Review: A Family Affair by Jennifer Wenn

Title: A Family Affair
Author: Jennifer Wenn
Format: Ebook
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Publish Date: March 25, 2013
Source: I received a copy from the author; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a historical fiction fan.
• You're a romance lover.

What's the Story?:

From Goodread.com: "Lady Francesca Darling has been in love with Devlin Ross, the Duke of Hereford, since she was five years old. When they meet again at her debutante ball she finds her feelings remain the same, and to her joy he is mesmerized by her. To the gossipy matrons of the ton it’s the perfect match—the richest heiress and the most eligible bachelor.

But can their budding love survive her interfering family and the deep scars from his father’s abuse? Enchanted as he is with the delightful woman Fanny has become, Devlin intends never to repeat that abuse, vowing not to live with his wife and children.
 
Fanny is a determined young lady — she wants Devlin and a true marriage. Is her love strong enough to tear down all his walls?"

My Two Cents:

"A Family Affair" is a historical romance that takes place during the Regency era, an era which I love reading about. Fanny has always thought that she would marry Devlin ever since she was a little girl. Now that they are adults, Fanny is driven to cement her relationship with Devlin. I really enjoyed this love story but some of the telling had a couple issues.

I really liked the love story in this book. It was interesting to see how Franny and Devlin interact with each other. They've known each other for most of their lives. I liked watching their love bloom throughout the book. Romance fans will enjoy this one!

I really enjoy Wenn's writing; however, much of the story telling felt much too modern for Fanny's time. Even Fanny herself seemed a little bit too modern for the book, which really took me out of the story. She has a lot of modern day mentalities that were never really explained. Yes, there's always people who fall out of the norm for their time but it would have been nice to have an explanation.

I think that it must be quite difficult for writers of historical fiction to balance making their story accessible to modern day readers while evoking the spirit and the feeling of the era in which the story takes place. The language used in this book was more telling than showing, which distracted me a good bit. Also, at 368 pages, this book got a little long in some places. I think it would have been better if the book focused on the main action more.