Scan barcode
english_lady03's review
3.0
A few Americanisms, but an alright story although it was a bit predictable and cliched towards the end.
rusticreadingal's review
4.0
Follow the Heart was another great book by Kaye Dacus. I've loved every single one of her books and this one is no different. It was the type of book that I wanted to read as fast as I could, yet at the same time, I wanted to take my time and savour every moment of it.
I felt as though I was transported back to Victorian England while reading this lovely and inspirational romance. The characters seemed to come to life and jumped out of the pages for me. I could feel their ups and downs, their struggles and triumphs and wondered how (and if) things would end the way I wished them to end.
I enjoyed every single second of this book and, needless to say, HIGHLY recommend it! Kaye Dacus has once again cemented herself on my favorite authors list and I can't wait to read more from her!
I felt as though I was transported back to Victorian England while reading this lovely and inspirational romance. The characters seemed to come to life and jumped out of the pages for me. I could feel their ups and downs, their struggles and triumphs and wondered how (and if) things would end the way I wished them to end.
I enjoyed every single second of this book and, needless to say, HIGHLY recommend it! Kaye Dacus has once again cemented herself on my favorite authors list and I can't wait to read more from her!
jazzyjan94's review
3.0
I enjoyed reading this book. It was a nice quick read, even though it was 300 pages long. I liked the story line, even though it was kind of predictible what would happen. I am looking forward to reading the second book in this series.
lsoccer12's review
2.0
Charaters started off strong, unique, and likeable. As the novel progressed there seemed to be a rush to the finish, this led the relationships/romances to feel forced and under-developed.
Overall, a decent historical romance read.
Overall, a decent historical romance read.
pixieauthoress's review
5.0
Kate Dearing is already a spinster in the eyes of Philadelphia society, and when her only suitor drops her upon hearing that her father has lost his entire fortune in a railroad speculation, her prospects seem bleaker than ever. Convinced that the only way to restore his family’s position is to marry money, Kate’s father sends her and her brother to England to visit their uncle, Sir Anthony. While Christopher hopes to use his experience as a lawyer to support their family, and thus avoid marrying someone he doesn’t love, Kate knows her only hope is to marry into money. But can she really settle for a marriage of convenience for the sake of restoring her family to their previous position in society?
Despite her annoyance at being used by her father to replace the money he lost, Kate entertains the attentions of the young men who frequent her uncle’s home, and manages to catch the eye of the eligible Lord Thynne. But it is not Lord Thynne who Kate truly longs to be with. Not long after arriving at her uncle’s home, Kate’s explorations of the family gardens brought her into contact with Andrew, a young landscape artist hired by her uncle. Their common interest in gardening, as well as their conflicting opinions on the subject, give them excuses to spend time together. Eventually, neither of them can deny their attraction for each other, even though they know it can never go anywhere. Kate is faced with a difficult choice—marry for love and leave her family destitute, or marry for money and be unhappy for the rest of her life. Can she trust God to guide her to the right man, or will she be forced to take matters into her own hands?
Although I’d heard of Kaye Dacus prior to reading this book, Follow the Heart is the first of her novels that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. What initially drew me to this series was the topic of the Great Exhibition, around which the plot is centred, and the Downton Abbey feel that the synopsis had. Although this novel is set nearly seventy years before the first episode of Downton Abbey, the upstairs/downstairs relationships and setting evoked a similar feeling, which will definitely appeal to those readers who are anxiously awaiting the fourth season.
Being able to see the luxurious lifestyle of Sir Anthony’s family through the eyes of a visiting American was certainly an interesting experience, since most British historical novels are told from the perspective of an insider. I was just as amused and perplexed as Kate was at some of the traditions and expectations of her uncle’s family, and I’m sure many readers will appreciate learning about the differences in British and American high society in the 1850s. And even if you’re not a history fan, the descriptions of Kate’s wonderful dresses are more than worth reading this novel for. I’m sure we’ll be in for a treat in the second book in the series, which focuses on Kate’s dressmaker.
I don’t believe I’ve ever come across a gardening hero before, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Kate and Andrew’s shared hobby. Gardening isn’t something I’ve ever been terribly interested in, but their passion for the subject drew me in. Although I knew that Kate and Andrew would somehow get their happily ever after ending (after all, this is a romance novel, and we read these books because we want happy endings!) there were several times when I began to doubt myself and wonder if Kaye was going to spring a surprise twist on her readers. The conflict was strong enough to keep me guessing and wondering whether Kate and Andrew would really get together. I felt Kate’s need to support her parents and siblings so strongly that at times I wanted to yank her away from Andrew because I knew she couldn’t bring herself to abandon her family, but then I wanted to throw her back to Andrew because her happiness is surely more important than her family’s money.
Kate’s situation is one that I’m sure many women found themselves in at this time. Many American women were sent to Britain in the late nineteenth century, although more often or not they were married into noble families for their money, not their need of it (Cora in Downton Abbey, anyone?) But whether these women were marrying money or bringing cash to a bankrupt British family, the situation was hardly different. As much as I enjoy a good historical romance, I know that we often skim over the uncomfortable details of the period. Marriages of convenience are among my favourite types of romances, but I know that not all of them end happily—as Kate felt with her courtship to Lord Thynne. I didn’t envy Kate’s position, nor that of many of the other women in Follow the Heart. I appreciated that Kaye chose to show how difficult it was having to marry for duty, not love, and how many women from high society never had the opportunity to even contemplate falling in love.
Kate envies her youngest cousin’s governess, despite all the excitement and glitz that is lacking from Nora’s life. Like Christopher, Nora is able to earn a living and support herself without being forced to marry someone she doesn’t love. As interesting as I found the conversations between Kate and Nora, as well as the acknowledgement that they both had difficult lives despite their different social standings, I did find the secondary romance between Nora and Christopher to be too rushed for my liking. They seemed to fall in love almost at first sight, and although I was happy for them in the end, I did wish more of the book had focused on them falling in love with each other so that I could have really believed in the strength of their love for each other. Likewise, the ending to the novel felt a little too perfect, with everything wrapped up incredibly neatly. Considering the difficulties Kate and Christopher encountered throughout the novel, it just felt a little too perfect to be realistic.
Although I feel like I’ve said a lot about this novel, I can’t quite verbalise just how much I loved Follow the Heart. I thought this would be a fairly light, historical romance, but it ended up being so much deeper than that. I really felt for Kate and hurt alongside her as she struggled between doing what her family thought was right and trusting that God would find a way to bring them through their difficult times. The spiritual side of this book is relatively minimal, but the message of trusting in God is one that we all need reminded of from time to time.
It’s very easy to get wrapped up in the lives of the characters in Follow the Heart, and suddenly look up from your book and realise in shock that you’re not in a beautifully landscaped garden in England in 1851. I was sad to see this book end, but I have high hopes for the rest of The Great Exhibition series, and will most certainly be picking up An Honest Heart in October.
Review title provided by B&H.
Despite her annoyance at being used by her father to replace the money he lost, Kate entertains the attentions of the young men who frequent her uncle’s home, and manages to catch the eye of the eligible Lord Thynne. But it is not Lord Thynne who Kate truly longs to be with. Not long after arriving at her uncle’s home, Kate’s explorations of the family gardens brought her into contact with Andrew, a young landscape artist hired by her uncle. Their common interest in gardening, as well as their conflicting opinions on the subject, give them excuses to spend time together. Eventually, neither of them can deny their attraction for each other, even though they know it can never go anywhere. Kate is faced with a difficult choice—marry for love and leave her family destitute, or marry for money and be unhappy for the rest of her life. Can she trust God to guide her to the right man, or will she be forced to take matters into her own hands?
Although I’d heard of Kaye Dacus prior to reading this book, Follow the Heart is the first of her novels that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. What initially drew me to this series was the topic of the Great Exhibition, around which the plot is centred, and the Downton Abbey feel that the synopsis had. Although this novel is set nearly seventy years before the first episode of Downton Abbey, the upstairs/downstairs relationships and setting evoked a similar feeling, which will definitely appeal to those readers who are anxiously awaiting the fourth season.
Being able to see the luxurious lifestyle of Sir Anthony’s family through the eyes of a visiting American was certainly an interesting experience, since most British historical novels are told from the perspective of an insider. I was just as amused and perplexed as Kate was at some of the traditions and expectations of her uncle’s family, and I’m sure many readers will appreciate learning about the differences in British and American high society in the 1850s. And even if you’re not a history fan, the descriptions of Kate’s wonderful dresses are more than worth reading this novel for. I’m sure we’ll be in for a treat in the second book in the series, which focuses on Kate’s dressmaker.
I don’t believe I’ve ever come across a gardening hero before, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Kate and Andrew’s shared hobby. Gardening isn’t something I’ve ever been terribly interested in, but their passion for the subject drew me in. Although I knew that Kate and Andrew would somehow get their happily ever after ending (after all, this is a romance novel, and we read these books because we want happy endings!) there were several times when I began to doubt myself and wonder if Kaye was going to spring a surprise twist on her readers. The conflict was strong enough to keep me guessing and wondering whether Kate and Andrew would really get together. I felt Kate’s need to support her parents and siblings so strongly that at times I wanted to yank her away from Andrew because I knew she couldn’t bring herself to abandon her family, but then I wanted to throw her back to Andrew because her happiness is surely more important than her family’s money.
Kate’s situation is one that I’m sure many women found themselves in at this time. Many American women were sent to Britain in the late nineteenth century, although more often or not they were married into noble families for their money, not their need of it (Cora in Downton Abbey, anyone?) But whether these women were marrying money or bringing cash to a bankrupt British family, the situation was hardly different. As much as I enjoy a good historical romance, I know that we often skim over the uncomfortable details of the period. Marriages of convenience are among my favourite types of romances, but I know that not all of them end happily—as Kate felt with her courtship to Lord Thynne. I didn’t envy Kate’s position, nor that of many of the other women in Follow the Heart. I appreciated that Kaye chose to show how difficult it was having to marry for duty, not love, and how many women from high society never had the opportunity to even contemplate falling in love.
Kate envies her youngest cousin’s governess, despite all the excitement and glitz that is lacking from Nora’s life. Like Christopher, Nora is able to earn a living and support herself without being forced to marry someone she doesn’t love. As interesting as I found the conversations between Kate and Nora, as well as the acknowledgement that they both had difficult lives despite their different social standings, I did find the secondary romance between Nora and Christopher to be too rushed for my liking. They seemed to fall in love almost at first sight, and although I was happy for them in the end, I did wish more of the book had focused on them falling in love with each other so that I could have really believed in the strength of their love for each other. Likewise, the ending to the novel felt a little too perfect, with everything wrapped up incredibly neatly. Considering the difficulties Kate and Christopher encountered throughout the novel, it just felt a little too perfect to be realistic.
Although I feel like I’ve said a lot about this novel, I can’t quite verbalise just how much I loved Follow the Heart. I thought this would be a fairly light, historical romance, but it ended up being so much deeper than that. I really felt for Kate and hurt alongside her as she struggled between doing what her family thought was right and trusting that God would find a way to bring them through their difficult times. The spiritual side of this book is relatively minimal, but the message of trusting in God is one that we all need reminded of from time to time.
It’s very easy to get wrapped up in the lives of the characters in Follow the Heart, and suddenly look up from your book and realise in shock that you’re not in a beautifully landscaped garden in England in 1851. I was sad to see this book end, but I have high hopes for the rest of The Great Exhibition series, and will most certainly be picking up An Honest Heart in October.
Review title provided by B&H.
blackngoldgirlsbookspot's review
4.0
Regency romances are some of my favorite stories to read, while Follow the Heart the first in a new series by Kaye Dacus is set during a later period, it still has that sweet, easy pace that I love regencies for. What really appealed to me about this book was the fact that there were not one but two romances that developed in the course of the story. I'm not usually fond of books that feature more than one romance in a single story but Ms. Dacus did a wonderful job of making it natural and in no way rushed. Often times one of the couple's gets the short end of the stick and I say to myself, "Well, that escalated quickly", but not so with Follow the Heart. The only teeny thing that disappointed me with this book was the lack of Great Exhibition scenes. Since it's part of a series called the Great Exhibition I guess I was expecting more to take place there. However, I did adore the final scene in the Crystal Palace *sigh*! Here's to hoping for even more romance and industry in book 2, An Honest Heart!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.*
*I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.*
More...