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Belverdon
An isolated moorland estate hides a long-buried secret.
Meet Miss Bella Wrighton, a spirited and unconventional debutante fresh from the countryside, who unknowingly holds the key to unravelling Belverdon's dark past.
The dashing Duke of Walborough, a man of wealth and status, claims to have no interest in the audacious Miss Wrighton, but their fateful encounter at a society ball sparks a chain of events that will forever change their lives.
Enter the charming Viscount Rossington, Walborough's closest friend, whose inexplicable connection to Miss Wrighton both confuses and intrigues him.
As love dares to bloom amidst society's disapproval, secrets from the shadows of the past slowly come to light, weaving a tapestry of mystery, romance and retribution.
From the wilds of Yorkshire to the glittering ballrooms of the ton, from opulent country estates to quaint sleepy villages, get ready for a captivating journey filled with forbidden love, hidden truths, and the timeless allure of Regency romance.
Meet Miss Bella Wrighton, a spirited and unconventional debutante fresh from the countryside, who unknowingly holds the key to unravelling Belverdon's dark past.
The dashing Duke of Walborough, a man of wealth and status, claims to have no interest in the audacious Miss Wrighton, but their fateful encounter at a society ball sparks a chain of events that will forever change their lives.
Enter the charming Viscount Rossington, Walborough's closest friend, whose inexplicable connection to Miss Wrighton both confuses and intrigues him.
As love dares to bloom amidst society's disapproval, secrets from the shadows of the past slowly come to light, weaving a tapestry of mystery, romance and retribution.
From the wilds of Yorkshire to the glittering ballrooms of the ton, from opulent country estates to quaint sleepy villages, get ready for a captivating journey filled with forbidden love, hidden truths, and the timeless allure of Regency romance.
- GenresHistorical Romance
337 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 16, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 18, 2025
This book had so much promise until 20% of the way through. There were so many different plot lines that could’ve been sequels or continuations. I started to zone out and skim read because my personality doesn’t allow me to DNF.
January 5, 2025
Enjoyed this book hugely
Well written and a really good read. I gave it four stars as there were a lot of characters and I got them a bit confused and had to keep reminding myself of who was who and all the family relationships. Even though his is a small but key part in this book, I am intrigued enough to hope that Lord Seldon's story will be told by this author.
Well written and a really good read. I gave it four stars as there were a lot of characters and I got them a bit confused and had to keep reminding myself of who was who and all the family relationships. Even though his is a small but key part in this book, I am intrigued enough to hope that Lord Seldon's story will be told by this author.
June 2, 2026
Wow
An intoxicating web of stories that is hard to put down. Fair warning: There are a lot of characters and a lot of family tree connections and side stories, so I'm hopping into the sequel before I forget all the intricacies.
This was delightful.
An intoxicating web of stories that is hard to put down. Fair warning: There are a lot of characters and a lot of family tree connections and side stories, so I'm hopping into the sequel before I forget all the intricacies.
This was delightful.
May 10, 2025
Pacy read
Got a bit bogged
down in mid story but picked up to prove enjoyable a story as ever told.
Try it
Got a bit bogged
down in mid story but picked up to prove enjoyable a story as ever told.
Try it
August 25, 2024
Too much
I would love to give this book 4 stars but there are just far too many stories for one book. Yes - stories plural. Equally, there are far too many characters and far too many tangled plot lines, it’s a wonder the author was able to keep track of them all. This should have been at least 3 books, the split giving more space & depth to the courtship & romance of John & Bella. Equally a second book could give the same focus on Cuddy, Hunter Wrighton, and the mysterious uncle & his men, as well as Thaddeus’ elevation, while John & Bella would still be in the story. A book should have been dedicated to the investigation regarding the truth about Sally’s background. Any other sensible division of the numerous stories would do, thereby giving proper detail & focus to each.
A decent proofreader would have corrected the many punctuation mistakes and the odd breaks in a characters speech.
That said, it is enjoyable and entertaining and so I do recommend reading it.
Should the author publish another book, I will certainly read it.
I would love to give this book 4 stars but there are just far too many stories for one book. Yes - stories plural. Equally, there are far too many characters and far too many tangled plot lines, it’s a wonder the author was able to keep track of them all. This should have been at least 3 books, the split giving more space & depth to the courtship & romance of John & Bella. Equally a second book could give the same focus on Cuddy, Hunter Wrighton, and the mysterious uncle & his men, as well as Thaddeus’ elevation, while John & Bella would still be in the story. A book should have been dedicated to the investigation regarding the truth about Sally’s background. Any other sensible division of the numerous stories would do, thereby giving proper detail & focus to each.
A decent proofreader would have corrected the many punctuation mistakes and the odd breaks in a characters speech.
That said, it is enjoyable and entertaining and so I do recommend reading it.
Should the author publish another book, I will certainly read it.
August 24, 2026
The first half of this book is fast-paced and entertaining as we watch the Duke of Walborough drawn irresistibly if unwisely to the fascinating but ineligible Bella Wrighton. The hint of looming scandal around her parentage becomes a mystery he is impelled to uncover, despite the threat to his hopes of happiness with Bella. Isobel Birch knows how to describe character and place and create suspense so I was eager to find out how the conundrum would be resolved. The Regency setting is convincing despite the occasional modern phraseology and there are interesting snippets of period detail.
The central story reaches a climax halfway through the book at which point the novel splinters into a confusing hotchpotch of sub-plots only tangentially connected to the main story. Reading to the end became a tiresome task rather than a pleasure, especially as the writing style deteriorated into reportage intermixed with rambling and repetitive dialogue.
Such a fertile imagination would be better for disciplined editing.
The central story reaches a climax halfway through the book at which point the novel splinters into a confusing hotchpotch of sub-plots only tangentially connected to the main story. Reading to the end became a tiresome task rather than a pleasure, especially as the writing style deteriorated into reportage intermixed with rambling and repetitive dialogue.
Such a fertile imagination would be better for disciplined editing.
July 26, 2024
An enjoyable romance where the hero and heroine acknowledge their feelings very early on, and the rest of the story involves a search for the true identity of a pair of babies born at the same time, for the hero's assuming control of his estate, and everyone dealing with social unrest and the napoleonic wars. If it were not a regency romance, we might expect a few central characters to be killed in warfare or die in childbirth, but this happens only to evil decadent people we don't know very well or people in the past. Interesting subplot about organs and musicians.
September 11, 2024
Great story but...
I enjoyed this story. However, most of the time I hadn't got a clue who was speaking. The dialogue rambled so I wasn't quite sure who they were talking about either. Some more punctuation would have helped maybe. When someone was thinking and remembering several people and the thinker then says he/she...I was never sure who they were referring to. But anyway, it was a good interesting story.
I enjoyed this story. However, most of the time I hadn't got a clue who was speaking. The dialogue rambled so I wasn't quite sure who they were talking about either. Some more punctuation would have helped maybe. When someone was thinking and remembering several people and the thinker then says he/she...I was never sure who they were referring to. But anyway, it was a good interesting story.
June 3, 2026
Creative writing student envisions The Thornbirds as a Regency with no incest (but it was suspected)!
Interesting. Signed up for # two. While very detailed and slow with many tributaries, it was a good time, mostly. Several typos including punctuation in the wrong place. "Oh aunt of, course." really
3.5 generously. Loves commas.
It did read as slowly as the time. Until you realize the time in the novel is very short, it just feels long. I still borrowed the next.
Interesting. Signed up for # two. While very detailed and slow with many tributaries, it was a good time, mostly. Several typos including punctuation in the wrong place. "Oh aunt of, course." really
3.5 generously. Loves commas.
It did read as slowly as the time. Until you realize the time in the novel is very short, it just feels long. I still borrowed the next.
August 17, 2024
A bit involved
A new author to me and I’ll definitely be looking at her other books. I liked this one, but got a bit lost with all the characters and all the intrigue. And it seemed like one chapter the H was all haughty and by the start of the next chapter, madly in love. Perhaps the bit in the middle got edited out.
A new author to me and I’ll definitely be looking at her other books. I liked this one, but got a bit lost with all the characters and all the intrigue. And it seemed like one chapter the H was all haughty and by the start of the next chapter, madly in love. Perhaps the bit in the middle got edited out.
September 30, 2024
had no expectations of this book but it proved to be a delight. the characters were all well drawn, good overcame bad and the plot had a few twists which kept ones attention. the author knows her history and was factually correct which is always a relief. well done ms birch but so annoying its her only published book!
September 30, 2024
wonderful and heart warming
This was a wonderful heart warming story of love across the classes, of family, friendship, mystery and history beautifully told and evocative. There are a number of religious references which are appropriate in part as the FMC's father is a vicar.
This was a wonderful heart warming story of love across the classes, of family, friendship, mystery and history beautifully told and evocative. There are a number of religious references which are appropriate in part as the FMC's father is a vicar.
June 4, 2026
well written but odd
Great story telling with a giant cast of characters and complicated plot. But serious editing issues, both with punctuation and paragraph organization. It really could benefit from a lot of tightening up too…repetitive and wandering at times.
Great story telling with a giant cast of characters and complicated plot. But serious editing issues, both with punctuation and paragraph organization. It really could benefit from a lot of tightening up too…repetitive and wandering at times.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews