Written by Carrie Fancett Pagels
- Series: My Heart Belongs
- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Barbour Books (July 1, 2017)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1683220889
- ISBN-13: 978-1683220886
Journey now to Mackinac Island where…
A Tangled Gilded Age Love Story Unfolds.
Although the Winds of Mackinac Inn has been in her mother’s family for generations, Maude Welling’s father refuses to let her run it without the guidance of a husband. So she seeks to prove her worth and independence by working incognito as a maid at the Grand Hotel.
Undercover journalist Ben Steffans, posing as a wealthy industrialist, pursues a story about impoverished men chasing heiresses at the famed hotel. While undercover, he becomes attracted to an intriguing maid. By an act of heroism Ben endears himself to the closed-mouthed islanders—including Maude—and he digs deep for his story.
But when scandal threatens, will the growing love between Maude and Ben be scuttled when truths are revealed?
I was very interested in reading the book when I read the description, “Moor your heart on Mackinac Island along with resident sweetheart Maude Welling, an heiress trying to prove her worth by working incognito as a maid at the Grand Hotel. Meet Ben Steffans, a journalist posing as a wealthy industrialist who has come to the island to uncover a story about impoverished men pursuing heiresses at the famed hotel. Will a growing love between Maude and Ben be scuttled when truths are revealed in this Gilded Age romance?”
The story began by going directly into the storyline which I appreciated. However, the book pretty much went downhill from there.
My favorite character was Jack. He seemed the most realistic and interesting. I liked his personality and his interactions with other characters. Though a minor character, I also liked his little friend yet he seemed a lot younger than Jack’s age of twelve. It was funny when he told Ben that he was too old to go to Sunday School to look at Maude.
The two main characters, Ben and Maude, had a very superficial relationship the entire book. They only talked about how attractive they found one another and it jumped to thoughts of marrying each other and saying they were in love with each other without even having any real conversations. Maude’s reason for working as a maid also made no sense. The fact that she took care of the books for other family member’s businesses proved more of her ability to run the inn than working as a maid at the Grand Hotel would.
The dialogue style in this book also really bothered me. It jumped around a lot and it took me out of the story trying to figure out which character was saying what. This was especially true when there were more than two characters in the conversation.
I really wanted to like this book but there were too many issues with it and the story just dragged on with characters who had no real connection to each other. I would not recommend reading it.
I would rate this book a 2.5.
I received this book from NetGalley. This review is 100% my own opinion.
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