“Hazel Statham’s new novel, His Shadowed Heart, has all the fine makings of the perfect Regency romance; the brooding lord, an innocent maid, and a marriage of convenience. Together they find love among a lonely, forbidden estate with the hint of spectral beings and revenge. I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable read.” Katrina Farabaugh, author, Prelude to Morning
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His Shadowed Heart by Hazel Statham is a richly detailed and well-written historical romance. The author’s language has an old-fashioned and formal feel that adds authenticity to the story and enhanced my enjoyment of the novel. The plot has plenty of interesting twists and turns and an intriguing mystery that kept me glued to my seat. Caroline and Richard share a wonderful connection. Their love is very strong. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Statham in the future.
Hazel Statham’s His Shadowed Heart is a delicious Regency Romance. I am reminded of the style of Georgette Heyer. As in most Regency Romance, the handsome eligible bachelor marries for convenience. His wife is quiet and demure. They grow to love each other overcoming obstacles to form a lasting relationship. While the formula is the same, the plot is not diminished. The obvious attraction and emotional tension between Richard and Caroline is delightful. Fans of Regency Romance will enjoy His Shadowed Heart.
HIS SHADOWED HEART by Hazel Statham is a richly detailed and well-written historical romance. The author’s language has an old-fashioned and formal feel that adds authenticity to the story and enhanced my enjoyment of the novel. The plot has plenty of interesting twists and turns and an intriguing mystery that kept me glued to my seat. Caroline and Richard share a wonderful connection. Their love is very strong. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Statham in the future.
This is a classic regency tale with appealing characters, love story with many twists and turns and a suspenseful mystery which endangers the couple. Richard and Caroline are wonderful characters who gradually learn to understand and appreciate as well as love each other. They seem to trust each other from the beginning despite the efforts of others to undermine that. The three villains of the piece are petty and selfish but only one is truly evil. The subplot of the vagrant that Caroline befriends is engrossing but sad. The characters are the best part of the story. Aside from the brooding earl and his shy but brave wife, Richard’s sister Victoria would like to be overbearing but loves her brother too much to really domineer, and her husband Lord Stanton who seems mild mannered until it really matters are both outstanding and well written. Once again Ms. Statham has written a memorable and entertaining story that is definitely a keeper.
5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable romantic read, February 25, 2009
By Cheryl C. Malandrinos "johnnycat15" (Western Mass) -
An enjoyable, romantic read is what you'll find in Hazel Statham's "His Shadowed Heart".
The Earl of Waverly might never love again. After the death of his wife, he believes his heart irreparably damaged. Entering into a marriage of convenience to young Caroline Northam, the Earl settles in to a life with his daughter and new bride. Little does he know the affect Caroline will have on him.
But their new-found happiness is jeopardized by strange happenings and heinous acts attributed to the ghost of his first wife. Will their love be strong enough to survive?
This is the first Regency romance I've read, though I am a huge fan of historical fiction and historical romance novels. The story opens with the Earl of Waverly's (Richard's) sister, Lady Victoria Stanton, trying to bully her younger brother into remarrying, even if just for his daughter's sake. The entertaining exchange sets the mood for the remainder of their conversations, which I found almost as enjoyable as the tense moments between the earl and his cousin, Gerald Dent. The author goes to great extents to create Richard and it shows in every emotion and movement he feels and performs.
The rich details draw the reader right into the time period and through Statham's eloquent prose the reader discovers how much meaning can be found in a brief glance, a caress, a tender kiss to an upheld hand.
"His Shadowed Heart" by Hazel Statham should be on every historical romance lovers wish list.
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb regency romance in the traditional mode, June 5, 2009
By Susan Smith (A small rural village in the English Midlands) -
I truly enjoyed this novel, set in the regency period and peopled by characters who soon sweep you up into their lives. It had faint echoes of Jane Eyre and even Rebecca and included a mystery and some dastardly criminal activity.
Young Caroline Northam is the daughter of a suicide - a real social no-no in those days - and now survives by the grace of indifferent relatives. She is 19 years old but has a maturity beyond her years. Richard Moreton, Earl of Waverly is 34 and a man who has been badly burnt in the past by a woman who appears almost psychopathic in her behaviour. Without wishing to include a spoiler, let's just say that everything possible that would devastate a young man in love, is done to Richard by this woman. He is eventually widowed when his wife dies in childbirth and he is left to bring up the tiny baby girl. He is a loving, caring and sensitive father.
However, Richard's family think it is time to get on with life and, most particularly, to find a wife and mother for his daughter and so, at a social event, he comes across Caroline who sits quietly in shadows trying not to draw attention to herself. He invites her into a marriage of convenience thinking she will give him companionship and a mother for little Julia. They settle down at his family seat to a quiet family life.
Not for long! There are several really evil and nasty villains in this story whose interference with Richard and Caroline's life is very well done. These two men are not cardboard cut-outs - both have reason to hate Richard and so begins a protracted period of harrassment and violence that is extremely well portrayed.
And, as with others of Hazel Statham's heroes, Richard is touched by the green devil of jealousy so although he falls deeply in love with Caroline, it takes him a while to recognise what has happened to him and how to get her to accept it. Caroline, meanwhile, loves him deeply and, despite her youth and the age gap, at times she is more sensible than he is. Nevertheless, she is stubborn and not easily cowed and more than capable of standing up to him whilst being his firmest supporter.
The plot has twists and turns but what makes this book is, like others by this author, is the strong characterisations and the immaculate attention to dialogue and detail.
Very sadly, we must now await further work from Hazel Statham as I have now exhausted everything available. She writes beautifully and creates people about whom you care very, very deeply. She is on my keeper shelf and I recommend her highly to the fans of the well-written regency in the traditional style.
MY DEAREST FRIEND REVIEW
5.0 out of 5 stars My Dearest Friend : June 3, 2009
By Susan Smith (A small rural village in the English Midlands) -
In this book we are introduced to Robert Blake, the Duke of Lear, son of Dominic from another of Hazel Statham's novels. This is a story of two halves and how the course of true love often does not run down the smoothest path.
When we meet Robert, he is alone, his parents apparently long dead and his beloved younger brother dead in Spain from battle wounds. His demise has left Robert utter devastated and so deep in grief that he seems utterly without emotion. Jane Chandler is a neighbour who comes to call at his door one day. Jane lives alone, the daughter of a deceased gambler, whose brother Harry is also a soldier and now lies gravely wounded following the siege at Badajoz. She is desperate to reach him and fetch him home and thus seeks Robert's advice on obtaining transport to Portugal and then Spain. Robert, now given something meaningful to do with his life, decides to accompany her in order to assist her in her quest and, without telling her in advance, appears on board the yacht he has loaned to her when they cast off from Portsmouth. Slightly improper to be sure as she is headstrong and has insisted on going to the peninsula alone and without a duenna of any sort. However, the first half of the book is about their journey to Elvas where Harry is billeted. They fall deeply in love - two lonely and emotionally vulnerable people who are, it would seem, made for each other. The description of them learning to know each other is lyrical - I felt so deeply empathetic to them. However, the first half of the book, though celebrating the renewing properties of a deep and mutual love, does have a dark undertone. You just feel an impending sense that something will go amiss and spoil such happiness.
Married whilst in Spain, they return to blissful life together in England with a recovering Harry. However, that sense of doom is now fully awakened for what happens in the second half of this lovely story is The Great Misunderstanding. Robert still has his vulnerabilities and Jane has enjoyed a degree of independence so does not react well to any criticism or inadvertent unreasonableness on the part of Robert. You want to shout at both of them to stop being so blind and stubborn but, of course, this is a romance, and despite his consuming jealousy and her refusal to listen to the man who truly adores her, they eventually reconcile.
Once again I have been delighted by the beautiful quality of the author's prose, particularly the very high quality of her narrative skills and her feel for the somewhat formal and stately language of the early 19th century. She has created a memorable H/H and an accompanying cast of wonderful supporting characters. I like the way the author gets inside the heads of her heroes and gives them faults that they must overcome. Her heroines are girls who stand up for themselves but are firmly planted in the regency soil. I am so pleased to find an author who is ticking my boxes and who seems determined to write in the style of the traditional regency so much loved by many of us and now so hard to find. Highly recommended; a keeper.
