Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl

Title: Keeping the Castle

Author: Patrice Kindl

Publisher: Viking Childrens Books

Publication Date: 14 June 2012

Rating: 4 Stars

Seventeen-year-old Althea is the sole support of her entire family, and she must marry well. But there are few wealthy suitors--or suitors of any kind--in their small Yorkshire town of Lesser Hoo. Then, the young and attractive (and very rich) Lord Boring arrives, and Althea sets her plans in motion. There's only one problem; his friend and business manager Mr. Fredericks keeps getting in the way. And, as it turns out, Fredericks has his own set of plans . . .-Summary from Goodreads

I read Keeping the Castle exactly when I needed it the most. It has been over a month since I read a book for fun, and even longer since I found a book that I loved reading. This book pulled me out of a reading slump with its light, fun, silly story. I didn’t realize when I first started it that it is historical fiction set in Regency era England. The last Regency book I read I had to throw put down after a chapter because the dialogue and ideas presented by the characters were so modern it wasn’t even worth it. I did not have that problem here. The dialogue didn’t call attention to itself and fit in well and the ideas on marriage and women fit the time period completely even when the character’s ideas evolved.

This is a story about a girl trying to capture a rich guy so she can save her family. She doesn’t try masking her intentions at all. Her family’s castle (belonging to her little brother), and everything inside of it, is literally falling apart. She needs to marry rich so she can afford repairs to it. Althea is often compared to a Jane Austen heroine but she isn’t a specific one. I can see traits from different characters at times but she remains very much her own character.

Now on to the romance. I can’t say I was the biggest fan of it, but I didn’t despise it either. They have plenty of good scenes together that make me like it, especially the last scene which was hilarious and stayed true to the characters. I thought the point where she realized she was in love with him was a bit too rushed and had little foundation, but you know what? I didn’t care. I just had so much fun with this book that it didn’t matter too much to me.

Keeping the Castle is the perfect book for a rainy day (literally or figuratively). If you are looking for a short, funny, cute, historical romance than this is the perfect book for you. 

-Christina