Hester Waring's Marriage

A very entertaining romance set in early 18th Century Sidney, Australia. Sidney is a former penal colony, socially divided into Exclusives and Emancipists. Tom Dilhorne is an ambitious, wealthy Emancipist (ex-convict). He has a shrewd but kind heart. He wants entree into the select official society of the Exclusives (free British colonists). Tom has a plan. Hester was the daughter of a minor Government Officer. Fred Waring, inconsiderately, drank and gambled 'til he achieved penury and death. Hester is destitute and slowly starving to death. She is hired as a school teacher due to Tom's influence with the school board. Eventually, Tom proposes a marriage of convenience to Hester. Hester, after some deliberation, accepts. There are additional adventures as Tom outwits his enemies, gains a position in the insular Sidney society and advances his cause with Hester. What makes this romance delightful are the conversations between the protaganists. This is a very sweet love story. All of the characters are three dimensional with understandable actions and motivations. There are no one-note heroes or villians. The picture of life in a penal colony is eye-opening as the colonist attempt to create a duplicate of the English order of society. Recommended.

If you ever have a chance to read it, don't miss it. Beautiful story.

This book was, funny, touching and gloriously beautiful. Hester and Tom's repartee was gorgeously written. The characters pasts were well drawn and you really cared about them. I laughed out loud many times and cried a few times too.

This book is a real winner. Hester Waring, a neglected, starving & destitute gentlewoman, is given a chance to be the town schoolteacher in Sydney Australia, early 1800's. Her situation and her own personality (she retains her spirit) attracts Tom Dilhorne, ex-convict, who's worked to become the wealthiest man in Sydney. Hester agrees to marry Tom and the way the author writes about their marriage, is just so skillful. They grow to love and cherish each other through difficult times caused by outsiders...can't say more without giving too much of the plot, but this book is WORTH reading. The plot, the character development, the tender romance, it's all five-stars. Go to eharlequin.com for an inexpensive copy. If you are looking for a romance read that has MORE than just textbook romance situations and characters, this is the one to get! It's the kind of novel you can easily see as a movie -- if only someone would make a movie like this book, it would be great.