Much to her chagrin, she must rely on the assistance of her stepfather's distant kinsman, Alastair, Lord Hylton. He is handsome and noble, and Valeria senses under the veneer of his gentlemanly behavior that she never measures up to his expectations of a refined lady. In light of that, accepting his help and feeling under a burden of gratitude to him is almost unbearable. Even when Valeria leaves the country estate for the glittering London Season, where she gets into a series of escapades, Lord Hylton is always there to witness, criticize, and correct her behavior. But if Alastair insists on engaging in a battle of wits and wills with the lively Valeria, she'll stop at nothing to prove that he's met his match.
My Review: The Baron’s Honorable Daughter was wonderful! Lynn Morris did not disappoint. It was different than I thought it would be. There were a lot of details historically. Most I did not know and was fascinated in learning about. Did you know that a housekeeper in England in the early 1800’s was always referred to as “Mrs.” regardless of whether or not she was married? Little things such as that were intricately intertwined throughout the book. I have read many books set in England in the early 1800’s but found few of the details mentioned in The Baron’s Honorable Daughter. Lynn Morris has a way of revealing her characters bit by bit throughout the novel. Her writing style is sweet yet simple. Her character development was excellent where the main characters, Valeria and Alistair, were concerned. And some of her character descriptions were absolutely exquisite! I read through some paragraphs again because of the descriptions. Alastair, I believe, was the most complex character.
One thing I noticed was that, though the story was told from two different points of view (Valeria’s and Alistair’s) Valeria’s point of view was used much more heavily. I would have preferred that it would have been more balanced between the two characters. But I can understand why this was done, as more was happening with Valeria than with Alistair. But I would have enjoyed seeing more of Alistair’s internal struggle with himself.
The lesson of the novel was a simple but great one. Valeria let the busyness of life get in the way of her relationship with God (there was more, but that was the gist of it). She let the distraction of worldly pleasures—such as beautiful dresses, the attentions of handsome gentlemen etc.—separate her from what truly mattered, and ended up making a foolish mistake in the end because of it.
The Baron’s Honorable Daughter was truly an enjoyable story. I think I was expecting more…romance, perhaps between Valeria and Alistair. But there were some sweet moments between them that were enjoyable to read. I give The Baron’s Honorable Daughter 4 out of 5 stars.
**I received a free kindle copy of this book from the publishers through Netgalley for my honest opinion, which I have given. The opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone.**