Miss Lindel's Love

I took this book home from the library and fell in love. I can't get enough of Pratt's writing. The previous critics are definitely correct, the jacket discription has nothing to do with the story. The story however is filled with sweet touches and wonderful characters and amusing dialogue. The word pictures Ms Pratt creates are beautiful in their simplicity. "Kenton didn't imagine he'd ever seen her before. Yet some memory nagged at the back of his mind. A skin and bones child, dirty of face and tangled of hair, looking down at him with hauteur from the back of a rawboned, evil tempered hunter he would have been terrified to ride despite all his experience." This is the kind of writing that stays in my mind and I love it. I have ordered all of Ms Pratt's books and eagerly look forward to more.

Lively and pretty young Maris Lindel has long nursed a tendre for her landlord and neighbour, the dashing Lord Kenton Danesby. And while she's had all kinds of day dreams about Danesby falling in love with her and marrying her, sensible Maris realizes this will never really come to pass. But when Maris goes to London for her debut, she finds herself constantly crossing paths with Danesby. Why is Danesby paying her any attention at all? Maris's heart leaps at the thought that Danesby may actually be interested romantically in her, but perhaps it's only wishful thinking on her part and he's only being polite? Little does Maris realise that Danesby is actually much taken by her liveliness and innocence, and that while he fully realizes that she's quite smitten with him, he intends to gently rebuff her...If you enjoy quiet romance novels that remind you of the works of Maria Edgeworth and Fanny Burney, then you will enjoy "Miss Lindel's Love." (Though the plot synopsis at the back of the book is actually a little inaccurate and gives away far too much of what's going to happen in the book.) "Miss Lindel's Love" is actually a nice little novel about a young girl's rite of passage from the naive teenage-hood to adulthood and maturity, and as such it is a good read. Cynthia Pratt does a good job of fleshing out her heroine and making her engaging, likable and easy to relate to. She does a good job with the hero, Danesby, as well although he was not as easy to relate to as Maris. The story was a good one even if the pacing was not always even. Which leads to the few complaints had with the book: 1) the ending was a little rushed -- Maris and Danesby are in Bath, when Danesby suddenly realizes his true feelings for Maris and acts on them -- but all this took place within the last 60 pages or so; and 2) that the novel was not long enough -- it would have been nice if more time had been given to developing a "real" relationship between Maris and Danesby and if a few other characters (like Maris's best friend Lucy) had been developed more and been given some kind of resolution. I really wanted to know what would become of Lucy, and felt truly frustrated that things had been left hanging.To reiterate then, if you enjoy quiet coming of age stories written in an almost Fanny Burney/Maria Edgeworth manner, give "Miss Lindel's Love" a go.