A Heart Revealed

by Josi S. Kilpack

Overview

Amber Marie Sterlington, the Rage of the Season in Regency-era London, has her pick of men, and she knows what she wants most in a husband: a title and a fortune. Why would she ever marry for something as fickle as love? And why would she ever look twice at Thomas Richards, a third son of a country lord?
 
But when Amber’s social standing is threatened, the character of her future husband becomes far more important than his position. After a public humiliation, she finds herself exiled to Yorkshire. Alone except for her maid, Amber is faced with a future she never expected in a circumstance far below what she has known all her life. Humbled and lonely, Amber begins to wonder if isolation is for the best. Who could ever love her now?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609079901
Publisher:	Shadow Mountain Publishing
Publication date:	04/07/2015
Series:	A Proper Romance Series
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	16 - 18 Years

About the Author

Josi S. Kilpack is the award-winning author of more than twenty novels, including the twelve-volume Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series. 

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE
April 1817
Thomas knew the moment Amber Sterlington entered Almack's ballroom. Not because he was watching the door, or because someone spoke her name. No. The reason The Honourable Thomas Richards knew when Miss Sterlington entered the room was because every gentleman straightened his bearing and turned his head in her direction. Simultaneously, the women in the room either narrowed their eyes or raised their chin a fraction of an inch in the feminine version of the same response. Amber Sterlington was the rage of the season, after all, and in the space of a glance and a breath, the room was changed by her arrival.

Thomas cared little for the attention society gave to her, but the truth was that Amber Sterlington was quite simply the most attractive woman he had ever seen and, like everyone else, he reacted to her arrival by standing a bit taller in case she looked his way.

In the month he'd been in London, this being his third Wednesday night ball at Almack's, he'd seen Miss Sterlington nearly a dozen times at a variety of events, and his reaction to her had been equally profound each time. When his notice passed, he berated himself for it, wanting to believe himself a man apart from such fancy. She would marry for title or money or both-everyone knew it-and as a younger son of a modest Baron, Thomas offered neither, which made his attraction toward her that much more vexing.

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Editorial Reviews

★ 02/16/2015
In this haunting and mesmerizing novel, Kilpack (the Culinary Mystery series) weaves an emotional tale of fleeting fame in Regency-era London. At 19, Amber Sterlington nearly has it all. Her stunning beauty and lyric voice enchant all the men around her, including Thomas Richards, a kind and intelligent man without a fortune who is besotted with Amber despite his dislike for her snobbish personality. As far as she’s concerned, the ideal suitor has wealth and a high rank. But when a strange medical phenomenon slowly overwhelms Amber and threatens her family’s position in society, her hard-hearted parents banish her to the country, where she must take a close look at the selfish and cruel woman she’s become and decide who she wishes to be. Amber’s struggle with her new life, her despair, and her hope for a happy future are stirring and real. Kilpack paints an extremely vivid picture of Amber’s suffering and reawakening, as well as her initial frivolity and callousness. Exceptionally moving and full of rich period details, this delicate romance is a real winner. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"The slow build of the relationship between hero and heroine is more complex and quite moving. This is clean romance with an unusual plot element that makes it well worth sticking with the protagonists until they blossom into a couple to root for."

Historical Novel Society

"Eye-opening story a snobbish socialite intent on marrying for title and money changes her outlook dramatically. She discovers she is losing her hair due to a rare disorder, which places her in imposed exile. Sincerity, love, and acceptance take on new meaning as she meets a man of lower status and finds romance for the first time—touching and believable."

Foreword Reviews

"A sure hit! A poignant story of friendship and finding inner beauty. Kilpack delivers masterful character development and stunning writing throughout the plot. Leading lady Amber transforms from a truly unlikable character into one that readers will come to cheer for and love. Amber's friendship with spunky Suzanne and her blossoming relationship with the charming Thomas make for a sweet and satisfying read. Many thought-provoking, beautiful and touching lines... With a fantastic message, delightful romance and several great Shakespeare references, A Heart Revealed is a real winner!"

Compass Book Ratings

★ 2015-01-29
A vain young woman in the Regency era gets her comeuppance when a mysterious affliction causes her to lose all her hair halfway through her first London season. Kilpack (Wedding Cake, 2014, etc.) makes her historical romance debut with her first contribution to Shadow Mountain's PG-rated Proper Romance series. Debutante Amber Sterlington does not lack for admirers. She's eager to parlay her beauty and sophistication into a dynastic marriage to make her parents proud and perhaps gain a few crumbs of their love and attention. She cares little that she's stealing the limelight from her sister Darra and thinks love is an unnecessary complication on the Marriage Mart. But her machinations are cut short when a mysterious ailment, which may be familiar to modern readers as alopecia areata, causes her to lose almost all of her hair. Her family banishes her to a rustic corner of Yorkshire, with only her good-hearted and tart-tongued maid, Suzanne Miller, to attend her. The two become friends despite their class differences and learn to fend for themselves—baking, cleaning and even tending to livestock on their little homestead three miles from the nearest village. Amber learns humility and kindness and ultimately manages to earn the respect of the Honorable Thomas Richards. Thomas is an earnest younger son of a baron who pined after Amber in London even though he didn't like her personality and is amazed to discover her living in seclusion near his family home in Yorkshire. In spite of the heroine and the hero both being totally unlikable at the beginning of the book, the unusually well-crafted prose draws the reader along, and Amber's personal evolution makes the book more literary than other romances. Readers of this gentle story won't miss the steamy scenes it lacks. A very compelling read.

Kirkus Reviews