Overall opinion: Super romantic with relatable characters who are impossible not to love. Five stars.
Disclaimer: This book review was NOT sponsored.
Title: The Heir and the Enchantress
Author: Paullett Golden
Publisher: Paullett Golden (March 13, 2021)
Publication date: 2021
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: The Enchantresses (book #5)
Goodreads: link
Amazon.com: link
Lia’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Book Blurb
Some love matches begin with marriage.
Hazel Trethow is infatuated with a notorious rake despite her father’s plans to betroth her to the heir of a wealthy barony. Her scheming to find a love match for her dearest friend and herself turns into a scandal that could ruin them both.
Harold Hobbs returns home from business in India with a plan to save his family from ruin. He does not anticipate his father’s plot to wed him to Miss Trethow. When he meets his intended, sparks fly.
This is the love story of Hazel and Harold as they find love in the most unlikely of places.
My The Heir and the Enchantress Book Review
The book is an historical romance novel set in the 1700s.
Generally I don’t read this genre of books, but after watching the Pride and Prejudice movie with Kiera Knightley for the nth time and reading this book’s blurb on Amazon, I became super curious to read The Heir and the Enchantress, so I just had to buy it.
The protagonists of this story are Hazel Trethow and Harol Hobbs.
Hazel is a 17 year old young lady who caught my heart right from the Prologue. I wanted to hug her! When the story begins, she’s in love with a gentleman called Anthony Faldo, but sadly things don’t go as she planned (Hazel believes in love matches) and she doesn’t make an impression on him.
Harold is a 20 year old gentleman who’s supposed to marry Hazel for money, but he’s thinking about courting her first. He’s a guy with good morals and ethics, who cares more about people than money.
As the novel progresses, Hazel and Harold (isn’t it cute that both of their names start with “Ha”, as if they were people who like to laugh!) have to face plenty of difficult situations, some involving friends, others family.
It’s worth mentioning two characters that the protagonists interact with often during the course of the novel, both friends of theirs:
- Patrick, Harold’s best friend, a man of great heart and morals
- Agnes, Hazel’s best friend, a young woman who goes through so much to find love
I particularly loved a line where Harold, as an artist, tells Hazel he sees everything as “a compilation of shades, hues, angles, perspectives, and lines”, which reminded me of what my artist friend often tells me she sees when she looks at everything, from people to buildings. It’s charming.
The novel is also very sensual, but it never gets exceedingly graphic despite being descriptive of the love-making acts. I loved that. Paullett Golden certain has a knack for good taste descriptions!
Overall, the novel makes you empathize with characters, feel pure joy when they fall in love, and cheer for them when they feel so passionately attracted to each other.
What to say about the writing style? The book was a joy to read. It reads pretty fast, the writing is crisp and the vernacular is perfect for the historical period. A perfect mingle of modern and vintage.
Finally, my favorite quote from the book is about Hazel, on page 176:
But this woman, the woman in the myriad sketches, oh, she wanted to be this woman yet could not readily admit that she already was, at least from Harold’s perspective.
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Trigger Warnings: mildly graphic sex scenes, a bloody duel (not exceedingly graphic)
Conclusion to My The Heir and the Enchantress Book Review & Personal Comments
I. Absolutely. Loved. This. Novel!
More than once I found myself and my significant other reflected into Hazel’s and Harold’s love and interactions, and I was charmed by the accuracy of the historical setting. Even though life was hard and most minds were very closed back then, I still find myself enchanted (no pun intended!) by this time in history.
I definitely want to read more books by Paullett Golden, maybe the other Enchantresses books, too. I definitely look forward to reading the next novel in this series, The Gentleman and the Enchantress, which should be about Hazel’s brother’s love story.
Reading & Watching Recommendations
If you’re thinking about reading The Heir and the Enchantress or you have already read it, I also recommend reading classics like Jane Austen’s novels and Madame Bovary by Flaubert. Also, fantasy read Haley Walden’s Defender of Histories might meet your tastes in historical novels because, albeit being fantasy, the medieval-like setting is very credible.
For movies, I recommend watching the already mentioned Pride and Prejudice (2005) and Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998).
Thank you so much for reading this review! 😀
2 Comments
Paullett Golden
I’m all smiles at this review, Lia! I’m so happy you enjoyed the characters and their love story. Your quote about Hazel is making me swoon!
Lia Mara Dospetti
Hahah I’m so happy for your kind words, Paullett! So glad you enjoyed the review and the quote. I super loved your book! 😀