REVIEW: The Girl with Flaming Hair by Natalie Kleinman

The Girl with Flaming Hair by Natalie Kleinman

Genre: Regency romance, Historical fiction

Read: 21st June 2021

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Published: 15th June 2021

★★★★ 4 stars

DESCRIPTION:

Sophie is plagued by the shadows of the past…

While driving his curricle, Rufus Solgrave, Earl of Luxton comes across Sophie Clifford lying unconscious in the road, having fallen from her horse. 

Not too far from home, he takes her back to Ashby, his country seat, leaving her in the care of his mother, Elizabeth, Countess of Luxton, and his sister, Lydia. Under their kindly supervision, Sophie soon begins to recover.

Upon discovering that Sophie has never mixed with London society, Elizabeth invites her to accompany the family to town for Lydia’s come-out. Unhappy with her homelife and eager to sample the delights of the season, Sophie accepts.

However, her enjoyment is marred when talk of an old scandal surrounding her birth resurfaces. What’s more, her devious stepbrother, Francis Follet, has followed her to London, intent on making her his bride.

Sensing Sophie’s distress, Rufus steps in to protect her from Francis’s unwelcome advances.

And although neither Rufus nor Sophie are yet thinking of marriage, both soon begin to wonder whether their comfortable friendship could blossom into something warmer…

MY REVIEW:

I'm excited to be taking part in the #BlogTour for Natalie Kleinman's delightful regency romance THE GIRL WITH FLAMING HAIR.

While I'm not generally a fan of romances per se, I do enjoy the gentle simplicity of regency romances...particularly as they are set against the backdrop of sweeping historical times. They have a bit of Downton-esque about them as well as a touch of Poldark (particularly those set in Cornwall) and almost every other period drama we love to devour. The are light and easy reads with a simple storyline that usually promises a scandal or a mystery within its plot ultimately ending in a happily ever after. THE GIRL WITH FLAMING HAIR is no different and I devoured it in one sitting over the course of about six hours.

When setting out on a journey, Rufus Solgrave, the Earl of Luxton, stumbles across the unconscious Sophie Clifford with her horse standing protectively over her. Without a second thought, he does the gentlemanly thing and transports her back to his estate of Ashby where she is left to recover under the care of his mother Lady Elizabeth Luxton and his sister Lydia. Over the course of the following days and weeks as Sophie recovers her health, it soon becomes clear that she is reluctant to return to her own unhappy family.

At 21 years of age, Sophie's mother died in childbirth and her father Baron Clifford remarried a most unlikeable woman who brought with her a son of her own, Francis Follet. None of her family spare any love for Sophie who has never ventured out of Buckinghamshire nor has she presented to society. Her step-brother Francis pursues Sophie relentlessly with designs of marriage - a prospect Sophie does not bear thinking about. Throughout her recovery at Ashby, Sophie's eyes were opened to different kind of family and lifestyle from which she had been sheltered all her life. Sensing her reluctance to return to Charnwood, Elizabeth invites Sophie to accompany them to London for Lydia's coming out season.

Once in London, Sophie discovers she loves the hustle and bustle and life of the capital and being introduced to society. She loves the shops and ordering new ballgowns, frocks and hats and meeting new people. Something she has never before experienced. But then, whilst there, she discovers a secret surrounding her birth that threatens to make her an outcast from the very society in which she is just immersing herself. And what's more, her devious step-brother has followed her to London intent on making her his bride. When she refuses him once again he alludes to the fact that his would be the only offer she is likely to get.

Not wanting a scandal to damage Lydia's chances of finding a suitable husband, Sophie moves out and takes up residence with the mother of one of Rufus' friends who does not care an ounce for scandalised whispers. But as the season nears its end, the Luxtons move back to the country and the newly independent Sophie, with her own fortune inherited from her mother, purchases a spacious cottage nearby.

But the scandal they thought they had left behind has followed them and Sophie finds her future may be under threat. Can she find love and happiness after all? Or will those secrets she carries be too damaging?

Carefully crafted, THE GIRL WITH FLAMING HAIR takes the reader back to regency society with all its airs and graces, its foibles and scandals as well as its love and romance. The pace is steady throughout with all the elements of mystery and danger to keep you turning the pages. As with the nature of regency romances, there is an element of predictability but there are also some unexpected twists to the story making it a delight to read.

THE GIRL WITH FLAMING HAIR is light and easy read filled with all the usual scandal, family skeletons, secrets, lies, manipulation, kindness and love all wrapped up in a happily ever after.

Delightfully entertaining, THE GIRL WITH FLAMING HAIR is a perfect escape from the frenetic pace of the 21st century for a few hours.

I would like to thank #NatalieKleinman, #Netgalley, #RachelsRandomResources and #SapereBooks for an ARC of #TheGirlWithFlamingHair in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Natalie’s passion for reading became a compulsion to write when she attended a ten-week course in creative writing some sixteen or so years ago. She takes delight in creating short stories of which more than forty have been published, but it was her lifelong love of Regency romance that led her to turn from contemporary romantic fiction to try her hand at her favourite genre. Raised on a diet of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, she is never happier than when immersed in an age of etiquette and manners, fashion and intrigue, all combined into a romping good tale. She lives on the London/Kent border, close to the capital’s plethora of museums and galleries which she uses for research as well as pleasure. A perfect day though is when she heads out of town to enjoy lunch by a pub on the river, any river, in company with her husband and friends. 

Natalie is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, the Society of Authors and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.

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