My Review of Little Love Affair: A Clean Civil War Historical Romance (Southern Romance Series Book1) by Lexy Timms

I am constantly on the lookout for good Civil War era romance novels, so I was thrilled to see this one free on one of my many email lists.  The story sounds great; a young woman, Clara, is struggling to take care of her family farm, her younger sister, and her mother, when her father dies and her older brother goes off to join the Union Army.  When two Confederate soldiers show up on their farm, she is torn between trying to help them survive and following her convictions.  Since it is a romance novel, it isn't unexpected that she would develop feelings for one of them, which leads Clara to even more questions about whether to follow her heart or stay true to her country. Sounds pretty good doesn't it?
It was--until about halfway through. Then, things started to slow down, mysteries started to unravel, and reality started to let go.
First of all, this is advertised as a "clean" historical romance. It's not. The fact that it isn't doesn't really bother me, but I don't think it's very honest of the author to describe it as such when it's not, and I read a lot of reviews that weren't really happy with the deception.
Secondly, the way the characters react to the revelation of one of the minor characters is extremely unbelievable. I won't give this part of the story away, although it's pretty obvious just a few chapters in, but Clara doesn't stay true to her own characterization when she finds out the secret, and it made me lose some respect for her.
I found many of the characters to be rather flat, including Jasper, the lead. We don't know much about him. The younger sister is completely helpless until the very end, and the mom seems like she is in a trance most of the time.  The beau who is attempting to court Clara reminded me a bit of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.
I like my Civil War books a little more heavy on the battle action. This one had very little mention of warfare at all. As a matter of fact, the author could have written it only with the knowledge that the Battle of Gettysburg happened in Pennsylvania in 1863. There's no mention of battle tactics, any other engagements, or really even anything about weaponry, etc. This lack of information removed me from the era quite a bit.

Not a lot of fighting in this war book

Another missing aspect was discussion of what life was like at that time as far as dress, transportation, home life, etc.  It's like anything true to the period was glossed over or left out so that the author didn't have to do any research. I like my historical romance a little more historical.  Using current vernacular and phrases was also annoying. People really didn't start using "hello" as a greeting until the twentieth century, but these characters use it a lot. That's just one blaring example.
As the story was starting to wind down, I was aware that I was only at about 70% on my Kindle.  I kept trying to figure out how this story, which was clearly ending, was going to last another 20%. Well, it didn't.  It ended at 80%. The rest was filler material--ads, requests for reviews, and then a chapter from another book which I didn't read because I was too upset about the other one ending so abruptly.  Granted, this book was free, so I can't complain too much, but if I had paid for it and only gotten 80% of what I thought I had purchased, I wouldn't be too happy.
If you really like Civil War era reads and you can get this one for free, then I say go ahead and give it a try. It is not a cliffhanger, so you don't have to read the rest of the series to reach a good breaking point, which is something I really do appreciate. If you'd like to read my three star Amazon review, you can find it here. If you find it helpful, please vote "yes" so that other people will see my reviews. If you'd like to try Little Love Affair, you can find it here. The price is currently free.
**Edit:  My nine-year-old is a huge 101 Dalmatians fan, and I just realized after a conversation with her that the two Confederate soldiers have the same names as the bad guys in that movie--Jasper and Horace. Coincidence? Now I'm curious....
What is your favorite era for historical romance?