Review ~ Winning Miss Winthrop (Regency Brides: A Promise of Hope #1) by Carolyn Miller

Paperback, 320 pages

Expected publication: March 27th 2018 by Kregel Publications

Catherine Winthrop has cried out to God too many times to count. Years ago, the man who stole her heart rejected her--and she's never recovered. Now tragedy has brought him back into her life. This time it isn't her heart he's taking, it's her home and her family's good name--and she has no one to share her grief. 

Jonathan Carlew's life may look enviable from the outside--wealthy, handsome, landed--but the mystery surrounding his birth has shadowed his entire life. Now as he ascends to the barony, fresh challenges await, including a scheming mama who wants him to embrace power, even at the cost of losing love. How can he remain the kind, honorable man he strives to be and still meet the demands of his new society responsibilities? 

These two broken hearts must decide whether their painful past and bitter present will be all they can share, or if forgiveness can provide a path to freedom for the future. 

Set in the sumptuous salons of Bath, Regency England's royal breeding ground for gossip, Winning Miss Winthrop is the first volume in Carolyn Miller's new series. Fans of the wholesome and richly drawn first series won’t want to miss this new set of characters. 

Carolyn Miller lives in New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. A longtime lover of Regency romance, Carolyn's previous novels have won several contests, including the 2014 RWA "Touched by Love" and 2014 ACFW Gensis contests. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and My Book Therapy.

Purchase Links:

Amazon

CBD

My Review 

"...trials are merely opportunities for faith to grow."

Having fallen in love three years before, Mr. Carlew, a member of the merchant class with a questionable background, and Miss Winthrop, a baron’s daughter, were thwarted in their romance. Due to unanticipated circumstances, they are thrown in to close proximity. Indicative of classic Regency, copious misunderstandings persist between them. Will the interference of their mother’s cause them to remain estranged? Or will Jonathan and Catherine, through many trials, discover that loves flame has not been extinguished?

While I enjoyed this novel, my attention wandered. Jon and Catherine did not sizzle. And I’m a fan of more dialogue. I felt like I was hearing second hand about their past. But, it was delightful to see Lavinia and Nicholas from The Elusive Miss Ellison appearing throughout the book. Catching up on their life was a highlight for me. Catherine’s Aunt Drusilla and General Whitby are lovable characters that found a place in my heart.

Miller is a gifted writer who knows the Regency period. The descriptions of the unusual weather taking place were vivid, making me cringe at the thought of all that mud! The masquerade ball was most expressive, drawing me right into the scene. Undertones of Persuasion are recognizable which makes me positive historical fiction lovers and fans of Jane Austen will undoubtedly enjoy a few hours of escapism with Winning Miss Winthrop. I look forward to the next book in the series because Miller is more than proficient at conveying the Regency Era and all it entails, and it is my favorite historical period to read about.

I was provided an electronic copy of the book from the publisher through Netgalley. I was not obligated to write a review. No compensation has been received.

Words from a Poet

And fear no more for me; or if you fear

Cast all your cares on God; that anchor holds.

Is He not yonder in those uttermost

Parts of the morning? if I flee to these

Can I go from Him? and the sea is His,

The sea is His: He made it.

The above is an excerpt from Enoch Arden, a narrative poem by Alfred Tennyson, published in 1864. In the poem, Enoch Arden is a happily married fisherman who suffers financial problems and becomes a merchant seaman. He is shipwrecked, and, after 10 years on a desert island, he returns home to discover that his beloved wife, believing him dead, has remarried and has a new child. Not wishing to spoil his wife’s happiness, he never lets her know that he is alive. (from Encyclopedia Britannica)

My son purchased this collection at a library sale. I always feel a bit sad when they get rid of these great works. They should keep these classics. There is much to be learned about life within their pages.

Do you have a favorite poet? If so, please share in the comments.

Have a blessed day in the Lord!

I know it's true...

 Spring is Coming

Spring is coming, spring is coming.

How do you think I know?

I see a flower blooming,

I know it must be so.

Spring is coming, spring is coming,

How do you think I know?

I see a blossom on the tree,

I know it must be so.

~ Author Unknown ~

Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.

~Psalm 92:13~

Sharing with

~ Autumn Sunset ~

From the rising of the sun to its setting,

    the name of the Lord is to be praised!

Psalm 113:3

You sure don't have to live in a rural area to enjoy the sunset 

but I love the view from our front porch. 

This was on Tuesday evening, Oct 15th.

Where do you watch the sunset?

***

Sharing with

Practice makes perfect & a personal note

I was out exploring the yard, taking some practice shots the other day, trying to learn how to blur the background in a shot but have the main subject crisp & clear. I managed some pretty decent shots so I thought I'd share them today.

The bane of my existence are Pecan Trees in the spring. We have five of them on our property, all close to the house, and all are in full blossom. Hundreds of these pollen filled tassels are making everything green and causing me to sneeze.

Some old pots leaning kind of funky against the well. I like how they swoop up and draw my eye to the corner.

A well protected Thrasher egg nestled inside a Holly bush. 

Love this grass!

Spotted this mushroom among some tiny weeds, glistening in the sun. It's not as big as it looks!

I managed to sit my camera on the ground and take some shots. I couldn't even see the viewfinder because I had crammed it so far down. This is my husband's favorite shot of the mushroom so I had to include it :)

I felt kind of weird taking what seemed to be random photos, but it is really stirring my creative juices. I'm no where near where I want to be but it is fun to reach for a creative goal!

Do you ever just go out to play?

~~~~~

By the time most of you see this post it will be Mother's Day. If you are a mom, I wish you all the best memories! I will be remembering my beautiful daughter Amy and our final goodbye on Mother's Day last year.

Here's a poem I wrote recently in memory of Amy, as an assignment in a grief writing course I am taking.

Hands

tiny and weak

your newborn hands,

cradled protectively

within my own,

sweet kisses from my lips

cover them in prayer.

slender and cool

your delicate hands,

entwined  gently

within my own,

hot tears and desperate kisses

blanket them in prayer.

warm and strong

your beautiful hands,

reaching out

enfolded safely,

for all eternity

held by Another.

creased and worn,

my cold hands

rest empty,

wet with tears

and

silent prayers.

Written by Anne Payne, April 24^th 2013

(Do not copy or use in any way without my permission)

I do truly wish you all a blessed day in the Lord!

Hope in Misery

Bachelor's Button 

~ S.C. Edgarton ~

The cloud may be dark, but there is sunshine beyond it;
The night may be o’er us, but morning is near;
The vale may be deep, but there’s music around it;
And hope, mid our anguish, bright hope is still here.

Still here, though the wing of dark sorrow is o’er us,
Tho’ bitterness dregs every cup that we drink;
With a smile in her eyes, she glides before us
To yield us support when we falter or sink.

Blessed hope! like a star on the darkness of ocean,
Still gleam o’er the track where our destinies tend;
And guide our frail hearts from this sea of emotion,
To havens of peace where our sorrows will end.

 Braveheart texture - Nancy Claeys 

Sharing with:

                                  

Daffodils, Poetry and Scripture

After the icing of Feb 26th, it was hard to find flowers that survived but these lovely Daffodils are blooming in our field. 

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. 

~William Wordsworth

For, lo, the winter is past, 
the rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth; t
he time of the singing of birds is come, 
and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, 
and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. 
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Song of Solomon 2:11-13

 Truth shall spring out of the earth; 
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; 
and our land shall yield her increase.

Righteousness shall go before him; a
nd shall set us in the way of his steps.

Psalm 85:11-13

Have a blessed day in the LORD!

I'm linked with 

Weekly Top Shot #73 

and 

Weekend Flowers #89

Communal eating

I love sitting in my rocking chair and watching these pretty birds as they work on getting those yummy seeds out of this bell. I think they're some kind of Tufted Titmouse but I'm not sure. 

They're beautiful and funny to watch. Every now and then they hang on the screen and peer in the window. One even went so far as to "knock" twice.  

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore -
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping.
Edgar Allan Poe
The Raven.

I think this little bird has something to say...

Matthew 6:25-27  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?"

They're not the best shots. I had to take them through the screen and my camera is a Kodak Easy Share. Maybe I just don't know how to use it correctly either. I edited with PicMonkey and a background paper from the Art Painted 5 Sunset Papers that I purchased from My Memories.  

Have a great day in the Lord!