Sophy is a young girl in England. Her mother Mrs. Prescott is a teacher and widow in a small village. Sophy has red hair and a temper. Her mother always forgives her. At the start of the book she is tossing roasted chestnuts at her mother to catch in her mouth and eat. One gets lodged in her throat and her mom dies. After the funeral she learns that her mother had named a Lord Fairchild as her guardian and once he has been notified, he sends for her. She is clearly his daughter outside of wedlock. She has 2 older siblings now, a father and a step mom who at first finds the existence of Sophy a terrible burden. But she comes to love Sophy and even decides to sponsor her with a coming out in London. Things do not go as anyone plans. Her engagement is announced, but she does not love him. She loves another who is below her father's station in life. Can she go against her father and step mother's wishes? Will she then lose them and her brother and sister whom she loves dearly? Can the man she loves get over her lying to him? I found it an engaging historical romance. Sophy is the bastard daughter of Lord Fairchild. Although her father and his wife want the best for her, they caution her that she must be even more circumspect and modest than other young women because of her irregular birth. They arrange a good match with a member of the Ton, but Sophy has fallen in love with a businessman. She is torn between her sense of responsibility and refined taste, and her affectionate heart.Surprisingly excellent. The writing itself is good but nothing particularly special. But I was blown away by how well the author captured the period. And this is literally the very first Regency romance I have ever read in which A)the supposed bastard hero(ine) really is a bastard and B)none of the love interests have a title. By sidestepping the usual flashy trappings of the genre, Fixsen left herself room to explore the characters and classes that are generally ignored or deplored. And she did so while crafting a very convincing romance (I was outright tense about whether Sophy and her love would meet again, and their slow courtship was very charming and realistic) and complex but loving families.Also, it's currently free on amazon!
What do You think about Fairchild (2013)?
The writing is good, just not my type. Never been a big Austen fan so maybe that's why. DNF.
—ILoveBooksNN
maybe more like 3.5 stars. light read, would have been a good beach read.
—Dorita
