Review ~ Follow the Heart by Kaye Dacus

I always enjoy a book written by Kaye Dacus. She has a mature writing voice that is crisp and clean. Her writing is rich in detail, full of imagination and subtle spiritual themes. In Follow the Heart, we get a glimpse into the excitement surrounding The Great Exhibition in 1851. Plus, it's a two-for-one romance! Kate and Andrew are the main couple, but Christopher and Nora play prominent rolls in the story, as well.

Kate Dearing sets sail to England with her brother, Christopher, under the assumption that she must marry someone wealthy in order to save her American family from financial ruin. Of course, she meets two gentlemen who desire her hand in marriage but only one can reign supreme. Will it be the viscount, Lord Thynne, who has charm and sophistication, and plenty of money? Or will it be Andrew Lawton, the landscape architect, redesigning the gardens at her uncle's home, that she's seen in a compromising position with, twice?

The love triangle in this book is fascinating and exciting without crossing the lines of propriety. I could have routed for either gentleman, and if truth be told, I almost wished she would have picked...oh wait. I can't tell. They're both worthy of Kate's love but only by following her heart will she find true happiness.

Christopher Dearing doesn't have any trouble following his heart! Almost as soon as he lays eyes on Nora, he is smitten. But, Nora is a governess and beneath his position as an attorney. Their budding relationship and subsequent secretive courtship is sweet and endearing.

Fans of Historical Fiction will appreciate this well written and captivating story. It kept me wishing that if time travel were possible, I would like to travel back and see the Great Exhibition. It would have been a sight to behold!

Thanks to B&H Publishing, through Netgalley, for my advance reader copy. I was not required to write a positive review.

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About the book

Set during the Industrial Revolution and the Great Exhibition of 1851, Follow the Heart is a “sitting-room romance” with the feel of a Regency-era novel but the fashions and technological advances of the mid-Victorian age.

Kate and Christopher Dearing’s lives turn upside down when their father loses everything in a railroad land speculation. The siblings are shipped off to their mother’s brother in England with one edict: marry money.

At twenty-seven years old, Kate has the stigma of being passed over by eligible men many times—and that was before she had no dowry. Christopher would like nothing better than to make his own way in the world; and with a law degree and expertise in the burgeoning railroad industry, he was primed to do just that—in America.

Though their uncle tries to ensure Kate and Christopher find matrimonial prospects only among the highest echelon of British society, their attentions stray to a gardener and a governess.

While Christopher has options that would enable him to lay his affections where he chooses, he cannot let the burden of their family’s finances crush his sister. Trying to push her feelings for the handsome—but not wealthy— gardener aside, Kate’s prospects brighten when a wealthy viscount shows interest in her. But is marrying for the financial security of her family the right thing to do, when her heart is telling her she’s making a mistake?

Mandates . . . money . . . matrimony. Who will follow the heart?

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About the author

Humor, Hope, and Happily Ever Afters! Kaye Dacus is the author of humorous, hope-filled contemporary and historical romances with Barbour Publishing, Harvest House Publishers, and B&H Publishing. She holds a Master of Arts in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, is a former Vice President of American Christian Fiction Writers, and currently serves as President of Middle Tennessee Christian Writers. Kaye lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is a full-time academic advisor and part-time college composition instructor for Bethel University.

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Kaye is one of my favorite authors! If you haven't read any of her books, I highly encourage you to grab a couple of them for some great summer reading.

Do you have a favorite author on your summer reading list?  If so, please share!