A well crafted romance that I enjoyed very much.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to read this.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

As a debutante, Henrietta Harvey is expected to be a perfect lady, and the only art she should make is dainty watercolours or embroidery. However, she wants to be an artist, and visit salons and with other artists, but her mother refuses to let her, and threatens to destroy her work. Thinking she has no other option, she flees to a friend's estate but soon finds herself snowed in with the aloof Lord Hauxton. Thomas, the Earl of Hauxton has decided that the amount of pain and loss he's suffered, he doesn't want to find himself in that situation again, so he won't remarry. But meeting Henrietta, spending time with her due to the weather, makes him start to reconsider his stance - but can he convince her he's the man she wants, and who will let her continue her art?

I wasn't too sure what to expect from this book, but as soon as I started it, I knew I would like it. Both of the main characters had secrets, and had suffered, so they weren't immediately warm and open to each other, but that was okay. Really, though they were forced to spend time together because of the snow, that time gave them the opportunity to open up in a gradual, natural way, and truly see the other person. I think the other couple, who's estate Thomas and Henrietta stay at, may have been in a previous book, but it didn't take away from the story that I hadn't read that one. All in all, a decent book, which was perfect to read around Christmas time.

I have been distracted lately with a new job after l9ckdown but was scrolling through my kindle and found this book.

As soon as I got through chapter 1 I was hooked, Henrietta is not your usual regency heroine, her focus is not on making a good match she is in search of a vocation much to the distress of her mother.

After a monumental fight with her mother she embarks on a trip to her cousin Carolines home to lick her wounds.

Lord Hauxton is avoiding an romantic engagements love has never worked out for him in the past so to avoid the Christmas balls and parties of the ton he heads to visit his friend Heyton and his wife Caroline.

After getting caught in a major snow storm Henrietta and Hauxton end up stranded together alone in Heptonstall house. Will Hauxton ever trust love again will Henrietta find her vocation?

This was a fabulous book and not your usual regency romance the characters were engaging and you really invested in their story.

Thank you to netgalley for sending me this book in return for an honest review

An emotional festive romance. Snow, sadness, solace and seductive, the characters are complex with secrets and issues which could prevent their HEA.

Thomas needs to escape London following the death of his fiancé and he ends up staying with a friend in Kent. Henrietta has run away from London following an argument with her mother and has also ended up in the same house in Kent but the snow has meant that their hosts are stuck in Hampshire so Thomas and Henrietta are trapped together in the house alone
I liked Henrietta, she is an artist but not someone who paints the traditional watercolours of the time but instead grittier images of people that she sees in the poorer streets of London. Her reason for feeing London resonates with me and she struggles to pick up a paintbrush after that but her sanctuary helps make her more relaxed and able to cope with her mother
Thomas is running scared as it seems that everyone he has cared about in his life has died and his emotions are still raw, escaping London gives him the opportunity to be himself, although things are complicated when he meets Henrietta. He is honourable and intelligent as well as kind and caring which drew me to him and seeing him relax and unbend as the story progressed made him seem so much more real
Although both Thomas and Henrietta are trying to escape their lives being thrown together allows them to learn about each other and understand each other in a way that would otherwise not have been possible in the traditional London ballrooms which really worked for their characters. They wouldn’t have been able to work through their differences if they had only met briefly so meeting them this way really worked for them as characters
I would recommend this book to those who enjoy a festive historical romance with the main characters being trapped by the snow and learning so much about themselves and each other that you will end up loving them

Snow in a romantic novel creates the perfect proximity for would-be lovers. Lord Hauxton seeks the quiet solace of his friends' country house to try and move forward with his life after a recent and unexpected loss. Artist Henrietta runs to her cousin's house, after a bitter fight with her mother, about her future. Both after escaping the snowy night, end up in the same room, which is the catalysis to make them question their futures.

Whilst delivering deepening emotion and passion between Milton and Henrietta a few more flashbacks to their pasts would better illuminate their current, internal conflicts. However, with drama, romance and a festive twist, this is an enjoyable winter read.

I received a copy of this book from Mills and Boon via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book

It was a softly written romance that was easy to follow and lovely to read.

The detail in the book was good and the author did a great job with setting the scenes and bringing he book to life. It was a story that was written from the heart and that really came through in the writing style.

It is 4 stars from me for this one - highly recommended!!

Thomas Milton, Earl of Hauxton had suffered many family losses in his life and was determined not to suffer any more. With this in mind, he decided that marriage was not for him. Henrietta Harvey was a talented artist but was hindered from exhibiting her work due to the fact she was a woman and her mother disapproved of her art. Henrietta, too, has decided not to marry as it was very unlikely that a husband would approve of her continuing with her art. Henrietta was a determined lady. Thomas and Henrietta are forced to spend time together due to the weather. They have an obvious attraction but given their feelings on marriage could anything come of it? This was a little slow in the beginning but the pace of the story increased as more characters came in to play. I did enjoy this entertaining read. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thomas Milton, Earl of Hauxton arrives at his best friend’s home late at night having been delayed by snow & is relieved to sink into a soft warm bed but a few hours later he's awakened by a naked woman climbing into the bed. Runaway debutante Henrietta Harvey will never live down the mortification of accidentally slipping into Lord Hauxton’s bed. A servant’s misunderstanding sent Henrietta to the wrong room. So, imagine their horror upon discovering they’re snowed in together the next morning! Yet Henrietta comes to find this gruff, cold man has an intriguingly warmer side. Still, hiding a secret that would shock the ton, she’s resigned to becoming a spinster. Unless she can trust him with the truth, before the snow melts.
A well written fun, entertaining read with strong characters. Of course Henrietta would have been totally ruined from being alone with Milton . I loved how they grew closer as they spent more time together, whilst there was attraction & chemistry between them they also liked each other & found themselves confiding in each other. I loved how their relationship developed but I wanted to shake Milton until he saw the light, I think I would have made him grovel quite a bit more! It was great to catch up with James & Caroline, I would have like to have known whether Caroline had a spare or a girl & also how Polly recovered
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Independent, unconventional Henrietta is an artist, much to her mother's horror. After an altercation, Henrietta escapes to her cousin's house, only to find that their guest (Thomas, Lord Hauxton) has already arrived but their hosts are held up by the snow.

Thrown together by the snow and absence of their hosts, and despite both their firm intentions to avoid marriage (or anything that might lead to it!), amusing events make it impossible to avoid each other - including inadvertently trying to sleep in the same bed, and being literally and metaphorically thrown together by an irrepressible dog.

As Henrietta and Thomas manouevre themselves through the mishaps driving them together or apart, and navigate her slightly maniacal mother, they are able to see each other's strengths and pain, humour and resilience. Their attraction, desire and love develops into an engaging relationship of partners and equals .

Despite all the snow, this is a warm, entertaining, and lively tale, and is the first book I have read by Laura Martin - I couldn't put it down and will certainly be looking out for more.

Content warning: hero lost his first wife in childbirth.

This was a really amusing little romance! I loved the fun set-up (two guests accidentally taken to the same room in the middle of the night), and from there it was just cute all the way through. I really appreciated that the hero and heroine were able to spend so much time alone together - though the idea is a little contrived, and Henrietta would certainly have been ruined in real life, it gives them so much space to get to know one another and led to some really free conversations. I thought the two of them were really well suited, and it was a pleasure to read about them. I also loved the glimpses of James and Caroline from Her Best Friend, The Duke!

3.5 stars

I really liked the premise of both of the main characters. Henrietta loves her art and has spent all her pin money on clandestine lessons and thinks marriage will stop her achieving her potential. Our hero has suffered great loss, his parents and brothers in a fire, his wife and child in childbirth and then his second fiancee drops dead so he feels he is cursed. His first fiancee, went onto marry his best friend and it's this couple who are the mutual friends to both the parties. I wondered if I'd landed in the end of a series. It starts slowly, kisses and some mutual explantion of their expected life trajectories, then they end up having a passionate encounter and the hero bales. Henrietta's mother is very cruel to her, but surprisingly she forgives her, which I found strange. I also found it strange that she didn't talk to her father. Henrietta returns to her friends house to help with a Christmas ball and it's here that the hero eventually recognises he's been mistaken and it's better to have 'loved and lost' than not loved at all. I characters are drawn well but there seems something missing which is why a rated it 3.5. It's worth a read though. I might look out for more of the author's work as she is new to me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I enjoyed this book. It was a fairly typical romance but with a bit of a different spin to it. Easy to read and well written with strong and likeable characters so I’d recommend it to readers of this genre.

Sorry but this never came to life for me. The premise was interesting and the characters promised a lot but the execution was boring and pedestrian.