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Kindle Edition, 244 pages
Published January 27th 2014
by The Wild Rose Press
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My Rating: ❀ ❀ ❀
Genre: Historical Romance
Lady Penelope de Vere has been in love with Rake for as long as she can remember, daydreaming over him constantly. But as her debut in the ton comes closer, she decides to finally let go of her silly childhood dream and accept someone else's wish to court her, someone who appreciates a quiet, book-filled life as she does. She wants marriage and, despite all the hints she throws his way, Rake only wants a mistress...she thinks.
Lord Richard Darling has known Penny since she was a child and not once thought of her as anything but his niece's best friend and a very convenient scone-fetcher. That is, not until he happens upon her swimming in the lake at Chester Park dressed only in her thin chemise. A most eligible bachelor with a libertine reputation, he suddenly finds the girl he's always appreciated has turned into a woman he could love forever. So why won't she accept his proposal?
This is the second novel by Jennifer Wenn I've read, and both have proved to be charming reads. I find that Ms. Wenn has a good understanding of the setting and period of her novel and that really lends polish to the story overall. Never Had a Dream Come True is the second book in her The Royal Family series.
The main character, Penny is in many ways, both sheltered and slighted. Her father cares nothing for her because her older sister is the beauty in the family, and so Penny never gets any attention and is forced to wear her sister's old dresses. In this way, it seemed to me, along with her rather romanticizied notions about love and marriage, that Penny was very young and unknowing of the world. She's had the family of her friend, Fanny, always extend to her the love and kindness of familial love and they prove to be more of a family to Penny than her own.
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| Book One in The Royal Family series |
Being young and inexperienced led Penny to make some rather poor choices in the book. Despite her love for Rake, she convinces herself that he will never love and repsect her the way she needs. Penny doesn't merely want passion, she wants a happily ever after. She wants Rake to love her and marry her. But because Rake is well...a rake, she simply does believe this will ever happen and convinces herself to marry another man, who is not right for her because she doesn't really love him.
That's only the first of her mistakes. Rake is a character I wish I knew better. He says he wants Penny, and Penny succinctly tells him what he can do with his wanting and his passion, rejecting him forever as a libertine who can't be reformed. And Rake is geninuely hurt and cut by Penny's low opinion of him. He continues to tell her he wants her, sometimes attempts to respect her wishes and stay away, but just can't. Because of his rakish disposition? I always had the feeling that wasn't the case at all, but I would have liked to know more of his thoughts and feelings. Because in the end, Penny has hugely misjudged him.
This story also has a darker element involving Penny's father, a twisted lord and in some ways becomes both the wedge between the couple, and the driving force that pull Penny and Rake together. Overall, this is a sweet romance with a young heroine in the starring role who learns about life, love, her own heart and ends happily ever after.
I would like to thank the author for providing me with a copy of the novel, in exchange for an honest review.
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