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Blackmoore  By  cover art

Blackmoore

By: Julianne Donaldson
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
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Publisher's summary

Kate Worthington knows her heart and she knows she will never to marry. Her plan is to travel to India instead - if only to find peace for her restless spirit and to escape the family she abhors. But Kate’s meddlesome mother has other plans. She makes a bargain with Kate: India, yes, but only after Kate has secured - and rejected - three marriage proposals.

Kate journeys to the stately manor of Blackmoore determined to fulfill her end of the bargain sooner rather than later and enlists the help of her dearest childhood friend, Henry Delafield. But when it comes to matters of love, bargains are meaningless and plans are changeable. There on the wild lands of Blackmoore, Kate must face the truth that has kept her heart captive. Will the proposal she is determined to reject actually be the one thing that will set her heart free?

Set in Northern England in 1820, Blackmoore is a regency romance that tells the story of a young woman struggling to learn how to follow her heart.

©2013 Julianne Clawson Donaldson (P)2013 Shadow Mountain

Critic reviews

"Riveting and evocative... Readers will be absolutely captivated by the beautiful imagery, sizzling tension..., and mesmerizing plot." ( Publishers Weekly, starred review)

What listeners say about Blackmoore

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

EXQUISITE!

I hardly know where to begin with this one.....it was exquisite! What a delightful listen.....I was sucked in from the beginning and couldn't put it down. This book is a beautifully written "clean" romance that is emotionally charged and is filled with honor, respect, chivalry and love. (I honestly didn't miss the sex scenes!). It's family friendly so I would feel comfortable letting a young girl also listen and enjoy.

I have to give a shout out to the narrator because she did a great job.

I highly recommend this to everyone!

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31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • KK
  • 10-12-13

Proper but Angsty

I'm usually not one for angst-y fiction, but I couldn't put this one down. It was kind of depressing but enthralling all at once. It helps that it was a bit of a mystery. The book follows our heroine, Kate, who has sworn off marriage and has convinced herself that her best option is to travel to India with her spinster aunt. But her mother will not consent. In a weird way, they come to an agreement that if she can secure 3 proposals that her mother will relent and let her go. Kate is full of confidence at first, but then as she sees the challenge of her task (mostly due to her mother, her elder sister and their poor reputation), she realizes that she has been almost set-up to the fail.

My issues with the book were that no one seemed to love Kate except for one person and it was pretty maddening that she didn't seem to think he loved her. How many signals does he need to send you, girl? He couldn't have been any more obvious if he'd tattooed "I love Kate" on his forehead. It also seemed like everyone was rejecting or insulting her at every turn and it was almost too much. Also, the villains in this book were downright revolting and there were a lot of them. No redeeming qualities for any of them. I pretty much hated everyone except for Kate, Henry and her aunt. There were a few other lovable characters but unfortunately, you don't see much of them.

It's a pretty predictable story and what keeps it going is the mystery of why Kate has sworn of marriage. In flashbacks and bits/pieces, you get a sense of what happened 2 years earlier. The ending was too short, but it was sweet and I loved it.

Not sure if it's going on my re-read list because of all of the angst and frustration leading up to the happy ending, but I did enjoy it very much

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11 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Marvelous

Would you listen to Blackmoore again? Why?

While I never write reviews, this book has changed my mind. The story, the characters and the performance are wonderful. While I rarely listen to a book twice, I look forward to listening again and again.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good clean historical romance!

This was a great book! It held my interest and was squeaky clean. I would recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction with a side of romance. 💕

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Romance !

A lovely romantic story, much like a Jane Austin novel. Beautifully read by Cassandra Campbell.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Heartfelt romance

This was my first book by Julianne Donaldson and I will buy any other books offered after this by audible. Her characters are very well developed and every scene has a relevance to the storyline. I always like to have romance mixed with passion in a book and although this book did not have physically passionate scenes, the emotional ones were enough to set me on fire. The hero’s personality is firm and strong and commanding and ... yet so soft and gentle. The way he expresses his feelings with each proposal when the heroine does not suspect herself to be the truly intended made my heart break for him a little each time. As a reader you will truly feel all the wonderful emotions in this story. This will be a great purchase and a memorable book, one you will re-listen to over and over. A+++++

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Don't miss this one!

Proof that a romance can be passionate without sex scenes or violence. This is an wonderfully written story with a perfect narrator. Can't recommend it highly enough! Just finished it for the third time.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Truly a PROPER Romance

What other book might you compare Blackmoore to and why?

Blackmoore was a unique story. I haven't read any books like it before.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Henry was talking about how Kate's "heart" loved him and wanted to curl up next to him. It was so cute and adorable. I don't want to give away any details though.

Any additional comments?

I loved this book. Great narrator! The opening of the book says its a "Proper Romance".... And it was! There is no sex...no inappropriate activity.....it is proper and yet it totally hooked me in and I loved the progression of the love story. The story was unique and entrapped me.
Maybe it was slightly slow moving compared to most books I enjoy, but it was a delightful and surprising change of pace and loved every minute.
My only complaint would be I wanted more at the end. I mean I would have like to have a good long epilogue, but then that's me being selfish....maybe then it wouldn't have been so proper... ;-)

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Sweet Romance...

BlackMoore was such a delightful story. I ended up buying the audiobook and it was hard for me to stop listening. The narrator, Cassandra Campbell did a really nice job with the different character voices and the emotions of the story.

I liked Kate a lot. She is a 17 year old young woman who so determined and passionate about going to India with her Aunt and learning to be independent and out from under her ridiculous mothers thumb. The way her mother behaved and flirted in public was completely inappropriate. I thought that Elizabeth Bennett’s mother from Pride and Prejudice was bad…I would take her as a mom over Kate’s any day of the week.

I understood Kate’s longing to be free and to have a better life. And even though I get why she never said anything to Henry or to anyone; I really wished she had.

“It was one thing to set a bird free, but how on earth was I to set myself free?"

There are a few flashbacks into Kate’s past to explain why she made some of the choices she has made. But you won’t find out why Kate is so against marriage until more than halfway through the book. At first I kept thinking, how she cannot know that Henry loves her, but it wasn’t about her finding that out. You’ll just have to read it to find out more.

The author did a nice job with this story. The writing flowed, it had a nice pace, the characters were lively, and I never once felt bored. I loved the friendship…the connection Kate and Henry shared. It was sweet. Blackmoore was a very charming story that made me feel warm and happy once I was finished.

Readers who enjoy classics like Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park, or any clean romantic historical novel should take a look at Blackmoore.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

TORTUROUS AND GRUELING STORY

I started out with all hope that this would be a good story and listen, but a short way into the story, I already hated Kate. She is such a dreary, emotional, self-centered, person who causes her own sorrow by keeping secrets and lying about them when asked to share them. She is the antithesis of the kind of woman I respect - a strong-minded, cleaver, do-something woman. She is sad almost the whole book through! It was torture to have to listen to her tale of woe. There were only two good parts of the book, when she FINALLY told Henry the "terrible" secret about his mother changing the will, and when she ran away to her aunt's house in London and her aunt told her it was good that she FINALLY took her future into her own hands. This book could have been much shorter if Kate had figured this out much earlier in the book, but she continually LET her family and friends subjugate her and put her in a cage. It was her own fault. Kate would occasionally get angry, but she didn't DO anything about it until the very end of the story. I mean the VERY end! The narrator was a perfect voice for this listless, depressing, sad person. It made me think that both the author and the narrator were this same sort of person who thinks that emotion tops courageousness. I don't like hearing a book that makes me hate the protagonist. I don't think I'll read anymore of Julianne Donaldson's books unless she develops characters with more gumption.

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4 people found this helpful