The last of 2013 requested ARCs that were never reviewed by the requesting reviewer. A link will follow if a review is received in the future.

A Midsummer Bride by Amanda Forester was an unexpected, sweet historical with a different story line that was different which made it enjoyable. Harriet Burton is a girl after my own heart. She’s tall, ok I’m not tall, but she’s not into the latest fashion, she loves chemistry and has a terrible habit of blowing things up with her experiments. (Side note, there was a stain on the ceiling of my middle school science class from one of my science experience gone wrong for many years after I graduated from high school.) Harriet has been happily living her life in America when she’s essentially kidnapped by the English Royal Navy and taken to England. She’s never been to England, in fact her mother ran away with an American sea captain for true love, something unheard of in that era. Her grandfather has told society that his daughter went mad and actually knows nothing about Harriet. Harriet is taken to her grandfather who comes up with a grand scheme to marry her off with a title. Using a local “matchmaker”, Harriet is invited to a large social event at castle of Duncan Maclachlan, the Earl of Thornton. He’s not actually paying for the party rather hosting it. Thankfully he isn’t paying since his mother has the bad habit of gambling away their money.
The party is in fact, several days of parties, teas, luncheons and poor Harriet is not the belle of the ball. In fact, the ton dislike her, she keeps setting fire to things, can’t seem to say the right things. The only one who finds her a breath of fresh air is Duncan. Ah Duncan…what a sweet man. I did love him throughout the story, but he was consumed with concern on how to save his families property. He could always marry for money but he absolutely refuses. Harriet and Duncan form a friendship that grows to love but Duncan is hung up on not marrying for money and Harriet is hung up on not having a man to control her life and she really wants to go home to America.

I really liked Harriet and Duncan. Their story was really sweet, but the book did start to drag in the middle. I just wanted to shake Duncan and tell him to get over his money issue. There is action throughout which makes it more than just their blossoming romance. The book is not sexual at all…in fact I’d call it a G rating at best. I understand that books don’t need to be erotic or even highly sexual to be good and there can be heat without graphic sex but this book was so vague I actually couldn’t tell if they were having sex or not. I’ve read stories that have cut away from the actual scene but if it is going to be included, it should be a little more descriptive. And if it is because the book was meant to be wholesome then there should be no premarital sex.

Overall I enjoyed the characters and the plot. A very good story for any one of any age that loves historical romance.