This is a story about a young Englishwoman and her tale of heartbreak, friendship and eventually finding true love.

Kitty Otis has lost her mother and her father is ill and she steps up to assume the role of leader in her home. With her uncle's guidance, she is able to make a prosperous living on her small farm. She falls in love with an Irish lieutenant but when she is heartbroken because of their circumstances, she determines to not risk love again. Eventually, she is able to find a widower who has also experience heartbreak and they are able to find love again.

This book was a bit of a slow read for me. The pace could have been a little faster and it dragged at times. Kitty's friendship with Marianne seemed genuine and the secondary characters in the story helped make the story real and believable.

There is a happy ending and the story is clean and wholesome but I felt a little letdown when the story ended.

I was given an arc copy of this book and I willingly offer my honest review.

I had a hard time staying engaged with this story. The writing was dry, and the story was predictable. I was hoping for a bit more.

I have rather mixed feelings about this book, it has the potential to be really enjoyable but is spoiled by unnecessary ‘off-colour’ inclusions. (If I hadn’t committed to reviewing it, I would have stopped reading at the first of these.) It was almost as if today’s standards had been transplanted back a couple of hundred years into an earlier setting, rather than being those of the period. Likewise the heroine seemed improbable for the time, especially at such a young age. I wanted to like this book, & indeed would be just enjoying it when – oh no, another bump. I am left feeling disappointed, that I didn’t get the tale I signed on for.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end.

What a recreative, enchanting story ! everything is well described and well paced, the dialogues, the scenaries, the social events; The reading is highly enjoyable. It is very nice indeed to read about the Regency period without second thoughts ( like really ?). I already recommended this book to my students who received the information with a smile.
I received a copy from Netgalley, all opinions are mine.

Enduring friendships, difficulty of old fashion dating and house parties really gives of glance at an old way of life. Long ago families had a huge impact on relationships. Childbirth was fraught with danger and marriages were not based on love. I often think it would have been a nice era to live. But this book also points out the downsides. I like the more realistic look at that period. The letters back and forth help tell the story of Kitty and her father when he is forced by health issues to sell his position as vicar. I thought the story was well told. I enjoyed the book.

I really enjoyed this historical novel. I loved the main character, Kitty. She was the kind of character that made me want to root for her.

This was not very romantically. It was historical. It read like a narration of a journal from that time period. I did not get any feeling or growth of character from the story. It was flat and very monochromatic. I did not feel the descriptions that were in the story were a benefit or added to the story. And the author has so many people in the book, that I had to keep backing up and finding who was being referred or where the person was first introduced. And sorry about the spoiler, but she marries a man who is still in love with his first deceased wife. She and the staff actually decorated a folly (that he built in her remembrance) to commemorate the anniversary of her death. I think that that action was taking it overboard. I understand if they discussed their previous loved ones who have passed, but to have a decorated memorial, it is like the man she loves actually still lives his first wife. It is not explained very well. I would not do that for my husbands first wife. I would visit the graveside with him, but not decorate a memorial on the anniversary of her death. I guess there is something wrong that I did not appreciate the book. But it was too many characters and the main characters did not grow or develop. There was too much time wasted on back ground characters and how their lives are going. I give it 3 stars. I don't recommend this for reading.

Dauntless Hearts is a wonderful story I greatly enjoyed reading! Kitty is a serious girl who must take care of her father, who has memory lapses often . She meets Joseph MacLaughlin, and the two fall in love. But when she meets his family, she begins to understand how they could never be together. His mother treats her terribly, and his brothers talk about her in awful and hurtful ways. Since he is Irish, she realizes he will be disliked everywhere in England, just as she will be disliked in Ireland for being English. Joseph decides he will go to Australia, but Kitty knows she could never leave her father. She meets Mr Blanchard, a widower still mourning the loss of his first wife. They become very good friends, and eventually, it develops into a deeper relationship. Great, clean story I loved reading! Highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley, author Lincoln Tuvelais, and Arborvale Book publishing for giving me an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
3 stars
This book was just an average read for me! I was not really invested in the characters nor their outcomes. I had a hard time believing the sincerity of Kitty's feelings for either of the male MCs. I had the feeling I was reading more of an historical fiction with some interwoven glimpses of two romance interests in the MC's life. There was a lot of tell not show of the events and actions of the characters especially in the time jumps that seemed to create a choppy flow of the story. Davey, the orphan boy, was a great character! The reader gets snips of him and his development and growth throughout the book. I liked how kind and caring Kitty was in taking him under her household in order to give him a safe place to live. The romance between Kitty and her "Irish Giant" seemed to have a lot going for it until she meets his family in Ireland. When it is shown his family will not accept the match, their romance seems to fizzle out. Kitty leaves with her family heartbroken, but willing to go on. She entertains more suitors, but never seems to settle on one in particular until she meets a widower that might or might not be over his first wife.
The author did a great job transporting the reader to the time period of the 1800s. Her descriptions of the society, transportation, political and social events, and fashion made the story enjoyable from the historical perspective. Kitty was written as a very out of time woman with all the different ways she tried to bend societal norms and her accomplishments at Dixon cottage. While I enjoy reading about strong women, I had a hard time believing Kitty would not be shunned by her family and community for some of her actions.