Review and Giveaway: The Headmistress of Rosemere by Sarah Ladd

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My Review

Regency romance is one of my favourite genres, and one (I feel) is under-represented in Christian fiction. My favourite authors in the genre are Kaye Dacus (who also writes contemporary romance), Jane Orcutt (who has gone on to her eternal reward) and Julie Klassen (Laurie Alice Eakes and Ruth Axtell are on my to-read pile).

I was pleased to read and recommend Sarah E Ladd’s first book, The Heiress of Winterwood, and am even more pleased to read The Headmistress of Rosemere. In this, Ladd secures her place in the top tier of Christian Regency romance authors. My only reservation is that reference to God or faith was absent for much of the novel, to the point where I started wondering if this was Christian Regency or merely ‘clean’.

Miss Patience Creighton has been managing Rosemere, a boarding school for girls in the grounds of Eastmore Hall, since her father died six months ago. Her older brother disappeared off to London shortly after the funeral and hasn’t been heard from since, and her mother has taken to her bed suffering grief and depression, leaving Patience in sole charge of the school, servants, and over twenty students.

William Sterling has returned to his home at Eastmore Hall hoping to somehow raise the money necessary to pay off his gambling debts. It’s not made clear what has changed his mind, but Ladd does a commendable job in redeeming the reprobate and turning him into a hero worthy of Patience.

Patience was a very good character, although patience was not one of her character traits. She was intelligent and educated in a time when this wasn’t the norm for women, and believed that love had passed her by at the grand old age of twenty-five. As a result, she’s not quite sure what to do about the handsome William Sterling. And, of course, she’s dedicated to her students …

The Headmistress of Rosemere is recommended for fans of Julie Klassen and Regency romance. There will be a third book in this series, and I’ll be looking out for it.

Thanks to Litfuse Publicity for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Sarah Ladd at her website.