Reviewed by Francine.
This is a decidedly sweet Regency
romance novella set post-Waterloo, in which the hero, Joscelin Lord Areley, is
every bit a gallant man of honour, though falls somewhat confused when he unexpectedly
encounters the widow of a fellow officer trudging a byway late one winter’s eve.
The attractive waif like Eloise is a victim of the sad circumstance of war, her
condition not the best of situations for a widow of no means. Whilst hope
lingers in belief she has entitlement to part if not all her late husband’s
estate and effects, her ultimate destination is the home of her husband’s
brother, a duke, thus the scene is set for rejection, heartache, and dreadful humiliation.
But the charming nuance to this tale
is the aged retired nursemaid to Lord Arely and Eloise’s late husband. But nothing is ever
quite what it seems within romance stories, and a “Carpet of Snowdrops” is no
different when the heroine recalls aspects from her past, in which compromise and
companionship played a part in her present plight. Indeed, this is a rather charming
sweet Regency read!
