Mistaken identities is not for me. I loved the romance parts, the story line. Just didn't suit my tastes in historical tropes.

4 stars

It took me a long time to get into this book. I actually had to start again.. This author isn't one you can scan read.
I did think I'd been morphed into an English lesson at one point but the novel did grow on me.

Leila thinks she wants talk dark and handsome until on a writing retreat she meets Jules, above average height, brown hair but great eyes. Leila's parents have arranged a marriage for her and she and her friend Isobel try to think of ways out of it. By this time she's realised that Jules is the one and on returning to her parents house meets Talk, Dark and handsome Adrian. Only kisses. I wasn't sure I liked her parents. Jules managed to help solve the delimna. It's hinted that there's a book for Isobel. This is a new author to me. I might look for that but delving into the theory of English language is not really my thing.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Touch of Romance by Paullett Golden
⭐️ ⭐️/5
🔥/5

This sweet love story was between a Professor and a Poet. Jules was MMC and Leila was the FMC. The story was if two writers who meet at a mutual friend’s house for a weekend writing retreat. They are partnered up on a treasure hunt that happens over the course of three days. They fall in love. There wasn’t anything spicy, but it was all poetry and love. I think it’s a sweet romance and meant for readers who like an easy read without any spice.

Jules and Leila are absolutely adorable, and I was rooting for them right away. Leila is being pushed into the dreaded arranged marriage but the poet Jules is her soul mate. I love seeing them come together. Great beach day read!

Charming in the extreme….
Many thanks to BookBuzz.net and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love Paullett Golden, but I really struggled with this story. I was really nervous a quarter of the way through when it felt like the story was longer than normal, a trait I noticed to always turn me away from historical romance in the past, but have never felt with Golden's work before. It felt like the characters were less developed than her usual character, so gaining that initial emotional connection wasn’t there for me. That isn't to say there weren't some fantastic scenes in the book and an overall fun storyline. Leila is a sweet character, eager to please her parents to the cost of her happiness. Jules is a tall, dark, and handsome academic sort. When the two meet on a writer's retreat and fall in love, they know their work is cut out for them when they devise a plan for Leila's parents to come up with the idea of setting the two up together. When their plans fall through on day one of Leila's homecoming, all hope seems lost. Can the pair concoct a plan ending in their happily ever after? Or will Leila be engaged and on her way to India before they even have a chance?

With historical romance, I always used to say to take my review with a grain of salt, because before Golden and one other author I didn’t like the genre really at all. I typically had to be in just the right mood and feels to really enjoy a historical romance. So I can’t say this wasn’t one of those cases. This is not my favorite of Golden's work, but it certainly won't turn me away from her future works. I mean, you can't ignore the snorting curtain.

A Touch of Romance by Paulett Golden was nothing short of magical. “Oh to see the world through her eyes!” -my paraphrase from the novel. 💗
I felt like I was a time traveler, having been invited to a Writers retreat! It was so much fun. And I really couldn’t get enough of the “play”. It was so sweet I smiled during the whole thing. It was all a writer or lover of novels could imagine. My cold days of winter were carried into Sunshine and comfort while I read this.
I love the way Paullett Golden writes her romances. The men are always honorable and completely devoted. The women strong and equal in intelligence and commitment. The chemistry and romance was undeniable. Always there, like a steady heartbeat, refusing to slow down.
If you haven’t guessed PG is a favorite of mine and I can’t say enough good things about her writing. If you haven’t read her work I want to encourage you to give her a try. If you love quality regency romance, then you’ll love her work.
I highly recommend this new novel.

Thanks BookSirens and NetGalley.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I wanted to love this book, because I greatly enjoyed the first book in this series. But A Touch of Romance was just a touch too slow. I think it needed to be about one hundred pages shorter. I just didn't find either MC to be dynamic. I loved the idea of a house party with a scavenger hunt, but it just didn't play out in the end.

I did enjoy several of the flash fiction pieces after the novel.


I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I always love picking up a book by Ms. Golden. She never fails to enchant and thoroughly captivate me with her beautiful writing style. This book was no different. It gives you a wonderful and angsty romance, all the while keeping it clean. Jules and Leila were a wonderful pair. Their attraction shone through from the start, even though they themselves didn't see it coming. They are both writers who attend the same writing retreat. They are both intelligent and witty people and their love of language strengthens the bond forming between them. Leila, however, is promised to another man and she is a loyal and devoted daughter and does not want to disappoint her parents. She is also a very intelligent girl and her efforts at trying to obtain true love certainly gave me a new appreciation for poetry! A lovely story to be sure and the subtle humor sprinkled in was fun and kept me smiling throughout the story.

I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

I usually enjoy Ms. Golden's books, but I'm sorry to say that I just couldn't get into this one. The beginning with the writer's retreat was so boring and I found I didn't care about either of the main characters which is a shame because I'm sure it would have been a good story. With so many other books to read, I found I didn't want to spend any more time trying to get into this story. This was a missed opportunity for sure.

His recent appointment as Regius Professor has Jules Knowlton enjoying a life of leisure, one that begins with a writing retreat to stimulate his mind but ends with the unanticipated arousal of his heart. The problem? His newfound ladylove is arranged to marry someone else.
Leila Owen is a loyal and devoted daughter, one who would do anything for her family, anything except marry the suitor they’ve chosen for her. Using her poetic cunning, she schemes ways to convince her parents the man of her choice is a better match. The problem? The suitor is nothing if not perfect.
This is the love story of Jules and Leila, two poets who playact through life’s charade.
​From second chance romances to mistaken identities, experience A Touch of Romance in this collection of one short novel and twelve bonus flash fiction pieces.
Jules and Lelia make a delicious couple considering their taste for each other.
The quick takes are inordinately special.
Paulette Golden has written a winner.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good storyline to it, a bit unusual. There was a lot of description of the country houses and the lives of the people who live there. The two main characters were intriguing as they had great difficulties to overcome but eventually they found happiness together.l do recommend you read this book.

Jules Knowlton in his recent appointment as Regius Professor of Greek begins to question his future upon spending time with Leila Owen, at a writing retreat. Despite their attraction which goes beyond their similar interests in poetry, she is loyal and devoted daughter, who recognises that her father wants her to marry well, for his financial future. Anticipating her father will decide whom she must marry on his return to England, Leila decides that she must do all that she can to change his mind.
This was an entertaining read as Leila and Jules do all that they can to change Leila’s fathers perception of who she must marry. However, trying to realign his thinking so that he believes Jules is the perfect husband for her, proves to be quite interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed the secondary characters in this book, who add greater depth to this story. I found the inclusion of Leila’s Persian background and all the poetry, quite fascinating. The short flash fiction stories/reads at the end added another facet to this unique book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you very much to Paullett Golden, who provided me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Possible Spoilers

Jules and Leila meet at a writer’s retreat hosted by mutual friends. Randomly paired together for an activity, they don’t expect to like each other much, and when instead sparks fly, no one is more surprised than they are. But Jules, of humble means, had always imagined himself married to his studies, and Leila isn’t entirely available, waiting for her father to present her with an advantageous match. What chance did they have of being together?

It took me a bit to get into this story—the writer’s retreat wasn’t very compelling—but confident I’ll like anything Golden does at this point, and growing more enamored of the characters, I persevered. And indeed, by the end was I entirely satisfied.

It’s not that the beginning was poorly written, it just lacked excitement and too easily put me to sleep. Pair that with the length of the novel altogether, and it took me a bit longer to reach the end than anticipated. Once Jules arrived at Nasrin Manor, it finally had some energy and the pace picked up. I wonder if the plot might have benefited from a bit of rearranging, perhaps introducing Jules as the new tutor rather than starting at the retreat. I understand the importance of the retreat, Golden developed their characters and relationship beautifully there, but I still wonder if she shouldn’t have led with that.

Leila was a delightful heroine; I enjoyed how her wit and actions tiptoed along the edge of propriety, in a tasteful way. Not uptight, but not immodest either. The lake incident tested my patience with her, but she berated her own stupidity after, so I forgave her. Jules was an equally wonderful hero, understated and down-to-earth. I’ll swoon over a brash, plainspoken alpha hunk like Dean Winchester, but I also appreciate the quiet, steadfast, responsible, and far more reliable and relatable betas. Don’t underestimate adorkable nerds.

A couple minor comments:

While rip-roaring hilarity isn’t Golden’s flavor, I adore the more subtle humor in her novels; I especially adored the sweet and mischievous boys here, Anik and Anil. I wish they’d played bigger roles. All hail the monkey king!

I was surprised that both Jules, and Golden through him, misused a Shakespeare quote; when pretending to search for “Lady Amelia” during the second theatrical, Jules says, “Lady Amelia? Wherefore art thou?” But “wherefore” doesn’t mean “where,” it means “why.” It could be argued that he purposefully misused the quote for comedy, but I don’t think that’s the case.

Overall, while I wish the beginning had been a bit more compelling to yank me into the story by the collar, I enjoyed this story as much as I have all of Golden’s work and can’t wait for her next novel.

As for the flash fiction, I enjoyed them all, but The Marriage is my favorite from this round. I did miss the story of gothic perfection from the first anthology, though.