Wishing Game by A.S. Fenichel
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Genre: Historical
Length: Short Story (96 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by FennelThe Earl of Westbridge is dying, and without a male heir. His daughter Mary will lose her home if she does not marry before her father passes. She has already turned down two men while holding onto the hope of finding true love. In her desperation, she plays the wishing game, a childhood folly devised to chase away fear during thunderstorms.
Avery is the unwilling heir to the Westbridge earldom. He arrives a few days before the spring holiday in the middle of a horrific storm to offer his assistance to his distant cousin. Expecting a spinster who had been put on the shelf, he certainly never expected to develop feelings for the beautiful Mary Barrow.
Mistrust and doubt engulf them. It will take a miracle to bring them together. Or maybe just a wish come true.
A.S. Fenichel’s title sets the tone for her delightful Regency romance. As the daughter of a dying Earl, Mary Barrow knows that without a brother to inherit the title, the best she can look forward to, is to depend on the charity of her aunt and cousin and move in with them, or find a husband. But not even the threat of eviction will persuade Mary to give up her dreams of marrying for love. Not even the love of her cousin, her best friend and surrogate brother.
The arrival of the unknown Avery Townsend, a distant relative and heir to the Earldom soon turns Mary’s resentment to something else, and it is equally clear the man is no more enamoured with the situation than Mary.
It takes tight writing to pack as much story into so few pages, but this author does a stunning job of presenting characters of depth, a story that flows along on every line of every page, and contains so much emotion that adds, and not detracts, from the pace of the story.
Every moment of the few days covered in Wishing Game is pace with information, tensions and emotions without a pause. But make no mistake that does not mean this reader felt overwhelmed by the masterful content. Far from it, I wanted to keep turning the pages.
Without shifting from the point of view of the main characters the author introduced several major secondary characters and a raft of supporting ones which added to the depth
This is a story that can be read in one sitting. It is a story full of the ‘feel-good-factor’, and I make no apology for describing it as such.
If you enjoy a sweet romance, and a Regency story, then I highly recommend Ms. A.S. Fenichel’s Wishing Game.
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