A Heart's Rebellion by Ruth Axtell Book Review

// A Heart's Rebellion //

 

A Regency Romance

 

By Ruth Axtell

 

{Review By Bethany}

Number of Pages: 352
ISBN: 0800720903

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: March 4th, 2014
Source: Review copy provided by the publisher
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

// Book Synopsis //

Taken From Good Reads

 

"Dutiful Jessamine Barry is tired of waiting patiently for a man to decide her future. So even though Lancelot Marfleet, second son of an aristocrat, is taking an interest in her during the London season, she refuses to consider him as a suitor. Instead, she's ready to take fashionable society by storm--and finds a rakish young man all too willing to help her do it. When things go too far, Jessamine will learn that the man who is faithful through thick and thin is more worthy than the one who speaks pretty words. But will her disgrace keep Lance from reconsidering her as a wife? And when tragedy strikes and Lance becomes his father's heir and a titled gentleman, will he think she only wants him now because of his title?"

 

// Bethany's Book Review //

This was the first book I'd ever read by this author. To be honest, prior to read A Heart's Rebellion, I was a tiny bit hesitant due to some middle-range reviews from friends of Good Reads. However I decided to give it a go, since I've never actually read this author before. While this book wasn't a favorite of mine, I did enjoy it and especially liked the end portion of the book. I would definitely read more books by this author in the future. I am glad I decided to read it, and consider it a very nice one time read.

 

One of the biggest things that made me hesitant about this book, was how several people had commented in reviews, how they felt that this book (or the one before it Moonlight Masquerade) was really slow and felt like the story-line was really dragged out, and had significant dry spots that left little enthusiasm to turn pages. Personally, I didn't really see this when I read the book, and while at the beginning things were a bit slow, it was never what I'd call dragged out; and wasn't slow to the extent on not keeping me turning pages.

 

In fact, about three fourths of the way into the book until the end there was a bit of mystery, and that portion kept me up at night wondering if my assumptions about what was going to happen to the main character were actually going to happen (Which they did. I feel like that portion of the book was written in a way to where the reader is supposed to figure out what will happen before it actually did; but this was just one particular scene. The rest of the book did keep me in suspicion and ended up surprising me.)

 

The only thing that made this book a little less enjoyable for me was Jassamine, the main character. I just didn't feel like I "got" her, or connected with her personality, and I really didn't like her very much; especially at the beginning of the book. Just something about her personality turned me off, and I think it was how closed she was to the idea of ever finding "that special someone". This was mainly since she thought she'd already found that Mr. Right, only to see him break off with her and quickly marry another lady (who, uniquely is woven into this story, since her story was the main one in the book that is the first in this "series" Moonlight Masquerade). Since she had been rejected in such an emotionally damaging way, she sort of just shut out all thoughts of ever finding someone else as a way of pitying her unfortunate situation. This in itself isn't what turned me off; it was more how she handled it, and her overall unappealing personality; though I will say I think she grew out of it a tiny bit as the story progressed. She just seemed to be a very stubborn and difficult to be around type personality that I didn't really care for much.

 

On a positive note though, I loved Lancelot. He was such a gentleman and was very heroic, especially in one scene, which was for me the climactic point when my admiration for him really grew. I also enjoyed his Christian background of being a missionary to a foreign land, until a dangerous illness that he contracted almost killed him, bringing him home. I loved his passion for the Lord and how he ultimately influenced others around him by being a light for Christ.

 

Overall, I consider this a nice one time read. I didn't at all feel like it was terribly slow, and liked Lancelot, though Jassamine's personality did sort of dampen the story for me. However that's just my take on it and I'm sure there are others who would really enjoy getting to know her through this story. I loved the historical details and all the feminine ball scenes, and would recommend this book to historical fiction lovers. [SPOILER ALERT: NEXT SENTENCE CONTAINS A SLIGHT SPOILER] However due to one scene where a woman is almost forcefully taken advantage of by a man, I'd recommend this book for mature readers, around the ages of 15+.

 

D I S C L A I M E R :: I received a free copy of A Heart's Rebellion through the publisher, for the sole purpose of this review. I was not paid to write this review and all thoughts expressed are my own, completely honest and unbiased.