1060539Maria's parents died and she was put in an orphanage and later claimed by her father's brother and his wife. She lived a Cinderella existence with them for two years when she was miraculously claimed by her parents intended guardian. From thence on she was raised with much love and comfort.

This is a wonderful love story but with tragedy striking at a time when life was almost perfect and her future seemed likewise near perfection. It is very romantic yet very clean and acceptable for even youth to read.

The Title relates to the story well an the book cover is not the greatest fit but is acceptable.

Marcia always doe an outstanding job of character development and surrounding background portrayal. She most always brings her characters and scenes to life for the reader. She can verbally depict intimate scenes on a way they are all-consuming yet clean.

Equally her talent depicts brashness in characters without ever writing bad language.

My review of this book offers a strong Five Stars rating. ( )

Maria's parents died and she was put in an orphanage and later claimed by her father's brother and his wife. She lived a Cinderella existence with them for two years when she was miraculously claimed by her parents intended guardian. From thence on she was raised with much love and comfort. This is a wonderful love story but with tragedy striking at a time life was almost perfect and her future seemed likewise near perfection. It is very romantic yet very clean and acceptable for even youth to read. ( )

This book was a freebie from the kindle book store. It is a short story/novella with about 192 pages.
Marsha Lynn McClure has been dubbed "The Queen of Kissing" and boy they got that right.
Maria is rescued from cruel relatives by her father's good friend, Lord Thorton. She is raised by Brock Thorton, Lord Thorton's son, and his mother after the elder Thorton dies. Once Maria was out of the clutches of her relatives, she never looks back. Now, Maria is nearing her sixteenth birthday. Plans are made for her coming out. While she is really excited about that, she is also torn. She has always loved Brock Thorton. She isn't sure what his feelings for her are until one evening they share a kiss. However, upon finally reaching her sixteenth birthday, Maria is shocked by a codicil in Lord Thorton's will.
As is usually the case in a short story, things are rather rushed. There are turns and twist and plans made to keep the couple apart. But, it lacks the angst that is present in many romance novels. This book has Maria being very mature for her age and working to salvage her dream of marrying Brock. It is a nice change of pace, but I like a bit of fire between the couples. As far as the SC, we are talking about a sixteen year old girl, so strong sexual content would not have been appropiate, even though in the time period we are reading about it wasn't uncommon for a sixteen year old girl to marry. There is however, some adult innuendo. But, this book would be just fine for an older teen or YA. In fact, I think it works best in that group. I am a more "mature" woman, so reading about a sixteen to eighteen year old's romance isn't as appealing to me. The writing was fine, formatting good, but the characters didn't have much time to really develop due to the brevity of the book. Overall I would give it a B- and recommend it to a younger reading group. For me personally a C just because it was a little too "youngish" for me. ( )