This was one of the sweetest and most pure books I have ever read. It is one of the closest, modernly released, books that made me feel like I was reading Jane Austen. Edenbrooke was an absolute joy to read.

I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of it until 2020 and I didn’t read it until 2021! Honestly, this ticked all of the boxes for me: rose-coloured lenses female MC; a fun, flirty, strong, secret cinnamon roll male MC; a beautiful sprawling country estate, wonderful character dynamics, love letter writing (never thought I needed it till now haha), and a dash of action.

There were even some tropes that were in here that I normally do not like but Donaldson made me love them in this book. My only issue was that Marianne was a little too flighty and fancy free with her twirling but that is such a minor nit-pick that really holds no weight at all.

I truly just want to gush about this book forever and want everyone to read it. I don't even know how to fully articulate how much I adored it. It made me giddy, it made me squee, the romance was breath-taking in the sweetest way… did I mention the love letter writing?? * chefs kiss *

Philip and Marianne are perfection.

This is a story that I will happily return to (I’ve already re-read it) and will certainly stay in my mind for many years to come.