The Heart of a Vicar
Young love is all too
fleeting, as Harold Jonquil painfully discovered years ago when Sarah
Sarvol, the niece of a neighboring landowner, captured his heart. After
an idyllic few weeks in the throes of blossoming love, reality
intervened. They could have no future. Following their disastrous
parting, Harold attempted to push aside thoughts of love and regret, but
Sarah has never left his heart. Now, years later, he has achieved his
lifelong aspiration of becoming the local vicar. However, the role
proves more difficult than he imagined. He feels hollow and
uninspired—until the most important person in his past returns,
challenging him as no one ever has.
When Sarah’s ailing uncle
summons her back to the family estate in England, there is only one
person from her past she is reluctant to see again: Harold Jonquil, the
only man who has ever claimed her heart. But when she comes face-to-face
with her former beau, she hardly recognizes the aloof and dull man
before her. She is determined to help Harold rediscover the passion he
once felt toward his chosen profession. Soon, despite their exasperation
with each other, they cannot deny the stirring of feelings long
buried—but is it too late for second chances?
My Review: 8/10
I've been looking forward to "Holy Harry's" story for quite a while now. My favorite thing, as with all in this series, is the family dynamic. I loved the updates for some characters and regular commentary of others. Oh how I wish I belonged to a family like this one. Large and super close. Knowing that one piece of an amazing family felt like (and was treated like) a misfit was so sad, even if it was realistic. So I've been looking forward to uncover hidden depths and mending and strengthening relationships.
I liked his character development of Harry for the most part.
* SPOILERS *
My only real complaint is that things seemed unnecessarily difficult. Philip's explanations at the end seemed flimsy. No matter how much his brother irritated him, I would have thought he'd take his role as head of the family more seriously than to just assume his education at school had been sufficient. Never once in all of these years did he not drop in or check in on his brother? Not even through other people like the housekeeper? Why didn't Mater check in on her son or try to mend bridges sooner? And if Harry thought his economic education was lacking, why not reach out to ANY of his brothers, even casually ("asking for a friend... ;) " kind of thing), for a contact with a solicitor, estate manager, anything?
It just reminded me too much of The Big Misunderstanding plot point, that blows out of proportion while people continue not speaking about it, for no good reason.
And I was also sad that Sarah (nor anyone else) did not ever confront her uncle. I get that there would have been repercussions. And he likely would not have changed his mind. But there were growing repercussions anyway and he grew more and more unhinged. Never speaking up did him a disservice. He clearly had never healed and the wound of his daughter's death was left to fester and turn septic. Someone needed to tell him what they were all thinking: that Bridget left on her own and it was a good decision for her, regardless of how things turned out, that she had been so happy. That her death was no one's fault. That she loved her father, despite everything, and that the rest of his family loved him as well, even if they weren't on good terms, even if he couldn't or wouldn't forgive them or himself. That they were praying for him. It didn't have to be wrapped up in a tidy bow, but I felt a major opportunity was wasted here. And no matter what he had done, the concept just hanging around waiting for him to die so they didn't have to deal with him anymore was cold-hearted and mercenary.
*END SPOILERS *
These couple of things aside, I really did enjoy the story. Especially the resolution with some other key characters. I'm happy to imagine my Jonquils the way they were left in their world.
