It's not high brow literature but it's what a romance story should be in my book. Good narrative point of view that yes moves from hero to heroine but not in a jagged way. The secondary characters are all interesting and some of them get their own book later on. The relationship between the George and Beth is lovely. They are friends first and yes there is talk but not mushy talk, It has Austen vibe (it is set at the time Austen was publishing her books). The atmosphere is lovely. I liked it. Yes it's old fashioned in it's form but very effective and who says old fashioned equals dull not me. It's well written, not a masterpiece but the POV don't make you dizzy and the voices of the characters ring true from the leads to the secondary characters including a very smart set of servant that are not treated like afterthoughts. I was impressed. I didn't expect much from his author and found her really interesting. Will definitely read more of her.