My thoughts
A first for me by this author. I enjoyed it so much and hope to read more of her work.
This is the story of Ella Wilde. Ella lost her mother at the age of ten. Being raised only by her father Ella was well educated and well loved. Ella's mother wanted her to be educated as she was. Ella wanted to prove that her mother did not commit suicide and she wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps in other areas.
Ella's father became sickly and thought it best for Ella to be married so she would not lose the school for boys that her mother's father started so many years ago. He thought if Ella married a man who could take it over and take care of her things would be ok. Ella had different thoughts about this though and fell in love with a different man. She didn't want to be in a loveless marriage to a much older man.
This book has a few things going on. Ella's best friend falling in love with a bad man. Of course she didn't know he was bad but Ella had her suspicions. Also a friend from the past comes and turns Ella's world upside down. Well sort of. She falls in love with him. Confides in him.
There is suspense in this story, love, kidnapping. It's one that will keep you turning the pages to find out what comes next. To see if Ella can find her true love and solve her mother's mysterious death. Helping her best friend who was taken in by a house guest of the Wilde's. Just being there for her. Phoebe and Ella have been lifelong friends and let a man come between them. The faces of love.
This was a fun read that taught me about phrenology. A subject I had not heard about. It was the main setting for this story. The Phrenology is the theory that a person's traits and intellectual abilities can be found by learning the shape and size of their skull. How ridiculous is that? But at this time it was believed to be true.
A very enjoyable read/listen. This is a clean romance story. At times it was intense. Other times it was a bit romantic. A well written regency era story.
Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the ARCs. Also thank you to Uplit Reads for choosing me for this.
4.5 stars
About
One woman works to expose a scientific fraud while also finding love in the latest sweet Regency romance by Sarah Ladd. Perfect for fans of Julie Klassen, An Unconventional Lady delivers what Publishers Weekly calls Ladd's "pitch-perfect blend of suspense and sweetness" (The Cloverton Charade).
She faces the worst ultimatum possible for a woman--marry a man she detests or lose the future she's always imagined.
Charming and headstrong, Ella Wilde always knew she was different than other women. Thanks to her unorthodox upbringing as the daughter of Keatley Hall School for Young Men's headmaster, Ella has long dreamed of opening a school for girls that would meet the needs of inquisitive, brilliant, unconventional young women just like her--girls who longed for the education exclusively reserved for boys. But there's just one Unless she marries before her father dies, Keatley Hall will pass into the hands of a distant cousin. In that case, Ella will be left destitute, and at this point her only option appears to be an undesirable marriage.
Ella's family had long been proponents of phrenology, the belief that an individual's personality and dispositions were predetermined by the shape of their head. Shortly before her death, however, Ella's mother's views on phrenology changed, and she endeavored to expose phrenology as nothing more than a fraudulent parlor trick. Consequently, she earned the wrath of phrenologist community, who called her "unstable," "bizarre," even "dangerous"--and branded her daughter the same.
Now, renowned phrenologist Thomas Bauer is about to arrive at Keatley Hall to speak at the Natural Philosophers' Society gathering, and Ella embraces the opportunity to clear her mother's name--and her own--once and for all. And her partner in crime? None other than her childhood friend Gabriel Rowe, who's grown into an ambitious, handsome London solicitor.
Gabriel has his own scores to settle, and when he learns that Thomas Bauer is visiting Keatley Hall, he jumps at the chance to prove himself and right past wrongs. As he is drawn deeper into the unusual happenings, it's clear that he and Ella must work together if they want to unmask the truth. Over time, Gabriel's attraction to Ella's beauty and wit becomes impossible to ignore, and as the lines between professionalism and passion blur, they both must decide what they're willing to risk for happiness.
She faces the worst ultimatum possible for a woman--marry a man she detests or lose the future she's always imagined.
Charming and headstrong, Ella Wilde always knew she was different than other women. Thanks to her unorthodox upbringing as the daughter of Keatley Hall School for Young Men's headmaster, Ella has long dreamed of opening a school for girls that would meet the needs of inquisitive, brilliant, unconventional young women just like her--girls who longed for the education exclusively reserved for boys. But there's just one Unless she marries before her father dies, Keatley Hall will pass into the hands of a distant cousin. In that case, Ella will be left destitute, and at this point her only option appears to be an undesirable marriage.
Ella's family had long been proponents of phrenology, the belief that an individual's personality and dispositions were predetermined by the shape of their head. Shortly before her death, however, Ella's mother's views on phrenology changed, and she endeavored to expose phrenology as nothing more than a fraudulent parlor trick. Consequently, she earned the wrath of phrenologist community, who called her "unstable," "bizarre," even "dangerous"--and branded her daughter the same.
Now, renowned phrenologist Thomas Bauer is about to arrive at Keatley Hall to speak at the Natural Philosophers' Society gathering, and Ella embraces the opportunity to clear her mother's name--and her own--once and for all. And her partner in crime? None other than her childhood friend Gabriel Rowe, who's grown into an ambitious, handsome London solicitor.
Gabriel has his own scores to settle, and when he learns that Thomas Bauer is visiting Keatley Hall, he jumps at the chance to prove himself and right past wrongs. As he is drawn deeper into the unusual happenings, it's clear that he and Ella must work together if they want to unmask the truth. Over time, Gabriel's attraction to Ella's beauty and wit becomes impossible to ignore, and as the lines between professionalism and passion blur, they both must decide what they're willing to risk for happiness.
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