2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining Victorian Romance from a New Author, December 21, 2009
Jenna Dawlish's first novel, Love Engineered, reminds me of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but with an interesting twist. Louise Thomas is a Victorian woman in full-bloom; she is intelligent, articulate and secure in herself and her position in society. She was raised by her father and taught the subjects that a son would have been taught: math, history and business. Louise considers herself an amateur inventor and engineer. She is a woman of independent means and spirit, who will marry for love or not at all.
Charles Lucas is a brilliant, young engineer, intelligent and passionate about his work. He is a "rising star, soon to be elevated among the great engineers" of the time. He despises the gentry for their condescending ways and their ability to manipulate people with their money and influence. Charles does not wish to marry; his work is his first love.
The book is set in Victorian England, when ladies were only begrudgingly accepted in a man's world. But things are beginning to change, as women start to speak up for themselves and reject the strictures of a male-dominated society. This was also a time of great technological advances, when men of industry could move up in society. This clash of new- versus old-money, gentry versus self-made men drives the story. Louise longs to express her love for Charles, but is held back by a sense of propriety and social decorum. Charles still believes a woman's place is hearth and home, under the protection of a father or brother. While he admires Louise for her intelligence, he finds her forward behaviour to be unfeminine and he is easily swayed to believe scandalous rumors about her. This causes an irreparable breach between them. One that they both come to regret.
I found myself unable to put this book down. The characters were very well-developed and believable. This is a sweet, clean (no sex scenes) romance, but it was never trite or formulaic. Even knowing how this type of story ends, I really wanted to follow the path that would bring these two together again. The story took some interesting turns; each of the main characters had to overcome some prejudices and misconceptions about themselves and each other. There was a fine supporting cast of characters. I especially liked Charles' sister Jane and Louise's cousin Lord Phillip. They both played important roles in revealing the main characters' inner feelings and motivations.
Jenna Dawlish is a talented storyteller and has a lot of potential as a novelist. Her writing style is simple and straight-forward; her book's plot and characters were strong and well-developed. I liked Louise and Charles and wanted to read their story. It was also quite evident that Ms. Dawlish had done her research into the period. Everything she wrote about the times the characters moved in rang true. I look forward to reading more of her historical romances.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A clean romance, February 1, 2010
Love Engineered is a very sweet romance about a girl ahead of her time.
Our heroine is Louise Thomas, a wealthy woman who is interested in engineering. Louise's father before he died helped her establish her place in the male dominated engineering world. Her influence in those circles is important and she soon becomes especially interested in Charles, an incredibly talented engineer. When the two meet in London in 1855 they both find themselves learning things about love they hadn't expected to find.
When an old friend of Charles shares a secret he claims to know about Louise, Charles believes it all too readily. That secret leads to an ugly confrontation between Louise and Charles that both begin to wish had never happened.
This was a clean and compelling love story. I enjoyed it. The characters though flawed were easy to love and forgive. A very fun read!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This is a Page turner, December 26, 2009
I really enjoyed this book and I could not put it down. I felt the story had a great pace and that the author did an excellent job of developing the Characters. This is a book I will be reading again and again. I will be looking forward to more of her books!!!
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