Review: Love's Legacy by Natalie Kleinman

I'm delighted to share my review, today, of the latest in Natalie Kleinman's wonderful literary romance novels: Love's Legacy.

My thanks to the author for a copy.

Love’s  Legacy

Natalie Kleinman

Literary Historical Romance

I've now had the pleasure of reading several of Natalie Kleinman's novels, and, as with the others, I thoroughly enjoyed Love's Legacy.

The theme is a familiar one: Patience, a young, gently born lady, is left with little after her father's death and has to depend on the generosity of family members she'd never met before. Thus ensues an endearing series of adventures, mishaps, and misunderstandings.

Ms Kleinman brings Patience's world beautifully to life. The author has researched the era well. Her characters are always spot on within their setting and social norms are adhered to. But the author has a trump up her sleeve that becomes apparent later in the novel, in a cause both main characters share. And I think that aspect adds to their development.

After her father's death, years after her mother died, young Patience has to leave the vicarage where she'd spent all her life, and travels to Worthington Place, the manor belonging to her father's brother. Only, she finds that her uncle is dead, too, and his son, Gideon, is somewhat surprised at her arrival. Not only that, but her aunt is positively hostile towards her, on account of Patience's mother's past actions of which Patience only just heard.

So she soon leaves for Bath, where another cousin resides, who is happy to help her out, and to establish her in polite circles. Her path often crosses Gideon's and they eventually form a gentle friendship. But when she is pursued by a particularly insistent suitor, Gideon's behaviour changes when he thinks she encouraged the attention. Nothing could be further from the truth, and right away, we have a wonderful romance situation leading to a series of misunderstandings.

Patience is always aware that she is reliant on her relatives, something that does not sit easy with her. When she eventually decides to sponsor a group of 'fallen women’, she turns to Gideon for help, but in doing so, she discovers one such young lady settled with a daughter near his manor home, and she suspects the worst. Was she wrong about him all along?

Will they overcome these misunderstandings and finally talk? Read the novel!

I thought the focus of Love's Legacy is not so much on the romance, but more on Patience's daily life and several secrets. Whilst Gideon and Patience share many scenes, not much is made of their growing feelings for each other, although the misunderstandings work really well in placing obstacles in their path. Their relationship, however, is gentle and the ending not surprising. 

Love's Legacy is a lovely, traditional historical romance for readers who are less into the romantic developments, but who prefer to read about life, social dilemmas, and personal adventures of the time. Ms Kleinman has an excellent knowledge of society and setting, and – as always – she brings the era to life even in the smallest detail.

Readers of gentle historical romance will enjoy Love's Legacy.

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Blurb:

Can young love heal the wounds of the past…?

When her father — a countryside reverend — dies suddenly, young Patience Worthington is left with no home and little money. In urgent need of support, she is forced to seek out her estranged uncle, a viscount at the vast Worthington Place.

Patience arrives to find that her uncle has died and that the current viscount is her cousin, Gideon. After hearing her plight, he agrees to give her a home on the Worthington estate.

However, when Patience and Gideon learn the cause of the long-standing rift between the two sides of the family, they quickly begin to clash. Now too proud to accept his accept the viscount’s charity, Patience soon leaves Worthington Place to seek shelter with her late mother’s relatives in Bath.

With her kindness and beauty, Patience is an instant success in Bath society and regularly crosses paths with Gideon. Despite their differences, they enjoy each other’s company and form a tentative friendship.

But when dark secrets once again threaten their growing bond, the cousins begin to wonder whether they can ever leave the shadows of the past behind…

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About the Author:

Natalie’s passion for reading became a compulsion to write when she attended a ten-week course in creative writing some sixteen or so years ago. She takes delight in creating short stories of which more than forty have been published, but it was her lifelong love of Regency romance that led her to turn from contemporary romantic fiction to try her hand at her favourite genre. Raised on a diet of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, she is never happier than when immersed in an age of etiquette and manners, fashion and intrigue, all combined into a romping good tale. 

She lives on the London/Kent border, close to the capital’s plethora of museums and galleries which she uses for research as well as pleasure. A perfect day though is when she heads out of town to enjoy lunch by a pub on the river, any river, in company with her husband and friends. 

Natalie is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, the Society of Authors and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.

You can find out more about Natalie on Twitter @NatKleinman, Facebook /NatalieKleinmanAuthor or on her Website www.nataliekleinman.com.