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Vanessa Riley

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Unmasked Heart: A Regency Romance (Challenge of the Soul Book 2) Kindle Edition

by Vanessa Riley (Author), Kim Huther (Editor), Felicia Murrell (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition

498

Book 1 of 1: Challenge of the Soul

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"A Delightfully Different Regency Romance" say Readers of Catherine Cookson

Shy, nearsighted caregiver, Gaia Telfair always wondered why her father treated her a little differently than her siblings. She never guessed she couldn't claim his love because of a family secret, her illicit birth. With everything she knows to be true evaporating before her spectacles, can the mulatto passing for white survive being exposed and shunned by the powerful duke who has taken an interest in her?

Ex-warrior, William St. Landon, the Duke of Cheshire, will do anything to protect his mute daughter from his late wife's scandals. With a blackmailer at large, hiding in a small village near the cliffs of Devonshire seems the best option, particularly since he can gain help from the talented Miss Telfair, who has the ability to help children learn to speak. If only he could do a better job at shielding his heart from the young lady whose honest hazel eyes see through his jests as her tender lips challenge his desire to remain a single man.

Unmasked Heart is the first Challenge of the Soul Regency Romance novel.

Book 1 of 1

Challenge of the Soul
Print length

425 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

June 15, 2015
File size

3534 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

USA Today Review
Unmasked Heart by Vanessa Riley
Unmasked Heart, Challenge of the Soul book one, by Vanessa Riley is a Regency romance that boldly covers issues of slavery and features people of color and interracial love. All elements that garner my attention. There is obvious love for what Riley writes that is evident in the strong, but not annoyingly, vulnerable heroine and a single dad hero who is faced with real-world problems.
But at the end of the day, a memorable story must have more than lessons to be learned. Unmasked Heart has that certain charm and staying power to be well above just a satisfactory read. Well done.Unmasked Heart - Winner of the Award of Excellence, Best Inspirational Romance, Colorado Romance Writers; 2nd Place Winner of the Inspirational Category for the International Digital Awards

About the Author

Vanessa Riley worked as an engineer before allowing her passion for historical romance to shine. A Regency era (early 1800s) and Jane Austen enthusiast, she brings the flavor of diverse peoples to her stories. Since she was seventeen, Vanessa has won awards for her writing and is currently working on two series. The Bargain, is a Regency serialized novel set in London and the British Colony of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The Challenge of the Soul series features Regency characters who must overcome class and racial barriers to find self-worth and true love. Unmasked Heart is the first in this series. She is the author of stand alone Regency novels, Madeline's Protector and Swept Away. She lives in Atlanta with her military man hubby and precocious child. You can catch her writing from the comfort of her southern porch with a cup of Earl Grey tea. You can find her at VanessaRiley.com or facebook.com/ChristianRegency Sign up for her newsletter to get access to free stories, giveaways, and more at: VanessaRiley.com

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00WDR6C7S
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gallium Optronics, LLC (June 15, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 15, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3534 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 425 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #501,660 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #423 in Black & African American Christian Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #565 in Black & African American Christian Fiction (Books)
- #6,561 in Religious Romance (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
498

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Vanessa Riley

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Vanessa Riley writes Regency Romances and Historical Fiction of dazzling multi-culture communities with powerful persons of color. Vanessa writes for historical romance readers who admire and acquire books that showcase women who find joy in sweeping kisses and strong sisterhoods. Even in the darkness, she promises to give you laughs and to show you how light always prevails and how love always, always wins.

Vanessa juggles mothering a teen, cooking for her military-man husband, and speaking at women's and STEM events. She loves baking her Trinidadian grandma's cake recipes and collecting Irish crochet lace. She’s known for her sweeping romances and humorous delivery of poignant truths. You can catch her writing from the comfort of her southern porch with a cup of Earl Grey tea.

You can find her at:

www.vanessariley.com

https://www.facebook.com/VanessaRileyAuthor

http://www.twitter.com/VanessaRiley

https://www.youtube.com/regencymaid

https://www.instagram.com/vanessarileyauthor

Sign up for her newsletter to get access to free stories, giveaways, and more at:

www.VanessaRiley.com

Customer reviews

4 out of 5

498 global ratings

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PJMcGhee

Pain, grace, and redemption

Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

I purchased UNMASKED HEART on July 30, 2018. It was my first time hearing of or reading Vanessa Riley's work. I came across the novel while researching interracial romances. My full-time writing began in March 2018. I had no idea how to continue the novel that I began in 2015. All I knew to do was research and read. Wow. This novel hooked me and now I own all of the author's ebooks and audiobooks. This is a tale of grace and redemption; imperfection and healing; hopes, dreams, fears. Both Gaia and William have experienced deep pain. From chance meetings to deliberate interactions, the couple builds a relationship built on a unique friendship and William's need for Gaia's services. Gaia is timid but proud. Almost oxymoronic. She pleads, snipes, questions, and trusts as her brilliant character arc is captured from the beginning. William's character is multidimensional, but his tendency to joke to avoid painful topics could have evolved into his caring, trusting, vulnerable character earlier in the story. The secondary characters were great. Gaia and William come to understand that family and friends can be hurtful, cruel, and disloyal but as they grow individually and as a couple forgiveness, grace, and understanding lead them to a deepening love as their relationship grows and both find and express God's love in very different ways. The story's villain shows his/her true colors early on but drops out of sight after a desperate attempt to gain unrequited love. Left me wondering. The villain returns with a viciousness that the author hinted at early on. Family tensions. Jealousy. Love. Fear. The reader will enjoy the childrens' story. The small ones love deeply despite of and because of their challenges. Of course, they have no idea, nor should they, of how vulnerable they are. Oh how they grow. The author does a fantastic job of including disabilites as in many of her works. That is true diversity and many authors could learn much about imperfections from her novels. Because of this work, (which I have read three times) I came to know and love this brilliant author's work. She officially became my favorite author after reading THE DUKE, A LADY, AND THE BABY.

VANESSA RILEY CAN WRITE. REALLY WRITE.

2 people found this helpful

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BWH

Engaging from the start

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2016

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This story pulls toy in from the very first page. We meet Gaia as she is running off to search for her little brother. Shortly thereafter William comes to her aid and they are meet in similar 'damsel in distress' situations another couple of times and both are left with the knowledge that they enjoy each other's company very much.
However much intrigued by the other, William is far above Gaia's rank in life an more than she can expect in a match. Never mind that Gaia is long in love with a man that only sees her as a friend and has a father who seems to only be stingy with his love for her, his 2nd oldest daughter.
William is dealing with his own demons- a mute daughter and a wife that didn't seem to ever love him or their child. This was a sweet love story and an interesting period of history. I very much enjoyed this story.

2 people found this helpful

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Kookooleish

A solid effort:

Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2018

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I can honestly say that the story itself is sound, the topic timely and important, the voice is one that needs to be heard. That being said (and meant) I have to also say that the tale could have been written with more fluidity and decidedly fewer descriptives. People in this novel do not walk, stride or slink they plod and slog. Honestly I almost closed the book in the middle swearing that I would if the author used the word "plodded" even one more time, the word drains the characters of life and vitality. In the first half every noun in every sentence is attached to unnecessary descriptives proceeding it, the second half improves in this regard but the pattern is not broken and the plodding continues.
The topics addressed in the story are the important part and it was daring of the author to present them in a Regency setting when bigotry was so commonly accepted it wasn't even considered bigotry.
I was impressed with the way true Christian principles were incorporated into the story although it was just a little unrealistic. If more people calling themselves Christians interpreted the scriptures the way these characters do the world would indeed be a better place.
All in all if you can overlook the excessive use of descriptives and find the flow of the story there is a profound message inside.
A solid 3

Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2015

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This is a historical story with a strong Christian theme.

Gaia is a biracial woman living with her white family where she is treated differently by her "supposed father" who makes her feel less than at every turn. This secret will hamper her chances of marrying well.

William is from the gentry and is a widower with a daughter. He too has his secrets that he does not want anyone to know about and he is being blackmailed at the same time.

The story really took off for me when William and Gaia decide to get married. In the background is another suitor who wants Gaia's hand but has only woken up to his feelings for her because William has shown his interest in her. . There are times in the story when Gaia annoys me with her indecision regarding which man she wants to be with.But i loved how she finally choice who she wanted

There are lots of twists and turns in the story which keep you engaged. I enjoyed the read and it reminded me of stories like Pride and Prejudice.

An enjoyable read which I would recommend.And i cannot wait to read more of what happened to her father,how Mary fared and everything

3 people found this helpful

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Deb-57

An interesting and unusual romance.

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2018

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The plot was interesting and unusual. The author did a good job of describing the feelings when someone finds out that their identity is false. I loved how the stepmother was portrayed, and how Gaia realized that she was loved by her stepmother. The faith in God was written very nicely. That took me by surprise. In that time period, unfortunately, I think it was almost impossible for Gaia to marry a duke, and to find the acceptance that she did. But, I just set that aside and enjoyed the growing romance between Gaia and William. They were awfully nice characters! The children fit in the story perfectly.

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reader

Dislikable, self-centered, whiny heroine

Reviewed in Germany on January 18, 2018

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I had problems with this book, one of them the poor grammar, spelling, and misplaced words, the other the multitude of plotlines and many loose ends.

The plot was ridiculous, there was just too much going on: you have racism, adultery, abduction, two handicapped children, poisoning, blackmailing, slavery, assault, attempted murder....

I love novels set in Regency and have read a lot. But this author apparently had no knowledge of behaviour, speech, number of staff appropriate for a duke or a genteel household, clothing (a whiny heroine running around in slippers, in those times you wore boots and slippers only in a ballroom), a season for a 26 year old,....
The black relative of a king studying in a small village in Devon would have caused a sensation and have no chance for an affair least of all with the wife of someone who spends all of his time at home. Free black slaves in that time could not be enslaved in England, so a free black related to an African king coming as a visitor would have had servants and I doubt either an impoverished member of the gentry or a minister could have sold him.

I was completely done when I read in the last chapter: Shall we marry today? We will go to Scotland????? It would take them at least four days to go there, especially accompanied by a child.

The last 15% of the book are the first chapters of a sequel, once again with a mulatto hero.

Sorry, not my cup of tea, I like my books a little bit closer to reality.

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Gene

Altogether one of the most disappointing reads so far this year.

Reviewed in Australia on March 15, 2018

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Why doesn't Amazon allow minus stars. This book didn't deserve 1 star but that was the lowest offered. The whole book was a disgrace, so where do I start?
Well the main character, Gaia, is inconsistent wavering between such a loving, caring soul to a selfish, self-centred individual only interested in her own embarrassment at being of mixed blood. Mind you she is so light coloured no-one has picked up on the fact she is a mulatto in all of her 20 years! Half way through she decides her loving, patient and kind step mother isn't all that bad and the father she has tried to impress for the past 20 years is the tyrant. Her relationship with her elder sister goes up and down like a yoyo. Her emotions for her prospective husbands flare up and wane on every second page. Her obsession with looking after her little brother is thrown out the window when her father says she is to remain in the house as his governess/carer. Then she can't get away quick enough but when offered the opportunity to leave she takes offence at the idea of being a governess elsewhere; the whole time thinking no-one will ever want to marry her because she is of mixed blood.At the end of the book she exhibits no qualms about leaving the little brother behind!
The hero was a little better though how he could not have perceived who his wife's lover was is beyond me.
There is so much praying and scriptures being quoted it was like a week of bible study without any real emotion. The author just kept throwing them in willy nilly.
Now as to the author's writing........ why wasn't this book edited? No one could possibly have overlooked her use of 'plodded'. I would love to have been able to do a search on the number of times this word was used, and used inappropriately. Plodded means to walk doggedly and slowly with heavy steps but Ms Riley used it for every movement or ambulation anyone took. Even the horses were being ridden so hard in a race to stop an elopement that they 'plodded along side by side'; people plodded into rooms, around dance floors, up and down stairs, taking the air, you name it - plodding, according to Ms Riley is the only way to get around. Oh, unless you want to traipse (to move tiredly or reluctantly) when you want to rush into someone's arms. Maybe she just used a thesaurus to avoid saying 'walked'. There were major errors throughout the book that any decent proof reader or editor would have picked up but instead caused irritation and distractions to the flow of the story.
The story had the most unsatisfactory ending. One could almost believe Ms Riley either ran out of paper or was called to dinner. Nothing was resolved and no lose ends tied up.
Altogether one of the most disappointing reads so far this year.

Wendy C

A story of race, faith & love with a little mystery

Reviewed in Canada on August 17, 2016

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Wonderful story! I loved the historical aspect, as well as the heroine's racial background, particularly b/c I am also of mixed race heritage.
Great characters, particularly William and Gaiea, believable story, and interesting issues pertaining to race and faith, mixed with a bit of danger made this a hard book for me to put down! Wondering if there's ever going to be a sequel?!!

kalinanav

Great read.

Reviewed in Canada on January 27, 2018

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed reading this. Interesting concept. Kind of wish they just opened up to each other. That would’ve solved soooo many issues but it kept me intrigued and reading to the end. Also, was nice to see an author keep a romance novel pretty clean!

Wildfly56

Interesting read with some reader for other stories

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 18, 2022

Verified Purchase

A touching romance, with the added twist of mixed blood and conflicts this brings to relationships. It is a gentle romance and makes a pleasant read

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Unmasked Heart: A Regency Romance (Challenge of the Soul Book 2) Kindle Edition

"A Delightfully Different Regency Romance" say Readers of Catherine Cookson

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About the Author

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Vanessa Riley

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