fast with a lot of dialogue which I always credit.
I would rate A Soldiers and his Rules by Olivia Elliott 4 out of 5.

Note to author of Publisher - I am always open to discussing my reviews.

Kind Regards

Charlötte Bleeker