This is one book I could finish. I liked Hannah. She was very loving and kind. It seemed kind of difficult to believe since she came from such a horrible family. I guess it came from the dad. Who hinted he was a lot like Hannah.

I like the HEA. I struggled with the quick resolutions. I wish that there was more time watching Hannah and Jonathan fall in love.

There was a lot of emotion in this book. I liked the story line.

I genuinely adore regency romance books, but this had something missing.
The characters weren't well formed, and Hannah was very self-pitying; the mother and the sister were horrible people, and I don't understand how the brother, as the head of the family, would never help and support her.

The romance wasn't really there: Jonathan went from truly mean and cruel to a lovesick puppy in a span of a few pages, and in the end, we spent more time with her awful family than with the two main characters and their supposed love story.
However, I finished it, so that's an accomplishment for the book.

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This historical romance was an absolute delight to read. I was hooked from the beginning and could not stop. This was so good.
I just reviewed Love Unseen by Rachel Kelley Stones. #LoveUnseen #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

I absolutely loved this book! I'd been in a bit of a reading funk, never getting more than a few chapters into a book over the past few weeks, but this one grabbed me from the first chapter and never let go! The illness took me by surprise- it is revealed at the end of the first chapter- and I was hooked. It is not often that the main character of a romance book has significant physical impairment, and the author nailed the challenges of finding love and connection in this story. The heroine, Hannah, is portrayed as competent, smart and confident, and I admired her strength and optimism in the face of her life challenges. Jonathan takes a while to come to terms with Hannah's disability, but does so with humility, wonder, and love. The main characters are likable, the villians are vile, and it was everything I hoped it would be.

I'd highly recommend this to anyone who likes clean romances or is looking for a fresh, new take on regency novels. Absolutely wonderful.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

I throughly enjoyed this book! This was my first time reading a book by Rachel Kelley Stones! And I loved it so much, I would read ALL of her books! Her writing style is clean and easy to follow. The plot ands characters were interesting and engaging. I loved how she took on the point of view of a young women who was otherwise "shunned" by society for her disability. Stones made her characters believable and I spent the entire book cheering them on (and silently cursing the mother!). I highly recommend this book to others who love historical romance!

I was really surprised by this book. I love seeing a grumpy hero fall in love with a girl who never expected to find it

Hannah is getting older and sees herself as being a permanent spinster. She has a brother and sister who would
benefit socially if she were no longer in the picture. The family has a new neighbor who has money but not the
social standing. Hannah and her family become acquainted with the new neighbor and her sister has hopes of
becoming engaged to the neighbor. To what lengths will her mother go to, to see the sister become engaged to the neighbor? What is to become of Hannah?

This was a great story, one of the best reads I have read this year. I hope to read more from this author.

Loved, loved this character driven first person duel POV debut that I couldn’t believe was actually a debut by a wonderful new author Rachel Kelley Stones. Love Unseen is a true historical romance! My heart went out to the disabled heroine, from page one, and I was ecstatic for her as she overcame each and every obstacle constantly placed before her. I cheered for her throughout her journey. This story at times will have you sitting on the edge of your seat shouting NO I can’t believe this is happening, and then jumping up and down with joy. The epilogue was perfectly done. I tip my hat to Rachel Kelley Stones for writing such an amazing story that touched me emotionally, and cannot wait to read what she writes next.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC and for the opportunity to post an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. With that being said, I genuinely enjoyed this book. The character and plot development were great. I think perhaps there could have been more development on Hannah's siblings and her relationship with them. I feel like I knew more about Jackson and Isabella, than Hannah and James and Julia. Although the dialogue was on the modern side, which usually I don't like, but in this case, it didn't distract from the story. I quickly became invested in the story and in the characters! I enjoyed the 'slow burn romance' in this book. I can't wait to read more from this author.

I know a book is good when I can't wait to get back to it. All the swoons, all the happy sighs.

The writing was occasionally awkward and anachronistic (although maybe some of that will change by the time it's published). Even so, the characters, plot, and sweet romance more than made up for it. ❤️

Definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC for review.

LOVE UNSEEN by RACHEL KELLEY STONES is a most enjoyable Regency romance novel with a gripping story that takes place in England in 1815. It is not a Christian novel per se, but there is a gentle reliance on God seein in Hannah Hadley, blind since she had measles as a child, but with heightened hearing and a determination to live life to the full despite her handicap. It is sad to see how she is treated by members of society and by her mother and sister Julia. Her brother James is not so bad, but he is too afraid of his mother to be much of a help.
When Mr Jonathan Carter buys Lamport Hall next door, and, after a bad start, shows an interest in the beautiful, gentle and intelligent Hannah, her mother hatches a horrible scheme ……..
I am not going to tell you any more for fear of spoiling things for you.
I highly recommend this lovely read to anyone who enjoys this genre.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Covenant Communications. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

Enjoyed this one. I'm glad we had dual POV; Jonathan's perspective was definitely needed to round out the story. There could have been a little more spark in the romance and I wouldn't have complained, but I liked our couple and their rocky start, Jonathan's penchant for putting his foot in his mouth, the slow burn romance; as well as the emphasis on family and familial love (and the highlight on the opposite of that). It told its story with more realism and drama than most of the genre and it did it pretty well.

I liked Jonathan and Isabella's sibling relationship – it was wonderful and sweet and I loved Bella teasing and pushing Hannah and Jonathan together. I especially liked that Hannah's brother was the one to “save” her in the end and that Jonathan was off getting himself thrown off a horse so he could make a very dramatic and heartfelt proposal later. Good choices were made there.

A well written story. Descriptions from the POV of a blind person were good additions and made the story thoughtful. It was a unique, refreshing, clean love story.

𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕-𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗, 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝, 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏-𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚒𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎, 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎.

𝙹𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚗𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚋𝚘𝚛, 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎. 𝙾𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎, 𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚍.

𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎. 𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛.

I usually enjoy stories about disabled characters, notably books that touch upon this specific disability (which I won't talk about because I don't want to spoil the book). I usually find that such book make the reader empathise with people that have a different life experience, and I find it makes me more aware of the struggles people with disabilities face. When I saw that this specific subject was touched upon in the Regency romance, I could not wait to read it!! However, I ended up disappointed as "Love Unseen" felt short of my expectations.

First of all, I didn't enjoy the characters and their development.
Hannah was a rather unlikeable character. She had very little self-awareness and sometimes became self-pitying. An occasional pity-party is all well and fine, but her moping without trying to do anything about her situation just got on my nerves.
Jonathan was slightly more relatable, but I strongly despised him in the beginning (why was he so mean to Hannah?! It wasn't wit, or pride, or self-protection, but was pure nastiness that he attacked her verbally at the ball). Then, with no transition, he became a good guy that was nice and thoughtful. Hum, ok then. And I also didn't understand why he liked Hannah; the romance was lukewarm at best.
Hannah's family is unbelievable (as in, not credible). How can they go so fast from normal to mean? How could Hannah never see the rancour her mother had towards her?
I had no empathy for James. I didn't not understand how he could let his vulnerable sister be abused for fear of his "unbearable mother's" wrath? I mean, I could understand it if his character was better developed, if I understood his own vulnerability and need for acceptance, etc. etc., but here he was just a slightly despicable character who acted in contrary ways that didn't make sense.
In addition, I don't enjoy when characters are too stereotypical (especially in a book that touches upon disability—it should stay clear of any kind of cliché!). (e.g. the doctor has "unruly white hair", "spectacles...on the end of his nose {that] seemed to magnify his eyes", "the appearance of an owl").

I disliked the way disability was portrayed, I found it reductive. Not reductive in the sense that it created barriers for our heroine—indeed, she didn't seem to face too many issues with her disability, strangely enough—but rather it put her in a box. For example, Johnathan thought "Her [disability] did not hinder her abilities. Rather, it made her the woman she was—intelligent, compassionate, and creative". Hmh, I would disagree here! Hannah was already a good person before her disability appeared in her later life. Her disability might have pushed her to become more compassionate etc.—why not—but it did NOT make her who she was. She was Hannah first and foremost, and her disability came second—especially as she tried to hide it and not put such a strong focus on it.
Both protagonists had very few reflections about the way Hannah's disability impacted—or would impact—both of their lives, although it would have been nice to see deeper reflections, hesitations and vulnerability.

I didn't like the writing. First-person narration sometimes work for Regency romances, but here, third-person narration would have worked better and avoided sentences such as "I squeezed my eye shut and let a lone tear trace its way down my chin."
I also found the writing too modern, (.e.g. when Hannah says "Mr. X has shown *zero* respect for me"). I usually don't mind it, as it makes it much easier for a contemporary audience (especially non-native English speakers such as me) to dive into a historical novel, but sometimes it's just too modern.

On a more positive note, I found the premise very good (it's just the plot and writing and characters that didn't work for me), I liked the context and the location of the story. And I really like the title and cover.

2 stars

*I received an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion*

I received an ARC via Netgalley for an honest review.

I first noticed that the first chapter's tone and narration sounded a bit too modern, breaking the believability that this story was in the Regency era. I am not a fan of 1st person POV for Regency stories. It could have worked since our female lead has issues. But, again, there's a break in believability that female lead had this issue because it seemed she could describe her surroundings in full color. It would have been better if the story was written in 3rd PPOV.

The romance is sweet. Even with the issues mentioned above, I rooted for our leads' HEA.

One thing I become just giddy to see especially well done is a simple character-driven storyline romance that manages to completely keep one’s interest through everyday settings of ballrooms, house parties and garden games. Solid characterization, very organic progression of an unexpectedly complementary couple that truly sees each other (“See” what I did there?), and this certainly is that.

I love me a class difference with a self-made hero, and dear Jonathan is such a brooding natural protector. Leaving behind his business and life in the West Indies to establish his widowed mother and younger sister among England society and its views of his family’s “new money”. Enter our disabled heroine, just lovely, long-suffering, kind, brave Hannah, so perceptive and competent. We start off with a bad impression/misunderstanding wrong foot meeting (which I lurv). This book had me thinking I could read a romance where it’s just the hero stepping in it with his big mouth, calling himself an uninmitigated idiot and then genuinely apologizing over and over again. That’s not the proportion here, but enough to remind me how much I love it. And it perfectly placed Mr. Unmitigated Idiot hopelessly prostrate to be her champion when it most counted. Ugh, so good!

Hi, hi, hi, this is a Regency romance with First Person DUAL POV. Yes, I am Team 3rd Person POV Historicals, but, once you settle in, being in their heads and especially all the paintbrush strokes of the sensory elements worked so well here. Seeing how her disability is viewed as a societal curse and those who should most care for her become villains was hard, and yet worked to make Hannah’s resilience and Jonathan’s devotion the more sweet.

The short epilogue was perfection and just as it should be. Definitely will read more from this author. I would not mind Lord Markham’s and the vicar’s daughter journey to HEA, but above all gimme playful Lord Deveraux’s love-addled come-uppance, he needs to fall hard.

This was a debut author Netgalley gamble which majorly paid off! So thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I was totally shocked at the end of chapter one to learn of Hannah’s disability! Rachel Kelley Stones had a very clever way of wording the story to hide it until then. I must say though, that I was starting to wonder what the deal was with Hannah, whether she was simply rude or if something was genuinely wrong with her. The way the author wrote about Hannah and her disability was very well done, in my opinion. I felt as though I truly got to see a glimpse into the life of someone like Hannah. People tended to be quite rude to her, and that I did not at all care for. Those who spoke up on her behalf had my heartfelt appreciation. Hannah’s own mother and sister treated her as though she had little to no value.

Jonathan did not at first strike me as a very nice character. Thankfully as the story progressed, so did he. I loved the way he was there for Hannah, as a sort of guardian angel. The way he also cared for his mother and sister was commendable.

I was so relieved to see Jonathan and Hannah finally get their happy ending. Their journey to marriage was far from easy, filled with many near fateful twists and turns. That epilogue was just what they needed♥️

I’m not sure if it was simply because I read an e-book version of this story, but I found it hard at the beginning to keep all of the different characters straight. I was continually wondering which person was which. It didn’t hinder me too much thankfully, because usually within a few sentences I could figure out who it was. Once I got into the story a bit more, I didn’t struggle anymore.

Thank you to NetGalley and Covenant Communications for the opportunity to read the ARC of this book. All opinions listed above are purely my own.

Love Unseen

I am so glad I found this book!  Wow. Rachel Kelley Stones has written a beautiful and sweet debut novel that read like a hot latte on a cold snowy day. Cozy and warming.

I don't want to give any spoilers, but I will say that Hannah's illness was so well written. I felt like I was inside her head and really able to understand her and the battle raging within. 

The character development throughout the book, hero and heroine, their family and friends... It all built so beautifully.

I cannot wait to read another book by Rachel Kelley Stones and will be adding her to my list of authors to watch for! 🤩

A case of overcoming initial prejudgments takes place in this story. Our heroine is made of some steel! I quite liked this actually, it had a lot more drama than I tend to go for, and the villain is a bit one note, but I think the strength of Hannah really wins the day here. She's not perfect though, and she gives in to self pity now and again. Jonathan is also endearing as the hero, outside of the general titled male lead these books tend to have. An entertaining read all-around that kept my interest. I received an ARC from the publisher and Netgalley for an honest review.