Kitty, the heroine of Dauntless Hearts has lost her mother and her father is ill and has to leave his vicarage. They buy a house that Kitty learns to manage. Her father cannot move in society much if at all due to his condition, but Kitty finds her place in the local society and makes some friends and acquaintances, including Miss Marianne Warden who has a strict father. She also meets Lieutenant McLaughlin who is a giant of a man. Kitty is somewhat prejudiced against him because he made a presumptuous joke at their first chance encounter, and she wants to avoid him. After they have their first proper conversation she finds him intelligent and realizes she is attracted to him but his sense of humor soon becomes an obstacle for her again, as he retaliates when someone insults his Irish ancestry and Kitty finds it crude. Then McLaughlin proves himself useful in a crisis and Kitty likes him again.

I liked a lot of the dialogue and the ways that Kitty manages her acquaintances, including little Davey, Marianne's father and others. There is a lot of rich period detail, like fashion, farming practices, the goings-on of Kitty's household and servants. It's just that I was rooting for McLaughlin and felt rather cheated when Kitty ended up with someone else in the end. Let's say I had expectations that were not met.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I love the cover. A cute historical fiction romance drama novel. Recommend

I adored Dauntless Hearts. It was a great story by Lincoln Tuvelais in the future. I am giving it five stars.

Sadly I didn't finish this book as I found it altogether too dull, though in honesty there were things happening so I can't quite put my finger on why. Its not really a historical romance as it's very light on the romance (I was many chapters into it when I have up and there was still no sign of a suitor), and the language is all very nice but it feels as though you're listening to conversations with and old lady as the heroine had nothing interesting to say, and the language she used was similar to those much older than her in the book

I was not sure what to expect of this book, but it was a good surprise.

The story was lovely, a real historical romance, and not some kind of duke-meets-girl kind of novel. The scenery and all the sometimes sweet, sometimes cunning females trying to get around in a world designed for men felt very real. I liked Kitty Otis, and how she is trying to bend the rules of society around her, and I was totally heartbroken over the break-up with her Irish Giant. It was again a nice surprise to find a second, slow-burning romance waiting for her.

Lincoln Tuvelais' prose is engaging, it's hard to put down. I also enjoyed the historical accuracy and the descriptions on the way the intricate judgements of polite society worked.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Arborvale Books and Books Go Social for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This bookset in the 1800’s in England is offered as al romance novel. But, it is more than that and a bit confusing since Kitty Otis has two major loves. The story weaves around her everyday life and those in her family and friends. She meets and becomes infatuated by her “Irish Giant” but when she is invited to his home to meet his family they do not want her there and are rude to her as she is English and not Irish. She realizes that things will not work out. She is heartbroken but still longs for him. Later she meets other suitors more suited to her and leaves the reader directionless. There are a lot of characters and honestly I enjoyed the book more from a period aspect than as a romance one. The descriptions of daily life, transportation and fashion were really interesting to me and the local dialect was very interesting. From that standpoint I would give the book a solid 4 but as a romance I have to go with a 3.

I loved the character developments with her friend and young Davey and wonder at what she is able to achieve with her Dixon cottage and the land around it. Would a woman in that time period have been able to accomplish that? I hope so but am not convinced.

**Actually a 2.5-rating**

Hmm, what a difficult conundrum I find myself in. I was willing to rest this book on a solid 3-rating, until, right around the 30-32% this became more a realization this is not a Romance, nor a Historical Romance, but more like a Historical Fiction book, with interweaving of incremental stories of love. And some were not just for the heroine alone.

It is also a bit more of a Women's Fiction, too...as we have 2, count them 2 male MCs the heroine has stories of heartbreak and love with. Let's be more than clear on that. This is Kitty Otis personal journey through love within her lifetime, and how she copes.

There is a reason for the sub-set in the opening title...playing close attention to "heartbreak" and then "true love".

What I mean to say is... sometimes your Soulmate in life is not your HEA companion or partner you end up spending your whole life with. This is where the breaking of a heart, or hearts, occur.

Then comes the message of "true love". What I mean is to ask... what is each reader's personal definition of true love? Or whom would you assume is your Truest Love? Your First Love [who might be an EX]? Or the one you eventually fall in love with, marry, build a home and family with and carry on until eternity?

I see this being touted as more historically accurate than this Author has read in other historical romances like this, except... somewhere along the way... being determined to be so historically accurate replaces the ability, or means, to show or debut overall Romance, and maybe even those romantic elements that attempted to make this book a Historical Romance...and instead turned it into more biographical in Historical Fiction, centering on two love interests for the heroine, Kitty Otis, in different moments of her life.

The summary, or opening premise, would lead a reader to believe that she will eventually get her HEA with this Lieutenant McLaughlin... always nicknamed, Her Irish Giant...but, yeah, one would be emphatically wrong. I do not know if I enjoy being given one HERO MC to look forward to, only to be swindled into a 2nd HERO MC around the later percentage of a 240pg book...when the story already does more "telling" of what is happening than "showing" us an actual story unfolding.

We are even given some letters of correspondence that will often TELL US MORE to the overall journey of Kitty...and her Irish Giant, and the lacking of romance or even romantic intimacy just bobs and weaves at every opportunity. So many more interesting relationships are shown to us with Kitty as the main MC, where she has often more chemistry with her new best friend, Marianne... and then a little orphaned boy, Davey, who comes to work/live at her new home, Dixon Cottage.

I had a difficult time trusting in Kitty's emotions or feelings... especially for her 1st love, her Irish Giant... and then even more so for her 2nd love, Mr. Blanchard [the widower] whom I could never zero in on whether he was pursuing her or not as he could not seem to get over the loss of his first wife. Plus, with Kitty being so in-and-out of love with her Irish Giant... then so dead inside and numb to life after her heart is broken...yeah, tough to see her "moving on" with the Widower Hero, even when I was told this is what was happening by the end.

Uhm, there is an invalid father, but... very little did I see Kitty actually giving "care" to her father, the old Vicar who is now... I think he has what one would call dementia, these days. Or somewhat Sun-downer's or maybe even early-on-set Alzheimer's. They call it "apoplexy" brought on by the unexpected massive deaths of several adult children [scarlet fever] and then his own wife passing... which then just leaves Kitty and her father as their only surviving close family members.

As Kitty remains main MC... we barely see a major portion of chapters given to her first love interest, Lieutenant McLaughlin. It's 85% Kitty Otis's Life.

And then when the 30% mark hits after a series of chapters of just Kitty featured --what she is doing for her daily routine-- we do pick up her "love story" with her Irish Giant, but then... certain scenarios put a constant damper on the moment as outside family members think this Love Match is never going to be a good idea... and it sours a good majority of the book.

This is why this book needs to be re-branded a historical fiction with love stories. We never get a genuine opportunity to watch Kitty be romantic... or someone romancing her. Nor do we ever see an ounce of "wooing". Kitty is always going to house parties, dinners or balls... having "seasons" where she puts herself on display to search for a good husband, then ends up choosing the one guy in the distance you would never assume she'd end up with who was often by her side already.

So close to the end... Kitty and her first love share a letter exchange where they almost/ kind-of- but-not-so-you'd-notice agree to let go of, and forget, one another. They will both MOVE ON in their hearts and in life, it seems. Lieutenant McLaughlin is in Australia, raising horses. And Kitty is back home, satisfied and comfortable at Dixon Cottage-- flip-flopping on whether she should show any interest in a Mr. Blanchard, the Widower, who has shown a somewhat mild interest in her.

It just... these are just possibly love stories seeped in historical, biographical facts, from someone's diaries and then a writer attempted to flesh-them out except... eesh, everything is so choppy and broken into episodic moments in life. There is never a smooth flow of storytelling. Readers are always TOLD and never SHOWN a full-blown scene of much of anything resembling "romance" nor a satisfying or engrossing HEA. Sometimes, we just skip over some moments and move onto the next, at frustrating levels---inexcusable time jumps so we don't have to show much of anything... just TELL enough to catch the audience up to speed.

The summary offers so much promise... but the denseness of historical accuracy overshadows romantic elements and then basically strips them clear off the page until... the last 5-10% of the book is a rushed adjustment to Kitty finally moving on to her 2nd hero and getting engaged to marrying him.

And then at the very last moment, we learn all these really awkward soulmate kind of possibly awe-inspiring moments... Kitty and her husband-->> have children they give namesakes after their first loves [a daughter named after His first wife... and a son, named after her Irish Giant]... and later-on we learn Kitty's first love, Her Irish Giant, had married and produced a daughter who shared her namesake, Kitty, as well... while this would be heartfelt and touching in another story...here? it merely seems moot in the scope of things. It becomes pointless info-dumping and never truly matters... well, at least not to me who had been looking at this book through optics given by the above summary.

I just... when you read this summary, you expect a romance between Kitty and her Irish Giant of a solider... and them getting their HEA. This is a mere fraction of the story...so "mere" it could be minuscule. But, in truth, they both shut the door on their love story and went off and fell in love and ended up married to other people. They even had separate lives, but did keep writing as they always felt like "dear friends"... but yeah, not a romance of the one I was expecting from what was given to readers in the summary.

This is why you need to pay closer attention to the subset of the title... the "heartbreak" and the "true love" because as a reader of Romance, like me, you will think of it ONE WAY... when the Author fathoms it an utterly completely OPPOSITE WAY .