Welcome to the I Read with Audra Book Tour for Midnight’s Budding Morrow, a Regency-era novel by new-to-me author, Carolyn Miller.
While most stories set in Regency England focus on the rich, the young, and the beautiful, award-winning author Carolyn Miller decided she wanted to give readers something different for a change. Her new Regency Wallflowers series follows the commoners, away from the hustle and bustle of 1810s London, out in the Lake District of England. She tells the stories of women who are slightly older and have few prospects for marriage, women who might be considered “wallflowers.”
Midnight’s Budding Morrow is the second book in the Regency Wallflowers series and reads fine as a stand alone. The first book in the series is Dusk’s Darkest Shores.
Don’t forget to visit the giveaway section to enter the drawing for a print copy of Midnight’s Budding Morrow.
About the Book
Title: Midnight’s Budding Morrow
Series Info: Regency Wallflowers, Book #2
Author: Carolyn Miller
Genre: Historical Romance, Regency
Book Info: Kregel Publications, May 31st 2022, 383 pages
Blurb
Can real love grow between a wallflower
and an unrepentant rogue?
Sarah Drayton is eager to spend time with her best friend at her crumbling Northumberland castle estate. Matrimony is the last thing on her mind and the last thing she expects to be faced with on a holiday. Yet she finds herself being inveigled into a marriage of convenience with her friend’s rakish brother.
When James Langley returns to his family’s estate, he can’t be bothered to pay attention to his responsibilities as the heir. War is raging and he wants only distraction, not serious tethers. But his roguish ways have backed him into a corner, and he has little choice but to obey his father’s stunning decree: marry before returning to war, or else. Suddenly he finds himself wedded to a clever and capable woman he does not love.
Sarah craves love and a place to belong, neither of which James offered before returning to the battlefront. Now everyone around her thinks she married above her station, and they have no intention of rewarding her for such impertinence. It isn’t until her husband returns from war seemingly changed that she begins to hope they may find real happiness. But can she trust that this rake has truly reformed?
When tragedy strikes, this pair must learn to trust God and his plans. Will they be destroyed . . . or will they discover that even in the darkest depths of night, the morning still holds hope?
Click here to read an Excerpt
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My Thoughts
Midnight’s Budding Morrow is the first book I’ve read by author Carolyn Miller. This marriage of convenience story gripped me from the opening pages with its themes of forgiveness, mercy, and redemption, and never let me go.
Miller’s characters wound themselves into my heart. I adored sweet Sarah from first meeting her. It’s hard not to bond with a heroine who is a bit lost and longs to be loved and needed. It took a bit longer for me to warm up to James who agrees to marry Sarah to pay off his debt. The author did an excellent job flipping our rogue leading man into a swoon-worthy hero. I always like when characters are imperfect because it is more realistic, and I enjoy seeing their growth throughout the story.
I really liked that the author wove some deeper topics into the story, such as depression and alcoholism. Characters wrestle but don’t succumb. Instead, they learn to build deeper trust in one another and in their relationship with God. As the parent of two children who’ve struggled with depression, I found this hope-filled yet realistic aspect of the story line very encouraging.
I received a copy of the novel from Read with Audra. I was not required to leave a positive review. All opinions are my own.
About the Author
Giveaway*
Use the Rafflecopter link below to enter the drawing for a print copy of Midnight’s Budding Morrow.