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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Wonderful Post-Civil War Love Story

A Waltz at Midnight by Crista McHugh 5 stars

After the Civil War, a brother and sister from the south are forced to take refuge helping at their aunt’s boarding house in New York in exchange for a place to stay. Susanna Parkwell hates their circumstances, but does her best to carry out her duties and keep the rich northern girls who are boarding there happy. She goes above the call of duty when one of the boarders, Charlotte, begs Susanna to help her break it off with an unwelcome suitor by crafting a letter to him, but signing Charlotte’s name. Susanna’s cleverness in her reply backfires, though, and Theodore Blakely becomes more determined than ever to court “Charlotte.” How will Susanna get out of this one without upsetting Charlotte and keeping her own heart from getting broken?

This premise of this novella sounded interesting to me from the beginning, but I never imagined how much I would love this story! While it was short, the history and the setting seem extremely realistic and the characters are well-developed and come alive through the telling of the story. It is a romantic story that while aimed at adults, would be interesting and suitable for young adults who enjoy historical romances.

The turn of events that lead to a break-up letter becoming a true courtship through heartfelt letters is entertaining and romantic. It is ironic that Susanna only feels able to be herself and pour out her true feelings about marriage and the war when she is pretending to be someone else. This fact of course complicates things when Susanna feels she has met her soul mate in Teddy.

I absolutely love the sweet ending of this story! My only criticism is the conclusion could have been drawn out a little more to allow the reader to savor the resolution. Because of the short length of the story, you don’t get to see the fallout of the decisions made by Susanna, Teddy, and Charlotte. However, based on what is said, I was left happy and satisfied with the book’s ending.

I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Carina Press, in exchange for an honest review.