A Heart Revealed: A Proper Romance (Paperback) *

I love the “Proper Romance” series by Shadow Mountain publisher. These books are fall exactly in my sweet spot for reading. I know exactly what I’m going to get when I pick one of these books up. This book was a bit of romance, but mostly it was a journey of self- discovery for Miss Amber Sterlington. At the height of her season in London, Amber encounters a most distressing and devastating turn of events. Everything she has known changes. She cast away, discarded, humiliated and scared. I knew from the beginning that I would be taking an emotional journey with Amber. Right from the start Amber is a character that I did not love. I didn’t even like her. She is selfish, catty and uncaring. But, since she is the main character of the book, I figured by the end I would have no choice but to like her so I knew the author had quite the journey in store for Amber and me too. Thank goodness that Amber has one person in her life that doesn’t give up on her even when she probably deserved to be left completely alone. That one steady influence (that stood her ground) forced Amber to make changes and look at things differently. Amber begins to see the value of work and honesty and real friendship. The romance is slow coming but sweet and perfect for this story. I really loved it. The best part for me was the emotional journey. The place I started in the book was completely different from where I ended and that was the best part for me. I think it was the best part for Amber too. Love this book. Love this “Proper Romance” brand. Love to see Josi Kilpack writing a regency romance! (so different from her culinary mysteries!) There’s a lot of love going on here.

Wow, I felt like this book had so much more depth to it than any other Regency novel I've read and I really liked that! I love the different, deeper perspective this novel gives to the customs of the time. There was so much great character development in Amber in a way that I found plausible. Although this is considered a romance, the majority of the story is focused on her character arc. I actually thought that was great because it showed how we must all be strong and self accepting on our own before we can truly be strong with someone else and accept them. The romantic parts were spot on though! I loved Thomas as he was a kind, strong, hard working regular guy who knew what was important in life. And I loved Suzanne and her relationship with Amber. Even though most people would not go through something like Amber, I think there were lessons from it that we all could learn. Josi Kilpack remains on the top of my authors to always read list as I have now read so many wonderful books by her and in so many genres- women's fiction, culinary mysteries, and now regency romance! Can't wait to see what else she comes up with!