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A review by literallyilliterate
A Rumored Fortune by Joanna Davidson Politano
3.0
This was my second JDP book, and though I didn't enjoy it as much as Finding Lady Enderly, there was still lots to love. This book follows Tressa, the poorest heiress in England, and Donegan, the vineyard manager of her castle, as they try to find the hidden fortune of Tressa's deceased father, before someone else finds it first.
I absolutely adore the author's writing and the metaphors she uses. In this case, there were a lot of vine/branches metaphors (based on the "I am the vine, you are the branches" verse in the Bible), as well as color-related ones (the love confession was EVERYTHING). The Christian themes were expertly woven into the story and felt like a part of the plot instead of an afterthought. There were a few instances when it felt like I was being preached to, but I didn't mind it too much.
Tressa and Donegan are fascinating characters to follow, though I didn't get as attached to them as I did to the characters in the other book I've read from this author. Donegan in particular was really cool to read about, due to things that were slowly revealed about his character throughout the story. The romance was sweet, but didn't stand out to me personally.
My main issue with this book is just that it was hard to get into. It took me a while to become invested, and even then I was still a little bored. I wish there could've been more of a "treasure hunt" instead of just saying there was. It felt like most of the book was just Tressa's thoughts about Donegan. I loved the insight into her complicated relationship with her father, though. And the ending was so heartwarming. The last 50 pages were 5-star pages for sure.
Overall, this was a decent book with a great ending and really well done faith content, but I struggled to get into it.
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part *insert large number here* of me trying to enjoy historical fiction
I absolutely adore the author's writing and the metaphors she uses. In this case, there were a lot of vine/branches metaphors (based on the "I am the vine, you are the branches" verse in the Bible), as well as color-related ones (the love confession was EVERYTHING). The Christian themes were expertly woven into the story and felt like a part of the plot instead of an afterthought. There were a few instances when it felt like I was being preached to, but I didn't mind it too much.
Tressa and Donegan are fascinating characters to follow, though I didn't get as attached to them as I did to the characters in the other book I've read from this author. Donegan in particular was really cool to read about, due to things that were slowly revealed about his character throughout the story. The romance was sweet, but didn't stand out to me personally.
My main issue with this book is just that it was hard to get into. It took me a while to become invested, and even then I was still a little bored. I wish there could've been more of a "treasure hunt" instead of just saying there was. It felt like most of the book was just Tressa's thoughts about Donegan. I loved the insight into her complicated relationship with her father, though. And the ending was so heartwarming. The last 50 pages were 5-star pages for sure.
Overall, this was a decent book with a great ending and really well done faith content, but I struggled to get into it.
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part *insert large number here* of me trying to enjoy historical fiction