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Marlow Intrigues #1
The Lost Love of a Soldier
The stunning prequel to Kindle bestseller The Illicit Love of a Courtesan!
Life is for grasping and living...
Naïve and innocent, Lady Ellen Pembroke falls for a dashing young army officer. Captain Paul Harding has such an easy, enchanting smile and his blue eyes glow; vibrancy and warmth emanating from him. She is in love.
In turn, the Captain finds his attention captured by the beautiful young daughter of the Duke of Pembroke at a house party in the summer. Finding Ellen is like finding treasure on the battle field. His sanity clings to her - something beautiful to remind him that not all in the world is ugly.
Ellen is someone to fight for and someone to survive for when he is inevitably called to arms in the battle of Waterloo...
Life is for grasping and living...
Naïve and innocent, Lady Ellen Pembroke falls for a dashing young army officer. Captain Paul Harding has such an easy, enchanting smile and his blue eyes glow; vibrancy and warmth emanating from him. She is in love.
In turn, the Captain finds his attention captured by the beautiful young daughter of the Duke of Pembroke at a house party in the summer. Finding Ellen is like finding treasure on the battle field. His sanity clings to her - something beautiful to remind him that not all in the world is ugly.
Ellen is someone to fight for and someone to survive for when he is inevitably called to arms in the battle of Waterloo...
263 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 10, 2014
17 people are currently reading
233 people want to read
About the author
Jane Lark
48 books151 followersJane is a writer of authentic, passionate and emotional Historical and New Adult Romance, and a Kindle top 25 bestselling author.
She began her first historical novel at sixteen, but a life full of adversity derailed her as she lives with the restrictions of Ankylosing Spondylitis.
When she finally completed a novel it was because she was determined not to reach forty still saying, I want to write.
Now Jane is writing a Regency series and contemporary, new adult, stories and she is thrilled to be giving her characters life in others' imaginations at last.
You might think that Jane was inspired to write by Jane Austen, especially as she lives near Bath in the United Kingdom, but you would be wrong. Jane's favourite author is Anya Seton, and the book which drew her into the bliss of falling into historical imagination was 'Katherine' a story crafted from reality.
Jane has drawn on this inspiration to discover other real-life love stories, reading memoirs and letters to capture elements of the past, and she uses them to create more realistic plots.
'Basically I love history and I am sucker for a love story. I love the feeling of falling in love; it's wonderful being able to do it time and time again in fiction.'
Jane is also a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development in the United Kingdom, and uses this specialist understanding of people to bring her characters to life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
August 31, 2025
Rereading the ebook edition
I knew this was familiar. It’s the ebook edition of The Lost Love of a Soldier, 2014, featuring Lady Eleanor Pembroke, daughter of the Duke of Pembroke and Captain Paul Harding. Ellen marries Paul against her father’s wishes, is cut off from her family, and follows the drum with her husband.
Turning to the story though, I was at first annoyed by Ellen. She’s at Ghent before and after Waterloo. She’s seen horrific things and faced up to helping the wounded under dreadful conditions. I know she’s pregnant, tired and desolate.
Ellen ignores her feelings about her dead husband’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Hillier. When he offers to help her she thinks he’s being nice when he offers to take care of her. In many ways she’s just so innocent and naive. Hillier’s not a good man and Ellen finds herself trapped, in his power.
Given the times and her physical and mental health maybe I just have to accept that all her initial determination and bravery has taken a beating.
It only after I read Illicit Love of a Courtesan that I truly felt empathy with Ellen.
This title is a precursor to this latter book and needs to be seen in relation to that.
A Boldwood invite ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
I knew this was familiar. It’s the ebook edition of The Lost Love of a Soldier, 2014, featuring Lady Eleanor Pembroke, daughter of the Duke of Pembroke and Captain Paul Harding. Ellen marries Paul against her father’s wishes, is cut off from her family, and follows the drum with her husband.
Turning to the story though, I was at first annoyed by Ellen. She’s at Ghent before and after Waterloo. She’s seen horrific things and faced up to helping the wounded under dreadful conditions. I know she’s pregnant, tired and desolate.
Ellen ignores her feelings about her dead husband’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Hillier. When he offers to help her she thinks he’s being nice when he offers to take care of her. In many ways she’s just so innocent and naive. Hillier’s not a good man and Ellen finds herself trapped, in his power.
Given the times and her physical and mental health maybe I just have to accept that all her initial determination and bravery has taken a beating.
It only after I read Illicit Love of a Courtesan that I truly felt empathy with Ellen.
This title is a precursor to this latter book and needs to be seen in relation to that.
A Boldwood invite ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
August 14, 2025
I’m extremely disappointed in the misleading description of this book. The publisher calls it “The stunning conclusion to The Marlow Family Secrets: an emotional, passionate Regency romance.” That’s simply not accurate. There is no happy ending here which is required for a romance. After some research, I discovered it’s actually a republish of a prequel. If I’d already read the series, I might have known there wasn’t going to be a HEA, but a reader shouldn’t have to do detective work to avoid being blindsided.
The story itself was interesting, though at times the writing felt a bit stilted. But the false advertising left a sour taste. If it had been marketed honestly as historical fiction, I would have rated it 3.5 stars. It could have been a 4, but ending on a cliffhanger—especially for a book advertised as the conclusion to a series—was just off-putting.
Honestly my only complaints are with how the book is presented.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for a copy of this arc in exchange for a review.
The story itself was interesting, though at times the writing felt a bit stilted. But the false advertising left a sour taste. If it had been marketed honestly as historical fiction, I would have rated it 3.5 stars. It could have been a 4, but ending on a cliffhanger—especially for a book advertised as the conclusion to a series—was just off-putting.
Honestly my only complaints are with how the book is presented.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for a copy of this arc in exchange for a review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2025
I enjoyed this book it’s book 7 in the series omg love it this is my opinion
Blurb
When Lady Eleanor Pembroke's powerful father, a duke, forbids her from marrying the dashing army officer she is desperately in love with, she takes a daring risk and leaves her family and the luxuries of her privileged life behind.
On Christmas Eve, Eleanor elopes with Captain Paul Harding, racing to reach the Scottish border where the law will let them marry without her father's consent.
Paul fears his young, innocent, indulged wife may not have the strength to face the realities of a soldier's life as they join the ranks of the British Army who are gathering in their thousands to stand against Napoleon’s French forces near the town of Waterloo.
But Eleanor has no choice. As battle looms and the army prepares, she must be strong to survive the terrors of war as she is left behind to watch and wait while Paul fights.
Will Ellen regret her choice – or will their love survive?
Blurb
When Lady Eleanor Pembroke's powerful father, a duke, forbids her from marrying the dashing army officer she is desperately in love with, she takes a daring risk and leaves her family and the luxuries of her privileged life behind.
On Christmas Eve, Eleanor elopes with Captain Paul Harding, racing to reach the Scottish border where the law will let them marry without her father's consent.
Paul fears his young, innocent, indulged wife may not have the strength to face the realities of a soldier's life as they join the ranks of the British Army who are gathering in their thousands to stand against Napoleon’s French forces near the town of Waterloo.
But Eleanor has no choice. As battle looms and the army prepares, she must be strong to survive the terrors of war as she is left behind to watch and wait while Paul fights.
Will Ellen regret her choice – or will their love survive?
February 7, 2015
Before reading this book you should have either read the first book of the Marlow Intrigues or all three. You will need to prepare yourself as by the end of this book, your heart will hurt. Jane Lark’s writing is THAT GOOD. She drew me in and made me feel like I personally knew her characters. This a five star review so know that this book was good, and especially because I cried like a baby while reading it.
Lady Ellen Pembroke and Captain Paul Harding fell in love. Yes, they eloped and she had to endure the life of a soldier’s wife, but for me, this book wasn’t about that. The love Ellen and Paul felt for each other was what drew me in and kept me. She gave up her family and priveliged lifestyle to be with him and Paul risked their new love (or so he kept thinking) by taking her with him.
He wanted solace, someone to take to bed and escape war with—someone who would help him shut out the visions of death he’d left behind.
Compared to her father, Paul was water to stone, something moving and living. Becoming Paul’s wife out-weighed the scales. She loved him. She did not regret it.
There is no way to measure the love they felt for each other. Paul would do anything to protect Ellen and she would make sure he knew nothing of her discomforts and fears. She was a Duke’s daughter and wasn’t used to having to travel on top of carriages or stay in small rooms or share a big one with strangers. No worries though, as long as she had Paul, she felt she could endure anything. Paul was feeling a fear he didn’t know how to get rid of. He felt like he couldn’t keep her safe and would die if something happened to her. He knew she was strong and tried to get past his fear of losing her.
His fingers tucked a lock of hair, which kept catching the breeze and blowing across her face, behind her ear. “This must be difficult for you.”
Ellen held his blue gaze. “I’m not afraid.”
“I think you are, if you take the trouble to say you are not.”
“I know at times it will not be easy but I shall do my best to make you happy.” ~Paul
“I know, I will be happy, I have you. I am not afraid of that.” ~ Ellen
I smiled and sighed and cried while reading this book. This is a great series and after reading The Scandalous Love of a Duke, I was curious about John’s parents. Be sure to read all of the Marlow Intrigue books so you can be sucked into their world.
Lady Ellen Pembroke and Captain Paul Harding fell in love. Yes, they eloped and she had to endure the life of a soldier’s wife, but for me, this book wasn’t about that. The love Ellen and Paul felt for each other was what drew me in and kept me. She gave up her family and priveliged lifestyle to be with him and Paul risked their new love (or so he kept thinking) by taking her with him.
He wanted solace, someone to take to bed and escape war with—someone who would help him shut out the visions of death he’d left behind.
Compared to her father, Paul was water to stone, something moving and living. Becoming Paul’s wife out-weighed the scales. She loved him. She did not regret it.
There is no way to measure the love they felt for each other. Paul would do anything to protect Ellen and she would make sure he knew nothing of her discomforts and fears. She was a Duke’s daughter and wasn’t used to having to travel on top of carriages or stay in small rooms or share a big one with strangers. No worries though, as long as she had Paul, she felt she could endure anything. Paul was feeling a fear he didn’t know how to get rid of. He felt like he couldn’t keep her safe and would die if something happened to her. He knew she was strong and tried to get past his fear of losing her.
His fingers tucked a lock of hair, which kept catching the breeze and blowing across her face, behind her ear. “This must be difficult for you.”
Ellen held his blue gaze. “I’m not afraid.”
“I think you are, if you take the trouble to say you are not.”
“I know at times it will not be easy but I shall do my best to make you happy.” ~Paul
“I know, I will be happy, I have you. I am not afraid of that.” ~ Ellen
I smiled and sighed and cried while reading this book. This is a great series and after reading The Scandalous Love of a Duke, I was curious about John’s parents. Be sure to read all of the Marlow Intrigue books so you can be sucked into their world.
July 22, 2014
tugs at the heartstrings...
I did not expect to be as moved by this novel as I was.
The young innocent who flees a harsh father to the arms of her true love and from thence to Gretna Green pulled me in. Actually Ellen's choices were few. Either she marry a much older, titled gentleman her father has dictated she must accept or take the choice about her future into her own hands. Ellen, Lady Eleanor, daughter of the Duke of Pembroke, chooses to give up her position in society, and takes up the life of 'following the drum' with her husband, Captain Paul Harding--right to Brussels, the Battle of Quatre-Bras and Waterloo. Really the introduction into the life Ellen was to lead was pretty stark for a young girl of seventeen who's known very little of the harsh realities of life and even more so of war.
Paul's regiment had been bound for America but with the escape of Napoleon that all changed.
The scene at Lord Richmond's ball has been played out in various novels including Heyer's
An Infamous Army. It gets to me every time, as it did once.
Here though, the battle is the prelude to the change in status for the young Captain's wife, who has no idea where the course she choses, whilst in shock, will eventually lead her.
I did shed a tear or two when she finally realizes the situation she has blindly walked into in the grips of her despair. The title says it all!
And then of course the tragedy and suffering that happens now will continue through other novels for herself and others.
A harsher depiction of the regency times than is often given, the grim reality of war, and begs the question generally of how does one survive major tragedies and disasters, alone and destitute, without resources?
It certainly adds to my understandings about John Harding, the Duke of Pembroke in The Scandalous Love of a Duke.
A NetGalley ARC
I did not expect to be as moved by this novel as I was.
The young innocent who flees a harsh father to the arms of her true love and from thence to Gretna Green pulled me in. Actually Ellen's choices were few. Either she marry a much older, titled gentleman her father has dictated she must accept or take the choice about her future into her own hands. Ellen, Lady Eleanor, daughter of the Duke of Pembroke, chooses to give up her position in society, and takes up the life of 'following the drum' with her husband, Captain Paul Harding--right to Brussels, the Battle of Quatre-Bras and Waterloo. Really the introduction into the life Ellen was to lead was pretty stark for a young girl of seventeen who's known very little of the harsh realities of life and even more so of war.
Paul's regiment had been bound for America but with the escape of Napoleon that all changed.
The scene at Lord Richmond's ball has been played out in various novels including Heyer's
An Infamous Army. It gets to me every time, as it did once.
Here though, the battle is the prelude to the change in status for the young Captain's wife, who has no idea where the course she choses, whilst in shock, will eventually lead her.
I did shed a tear or two when she finally realizes the situation she has blindly walked into in the grips of her despair. The title says it all!
And then of course the tragedy and suffering that happens now will continue through other novels for herself and others.
A harsher depiction of the regency times than is often given, the grim reality of war, and begs the question generally of how does one survive major tragedies and disasters, alone and destitute, without resources?
It certainly adds to my understandings about John Harding, the Duke of Pembroke in The Scandalous Love of a Duke.
A NetGalley ARC
August 8, 2014
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'The Lost Love of a Soldier' is a challenging read. If you've read the poignant and beautifully written, 'The Illicit Love of a Courtesan' you will know the outcome of this love story but don't let that put you off reliving Ellen's earlier life. This is a must read with its engaging characters and sensitive use of historical detail.
Ellen and Paul fall in love despite the strict society rules that define their lives. Their love story is romantic and heartbreaking as they endure family discord and the brutality of war. Ellen at seventeen is endearingly naive. This makes what fate has in store for her especially poignant. Paul is battle worn, despite his youth and looks to Ellen for his salvation. He is a little selfish because he knows how tough 'following the drum' can be for a woman but his love is sincere as is his courage and it's easy to see why Ellen loved him.
This story captures the romance of the Regency period but with a unique perspective that makes it memorable.
I received a copy of this book from Harper Impulse via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Jane Lark
September 5, 2025
Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood books for this ARC.
Ok so, I knew this was part of a series, but I didn’t realise it was actually a prequel to Eleanor Harding’s story — which definitely makes that ending make a lot more sense now.
Going in, I thought it was a good, easy read and pretty fast-paced. But as Paul and Ellen’s relationship progressed, I just didn’t really feel any on-page chemistry between them. It almost felt like we were being walked through the motions of a forbidden marriage rather than actually experiencing the emotions. A lot of Ellen’s POV, especially when she talks about loving Paul, felt more like she was trying to reassure herself about her choices (leaving her family, running away with him) instead of showing us those raw, romantic feelings.
Then the book takes a darker turn — and honestly, it just became depressing. There are some heavier themes like sexual assault, and the story definitely doesn’t end on a happy note. I can only assume this is meant to be a cliffhanger that ties into the next book.
Another thing that threw me off was the sequencing in the writing. For example, in one chapter Eleanor is clutching her stomach, convinced she’s pregnant, but a couple chapters later it’s written like she had never even thought of it before. That inconsistency really pulled me out of the story.
Since this is a re-release of a 2014 book, I feel like the writing could’ve been tightened or updated to better stand alongside some of today’s historical romances. Maybe the next book brings everything together better as part of the bigger series, but unfortunately this one didn’t fully land for me.
Ok so, I knew this was part of a series, but I didn’t realise it was actually a prequel to Eleanor Harding’s story — which definitely makes that ending make a lot more sense now.
Going in, I thought it was a good, easy read and pretty fast-paced. But as Paul and Ellen’s relationship progressed, I just didn’t really feel any on-page chemistry between them. It almost felt like we were being walked through the motions of a forbidden marriage rather than actually experiencing the emotions. A lot of Ellen’s POV, especially when she talks about loving Paul, felt more like she was trying to reassure herself about her choices (leaving her family, running away with him) instead of showing us those raw, romantic feelings.
Then the book takes a darker turn — and honestly, it just became depressing. There are some heavier themes like sexual assault, and the story definitely doesn’t end on a happy note. I can only assume this is meant to be a cliffhanger that ties into the next book.
Another thing that threw me off was the sequencing in the writing. For example, in one chapter Eleanor is clutching her stomach, convinced she’s pregnant, but a couple chapters later it’s written like she had never even thought of it before. That inconsistency really pulled me out of the story.
Since this is a re-release of a 2014 book, I feel like the writing could’ve been tightened or updated to better stand alongside some of today’s historical romances. Maybe the next book brings everything together better as part of the bigger series, but unfortunately this one didn’t fully land for me.
August 29, 2025
This book is young love, family traditions.. war ! Heartache, Everything. We follow Ellen a young lady with a Father forcing her to marry an old man for titles and ranking. She did not love this man, her heart belonged to her officer Paul ! Who she wished to marry, her father was not allowing her to marry just any officer. No Title or ranking involved in that union. So we see Ellen, run away... with Paul ! We follow their love story all the way to the battle of waterloo..
We get such a beautiful balance in this book of emotions ! I can honestly say my Heart ached for Ellen. Being so young and naive of the world and the people in it. She finds herself stuck in situations due to her lack of experiences in the world. She takes it as kindness and thinking people are helping her. She doesn't see their motives behind it. I felt myself wanting to shout at her to just run, don't do it. In this book, all you really want is for her to get her happy ever after..
but with real life ! Fairytales do not exist.
If you love a historical fiction, with the ambience of Bridgerton vibes give it a go !
I highlighter apart of the story as it felt so true of the times to this story.
in the past she would have written, your obedient daughter, but today she was his disobedient daughter and she could hardly write that.
We get such a beautiful balance in this book of emotions ! I can honestly say my Heart ached for Ellen. Being so young and naive of the world and the people in it. She finds herself stuck in situations due to her lack of experiences in the world. She takes it as kindness and thinking people are helping her. She doesn't see their motives behind it. I felt myself wanting to shout at her to just run, don't do it. In this book, all you really want is for her to get her happy ever after..
but with real life ! Fairytales do not exist.
If you love a historical fiction, with the ambience of Bridgerton vibes give it a go !
I highlighter apart of the story as it felt so true of the times to this story.
in the past she would have written, your obedient daughter, but today she was his disobedient daughter and she could hardly write that.
August 12, 2025
BOOK: THE FORBIDDEN LOVE OF AN OFFICER
AUTHOR: JANE LARK
PUB DATE: AUGUST, 2025
👩🏼❤️👨🏼👩🏼❤️👨🏼
REVIEW- 2.5 stars
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
👩🏼❤️👨🏼👩🏼❤️👨🏼
As I finished this book, my first thought was how disappointed I am. It was falsely advertised and marketed and it didn't really feel like a romance to me, especially with the sad, unfinished ending.
👩🏼❤️👨🏼👩🏼❤️👨🏼
However, I liked the beginning and the relationship between the MCs was okay, although they were a bit young, especially the FMC. But, that was normal then. Both of them just started their married life and were eager to start. That was the only good part of the book.
👩🏼❤️👨🏼👩🏼❤️👨🏼
I wouldn't recommend this book because it ended on a cliffhanger, something really sad happened and it's a prequel to a series
AUTHOR: JANE LARK
PUB DATE: AUGUST, 2025
👩🏼❤️👨🏼👩🏼❤️👨🏼
REVIEW- 2.5 stars
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
👩🏼❤️👨🏼👩🏼❤️👨🏼
As I finished this book, my first thought was how disappointed I am. It was falsely advertised and marketed and it didn't really feel like a romance to me, especially with the sad, unfinished ending.
👩🏼❤️👨🏼👩🏼❤️👨🏼
However, I liked the beginning and the relationship between the MCs was okay, although they were a bit young, especially the FMC. But, that was normal then. Both of them just started their married life and were eager to start. That was the only good part of the book.
👩🏼❤️👨🏼👩🏼❤️👨🏼
I wouldn't recommend this book because it ended on a cliffhanger, something really sad happened and it's a prequel to a series
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June 23, 2015To commemorate the two hundred anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo the publisher HarperCollins has reduced the price of The Lost Love of a Soldier to ninety nine cents for the entire month of June.
Synopsis
Young, naïve and innocent, Lady Ellen Pembroke falls for a young army officer. Paul has such an easy enchanting smile and his blue eyes glow, vibrancy and warmth emanating from him. She is in love. Captain Paul Harding, finds his attention captured by the beautiful young daughter of the Duke of Pembroke at a house party in the summer. Finding Ellen is like finding treasure on a battle torn field. His sanity clings to her; something beautiful to remind him that all in the world is not ugly. She’s someone to fight for and someone to survive for when he is called to arms in the battle of Waterloo…
The Lost Love of a Soldier Excerpt
“Ellen?”
Paul whispered her name into the night as he heard the rustle of frost bound leaves on the ground. His breath rose in a mist into the cold winter air. He was on the Duke of Pembroke’s land. He’d not dared encourage her to take a horse, so he’d come close enough that she might walk from the house and find him.
He waited at the end of an avenue of yews, out of sight of the house, in a place she could easily see him. His horse whickered, sensing something, or someone. “Ellen?” he whispered again.
Still no answer.
He stayed quiet. Listening. Wondering if she’d been caught as she left the house. He hoped not. If she’d been caught her father would give her no freedom. Short of leading a military assault on Pembroke’s home, he would not be able to get her out then.
The horse shook its head, rattling its bit, and snorted steamy breath into the cold air. The chill of the winter night seeped through his clothes. There would be a hard frost. He hoped she’d dressed in something warm.
He’d have to buy more clothes for her before they sailed. She would need garments to keep her warm in the sea breezes she’d face on their journey to America.
There was another sound.
“Ellen?”
“Paul?”
How did this woman manage to make his heart beat so erratically whenever he saw her? He could run into battle and not be so affected.
She looked even more beautiful in the dark. Ethereal.
A band of silver light reached through the scudding clouds and caught her face.
He let go of the horse’s bridle and instinctively moved forward. He’d never held her. In the summer there had been no moments alone, she’d been strictly chaperoned and even when she’d come to meet him she’d brought the groom and her sister. When they’d met a fortnight ago, she’d still brought a groom. For the first time they were alone. “Ellen.” He stepped forward and embraced her. In answer her arm came about his waist. It was the most precious feeling of his life. He would always remember this day. She was slender and delicate in his arms.
She slipped free, but he caught her nape and pulled her mouth to his, gently pressing his lips against hers. It was her first kiss, he knew; he could tell by the way her body stiffened when he‘d pulled her close. He let her go, a tenderness he’d never known before catching in his chest.
“Come.” He took the leather bag she carried. “Will you ride before me, or would you rather sit behind my saddle and grip my waist?”
“Would it be easier if I ride behind you?” Her voice ran with uncertainty. She was giving up everything to come with him.
“Do what feels comfortable for you, Ellen.”
She nodded, not looking into his eyes. “I would prefer to ride pillion.”
“Then you shall.” He warmed his voice, hoping to ease her discomfort.
Turning to the horse he slipped one foot in the stirrup, then pulled himself up. “Did you have any difficulty leaving the house?”
“No, the servants’ hall was quiet, and the grooms had all retired.”
He rested her bag across his thighs, then held a hand out to her. “Set your foot on mine and take my hand. I’ll pull you up.” He watched her lift the skirt of her dark habit and then the weight of her small foot pressed on his, as her gloved fingers gripped his. She was light, but the grip of her hand and the pressure of her foot made that something clasp tight in his chest, and the emotion stayed clenched as her fingers embraced his waist over his greatcoat.
He shifted in the saddle, his groin tightening too. A few more days. Just days. He had been waiting months. As he turned the horse, Ellen’s cheek pressed against his shoulder.
“Did you tell anyone you were leaving? Your sister? Or your maid?”
“No, I did not want them to have to face Papa knowing the truth. He would be able to see they’d lied, and then who knows what he might do.” Paul urged the mare into a trot as Ellen continued. “He made me spend the day on my knees reading the Commandments because I refused to marry the Duke of Argyle.”
“Today?” He wished to look back at her but he could not.
Her father had been diabolical to Paul, sneering as though he was nothing when he’d done the decent thing and offered for her. He could not imagine the way Pembroke treated the girls.
He had to get Ellen to Gretna before her father caught them, so she never had to come back and face his retribution.
About the Author
Jane is a writer of authentic, passionate and emotional Historical and New Adult Romance, and a Kindle top 25 bestselling author. She began her first historical novel at sixteen, but a life full of adversity derailed her as she lives with the restrictions of Ankylosing Spondylitis. When she finally completed a novel it was because she was determined not to reach forty still saying, I want to write. Now Jane is writing a Regency series and contemporary, new adult, stories and she is thrilled to be giving her characters life in others' imaginations at last. You might think that Jane was inspired to write by Jane Austen, especially as she lives near Bath in the United Kingdom, but you would be wrong. Jane's favourite author is Anya Seton, and the book which drew her into the bliss of falling into historical imagination was 'Katherine' a story crafted from reality. Jane has drawn on this inspiration to discover other real-life love stories, reading memoirs and letters to capture elements of the past, and she uses them to create more realistic plots. 'Basically I love history and I am sucker for a love story. I love the feeling of falling in love; it's wonderful being able to do it time and time again in fiction.' Jane is also a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development in the United Kingdom, and uses this specialist understanding of people to bring her characters to life.
Synopsis
Young, naïve and innocent, Lady Ellen Pembroke falls for a young army officer. Paul has such an easy enchanting smile and his blue eyes glow, vibrancy and warmth emanating from him. She is in love. Captain Paul Harding, finds his attention captured by the beautiful young daughter of the Duke of Pembroke at a house party in the summer. Finding Ellen is like finding treasure on a battle torn field. His sanity clings to her; something beautiful to remind him that all in the world is not ugly. She’s someone to fight for and someone to survive for when he is called to arms in the battle of Waterloo…
The Lost Love of a Soldier Excerpt
“Ellen?”
Paul whispered her name into the night as he heard the rustle of frost bound leaves on the ground. His breath rose in a mist into the cold winter air. He was on the Duke of Pembroke’s land. He’d not dared encourage her to take a horse, so he’d come close enough that she might walk from the house and find him.
He waited at the end of an avenue of yews, out of sight of the house, in a place she could easily see him. His horse whickered, sensing something, or someone. “Ellen?” he whispered again.
Still no answer.
He stayed quiet. Listening. Wondering if she’d been caught as she left the house. He hoped not. If she’d been caught her father would give her no freedom. Short of leading a military assault on Pembroke’s home, he would not be able to get her out then.
The horse shook its head, rattling its bit, and snorted steamy breath into the cold air. The chill of the winter night seeped through his clothes. There would be a hard frost. He hoped she’d dressed in something warm.
He’d have to buy more clothes for her before they sailed. She would need garments to keep her warm in the sea breezes she’d face on their journey to America.
There was another sound.
“Ellen?”
“Paul?”
How did this woman manage to make his heart beat so erratically whenever he saw her? He could run into battle and not be so affected.
She looked even more beautiful in the dark. Ethereal.
A band of silver light reached through the scudding clouds and caught her face.
He let go of the horse’s bridle and instinctively moved forward. He’d never held her. In the summer there had been no moments alone, she’d been strictly chaperoned and even when she’d come to meet him she’d brought the groom and her sister. When they’d met a fortnight ago, she’d still brought a groom. For the first time they were alone. “Ellen.” He stepped forward and embraced her. In answer her arm came about his waist. It was the most precious feeling of his life. He would always remember this day. She was slender and delicate in his arms.
She slipped free, but he caught her nape and pulled her mouth to his, gently pressing his lips against hers. It was her first kiss, he knew; he could tell by the way her body stiffened when he‘d pulled her close. He let her go, a tenderness he’d never known before catching in his chest.
“Come.” He took the leather bag she carried. “Will you ride before me, or would you rather sit behind my saddle and grip my waist?”
“Would it be easier if I ride behind you?” Her voice ran with uncertainty. She was giving up everything to come with him.
“Do what feels comfortable for you, Ellen.”
She nodded, not looking into his eyes. “I would prefer to ride pillion.”
“Then you shall.” He warmed his voice, hoping to ease her discomfort.
Turning to the horse he slipped one foot in the stirrup, then pulled himself up. “Did you have any difficulty leaving the house?”
“No, the servants’ hall was quiet, and the grooms had all retired.”
He rested her bag across his thighs, then held a hand out to her. “Set your foot on mine and take my hand. I’ll pull you up.” He watched her lift the skirt of her dark habit and then the weight of her small foot pressed on his, as her gloved fingers gripped his. She was light, but the grip of her hand and the pressure of her foot made that something clasp tight in his chest, and the emotion stayed clenched as her fingers embraced his waist over his greatcoat.
He shifted in the saddle, his groin tightening too. A few more days. Just days. He had been waiting months. As he turned the horse, Ellen’s cheek pressed against his shoulder.
“Did you tell anyone you were leaving? Your sister? Or your maid?”
“No, I did not want them to have to face Papa knowing the truth. He would be able to see they’d lied, and then who knows what he might do.” Paul urged the mare into a trot as Ellen continued. “He made me spend the day on my knees reading the Commandments because I refused to marry the Duke of Argyle.”
“Today?” He wished to look back at her but he could not.
Her father had been diabolical to Paul, sneering as though he was nothing when he’d done the decent thing and offered for her. He could not imagine the way Pembroke treated the girls.
He had to get Ellen to Gretna before her father caught them, so she never had to come back and face his retribution.
About the Author
Jane is a writer of authentic, passionate and emotional Historical and New Adult Romance, and a Kindle top 25 bestselling author. She began her first historical novel at sixteen, but a life full of adversity derailed her as she lives with the restrictions of Ankylosing Spondylitis. When she finally completed a novel it was because she was determined not to reach forty still saying, I want to write. Now Jane is writing a Regency series and contemporary, new adult, stories and she is thrilled to be giving her characters life in others' imaginations at last. You might think that Jane was inspired to write by Jane Austen, especially as she lives near Bath in the United Kingdom, but you would be wrong. Jane's favourite author is Anya Seton, and the book which drew her into the bliss of falling into historical imagination was 'Katherine' a story crafted from reality. Jane has drawn on this inspiration to discover other real-life love stories, reading memoirs and letters to capture elements of the past, and she uses them to create more realistic plots. 'Basically I love history and I am sucker for a love story. I love the feeling of falling in love; it's wonderful being able to do it time and time again in fiction.' Jane is also a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development in the United Kingdom, and uses this specialist understanding of people to bring her characters to life.
December 13, 2025
In this complicated and emotional historical romance novel, readers follow Lady Eleanor Pembroke as she decides to elope with army officer Captain Paul Harding against the wishes of her father, the Duke of Pembroke. Able to make their escape to Gretna and marry, Paul and Eleanor begin their marriage in Waterloo as they prepare to face Napoleon’s forces. Forced to adapt to her new hardships, Eleanor must find her own strength to survive the war and wait for Paul’s return. The latest book in the Regency romance series The Marlow Family Secrets, this is packed with complex emotions and vivid details, and readers will love this snapshot of the Napoleonic wars and the challenges of marriage. Spicy, steamy, and emotional, readers will love the characters’ chemistry and will find themselves in Eleanor’s corner as the book progresses and she faces new challenges, all of which are well-written and handled well by Lark. The characters are the absolute stars of the book, as are their relationships, and readers will really enjoy the vibrant historical atmosphere that Lark brings to life in each of her books. Powerful, entertaining, and emotional, historical romance readers will love this latest novel from Jane Lark with its incredible characters, complex storyline, and historical backdrop.
Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the advance copy.
Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the advance copy.
August 27, 2014
Synopsis:
Young, naïve and innocent, Lady Ellen Pembroke falls for a young army officer. Paul has such an easy enchanting smile and his blue eyes glow, vibrancy and warmth emanating from him. She is in love.
Captain Paul Harding, finds his attention captured by the beautiful young daughter of the Duke of Pembroke at a house party in the summer. Finding Ellen is like finding treasure on a battle torn field. His sanity clings to her; something beautiful to remind him that all in the world is not ugly. She’s someone to fight for and someone to survive for when he is called to arms in the battle of Waterloo…
Excerpt:
Ellen had prayed last night, over and over, while Paul slept, whispering the words out loud in case God could not hear them if they were spoken in her mind. She pleaded and begged God to keep him alive and bring him back.
When she went out for a walk with Jennifer just after midday, an exodus had begun; carriages and carts were being loaded with furniture and baggage. People were fleeing the city before the fighting began – all the people who had laughed and danced as thought they had no fear.
Not everyone was leaving though; there were still many hardy revelers in the parks.
But watching others leaving increased the fear Ellen struggled to hold back. It slept inside her, still gently breathing, and then occasionally something would stir it and it would wake, running into her blood, gripping about her heart, and capturing the air in her lungs.
My Thoughts: This book was as good as the rest of the author’s Marlowe Intrigues series. Her writing took me deep within the story, the emotion and sensuality, immersed in her descriptive sentences wooing me to reread paragraphs for the pure love of the language used. I have likened Jane Lark’s historical regency writing to sipping a good brandy, warming you inside and out, from head to toe.
Lady Ellen’s unadulterated innocence and naivety absolutely broke my heart. She was thrust into situations she knew not how to extract herself. She was very much a prisoner of her upbringing, ever the lady with manners to match. Desperately, she escapes her unbearable father, Duke of Pembroke, who meant to sell her to an old titled man so his place among the aristocracy would give him more prestige. Duke of Pembroke was an unloving father who would bend his daughter to his liking.
When Ellen fell in love with Paul Harding, an exceedingly handsome and apparently kind gentlemen captain of the army, her father refused to let her marry him. Contrary to her upbringing, she ran off with Paul to marry in Scotland.
Captain Paul Harding, I saw as a man very self-centered, yet good, nevertheless. He was just a few years older than Elle -- very young, too, and dealt with horrors most of us don’t see. He sought to cleanse his being from such horror, through the purity of Ellen’s soul and exceptional beauty. Standing in her presence calmed him while the fights of the battlefields dimmed. He knew he was cruel and selfish to take Ellen to the battlefield. He reached for what would tend his wounds, not thinking what it would do to this lovely girl, who practically worshipped him. He begun to see what he had done, but by then it was too late. Ellen was with him, he loved her and she him. She could not return to her family—the deed was done.
As the story unfolds, Ellen learns a new life with Paul, far from her pampered life of a duke’s daughter. She misses her mother and sisters terribly. She gives up her mother and sisters to have Paul. She tells herself several times within the story how much she loves him, how much he is worth it. Sometimes, I think she wills herself to love him overly to compensate for the uncomfortable life of being a soldier’s wife living in deplorable conditions on the trail in preparation for battle. She clings to him in this new world, learning about life, love, war, and about the cruelty of man. Many a scene had me in tears. The shroud of purity and innocence is torn from her eyes, revealing a very different world from what she enjoyed as a child and young adult.
Paul’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel, tells her that her husband has died in battle. With that news, her life had no direction, her rudder destroyed. She was in total shock. She lets the Lieutenant Colonel take her to his home. After weeks of mourning, she learns she’s pregnant with Paul’s child. She remains at his home so she could have a place for the baby to be born. And being the innocent she is, she doesn’t realize by her choice he has become her protector with demands of his own. She becomes a whore without whoring, just by association. She didn’t understand any of this. The inner strife and turmoil that Ellen goes through and helplessness in the society she finds herself in, struggling between the world of where she grew up and how she should act, and the reality of her present circumstance, made me feel sorrow, pity and remorse—a heroine bearing tragedy alone.
Jane Lark created a gloriously moving story. The love between Jane and Paul fairly jumped off the page. Ms. Lark does an absolutely riveting job with her haunting sentences of poetic prose. I find myself highlighting and marveling how her writing captures my heart. I most heartedly recommend this series.
Young, naïve and innocent, Lady Ellen Pembroke falls for a young army officer. Paul has such an easy enchanting smile and his blue eyes glow, vibrancy and warmth emanating from him. She is in love.
Captain Paul Harding, finds his attention captured by the beautiful young daughter of the Duke of Pembroke at a house party in the summer. Finding Ellen is like finding treasure on a battle torn field. His sanity clings to her; something beautiful to remind him that all in the world is not ugly. She’s someone to fight for and someone to survive for when he is called to arms in the battle of Waterloo…
Excerpt:
Ellen had prayed last night, over and over, while Paul slept, whispering the words out loud in case God could not hear them if they were spoken in her mind. She pleaded and begged God to keep him alive and bring him back.
When she went out for a walk with Jennifer just after midday, an exodus had begun; carriages and carts were being loaded with furniture and baggage. People were fleeing the city before the fighting began – all the people who had laughed and danced as thought they had no fear.
Not everyone was leaving though; there were still many hardy revelers in the parks.
But watching others leaving increased the fear Ellen struggled to hold back. It slept inside her, still gently breathing, and then occasionally something would stir it and it would wake, running into her blood, gripping about her heart, and capturing the air in her lungs.
My Thoughts: This book was as good as the rest of the author’s Marlowe Intrigues series. Her writing took me deep within the story, the emotion and sensuality, immersed in her descriptive sentences wooing me to reread paragraphs for the pure love of the language used. I have likened Jane Lark’s historical regency writing to sipping a good brandy, warming you inside and out, from head to toe.
Lady Ellen’s unadulterated innocence and naivety absolutely broke my heart. She was thrust into situations she knew not how to extract herself. She was very much a prisoner of her upbringing, ever the lady with manners to match. Desperately, she escapes her unbearable father, Duke of Pembroke, who meant to sell her to an old titled man so his place among the aristocracy would give him more prestige. Duke of Pembroke was an unloving father who would bend his daughter to his liking.
When Ellen fell in love with Paul Harding, an exceedingly handsome and apparently kind gentlemen captain of the army, her father refused to let her marry him. Contrary to her upbringing, she ran off with Paul to marry in Scotland.
Captain Paul Harding, I saw as a man very self-centered, yet good, nevertheless. He was just a few years older than Elle -- very young, too, and dealt with horrors most of us don’t see. He sought to cleanse his being from such horror, through the purity of Ellen’s soul and exceptional beauty. Standing in her presence calmed him while the fights of the battlefields dimmed. He knew he was cruel and selfish to take Ellen to the battlefield. He reached for what would tend his wounds, not thinking what it would do to this lovely girl, who practically worshipped him. He begun to see what he had done, but by then it was too late. Ellen was with him, he loved her and she him. She could not return to her family—the deed was done.
As the story unfolds, Ellen learns a new life with Paul, far from her pampered life of a duke’s daughter. She misses her mother and sisters terribly. She gives up her mother and sisters to have Paul. She tells herself several times within the story how much she loves him, how much he is worth it. Sometimes, I think she wills herself to love him overly to compensate for the uncomfortable life of being a soldier’s wife living in deplorable conditions on the trail in preparation for battle. She clings to him in this new world, learning about life, love, war, and about the cruelty of man. Many a scene had me in tears. The shroud of purity and innocence is torn from her eyes, revealing a very different world from what she enjoyed as a child and young adult.
Paul’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel, tells her that her husband has died in battle. With that news, her life had no direction, her rudder destroyed. She was in total shock. She lets the Lieutenant Colonel take her to his home. After weeks of mourning, she learns she’s pregnant with Paul’s child. She remains at his home so she could have a place for the baby to be born. And being the innocent she is, she doesn’t realize by her choice he has become her protector with demands of his own. She becomes a whore without whoring, just by association. She didn’t understand any of this. The inner strife and turmoil that Ellen goes through and helplessness in the society she finds herself in, struggling between the world of where she grew up and how she should act, and the reality of her present circumstance, made me feel sorrow, pity and remorse—a heroine bearing tragedy alone.
Jane Lark created a gloriously moving story. The love between Jane and Paul fairly jumped off the page. Ms. Lark does an absolutely riveting job with her haunting sentences of poetic prose. I find myself highlighting and marveling how her writing captures my heart. I most heartedly recommend this series.
December 25, 2025
I cannot even talk about the impact this one left on me. I did not read the blurb beforehand because I have a habit of jumping into books blind and was totally not expecting the turn that the story took. Even until the very end, I kept hoping for Paul to come back or for the book to be part one of a duet so that I could see the two together.
May 4, 2017
I didn't love this book or its sequel. Someone else might though. 👍🏽
May 30, 2024
I didn't like the writing, the plot, much less the characters.
September 13, 2025
Re released as the forbidden love of an officer
January 12, 2026
This seventh book in The Marlow Family Secrets series was an interesting and engaging forbidden love historical romance, and is the conclusion to this series.
January 9, 2026
A sad story of love lost but so worth it🥺😢😭
October 16, 2025
Book: The Forbidden Love of an Officer.
By: Jane Lark
Chapter: 1
🌟🌟🌟
°•. She did not want to marry anyone else though and if she wished to marry Paul, she had to leave. That was her father's fault.
Paul was one and twenty, but she was ten and seven - old enough to know her own heart but not to marry without the consent of her father, unless they went to Scotland.
. . .
“Captain, there is a letter waiting for you on your desk,” a maid said.
Captain Paul Harding crossed the bare boards of the inn’s entrance hall to collect it, his gaze running over the wooden racks.
“My letter?” The clerk turned to pick it out from a pile.
“Thank you.” Paul turned away and headed to the taproom, his boots brushing over the beer-scented sawdust spread across the floor. °•.
▪︎Review▪︎
|:: When you create a bubble for the outside world to see, how fast can someone break-in the moment they get the chance?
Lady Eleanor Pembroke is in love—she knew the moment she saw him. And as her beloved had done the right thing and asked her father for her hand in marriage, it left Eleanor, or Ellen as she liked to be known, in a state of conflict.
She knew her father would not give her hand freely, for she was his eldest daughter, to be used as a pawn to develop his position and secure the family more land, power, and allies. But Ellen had fallen in love before her father could decide who she should marry.
Paul, the soldier son of the Earl of Crastor... no, he wasn’t a mere soldier; he was a Captain.
He was to whom we would look, to secure our future in Britain from the brutal Napoleon, an upcoming vagabond in politics and future tyrant. It would be men like Paul who would save Britain from his wrath.
And yet, her father had denounced Paul as unfit to marry his daughter. Instead, he pressed his will on her, to marry the elderly Duke of Argyle. So she is going to elope with Paul and travel with him into the war he must face, to be his solace in his time of need and his resilience in his time of wavering.
She knew deep in her heart this journey would reveal whether or not she had the stamina to make it through to the end alongside the men who risked their lives. Lady Eleanor, whose fingers had done no more than embroidering flowers on silk, would be one of the last hands holding up the flag for the returning soldiers, patriotic to the last.
But... are the few stolen moments with Paul worth the amount of heartache to follow?
▪︎My Thoughts▪︎
I really did not see where this book was heading when I began to read it. I loved Ellen and Paul and their beautiful beginning from the start. I know the world they knew back then was drastically different to the world we have now, but still, the thought of 'love at first sight' was born in this era.
I was rooting for Paul so much, and I loved Ellen's strength in the upcoming weeks until Paul was sent away. What followed hurt my heart.
I think in society today we are expecting either good endings or bad endings. I can't really decide on either for the ending to this story. Part of me was glad; the other was upset with what could have been.
There was so much hope and life in the beginning of the book that I got swept away with it, only to feel every bump that collided with Ellen's life after Waterloo and witness the manipulation that followed.
I think we all have a little piece of Ellen inside of us, and I would like to think we could have persevered with what she was forced to endure.
I don't think I have ever read something so true to history without the romanticised language we are accustomed to today. This was an amazing story with everything you could ever need, all rolled into one. ::|
Title: The Forbidden Love of an Officer
Author: Jane Lark
Publish Date: 31/08/25
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Review Score: 4/5
Spice Score: N/A
A huge thank you to Jane Lark, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and relay my honest feedback
By: Jane Lark
Chapter: 1
🌟🌟🌟
°•. She did not want to marry anyone else though and if she wished to marry Paul, she had to leave. That was her father's fault.
Paul was one and twenty, but she was ten and seven - old enough to know her own heart but not to marry without the consent of her father, unless they went to Scotland.
. . .
“Captain, there is a letter waiting for you on your desk,” a maid said.
Captain Paul Harding crossed the bare boards of the inn’s entrance hall to collect it, his gaze running over the wooden racks.
“My letter?” The clerk turned to pick it out from a pile.
“Thank you.” Paul turned away and headed to the taproom, his boots brushing over the beer-scented sawdust spread across the floor. °•.
▪︎Review▪︎
|:: When you create a bubble for the outside world to see, how fast can someone break-in the moment they get the chance?
Lady Eleanor Pembroke is in love—she knew the moment she saw him. And as her beloved had done the right thing and asked her father for her hand in marriage, it left Eleanor, or Ellen as she liked to be known, in a state of conflict.
She knew her father would not give her hand freely, for she was his eldest daughter, to be used as a pawn to develop his position and secure the family more land, power, and allies. But Ellen had fallen in love before her father could decide who she should marry.
Paul, the soldier son of the Earl of Crastor... no, he wasn’t a mere soldier; he was a Captain.
He was to whom we would look, to secure our future in Britain from the brutal Napoleon, an upcoming vagabond in politics and future tyrant. It would be men like Paul who would save Britain from his wrath.
And yet, her father had denounced Paul as unfit to marry his daughter. Instead, he pressed his will on her, to marry the elderly Duke of Argyle. So she is going to elope with Paul and travel with him into the war he must face, to be his solace in his time of need and his resilience in his time of wavering.
She knew deep in her heart this journey would reveal whether or not she had the stamina to make it through to the end alongside the men who risked their lives. Lady Eleanor, whose fingers had done no more than embroidering flowers on silk, would be one of the last hands holding up the flag for the returning soldiers, patriotic to the last.
But... are the few stolen moments with Paul worth the amount of heartache to follow?
▪︎My Thoughts▪︎
I really did not see where this book was heading when I began to read it. I loved Ellen and Paul and their beautiful beginning from the start. I know the world they knew back then was drastically different to the world we have now, but still, the thought of 'love at first sight' was born in this era.
I was rooting for Paul so much, and I loved Ellen's strength in the upcoming weeks until Paul was sent away. What followed hurt my heart.
I think in society today we are expecting either good endings or bad endings. I can't really decide on either for the ending to this story. Part of me was glad; the other was upset with what could have been.
There was so much hope and life in the beginning of the book that I got swept away with it, only to feel every bump that collided with Ellen's life after Waterloo and witness the manipulation that followed.
I think we all have a little piece of Ellen inside of us, and I would like to think we could have persevered with what she was forced to endure.
I don't think I have ever read something so true to history without the romanticised language we are accustomed to today. This was an amazing story with everything you could ever need, all rolled into one. ::|
Title: The Forbidden Love of an Officer
Author: Jane Lark
Publish Date: 31/08/25
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Review Score: 4/5
Spice Score: N/A
A huge thank you to Jane Lark, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and relay my honest feedback
November 21, 2025
A little disappointing but I ploughed on thinking it would give me insights into other characters that I’d read about
I found the main character a little uninspiring, with lots of non sequiturs and some quite basic dialogue.
There was a lot of soul searching and justification of her actions including the elopement. Too much description of battlefield antics and the sheer unpleasantness of the commander took the shine off this book.
Overall it didn’t seem to fit as the last book of the series - but subsequently I have read that it’s a re-release of a prequel!! Overall not a bad read, but not a Happy Ever After!!
I found the main character a little uninspiring, with lots of non sequiturs and some quite basic dialogue.
There was a lot of soul searching and justification of her actions including the elopement. Too much description of battlefield antics and the sheer unpleasantness of the commander took the shine off this book.
Overall it didn’t seem to fit as the last book of the series - but subsequently I have read that it’s a re-release of a prequel!! Overall not a bad read, but not a Happy Ever After!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2014
I knew from the word go that this was going to be a very emotional read. I even prepared by having a box of tissues next to me as I started, as there seemed to be no doubt that I’d be in tears by the end of it. Having read ‘The Illicit Love of a Courtesan’ and knowing that this story was the prequel, I knew straight away what the outcome would be, but it did nothing to lessen the emotional blow, and the streams of tears that this beautifully heartbreaking story put me through.
I was so excited to see Paul and Ellen’s story, especially to see how it differed from the relationship between Ellen and Edward in the first book of the series. I worried that this might taint my perspective of Paul slightly, but thankfully it didn’t, as Jane Lark so wonderfully created his character, one that was so different to Edward, that there couldn’t have even been a competition.
Jane Lark writes so beautifully throughout this series, and I was awed when I read this book to see how diverse her writing style is. She wrote the illicit, sensual and true love of Ellen and Edward so well that I rooted for them as a couple, and also wrote the thrill, fear, nerves and courtly love that comes with a first love so wonderfully. It was so clear as I was reading that there are so many different types of love between a man and woman, but that neither is less than the other, only different. The way in which she wrote this story really gave me insight into this, and I fell for Paul and Ellen just as hard as I had for Ellen and Edward, and intrigued to see how marriage to a soldier differed in terms of romantic elements in their everyday life.
I loved the pacing of this story, especially the quick start where I found myself eagerly reading late into the night, my heart pounding as the couple attempt to outrun Ellen’s father to Gretna Green. Even though I knew what would happen, it didn’t stop the excitement and fear that coursed through me as I waited on tenterhooks for them to reach the town.
The historical aspects of this novel, especially those of the Battle of Waterloo, were exceptionally written, they were described in a clear way, not as an information dump, but as part of the story, which had me living Ellen’s story rather than reading it. My heart broke for Ellen as the story came to a close, and there were so many characters that I wanted to kill with my own hands for the advantage they took of such an innocent woman who was in shock and mourning.
This was a superb prequel to the ‘Marlow Intrigues’ Series that really packs a punch. Trust me, you’ll need your own box of tissues for this.
*Review Copy was provided by the author through Candlelit Author Services in exchange for an honest review*
I was so excited to see Paul and Ellen’s story, especially to see how it differed from the relationship between Ellen and Edward in the first book of the series. I worried that this might taint my perspective of Paul slightly, but thankfully it didn’t, as Jane Lark so wonderfully created his character, one that was so different to Edward, that there couldn’t have even been a competition.
Jane Lark writes so beautifully throughout this series, and I was awed when I read this book to see how diverse her writing style is. She wrote the illicit, sensual and true love of Ellen and Edward so well that I rooted for them as a couple, and also wrote the thrill, fear, nerves and courtly love that comes with a first love so wonderfully. It was so clear as I was reading that there are so many different types of love between a man and woman, but that neither is less than the other, only different. The way in which she wrote this story really gave me insight into this, and I fell for Paul and Ellen just as hard as I had for Ellen and Edward, and intrigued to see how marriage to a soldier differed in terms of romantic elements in their everyday life.
I loved the pacing of this story, especially the quick start where I found myself eagerly reading late into the night, my heart pounding as the couple attempt to outrun Ellen’s father to Gretna Green. Even though I knew what would happen, it didn’t stop the excitement and fear that coursed through me as I waited on tenterhooks for them to reach the town.
The historical aspects of this novel, especially those of the Battle of Waterloo, were exceptionally written, they were described in a clear way, not as an information dump, but as part of the story, which had me living Ellen’s story rather than reading it. My heart broke for Ellen as the story came to a close, and there were so many characters that I wanted to kill with my own hands for the advantage they took of such an innocent woman who was in shock and mourning.
This was a superb prequel to the ‘Marlow Intrigues’ Series that really packs a punch. Trust me, you’ll need your own box of tissues for this.
*Review Copy was provided by the author through Candlelit Author Services in exchange for an honest review*
August 13, 2025
I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me the privilege of read this book. I really appreciate it.
This review isn't a very great review to be honest. Through a little searching I realized that this book is a renamed, re-editted, version published though with Boldwood Books of her previously written book 'The Lost Love of a Soldier' The 1st book in her Marlow Intrigues series published with Harperimpulse 11 years ago. This book is not technically new. If you've previously read that book, and the one after it, I don't believe you need to read this one.
This is not a romance novel, and it's really not even an actual historical novel. The romance is already preestablished, what you end up finding here is basically a man convincing a girl to run away and marry him. The running away is about 20 percent of the book. The war related aspects last for another 25% with truly not much happening other than them bedding and her needing to be brave. The war lasts about 5%. It is set in a historical time period, it features true historical moments, but truthfully other than stations, the dress, and battle chosen there's not much true history here. The battle and it's moments are quickly glossed over honestly there's more battle history at the end in the authors note, then there truly is in the actual story.
This book is mainly just the original prequel for the original series, which in turn completely transformers what this story could have been if so much changed making it actually new instead of just the original rushed backstory on how an original character ended up being forced to be a working girl who then finds love and everything else. A girl who could have sold her pearls and ran away (very easily might I add) and freed herself instead (very easily despite the time period), that would have made a fantastic story. What I know to come next and onwards in subsequent books really doesn't.
I know I've said a lot of my disappointment with this book but I am extremely disappointed with this book. I love history, I love romance, I love a good historical romance, I love a good dark story, but I'm left with truly nothing here. I was really enjoying the beginning 30 pages after that it just really fell off and I really wanted to love this. However If you're looking for a quick tragic read this would be that.
Thank you very much again from the bottom of heart for allowing me the privilege of being able to read this book. I really appreciate it.
This review isn't a very great review to be honest. Through a little searching I realized that this book is a renamed, re-editted, version published though with Boldwood Books of her previously written book 'The Lost Love of a Soldier' The 1st book in her Marlow Intrigues series published with Harperimpulse 11 years ago. This book is not technically new. If you've previously read that book, and the one after it, I don't believe you need to read this one.
This is not a romance novel, and it's really not even an actual historical novel. The romance is already preestablished, what you end up finding here is basically a man convincing a girl to run away and marry him. The running away is about 20 percent of the book. The war related aspects last for another 25% with truly not much happening other than them bedding and her needing to be brave. The war lasts about 5%. It is set in a historical time period, it features true historical moments, but truthfully other than stations, the dress, and battle chosen there's not much true history here. The battle and it's moments are quickly glossed over honestly there's more battle history at the end in the authors note, then there truly is in the actual story.
This book is mainly just the original prequel for the original series, which in turn completely transformers what this story could have been if so much changed making it actually new instead of just the original rushed backstory on how an original character ended up being forced to be a working girl who then finds love and everything else. A girl who could have sold her pearls and ran away (very easily might I add) and freed herself instead (very easily despite the time period), that would have made a fantastic story. What I know to come next and onwards in subsequent books really doesn't.
I know I've said a lot of my disappointment with this book but I am extremely disappointed with this book. I love history, I love romance, I love a good historical romance, I love a good dark story, but I'm left with truly nothing here. I was really enjoying the beginning 30 pages after that it just really fell off and I really wanted to love this. However If you're looking for a quick tragic read this would be that.
Thank you very much again from the bottom of heart for allowing me the privilege of being able to read this book. I really appreciate it.
January 18, 2015
*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
“The Lost Love of a Soldier” is the prequel of “The Illicit Love of a Courtesan” so I decided to read it first and I don’t regret it. Because just by reading the sinopsis of “The Illicit Love of a Courtesan” one can realise that its prequel does not have a happy ending....
Ellen Pembroke is only sixteen when she falls madly in love with Captain Paul Harding. The feeling is mutual, but Paul is “only” the sixth son of a count so he is not good enough for Ellen’s father, the Duke of Pembroke. He is determined to marry his daughter with a duke much older than her and, after refusing Paul’s proposal, he locks Ellen in her room until she agrees to obey him. But Ellen cannot conceive a future without Paul and runs away with him to Scotland where they get married.
Paul is a soldier, so Ellen must now be the wife of an army official, with all the sacrifices that that brings. Paul’s regiment is scheduled to leave for America soon when word comes that Napoleon escaped and is regrouping his army, which means they will now leave for Belgium instead, where they will end up fighting Napoleon in Waterloo.
I had already read “The Passionate Love of a Rake”, so I already knew what Ellen would become, but it was nice to be able to accompany her journey. And to realize how, do to circumstances, the cruelty of the one who should have helped her the most and her own naivete, she sees herself in a situation where she has no alternative but to do what she must in order to survive...
Ellen and Paul’s love story, although short, is very sweet, but it is also very naive. It’s a teenage love and, especially for Ellen, it seems to be all they need, and enough to surpass everything. Sadly, that is not how life works...
This prequel is, basically, the beginning of the end of Ellen’s age of the innocence. Ellen is so naive at the beginning of the story that she has difficulty accepting that Paul killed a thief, in self defence, knowing perfectly well that he is an army officer recently returned from war. That was something that became annoying, I mean, I can understand her initial shock, but the constant ramblings about her husband being a killer were getting old...
Life, however, makes sure to take Ellen’s innocence away and harden her. And the Ellen at the end of the book is a lot different from the one at the beginning...
A series I am enjoying reading very much and that I’ll keep reading.
“The Lost Love of a Soldier” is the prequel of “The Illicit Love of a Courtesan” so I decided to read it first and I don’t regret it. Because just by reading the sinopsis of “The Illicit Love of a Courtesan” one can realise that its prequel does not have a happy ending....
Ellen Pembroke is only sixteen when she falls madly in love with Captain Paul Harding. The feeling is mutual, but Paul is “only” the sixth son of a count so he is not good enough for Ellen’s father, the Duke of Pembroke. He is determined to marry his daughter with a duke much older than her and, after refusing Paul’s proposal, he locks Ellen in her room until she agrees to obey him. But Ellen cannot conceive a future without Paul and runs away with him to Scotland where they get married.
Paul is a soldier, so Ellen must now be the wife of an army official, with all the sacrifices that that brings. Paul’s regiment is scheduled to leave for America soon when word comes that Napoleon escaped and is regrouping his army, which means they will now leave for Belgium instead, where they will end up fighting Napoleon in Waterloo.
I had already read “The Passionate Love of a Rake”, so I already knew what Ellen would become, but it was nice to be able to accompany her journey. And to realize how, do to circumstances, the cruelty of the one who should have helped her the most and her own naivete, she sees herself in a situation where she has no alternative but to do what she must in order to survive...
Ellen and Paul’s love story, although short, is very sweet, but it is also very naive. It’s a teenage love and, especially for Ellen, it seems to be all they need, and enough to surpass everything. Sadly, that is not how life works...
This prequel is, basically, the beginning of the end of Ellen’s age of the innocence. Ellen is so naive at the beginning of the story that she has difficulty accepting that Paul killed a thief, in self defence, knowing perfectly well that he is an army officer recently returned from war. That was something that became annoying, I mean, I can understand her initial shock, but the constant ramblings about her husband being a killer were getting old...
Life, however, makes sure to take Ellen’s innocence away and harden her. And the Ellen at the end of the book is a lot different from the one at the beginning...
A series I am enjoying reading very much and that I’ll keep reading.
September 9, 2014
5 Stars!!!
This book is the prequel to The Illicit Love of a Courtesan. Essentially this is the story that starts it all. What a beautiful and heartbreaking story it was. I loved Captain Paul Harding.
We meet Eleanor “Ellen” Pembroke the daughter of a Duke that has fallen in love with Captain Paul Harding. Paul is below Ellen’s wealth and Ellen’s father the Duke of Pembroke has turned down Paul’s proposal of marriage to Ellen and forbid her to see him. The Duke is a horrible man throughout this entire book/series. Ellen and Paul defy their situation and elope. Their wedding night was sweet and spicy. Jane can write a beautiful experience.
Ms. Lark’s writing is so satisfying in details you feel as though you are observing right from the room. Ellen’s character takes you on an emotional journey that has you weeping, fighting and loving with her. You will fall in love with Paul. His love is so strong for Ellen you feel it in your soul. I became vested in these characters. Even though Ellen and Paul are in the midst of a battlefield, they are the perfect picture of first love. You will root for Ellen through all of her tribulations and there are many.
This book is tragic, heartwarming, suspenseful, mildly angsty, full of love and most of all a story of survival. This book made me wanted to reach inside the pages of this book and hug Ellen very tightly. I also felt I wanted to hurt someone in her defense.
The book is the perfect set off for the series. You meet a few of the upcoming characters and get to know their background.
This is my first Jane Lark book and I loved it. I chose to read the entire series and started with this book. I am glad I did so I discovered the characters as they entered the story. You do not have to do this. Each book can be read by itself. I highly recommend this book you will not be disappointed.
My Favorite Quotes:
He stepped forward and embraced her. In answer her arm came about his waist. It was the most precious feeling of his life. He would always remember this day.
He would love this woman for the rest of his life. He knew it.
This girl was a treasure. He was going to protect her and love her all his life. He would not allow the brutality of war to touch her.
This book is the prequel to The Illicit Love of a Courtesan. Essentially this is the story that starts it all. What a beautiful and heartbreaking story it was. I loved Captain Paul Harding.
We meet Eleanor “Ellen” Pembroke the daughter of a Duke that has fallen in love with Captain Paul Harding. Paul is below Ellen’s wealth and Ellen’s father the Duke of Pembroke has turned down Paul’s proposal of marriage to Ellen and forbid her to see him. The Duke is a horrible man throughout this entire book/series. Ellen and Paul defy their situation and elope. Their wedding night was sweet and spicy. Jane can write a beautiful experience.
Ms. Lark’s writing is so satisfying in details you feel as though you are observing right from the room. Ellen’s character takes you on an emotional journey that has you weeping, fighting and loving with her. You will fall in love with Paul. His love is so strong for Ellen you feel it in your soul. I became vested in these characters. Even though Ellen and Paul are in the midst of a battlefield, they are the perfect picture of first love. You will root for Ellen through all of her tribulations and there are many.
This book is tragic, heartwarming, suspenseful, mildly angsty, full of love and most of all a story of survival. This book made me wanted to reach inside the pages of this book and hug Ellen very tightly. I also felt I wanted to hurt someone in her defense.
The book is the perfect set off for the series. You meet a few of the upcoming characters and get to know their background.
This is my first Jane Lark book and I loved it. I chose to read the entire series and started with this book. I am glad I did so I discovered the characters as they entered the story. You do not have to do this. Each book can be read by itself. I highly recommend this book you will not be disappointed.
My Favorite Quotes:
He stepped forward and embraced her. In answer her arm came about his waist. It was the most precious feeling of his life. He would always remember this day.
He would love this woman for the rest of his life. He knew it.
This girl was a treasure. He was going to protect her and love her all his life. He would not allow the brutality of war to touch her.
August 14, 2014
I absolutely hated this book… let’s see… where should I start. First this book was extremely slow and boring. I did not feel any kind of connection or chemistry between Paul and Ellen. It was very and I mean VERY annoying that Paul constantly used Ellen name as if we (the readers) would forget it or something. I’m not sure if it’s due to Paul and Ellen being young, but the scenes that would be considered sensual between them as husband and wife where less than sensual…. so again, no real chemistry which is sad because that’s usually how you can connect and grow to like the characters…by their personalities, the time they spend together, the way they love each other…these two did not have any real personalities. Ellen was a freaking COWARD!!! **Spoiler** (and trust me, you will thank me)…once Paul died on the battlefield I did feel sorry for Ellen, no place to go, no family to turn to…but the fact that she sooooooo easily settled for the help of that disgusting creep Lieutenant Colonel Hillier was just too much.. she knew exactly what he wanted from her…he stared/glared/stalked this woman non-stop even when her husband Paul was present….then as soon as Paul died here he comes to “Take care” of her…so he’s buying her all these gifts, touching on her etc…and she does refuse but he insist and yet she still takes the gifts…so then SHE started “asking” for new dresses…HELLO!!! Now she’s shocked that he’s treating her like a mistress…so if that wasn’t bad enough of her shacking up with this disgusting guy who practically rapes her, instead of taking her and her son and running as fast as she can she stays for a couple of years….this woman (and I use the term loosely) willingly gives up her child to her overbearing father who has disowned her…the ONLY child and connection she has of her deceased husband Paul who she so called LOVED LOVED LOVED…but you give that boy up at 2 years old…and then if that wasn’t bad enough…she turns into a courtesan…like really….this is what your life has come too…all this from running off and marrying the love of your life at 17. I hated this book.
August 16, 2025
The Forbidden Love of an Officer is advertised as book 7, the final book, in Jane Lark's The Marlow Family Secrets Regency romance series, but apparently it's actually a prequel, and it's not a romance.
Seventeen year old Lady Eleanor believes herself in love with Paul, a twenty-one year old army captain, but her father, a duke, refuses to let the two of them marry. He is insisting she marry a duke, an older man whom Eleanor does not want to marry.
Now, I feel for Eleanor, she seems like she's in a difficult situation, but the decisions she makes are the kind that you would expect of an immature teenager infatuated with a young man she knows little about. And Paul came across as a selfish, more worldly character (he has been in battle so he's seen some bad things), who doesn't seem to care about the things he's going to expose the naïve, young Eleanor to, as long as he can finally have her in his bed. Honestly, I didn't even feel like he really cared about Eleanor, at the beginning of the novel when we were in his thoughts, he kept thinking of her as "the girl", not as "Eleanor".
The worst thing about this book though is that it breaks the cardinal rule of romance; there was no happy ending. In fact, spoiler alert, not only does Paul die, but after his death, Eleanor's naivety allows her to be taken advantage of, and she is eventually assaulted and abused.
When I pick up a romance I expect to read about a couple that may face many difficulties, but in the end find happiness together, and this book did not do that so I can't recommend it. Maybe if it had been advertised in another genre I could have recommended it, but it wasn't. I will not read this author again, and will not recommend her to other readers.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Seventeen year old Lady Eleanor believes herself in love with Paul, a twenty-one year old army captain, but her father, a duke, refuses to let the two of them marry. He is insisting she marry a duke, an older man whom Eleanor does not want to marry.
Now, I feel for Eleanor, she seems like she's in a difficult situation, but the decisions she makes are the kind that you would expect of an immature teenager infatuated with a young man she knows little about. And Paul came across as a selfish, more worldly character (he has been in battle so he's seen some bad things), who doesn't seem to care about the things he's going to expose the naïve, young Eleanor to, as long as he can finally have her in his bed. Honestly, I didn't even feel like he really cared about Eleanor, at the beginning of the novel when we were in his thoughts, he kept thinking of her as "the girl", not as "Eleanor".
The worst thing about this book though is that it breaks the cardinal rule of romance; there was no happy ending. In fact, spoiler alert, not only does Paul die, but after his death, Eleanor's naivety allows her to be taken advantage of, and she is eventually assaulted and abused.
When I pick up a romance I expect to read about a couple that may face many difficulties, but in the end find happiness together, and this book did not do that so I can't recommend it. Maybe if it had been advertised in another genre I could have recommended it, but it wasn't. I will not read this author again, and will not recommend her to other readers.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
September 20, 2025
The Forbidden Love of an Officer
by Jane Lark
I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn’t realise it was actually a prequel to Eleanor Harding’s story, which certainly sheds light on the ending and makes it more understandable. The book concludes on a significant cliffhanger, but I am unsure if I want to read more.
Lady Eleanor Pembroke and Captain Paul Harding share a deep and passionate love, but they face insurmountable obstacles when Eleanor’s father refuses to grant his blessing for their marriage. He has set his sights on a distinguished alliance with the Duke of Argyle, viewing his daughter's relationship with a mere captain as beneath their social standing. In a desperate bid for happiness, Eleanor and Paul decide to elope, vowing to forge their own path together. However, their escape leads to a painful reality as her families shun them, leaving the couple to navigate a world filled with isolation and despair.
As if that weren’t enough, the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars looms large, and the looming Battle of Waterloo brings a sense of impending doom. The narrative takes a dark turn as unforeseen circumstances and misfortunes plague their lives. Eleanor, in particular, makes some questionable decisions driven by her naivety and emotions, which only complicate their already precarious situation. The tension and heartbreak that ensue may leave readers feeling both deeply moved and frustrated as they witness the devastating toll war and societal expectations take on this young couple's love.
by Jane Lark
I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn’t realise it was actually a prequel to Eleanor Harding’s story, which certainly sheds light on the ending and makes it more understandable. The book concludes on a significant cliffhanger, but I am unsure if I want to read more.
Lady Eleanor Pembroke and Captain Paul Harding share a deep and passionate love, but they face insurmountable obstacles when Eleanor’s father refuses to grant his blessing for their marriage. He has set his sights on a distinguished alliance with the Duke of Argyle, viewing his daughter's relationship with a mere captain as beneath their social standing. In a desperate bid for happiness, Eleanor and Paul decide to elope, vowing to forge their own path together. However, their escape leads to a painful reality as her families shun them, leaving the couple to navigate a world filled with isolation and despair.
As if that weren’t enough, the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars looms large, and the looming Battle of Waterloo brings a sense of impending doom. The narrative takes a dark turn as unforeseen circumstances and misfortunes plague their lives. Eleanor, in particular, makes some questionable decisions driven by her naivety and emotions, which only complicate their already precarious situation. The tension and heartbreak that ensue may leave readers feeling both deeply moved and frustrated as they witness the devastating toll war and societal expectations take on this young couple's love.
August 28, 2014
Let me preface this review with letting you all know how much I love reading this author’s work. I was left an emotional wreck each time I finished one of her books, and this one more so than the others and that is because this one is a prequel to Ellen’s romance with Edward in ‘The Illicit Love of a Courtesan’.
My advice, to all that have not read this author, is to read this story before you go on to ‘TILOAC’. Take my word for it. It will help you understand the heroine Ellen much better.
Having read ‘TILOAC’ first, I knew the outcome of this story and to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it. I’m one of those that do not read the ending before I start the book. I can deal with the spoilers, but I can’t deal with someone letting me know what the ending is. It just ruins the story, don’t you think? Well, at least that’s what I think …thought, I should say. Because, in the end, my knowledge of this authors wonderful storytelling won me over and I went for it.
By the time the story was done, I felt sorrow, anger and a relief. That last one was only because I knew that Ellen’s story does not end with this book.
Ms. Jane Lark did an outstanding job at writing a heartbreaking ‘first love’ story of two young and ....thanks for jumping to b2b and finishing my review ....
http://bookworm2bookworm.wordpress.co...
Melanie for b2b
Complimentary copy provided by the author
My advice, to all that have not read this author, is to read this story before you go on to ‘TILOAC’. Take my word for it. It will help you understand the heroine Ellen much better.
Having read ‘TILOAC’ first, I knew the outcome of this story and to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it. I’m one of those that do not read the ending before I start the book. I can deal with the spoilers, but I can’t deal with someone letting me know what the ending is. It just ruins the story, don’t you think? Well, at least that’s what I think …thought, I should say. Because, in the end, my knowledge of this authors wonderful storytelling won me over and I went for it.
By the time the story was done, I felt sorrow, anger and a relief. That last one was only because I knew that Ellen’s story does not end with this book.
Ms. Jane Lark did an outstanding job at writing a heartbreaking ‘first love’ story of two young and ....thanks for jumping to b2b and finishing my review ....
http://bookworm2bookworm.wordpress.co...
Melanie for b2b
Complimentary copy provided by the author
August 31, 2014
Ellen, daugther of the Duke of Pembroke, falls in love with a soldier. However, this relationship is not deemed as appropriate by her father who wants her to marry someone else. Ellen decides to follow her heart and marries Paul, but at the same time she needs to turn away from her family as her father made it quite clear that she is never to come back if she goes against his wish and marries Paul. From this point onwards, Ellen’s life will never be the same again…
The Lost Love of a Soldier is the prequel to The Illicit Love of a Courtesan and tells Ellen’s story before she meets Edward. I was already in tears before I finished reading the first chapter and the tears didn’t stop flowing until I reached the end of the book. I am so glad that I know from the Illicit Love of a Courtesan how Ellen’s story concludes as otherwise I probably wouldn’t have liked The Lost Love of a Soldier as much as I did and would have never been able to dry my tears.
Jane’s portrayal of the Battle of Waterloo and the feelings both Ellen and Paul had to go through are described excellently. As mentioned above, this book is a lot more heart-wrenching (for obvious reasons) that Jane’s other books, and I just love the way she was able to capture the mood throughout the whole novel.
The Lost Love of a Soldier is a real tearjerker, full of love and passion but also despair and sadness – a historical fiction book I can highly recommend!
The Lost Love of a Soldier is the prequel to The Illicit Love of a Courtesan and tells Ellen’s story before she meets Edward. I was already in tears before I finished reading the first chapter and the tears didn’t stop flowing until I reached the end of the book. I am so glad that I know from the Illicit Love of a Courtesan how Ellen’s story concludes as otherwise I probably wouldn’t have liked The Lost Love of a Soldier as much as I did and would have never been able to dry my tears.
Jane’s portrayal of the Battle of Waterloo and the feelings both Ellen and Paul had to go through are described excellently. As mentioned above, this book is a lot more heart-wrenching (for obvious reasons) that Jane’s other books, and I just love the way she was able to capture the mood throughout the whole novel.
The Lost Love of a Soldier is a real tearjerker, full of love and passion but also despair and sadness – a historical fiction book I can highly recommend!
September 4, 2025
I found it difficult to rate this book. The factually based part of the story fascinated me. There is a great deal about the Battle of Waterloo that I was not aware of. The amount of research that obviously went into this part of the book earns it 5 stars from me. Unfortunately, the rest of the book doesn't deserve such a good rating.
To start with, this is advertised as the last book in the Marlow Family Secrets series. In fact, it is a prequel to the series. The first half of it was enjoyable with Eleanor and Paul eloping to Gretna Green. I enjoyed the suspense of whether they would make it there in time or if they would be stopped.
The second half of the story was shockingly depressing with death, manipulation, and sexual abuse amongst the chapters. To make it all worse, the story ended on a cliffhanger after yet another tragedy. If the author wanted to bring out strong emotions in her readers, then she succeeded, but I much prefer a book to have a happy ending, even if there are many sad moments in it along the way. I would only rate this part of the book with 1 star because it is so disappointing. A romance is supposed to have a happy ending; it's supposed to leave you with a smile on your face. It isn't supposed to leave you with an open mouth in shock and wishing you hadn't read it! So, to be fair, I am rating this book 3 stars.
To start with, this is advertised as the last book in the Marlow Family Secrets series. In fact, it is a prequel to the series. The first half of it was enjoyable with Eleanor and Paul eloping to Gretna Green. I enjoyed the suspense of whether they would make it there in time or if they would be stopped.
The second half of the story was shockingly depressing with death, manipulation, and sexual abuse amongst the chapters. To make it all worse, the story ended on a cliffhanger after yet another tragedy. If the author wanted to bring out strong emotions in her readers, then she succeeded, but I much prefer a book to have a happy ending, even if there are many sad moments in it along the way. I would only rate this part of the book with 1 star because it is so disappointing. A romance is supposed to have a happy ending; it's supposed to leave you with a smile on your face. It isn't supposed to leave you with an open mouth in shock and wishing you hadn't read it! So, to be fair, I am rating this book 3 stars.
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