No one takes Annette Baldwin seriously as an aspiring journalist. Not even her father, the owner of a prominent newspaper. At the age of 25, most view her as a hopeless spinster, an utterly lost cause, and painfully few see the talented writer she's become. When her father is forced to fire one of his journalists, he relents and allows Annette to publish an article under the alias Lovelorn. Lovelorn is an immediate success, and the community is stirred by Annette's moving work. Soon people begin writing to Lovelorn for romantic advice. Annette's father cannot resist the overwhelming success of his daughter's column and allows her to continue so long as her identity remains a secret. If she's found out, it could mean her ruin...
When Annette's own, non-existent, love life begins to blossom, she attempts to heed her own advice--a feat much easier said than done! Is love possible for the Lovelorn to find love? Or will her efforts to become a successful journalist doom her to a spinster's existence?
St Louis, Missouri 1880 Annette Baldwin's father owned the town's newspaper and she'd grown up wanting to be a writer and be a taken serious as a journalist on his staff. But it was still a man's world it seemed and so she mainly opened the mail and did other jobs for him. She had pretty much given up on finding love as well. It seemed all the men she had gone out with only wanted access to her father and his money! One day as she started noticing letters coming in from women, she realized there was an opportunity to write articles to win the women readers and "Dear Lovelorn" was born. Surprisingly her father told her he would give her two weeks and see how she did. It was a surprising success and her father let her continue and kept it a secret who was writing the articles and answering the letters that came in! Unfortunately she needed advice herself, because she thought she would never find love.... But the most surprising thing started to happen with someone she had know for a long time.... Wow! This story was so sweet and just perfect for a short read! Marie Higgins perfectly set up the entire series to come with her delightful tale and I cannot wait to read them all!!
Dear Lovelorn is book one in the Yours Truly: The Lovelorn and does a good job of setting up the series. I enjoyed the characters and the author does a good job of giving each a unique personality. Annette is strong willed with goals of her own, but understands the constraints of the era and society. Her father is gruff, but you can tell he loves his daughter. The romance aspect was a little rushed, but that is to be expected in a novella. The fact that Annette and Peter have known each other a long time gives credibility to the story. I loved reading the letters and Annette’s responses, and was very happy to discover that some of these letter writers get their own book. A quick, enjoyable read.
An excellent story, well written, with wonderful characters and attention to detail. A romances full of unexpected turns and twist or two and happily ever after.
I absolutely loved this story! The characters were so easy to like, they were fun and I felt as if I knew them forever. Annette is so smart with how she boosted herself in the newspaper world. This book captivated me from page one and I couldn’t put it down. I now I wore a smile the whole time I read this. The romance was beautiful, bold and exciting. This is a clean sweet romance. I’m so excited for this whole series by different authors but I am so excited to read Marie Higgins next one.
What a fun new series. I can't wait to see where it goes. Annette and Peter's story is so sweet and perfect for a short story. I love her spunk and drive and Peter is a romantic. I wouldn't have guessed it at first, but his true colors shone through.
This was a sweet American historical romance, with likable characters, but it was just too short to have enough character development. I needed more backstory on both Annette and Peter. It gets 3 stars from me.
I know that it was typical of that time period, but it bothered me that Annette's father didn't believe she could ever be a journalist. I get that it was because he thought his male readers would be offended by a female author, but still. That wasn't the author's fault, since that attitude toward women was historically accurate -- so it did NOT affect my rating.
I liked both Annette and Peter, but thought it was a little odd that Peter didn't notice Annette for such a long time. He had worked with her father for years, so it seems like he would have recognized that she was no longer a little girl sooner. Once he did, though, they fell in love incredibly fast -- actually a little too fast for me to believe.
This is a clean romance, with nothing but kisses. If you only want to read romances that do not include sex scenes, this one might work for you.
My rating system is below. 1 star -- Hated it, or did not finish. I usually only give this rating if some of the content is truly objectionable to me, like if one of the main characters does something really awful, and gets away with it. 2 stars -- Didn't like it. This rating usually means that I thought the writing wasn't very good, the editing was terrible, I didn't like the characters, or it had other major flaws. 3 stars -- I liked it, but had some minor issues with it. This rating means that there were minor editing issues, the story needed more character development, it was just too unrealistic, or had some other fairly minor issue. The majority of books I read get this rating – I do not consider it a bad rating. 4 stars -- I liked it a lot. This is a high rating for me, and I rarely give a higher one. 5 stars -- I loved it, and will probably read it again. Very few books are good enough to get this rating from me. The ones that do are usually classics.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this new series. And I must admit I was a little sceptical. But was I in for a treat and you will be too. I am so glad I read this book and I can’t wait for the rest in this series.
A woman trying to working in a mans world. Not an easy place to be when the boss is also your father and he won’t let your peruse your dream. Until an unexpected opening in the paper happens and it needs to filled ASAP. She asked her father for a chance to prove herself and write an article for the paper.
What starts off as a 2 week trial bases overnight turns into a huge success. The paper in inundated with responses to her article but she must write under a false name, her father is concerned people will not respond favourably to a woman writing for the paper.
Little did she know that this would be the turning point for her, not only for her to finally write in her fathers paper but to find true love along the way as well.
So very enjoyable, a quick read. Not to be missed
I received this as a complimentary copy and I am giving my honest review voluntarily
Annette is trying to embrace Spinsterhood after having another beau who's only after her Father's money. She wants her Father to give her a job on his newspaper but he doesn't seem to want to hire women. But she convinces him to give her a 2 week trial of a new column - Love Life advice, responding to letters the paper receives. Will she be able to convince her Father to continue publishing her column? Can she find happiness in a career? This is a clean, sweet romance. It is the first book in a new series, all dealing with this advice column. It was enjoyable. Looking forward to more books to come.
This was during a time that women who were not married by the age of twenty five were considered a spinster and Annette could care less that she considered that way because all she has ever wanted to do was to be a journalist but her father who owns a newspaper refuses. One day when he is desperate for a journalist he lets her write a article under another name and much to his surprise she becomes a hit with the public and much to her surprise she has caught the attention of Peter. Loved this sweet romance when a time women were not given many rights and the surprise romance was just a bonus.
A charming story that takes place in 1880's St. Louis. A young spinster Annette, gets her father to finally let herwrite a column for the Gazette. He gives her a 2 week trial. She names it The Lovelorn. People write in questions about love for her to respond too. In the process how many people will find love? I enjoyed this immensely as it reminded me of reading Dear Abby when I was young. I received this Novella as a gift and all the words are strictly my own. I read this in a short period of time. Delightful story
This 2020 series is off to a resounding start. When Annette Baldwin's father Malcolm comes up a story short for his newspaper, he allows Annette to fill the space and Dear Lovelorn is born. The pieces become so popular that eventually a full page is dedicated to them. But secrets have a way of leaking. Annette values her articles but have her father and his assistant Peter Fletcher pulled a fast one?
From today’s viewpoint it is hard to realize how small a lady’s world was in in 1880. A young lady was expected to spend her days visiting friends, sewing, painting, running a household and preparing to be a wife and mother. Annette Baldwin doesn’t fit that mold. Marie Higgins brings us another story with wonderful characters that don’t fit the ”normal” mold and a storyline that keeps you amused and reading to the end. This is an enjoyable story.
She gave up on love and he was desperately look everywhere except right in front of him. She decided to concentrate on her writing career. An anonymous advice column for her father's newspaper and he was his father's assistant. That's when they started to notice each other. I really enjoyed this story and the fun advise given in the column. The characters were nicely done. I would recommend this and plan to read the rest of the series.
I loved these characters and it’s such a fun plot with twists and surprises. The hero is strong and well written and the heroine is a blend between sweet and sassy. She’s ahead of her time and a trendsetter. I laughed out loud at times and sighed with satisfaction at the sweet romance.
Enjoyed this story and it's characters. Shows how different life was in the past when a woman couldn't write articles in the newspaper because the circulation numbers would dramatically reduce.
What a lovely read. Was nice to read something a bit different. Love the wisdom in the letters. An enjoyable read, makes me want to read more of the series if they are like this.
I love the story of how she began to write Dear Lovelorn! Great characters and well formed story line to build an exciting series on. Great job Marie Higgins! I recommend this book and look forward to more of this series.
I began reading this series with Torn in Toronto and I cannot seem to stop reading so I managed to find this the beginning of the series and I am thrilled! How this column originated is an awesome read.
Oh, I loved this book and enjoyed reading this first book in Yours Truly series. I have downloaded book #2 and look forward to reading it. I love Marie Higgins writing style.
Oh, I loved this book! I read it in one sitting and couldn’t put it down. Loved the sweet time Annette and Peter had by the river and their budding romance. So sweet.
I loved this book. It's like how Dear Abby might have started. The relationship that develops between Annette & Peter is very sweet. Wonder how the other books will be?
Fabulous start to a new series. Sweet romance, secrets, intrigue and the power of the written word give this story plenty of adventure. Wonderful read!
This book is a quick read. It will hold your attention until you finish. I like how the story flows and it also helps set up some future books. I will enjoy reading the other books.
I loved this book! The characters were fun and the romance that developed was unexpected, at least to Annette, but also natural. Great start to this series!