A Lady of High Regard (Ladies of Liberty, Book 1) (Volume 1) Audio CD – CD, September 18, 2007

A fan of Tracie Peterson, and although I gave this 5 stars this book definitely in my opinion starts out slow. So slow in fact that I started it THREE times before I got into it ... but ONCE I did ... I LOVED IT! It is a book about a young woman from a wealth family who in the days that this is written about is given much freedom. She starts investigating the harm that has come to seaman's wives and of course, finds herself right in the mix of things. Add to this that she is sure she is the greatest matchmaker, she truly believes this is God's gift to her... and she believes that her next victim should be Garrett, her best friend. Of course in the midst of this whole mess she finds herself falling in love much to her shock and even her dismay with Garrett ... the book is heartwrenching when one realizes this type of bullying did and most likely even happens today in places, but of course in the book it all comes out wonderfully! I enjoyed this book about this strong young lady with her strong beliefs and this young man who really wanted to protect her even though she felt she DID NOT NEED TO BE PROTECTED! Just the first one of Three that needs to be read in my opinion!

A LADY OF HIGH REGARD is a good historical romance in that it delivers a love story set in an accurate historical setting. Mia, the heroine, is a beautiful, intelligent, headstrong women of 24 who believes she has a gift for matchmaking and sets out to find a match for her best friend, Garrett, and discovers she is in love with him herself. The hero, Garrett, is a handsome, caring, protective man of 32 who continually rescues Mia from the scrapes she gets into and discovers that the love he has for Mia has become loverly rather than brotherly. Mia stars out writing about women's topics like fashion and poetry but, when she learns of the horrible living conditions of the seamen's wives who actually live very close by, she sets out to improve their lives with complete disregard for her own safety. She foolishly and naively decides to tell the rent collector, Jasper Barrill, to his face that he must stop his harassment of the seamen's wives and makes herself the target of a powerful enemy.The book contains quite a lot of Christian sermonizing to the point of being preachy in places. I think that this book should have been classified as Christian literature rather than just historical romance because then I would have probably not have read it as I am not a Christian and I resent being preached at when I set out to enjoy a book.The story itself was well-written and well-edited with only a few mistakes that didn't interfere with the flow of the story. All the characters' personalities were well-developed and three-dimensional. The imagery was exceptionally good with vivid and realistic descriptions that really brought the story to life. Overall, I enjoyed reading this story and would recommend it to others with the qualification about the religious issue.

You can certainly get into a storyline with a sincere, gutsy young woman like Mia. You can get into the storyline even more when you approve of the causes she so adamantly believes in, helping those woman who so desperately need someone to fight for. She has a need as well to be a "matchmaker" of sorts, without thought to her own lack of a love interest.You have to be intrigued with the interest Garrett shows in his neighbor & best friend, yes you guessed it, Mia. He pulls her out of scrape after scrape, good neighbor & friend that he is.These two people keep you unable to put down the book, as they entertain you with their back & forth..Good neighbors..Good friends...more? They definitely give you a good read. Enjoy.

I enjoy Tracie's books because she leaves things for your anticipation. Some of the things you hope for to happen does but not at the timing one might expect. Tracie can keep you in suspense in her writings. In this book "A Lady in High Regard", you have a lady who is a part of the high class society but doesn't ignore what goes on and happens with the other society classes. She takes great pride in her family and the lives around her. She takes risks, she's respected and doesn't lose her ambition! I recommend anyone to give this book the time to read.