Julie C. Donaldson

When Marianne receives an invitation to spend the summer with her twin sister in Edenbrooke, she has no idea of the romance and adventure that await her once she meets the dashing Sir Philip.

Edenbrooke

Everything I could ever want in a period romance novel. I read it straight through, hardly taking food or bathroom breaks. I admit the beginning was not promising, it was quite clunky and corny, but after the first chapter or so it found its stride and I was hooked. Philip is bae. Definitely adding this to my personal library for future re-readings.

Bethany

Cute romance, all fluff and pining. Nice setting.

Charlie Winchester 

Macy Johnson

Edenbrooke. SIGH. ;)

Even though Marianne was really dumb at points, I love this book a lot (how much can you truly blame her? She was suuuuper sheltered and away from family, and didn't want to shame them or assume things. She tried though. Men are just manipulative and… she does not trust them. …Valid.) (she just chose a reaaalllly bad situation to distrust, like talk about poor judgment) 

PHILIP IS SUCH A STUD OH MY GOSH. The love letter scene slayed me; I could have literally screamed. His pure hotness was too much to handle. The way he teases her but is secretly (or not so secretly) incredibly genuine and so soft is absolutely everything.

“This effort to sever our friendship was more difficult than I expected.” SO DON'T.

I also love the "I promise not to love you for your money" scene. Literally all of their scenes together make me smile uncontrollably. 

The cow song. Period.

I'm such a huge fan of Julianne Donaldson's work. I didn't like Edenbrooke as much as Blackmoore, but that one is incredibly special and hard to beat. This author does regency so beautifully, incorporating the simplicity of the time without getting hung up on the details that we don’t want to hear about. I think her books are worlds better than other Regencies. You know that the book is taking place during a different time period, but she makes it as relatable as possible, and never bland. Her books are NOT laggy. I’m constantly smiling and turning pages because the nonstop romantic tension is REAL. She does a freaking killer slow burn, wOW. 

She has only written two regency fiction novels so far but they each have such originality to them and are so incredibly heartfelt. The characters stand out and there are some good opposing forces in each book that lend confusion and mayhem. The men are the noblest sort and I think they challenge the greats. Read the book before you disagree with me. Can you say SMOKING? HOT? Their loyalty and kindness and sense of duty and honor just astound you. These men only exist in literature, but I love me some Henry Delafield and Philip, Mr. Heir of Edenbrooke. <3 Cannot be beat. And can I say I so admire Julianne Donaldson’s resolution to create happy endings? …Even if her protagonists have to be a little blonde to do it. ;) AGH. It’s worth the frustration though. 

LOVE!!!!

I’m begging you Ms. Donaldson, write more novels. I need another Henry.

love, love, love this book. i cannot read it and not automatically be in a better more optimistic mood.

Rachel Braithwaite

Clari

It's been a while since i felt so much reading something

Mary Horton

My thoughts are as jumbled as trail mix right now.

For the first 160 pages, all I could think was, "When will this book be over?" However, somewhere after that, I found myself...actually liking the book somewhat? I don't even know. I AM A CONFUSED DRAGON.

Okay, okay. List time, people.


  Lovely Things:


- The estate of Edenbrooke was absolutely gorgeous. It feels like a summer paradise, with it massive library (ahhhhh!), orchards, horses to ride, and lovely landscaping. I JUST WANT TO GO THERE PLEASE.

- It was rather funny. Okay, so I rolled my eyes quite a bit at this book...but I couldn't help laughing at some of Philip and Marianne's banter, as well as Mr. Clumpett's animated discussions on birds. (He was the best. XD) I rather enjoyed the wittiness.

- Philip was pretty awesome. Admittedly, he was waaaaay more flirtatious than he needed to be...but guys, c'mon. He IS a gentleman, and I loved that about him.

- The undercurrent theme of acceptance. Although I wasn't extremely touched by it, I appreciated the fact that romantic love wasn't the only focus in this story. Both Philip and Marianne desired to be accepted as they were, which I appreciated. 


  Not So Lovely Things:


- The emotions were all. over. the. place. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about emotionally relatable characters whose stories tug at my heartstrings. But Marianne did NOT fit in that category for me. She was an emotional trainwreck, going from wanting to kiss Philip one second to vowing never to speak to him the next. WHAT THE POPPY SEED, GIRL?! I was groaning a lot as she flounced around in her emotional bubble, oblivious to everything around her. 

- Marianne drove me crazy. This is tied into the last point, but ughhhh, I wanted to hit Marianne over the head with a frying pan. All she seemed to do was blush, twirl, think about twirling, and confuse poor Philip. Like goshhhh. She had no chill whatsoever, and couldn't figure out anything. Really?! *bangs head on wall* 

- The author seemed to dismiss Cecily's behavior. Although Marianne didn't like her sister's...ahem, flirtatious manner with Certain People, in the end, the author seemed to just say, "Oh, never mind. Let her go flirt with whoever she wants." UM HOW ABOUT NO. Cecily was flirting with this one person that was fairly disreputable, and in the end everyone's like "eh, not our problem." Whyyyy?

- There were a few words I didn't appreciate. You all know how I am about language...and although the two words could have been okay in that context, I wasn't entirely comfortable with them. I really didn't understand whether the author was intending them as mild language or something else. (Because yes, there are appropriate places in which to use them.) I'm pretty sure this book was published by a Christian publishing group, so maybe they were used in context? I don't know enough to make a good judgment on this, but it still made me uncomfortable. *shrugs* Also, the romance went a little too heavy on the kissing/physical attraction stuff, so there's that.

SO YEAH. That's my take on this book. I may just be overcritical of it, I don't know. I'M VERY CONFUSED. (And also very happy to be done with this book, haha.)

3 stars

Heather Wood

Enjoyment level of this book was high.

Yes, I admitted to being miserable at the 2/3 mark, but I suppose the misery makes the wonderful parts that much more enjoyable. (Side characters were starting to say horrible things, but thankfully it didn't continue / they weren't truly evil.)

I loved the characters, the setting, the storytelling, the romance, and the happy ending.
This book was very, very clean with some swoon worthy smoldering looks, but is not at all faith-based. I will be looking at this book in the future as the gold standard of how romance can be totally smoldering without being all about muscles and curves. To that, I say to the author, well done! 👏👏👏 I will be reading more of Donaldson.

In response to the reviews about historical accuracy- it's true that this book was completely vague about which era it is representing and it was more about the STORY than about trying to teach history, as there were exactly zero historical events or persons referenced. So I think this book did exactly what it set out to do.

Liv Rockwell

Cute romance novel. I just wanted a quick read after an extremely stressful week. Chandler Ainsley recommended this book and it sounded right up my alley. If you are someone who enjoys the typical British romance, with friendly hints of Jane Austen, this novel will fit the bill. 

Did it blow me away? No, absolutely not. Did it make me smile and laugh a little in an airplane? Absolutely. If you just need a reason to smile, or an escape from life, this is a great romance for you.

Emily

This is the final book in my video 'Reading Romance for the First Time'!

Want to hear my full thoughts? Check it out!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcHU78gdK9s 

Lucy

4.5

I have a few issues with Cecily but all in all a wonderful romantic regency book. So heartwarming on a cold evening. I do love Marianne and Philip. So pure.

Julianne Donaldson

Marianne Daventry haría cualquier cosa para escapar del aburrimiento de Bath y las atenciones amorosas de un cretino que no le interesa en absoluto. Así que cuando le llega una invitación de su hermana gemela, Cecily, para que se una a ella en una maravillosa casa de campo, aprovecha la oportunidad. Por fin podrá relajarse y disfrutar del campo, que tanto le gusta, mientras su hermana se las arregla para librarse de las atenciones del guapo heredero de Edenbrooke. Sin embargo, Marianne acabará por descubrir que incluso los mejores planes pueden salir mal: primero será un aterrador encuentro con un salteador de caminos, después un coqueteo aparentemente inofensivo ... el caso es que, al final, Marianne se verá envuelta en una inesperada aventura llena de intriga y de amor, tan apasionante que no podrá dar descanso a su mente. ¿Será capaz de controlar su corazón traidor o caerá rendida ante un misterioso desconocido? Está claro, el destino quiere para Marianne algo distinto a lo que ella había planeado al ir a Edenbrooke.

Valentina Cely

Alicia Haws

Love this book so much! One of my absolute favorite novels of all time. I am a sucker for a good Regency piece and this had me hooked! I read it in 4 hrs! I could not put it down. Such a good buy! I am absolutely in love with Edenbrooke!

Celia Adams

Super fun, easy, light, and romantic. Beautiful story written in a beautiful way.

Julie Nicole Waldvogel

I could never explain how amazing this book is. It's definitely my second favorite book, second to the bible. I read it in one day..and I will definitely purchase it.

Kaylee Z

This was one of the sweetest and most pure books I have ever read. It is one of the closest, modernly released, books that made me feel like I was reading Jane Austen. Edenbrooke was an absolute joy to read.

I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of it until 2020 and I didn’t read it until 2021! Honestly, this ticked all of the boxes for me: rose-coloured lenses female MC; a fun, flirty, strong, secret cinnamon roll male MC; a beautiful sprawling country estate, wonderful character dynamics, love letter writing (never thought I needed it till now haha), and a dash of action.

There were even some tropes that were in here that I normally do not like but Donaldson made me love them in this book. My only issue was that Marianne was a little too flighty and fancy free with her twirling but that is such a minor nit-pick that really holds no weight at all.

I truly just want to gush about this book forever and want everyone to read it. I don't even know how to fully articulate how much I adored it. It made me giddy, it made me squee, the romance was breath-taking in the sweetest way… did I mention the love letter writing?? * chefs kiss *

Philip and Marianne are perfection.

This is a story that I will happily return to (I’ve already re-read it) and will certainly stay in my mind for many years to come.

Edenbrooke

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