A Siege on Her Heart
Peter Ashmore and Ana María Bailon met in the midst of the British siege of San Sebastian during Napoleon’s Spanish campaign. Ana is an amateur translator for her Spanish officer father, and Peter is a British captain. They came together when Peter rescued Ana from the British pillaging and raping that followed the victory. Finding her pregnant from the actions of one of his countrymen, Peter takes Ana to England and marries her. Both are sure at first that’s all the relationship will be.
Unfortunately, due to the amount of “telling” and head hopping in the writing style, I couldn’t enjoy A Siege on Her Heart. I never got close to either Peter or Ana, even though (really, because) their emotions were spelled out on the page, and I was urged to be in both their minds almost simultaneously. From my background teaching ESL, I was skeptical of Ana’s language use. She sometimes sounded like a beginning English learner, and sometimes like an Englishwoman. Siege does well depicting the challenges of pregnancy in a way that fits the period, but it’s a hard reading experience. If you’re looking for a Regency romance, I recommend looking elsewhere.
