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My Dearest Friend by Hazel Stratham is a wonderful book full of lush period detail and characters to please a reader. The book contains many emotions; among them sorrow, grief, love and friendship. Many of these emotions are felt in empathy by the reader as they fall into the world and lives that the author evokes.
Robert Blake, Duke of Lear, is living with the raw grief and feelings of guilt in the death of his younger brother Stefan, when the chance to help another young man is brought to his attention by the injured young mans sister, Miss Jane Chandler. Little does the Duke know that the encounter will renew his flagging spritis and give him a chance for self redemption. Deciding to accompany Jane on her journey gives the Duke a mission and a purpose he had been missing. Along their journey several mis-haps occur and the Duke is faced with new details and secrets of his brothers life. When the Duke finds his feelings for Jane have moved beyond friendship and into love, he is surprised and yet eager to embark on this new path in his life. But, will Jane return his feelings, or will he forever be her dearest friend?
When Jane asked the Duke for an introduction to a Ships Captain, she never expected that he would join her journey to find her brother, injured in the War with the French. Nor did she at first relish his company. However, before long Jane came to care for the Duke as a friend and then later, much more.
But, life is not fair in its path to happiness. And this couple has much to travail before they can have their Happily Ever After. Never fear, this reader has enjoyed their path with its twists and turns and I leave you with no doubt that the journey is worth it. I enjoyed this book with its regency period and characters. From the first words of prose I was trasnported back into the time of the characters. A thoroughly good read that was hard for this reader to let end.
Available in ebook from Wings ePress, Inc.
