Scan barcode
angieisbooked's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
timitra's review
4.0
Hearth and Home was an enjoyable read. I really this spin on the mail order bride trope. It was at times cute, sweet and steamy. This is my first book by this author but it won't be my last.
Copy provided by author
Copy provided by author
katieandrews658's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
rjordan19's review
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Overall: 3.5 rounded ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person I think only from the hero’s point of view
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes
Should I read in order?
It’s not necessary for a rebel reader – there’s character overlap and some light page time with the mains from book 1, but each romance does stand alone.
Basic plot:
Julian is holding out for true love – and wonders if he’s found it when he meets the cook of the boarding house he’s staying at out west.
Give this a try if you want:
- Not 100% sure on time frame here, but I think it’s late 1800s? The hero’s family is a part of the upper echelons of New York society
- American west/New York setting (maybe half and half or a bit more in the Western setting)
- American mains (?) – Julian has mixed heritage (he is the son of a Union solder and a free Black woman and a part of the upper 400 in NY), and Violet has a Mexican accent (but I’m not 100% sure on her family history)
- consent is a focus
- instalust/instalove (on the hero’s part) that kind of leads into friends to lovers because he distances himself
- class difference – hero is rich and a respected member of society and heroine was a maid/cook at a boarding house in the West
- cartographer/artist heroine
- marriage of convenience
- cinnamon roll hero
- mid steam – 3 full scenes but they are on the light side (details and length)
Ages:
- Hero is 21, didn’t catch heroine but would guess a similar age?
First Line
Julian stepped inside the boarding house and cautioned a look around him.
My thoughts:
I liked this one okay. I love the narrator – sped up a bit, his voice was perfection. So I had a fun time listening to this while doing some other things around my house, but the romance wasn’t strong enough for me to want to really love this one.
I also think this one was only from the hero's perspective, which I love!
I think maybe I had in my head ‘mail order groom’ and honestly this didn’t fit that for me. Yes, there’s a mail order groom aspect to it, but it was more the hero rescuing her from mail order grooms 😆 So I might have set myself up for certain expectations and was disappointed.
This one starts with a bit of instalust for the hero, but he distances himself. So it’s more of a slow burn with them getting to know each other and becoming friends. There was lot of plot drama in this one to me – lots of society catty behavior that I struggled with a bit. And then they move on to New York in the second half and the angst picked up a bit and I appreciated that (loooove my angst), but also the miscommunication came in.
I think I struggled with this one a bit, because while the mains were on page quite a bit together, I wanted more bonding between them. More alone time where they were really getting to know each other. There was some tension building. But it all felt a bit slow. It was cute though. It was pleasant. I’m definitely going to read more in the series and hope I find something I love a bit more.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- some scenes of racism and judgmental attitudes – ‘gangs of Sioux’ is used by side characters ignorant about Indigenous culture, intolerance to poly relationships (the hero’s sister is in a MFM relationship and there’s comments)
- death of parents mentioned
- bullying and harassment (lots of ‘mean girl’ drama)
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: Her scenes are a bit on the light side – like foreplay was decent but actual penetration/orgasm was lighter
Safe sex: I don’t believe so, but they are married
Chapter 12 – kisses
Chapter 13 – 🔥kisses and oral for her
Chapter 16 – 🔥kisses in a storm in the river, her on top
Chapter 19 – 🔥her on top
Readability: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person I think only from the hero’s point of view
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes
Should I read in order?
It’s not necessary for a rebel reader – there’s character overlap and some light page time with the mains from book 1, but each romance does stand alone.
Basic plot:
Julian is holding out for true love – and wonders if he’s found it when he meets the cook of the boarding house he’s staying at out west.
Give this a try if you want:
- Not 100% sure on time frame here, but I think it’s late 1800s? The hero’s family is a part of the upper echelons of New York society
- American west/New York setting (maybe half and half or a bit more in the Western setting)
- American mains (?) – Julian has mixed heritage (he is the son of a Union solder and a free Black woman and a part of the upper 400 in NY), and Violet has a Mexican accent (but I’m not 100% sure on her family history)
- consent is a focus
- instalust/instalove (on the hero’s part) that kind of leads into friends to lovers because he distances himself
- class difference – hero is rich and a respected member of society and heroine was a maid/cook at a boarding house in the West
- cartographer/artist heroine
- marriage of convenience
- cinnamon roll hero
- mid steam – 3 full scenes but they are on the light side (details and length)
Ages:
- Hero is 21, didn’t catch heroine but would guess a similar age?
First Line
Julian stepped inside the boarding house and cautioned a look around him.
My thoughts:
I liked this one okay. I love the narrator – sped up a bit, his voice was perfection. So I had a fun time listening to this while doing some other things around my house, but the romance wasn’t strong enough for me to want to really love this one.
I also think this one was only from the hero's perspective, which I love!
I think maybe I had in my head ‘mail order groom’ and honestly this didn’t fit that for me. Yes, there’s a mail order groom aspect to it, but it was more the hero rescuing her from mail order grooms 😆 So I might have set myself up for certain expectations and was disappointed.
This one starts with a bit of instalust for the hero, but he distances himself. So it’s more of a slow burn with them getting to know each other and becoming friends. There was lot of plot drama in this one to me – lots of society catty behavior that I struggled with a bit. And then they move on to New York in the second half and the angst picked up a bit and I appreciated that (loooove my angst), but also the miscommunication came in.
I think I struggled with this one a bit, because while the mains were on page quite a bit together, I wanted more bonding between them. More alone time where they were really getting to know each other. There was some tension building. But it all felt a bit slow. It was cute though. It was pleasant. I’m definitely going to read more in the series and hope I find something I love a bit more.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- some scenes of racism and judgmental attitudes – ‘gangs of Sioux’ is used by side characters ignorant about Indigenous culture, intolerance to poly relationships (the hero’s sister is in a MFM relationship and there’s comments)
- death of parents mentioned
- bullying and harassment (lots of ‘mean girl’ drama)
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: Her scenes are a bit on the light side – like foreplay was decent but actual penetration/orgasm was lighter
Safe sex:
Chapter 12 – kisses
Chapter 13 – 🔥kisses and oral for her
Chapter 16 – 🔥kisses in a storm in the river, her on top
Chapter 19 – 🔥her on top
teaandcrochet27's review against another edition
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
redhairedashreads's review against another edition
4.0
Julian Baptiste is determined to find a love that is as strong as his parents. What he doesn’t expect is to fall after just one glimpse of Violet Shield. When an advertisement is placed for Violet to find a husband, Julian steps up to save her from the unwanted advances and becomes a mail order groom.
Julian is a sweet man with his family, but the majority of society only sees the shrewd businessman and investor. Being in Gold Sky is a breath of fresh air for Julian and he finally relaxes and shows his true self to people, especially Violet. I liked Julian. He is protective, smart, and very business savvy, but he also has a sweet and fun side that is only seen by his family. I loved watching him let his walls down with Violet and show his true self.
“Home isn’t a place, it’s something you carry with you.”
I really liked Violet. Violet is a beautiful woman, who works hard. She just wants the freedom to be herself and do what she wants. Julian gives her the space to be her own woman and have the family she wants. I loved that Julian actually nourishes her artistic side and asks her to be his cartographer. He was so supportive of her ideas and feelings that I just couldn’t help but love him. Together they learn how to be happy and still pursue their own career paths.
Overall, I really enjoyed seeing another Baptiste fall in love. After the epilogue I wish we could get a prequel book to get the parents story because it sounds like it would be a good one. If you are looking for a sweet and light historical romance set in the West check out this series.
This review was originally posted at Red-Haired Ash Reads.
_____________________________
Romanceopoly 2020 Moon - Past Eaves
Julian is a sweet man with his family, but the majority of society only sees the shrewd businessman and investor. Being in Gold Sky is a breath of fresh air for Julian and he finally relaxes and shows his true self to people, especially Violet. I liked Julian. He is protective, smart, and very business savvy, but he also has a sweet and fun side that is only seen by his family. I loved watching him let his walls down with Violet and show his true self.
“Home isn’t a place, it’s something you carry with you.”
I really liked Violet. Violet is a beautiful woman, who works hard. She just wants the freedom to be herself and do what she wants. Julian gives her the space to be her own woman and have the family she wants. I loved that Julian actually nourishes her artistic side and asks her to be his cartographer. He was so supportive of her ideas and feelings that I just couldn’t help but love him. Together they learn how to be happy and still pursue their own career paths.
Overall, I really enjoyed seeing another Baptiste fall in love. After the epilogue I wish we could get a prequel book to get the parents story because it sounds like it would be a good one. If you are looking for a sweet and light historical romance set in the West check out this series.
This review was originally posted at Red-Haired Ash Reads.
_____________________________
Romanceopoly 2020 Moon - Past Eaves
naika's review
Just never picked it back up after first reading in June. Will save for a later date when more in the mood.
gmrickel's review
Was very much enjoying this book, just in a reading funk. I'll return to the series.
blairleigh's review
5.0
Hi. Julian. Marry me. This man is the cinnamon role I needed in my heart. And his love and adoration for Violet makes you envious of her. Rebel Carter is an easy one-click buy for me. She always leaves my heart wanting more.