This was my first time reading a book from the author but I am delighted to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I look forward to reading more books from the writer in the future

Sadly this wasn't for me. I really struggled finishing it. In one sense it was an easy read but then it was just too descriptive for me with no actual substance to it. Such a shame as I was so looking forward to reading it. Hope others will find it a great read though.

Thank you Netgalley.

Really good to read the story of how Emma and Blackie met and the circumstances that led to thst meeting. Enjoyable and heart warming

I do love BTB books and have them all in my collection. Although slow to get tarted I did enjoy it as I was keen to know a little more about Blackie. Looking forward to her next book.

The prequel to A Woman Of Substance. I loved this series so was excited to get my hands on this one! In the mists of a winter morning, he meets a kitchen maid called Emma Harte. And as the Victorian world gives way to the freedom of the Edwardian age, so a young man and a servant girl seize a chance, against the odds, to build a better life… I absolutely adored this book! I could not put it down, probably the fastest I have read a book… If you enjoy historical fiction, you will love this. The perfect book to curl up on the sofa with. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Barabara Taylor Bradford's books and have spent many a happy hour reading about Emma Harte so was really looking forward to reading this

Really enjoyed this

This prequel to the Emma Harte series introduces the reader first to Blackie O'Neill, whose father has just died in Ireland. He is now alone and he travels to Leeds to stay with his Uncle Patrick. His Uncle has a building business and takes Blackie into his home but also his business. Blackie is to learn and soon makes a name for himself in the building trade. He dreams of designing his own style of houses and takes lessons to improve. His Uncle and Aunt think the world of him, having never been blessed with children of their own.

The story of how Blackie gets on is riveting and he also takes a job as a "navvy", hard physical work to earn more money and establish his own nest egg, so that he may fulfil his own ambitions.

He takes on other work for the gentry and it's at this time, that he meets a very young Emma Harte and is blown away by her tenacity, strength of personality and resilience, all of which we see in A Woman of Substance.

It's great to see where this all stemmed from; a great read and start to the Emma Harte story, all of which I have read in the past and enjoyed immensely.

Fab book!

I'm gutted to give up on this one as I really wanted to love this having devoured the Emma Harte stories in my youth, however this just felt wooden and full of filler descriptions of food and places and very little plot or substance .. so disappointing. I read to 49%.

A Man of Honour by Barbara Bradford Taylor is the prequel to A Woman of Substance which I read and enjoyed years ago, so when I found out there was to be a prequel I jumped at the chance to read it and unfortunately, I was disappointed!
In short, the book is the story of Blackie O’Neil which starts with his poverty life in Ireland to his successful ambitious journey in Yorkshire and we learn how he met his lifelong friend Emma Heart.
Although it was an easy read it was too ‘Mills and Boons’ for me but because I had read the complete Emma Harte series I felt I should stick with it! There are characters which play a large part in the book but seem to just be left dangling, like the missing girl, Pat’s wife, Lord Lassiter’s marriage and his cousin…so much detail at the beginning of their stories yet this seemed to dissipate at the end, making it seem rather rushed and unfinished for those characters. If the story just focused on Blackie I think the book would have flowed a lot better.
Big thanks to Barbara Taylor Bradford, HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for this eARC which I chose to read in return for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I like Barabara Taylor Bradford's books. And also she is a Yorkshire woman so another good reason to like her books. Her books have depth and the characters are engaging. A little bit heavy reading, but worth it in the end. Recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily.
It is many years since I read and enjoyed Barbara Taylor Bradford's other books about Emma Harte so I was looking forward to reading this prequel. I found some of the story very interesting, although I was surprised to find he did not meet Emma until three quarters of the way through this book. However there were some very strange sections of the story: all the fuss over Gwen going missing was never resolved, the story of the fake painting did not seem to tie in to any of the rest of the story, Blackie was furious with Sarah's suspicion that he hurt Angela and nursed a grudge against her but never cleared the air in their relationship, and quite a few of the chapters were about Robert Lassiter and his wife which was nothing to do with Blackie. There were inconsistencies such as Robert and Blackie both claiming to their friends that they chose the spot for the guesthouse, Patrick suggested taking Moira to a cafe "if there is one" and yet Jack replied "go to the Blue Door, you've always liked that one". The storyline about Moira seemed completely bizarre, once she had escaped to England and reached Leeds why didn't she go straight to Robert's? There were incorrect facts such as the cafe in Harrogate opened by a Swiss pastry chef is called Betty's, not Hetty's, and the person who punches a ticket and exchanges it for money on a tram is called a conductor, not an inspect- he performs a completely different role. Some of the narrative was very odd, such as the minute 5-line description of Finn eating his Sunday dinner, and when we are told Blackie "knew that shortly he would have to become the inquisitor", although his questions did not gain any more knowledge.
I enjoyed the story on the whole but it seemed to have been padded out with irrelevant subplots and words to achieve a high word count, and I think it would have been a better book with some omissions.

Many years ago I read "A Woman of Substance" and seem to remember enjoying it. Either my tastes have changed or this prequel does not live up to my memories. The writing and descriptions seemed a bit superficial in places, as though the reader is expected to fill in the gaps. Also, some of the characters and situations were rather cliched.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

This is a prequel to the Woman of Substance/Emma Harte series detailing the background of *Blackie* and leading up to his meeting Emma. It comes in at over 400 pages of repetitive nonsense. So dull.

We are endlessly told that Blackie is tall, strong and really, really handsome, all the girls "go for him" (this despite a supposed life in Ireland of abject poverty and hunger). We are told countless times that he is "Black Irish", descended from the survivors of the Spanish Armada washed up on the Irish coast ( a myth that has been totally debunked). He asks "endless questions" and his mouth is always watering at the thought of food, dull descriptions of his meals and others food takes up a lot of narrative space. He is an absolute paragon. He doesn't seem to change at all from emigrating to Yorkshire from Ireland at age 13 through to age 17 when he "comes of age." He still speaks "Oirish", aye to be sure he does, on the heads of the Blessed saints, aye and to be sure he does, sure he does. His interactions and dialogue with other characters feels stilted and unrealistic.

A new character or a situation is introduced and I thought at last the story would get going but it never does. All threads just seem to peter out and there is an annoying side story that appears out of nowhere with no link to Blackie about Lord Robert and an illegitimate child that takes a lot of chapters. This seriously needed an editor to wield a big red pen or could have been restructured and tightly edited into a collection of linked stories to Blackie.

Blackie was always one of my favourite characters in The Woman of Substance series so I was really looking forward to reading this. It charts the story of Blackie O'Neill from when he leaves County Kerry as a 13 year old orphan. Arriving to live with his uncle in Leeds he begins work with him as an apprentice and quickly learns all aspects of building work and draughtsmanship. It shows what drove Blackie to become the man he did and takes you through those early years in Leeds up to his early meetings with Emma Harte.
I really found the story of Blackie inspiring, how he escaped poverty and starvation in Ireland and made his mark in a new country. Unfortunately, it didn't really flow and felt a little disjointed. It’s supposed to be the story of Blackie but the story of Sir Robert Lassiter featured strongly for reasons I couldn’t quite fathom. I can only assume that it was because he was a big supporter of Blackie and his work.

Essential reading for all fans of ‘A Woman Of Substance’, for lovers of ‘God’s Own Country’, or just for anyone who likes their reading generously punctuated with graphic descriptions of hearty home cooked meals (I swear I put on half a stone whilst reading it - I can still smell the Yorkshire puddings and onion gravy!).

A Man of Honour is a cosy, old fashioned, comforting read, almost falling into the guilty pleasure category, and although it is many years since I have read any of the subsequent novels, I am fatally drawn to reread them again to rediscover what happens to the characters next and I very much doubt if I will be the only one.

Well done Ms BTB!

Many thanks to all concerned for letting me read and review this terrific book.

Good description of life in this period and the struggles people had. The story line skipped over some of the main characters lives which was a bit disappointing. I felt it could have been more focused on just one or two characters. However, it was a good read.

I remembered reading the original series of Barbara Taylor Bradford's Emma Harte novels, starting with 'Woman of Substance', and had such fond memories of the books and the television series starring Jenny Seagrove. So I was really looking forward to this prequel to revive the memory. However, I was rather underwhelmed by this book, which lacked the pace and the grit of the first books, and I felt bored with the blandness of the story and the narration. I was disappointed, after struggling to the end of the book, that there was so little drama and excitement to retain my interest. I felt there were so many stereotypes, repeated phrases and ideas hammered through the book, that even without being familiar with the later story, would have been irritating and unnecessary. After so many popular books, particularly in this series, I feel the author should have left well alone and not revisited the characters in such a lacklustre way.

I have read and loved all of Barbara's books and this one is no exception. We learn about Blackie before he met Emma Harte and it was good to learn about his history.

This is a prequel to A Woman of Substance which I read many years ago. I found Blackie's story captivating and can't wait to go back and re-read A Woman of Substance.

Orphaned and alone 13 year old Blackie O'Neill leaves Ireland to go and live with his mother's brother in Leeds. It's here he will become a skilled carpenter and dreams of building houses including a very large and grand one of his own.

He meets Emma Harte on the desolate Yorkshire moors and learns she works for the Fairleys, who she hates with a vengeance. It's a great read and so richly drawn.

Orphaned and alone, 13-year-old Blackie O’Neill must leave County Kerry to find work and put food in his mouth. His only chance of survival lies with his mother’s brother, far away in Leeds. Working in his Uncle’s business, he nurtures a dream of throwing off the impotence of poverty, of building houses and perhaps even of becoming a gentleman. And then, high on the Yorkshire moors, in the mists of a winter morning, he meets a kitchen maid called Emma Harte. And as the Victorian world gives way to the freedom of the Edwardian age, so a young man and a servant girl seize a chance, against the odds, to build a better life.
Another engrossing, riveting read from the author. I first met Blackie over forty years ago when I read ‘A Woman of Substance' & I feel for him then so I was thrilled that his early life has now been written. I was drawn in from the first page & whilst it didn’t live up to Emma’s epic tale it was a still a very good read. The characters were very well portrayed & had lots of depth. The pace was more pedestrian than fast. However I was taken of a plethora of emotions & thoroughly enjoyed the book
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read