Samantha is the daughter of the late vicar and has managed to stay in the vicarage past when she would typically have to vacate for the next occupant. She is the village healer, and the people call on her at all hours whenever they need help. One night she was awakened by someone pounding on her door, but it wasn't a villager. Instead, it was a man who demanded the keys to the Aylebourough vault. Sam refused to hand them over to an unknown person, and the resulting confrontation was full of sparks.

Yale is the younger son of the late Duke and was disinherited by his father. Furious and determined to prove his father wrong, Yale spent the last eleven years building a successful business as a shipowner and trader. When he arrived back in England, ready to confront his father, he was devastated to hear that his father was dead. He refused to believe it until he saw the proof of his father's grave.

I loved the first meeting between Sam and Yale. Yale may be an impressive man, but Sam has the backbone to stand up to him. She did not give in easily to his demands and still managed to hold her own after she did. Things became even more complicated when he came down with influenza while staying at the inn. She ended up with Yale at the vicarage as she cared for him, after a very disturbing scene with the innkeeper and villagers. I didn't like the villagers then, and I liked them even less later. They are a selfish and hypocritical group. They continued their ways when, in a pretty funny scene, a disoriented and very naked Yale wandered into a room full of the women who had come to see Sam. I thought the speed with which they insisted on Yale marrying Sam was more for their own benefit than any real concern for her. Meanwhile, Yale, who had given a fake name, stepped up to do the right thing but did so still using the false name. He was quite willing to do whatever necessary to take care of her but planned to simply marry her, set her up with her own home, then leave England and not come back. His plans were upended by the unexpected arrival of his brother, who recognized Yale as the brother everyone thought had died at sea and exposed Yale's deception. The resulting remarriage scene was hilarious.

I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Yale and Sam. The sparks were there from the start. Yale was both intrigued and frustrated by Sam's innocence and stubbornness, and bowled over by the passion he discovered in her. Sam could see past the façade to the man who still carried the hurt of his father's rejection. What appeared to be a promising start to their relationship was derailed by his brother's arrival and subsequent attempts to keep Yale in England. I liked Sam's understanding of the conflicts between Yale and Wayland, and how she tried to make them both see the other's point of view, though she first fell victim to Wayland's persuasiveness. It didn't take long for her to realize the depth of her feelings for Yale, and the heartbreak of her future without him loomed large. I liked the advice she received that was pretty much of the "if you love something set it free" variety. Yale resisted his feelings for Sam, believing that he doesn't know what love is and therefore can't give it to her. His "aha" moment was quite lovely as he found that he didn't want to look at a future without her in it. When his business experienced a devastating blow, he discovered just how far her love and support went to enabling him to face rebuilding. I loved seeing her put her foot down about her part in it. The epilogue was great.

Yale's relationship with his brother was a difficult one. As the child of his father's second wife, Yale had never really felt part of the family. Those feelings were a large part of Yale's actions as a youth, which I thought were a cry for attention. Wayland had certainly never put any effort into getting to know his much younger brother. Wayland had been in training as the heir, while Yale was mostly ignored. By the time Yale returned, Wayland had been the duke for several years. I admit to not liking him very much, even by the end. Wayland seemed much more interested in keeping Yale in England than in Yale living his own life. I couldn't understand how he thought Yale would accept working for Wayland when he was a successful businessman on his own. Wayland's attempts to use Sam in his manipulations bugged me, too. Yale still carried a great deal of resentment over his treatment in the past, which affected his interactions with Wayland. It took Sam's efforts to show Yale the importance of having a family for him to finally let go of those feelings and see his family for what they were. There were some lighter scenes with Wayland, such as his interactions with his sons, that gave me hope for a better relationship between him and Yale. ( )

2.5 stars ( )

This book has an average rating of just over 4 stars on Goodreads, so I think I'm an outlier. While I thought the premise showed promise, it didn't deliver that well for me. Also, in the book, the hero shaves his head - look at that cover. Hair!!Sgt. Shane Garrison meets trauma nurse Jen St. James shortly before shipping out to Iraq. There is chemistry between them, which is a happy surprise for Jen as she is a breast cancer survivor and a mastectomy has left her feeling anything but sexy. Some 4 months later, Shane is injured and is shipped home where he meets up again with Jen, this time as his nurse. Shane doesn't cope with his injuries very well and Jen tries to help him come to grips with not being the "god" he believes he should be for the men under his command.I found the narrative a bit heavy handed and overdone at times, particularly in relation to the "hooah" of the military. In general, deployed soldiers do a great job in extremely difficult circumstances, but I don't need to be hit over the head with the rhetoric in a romance novel.There were also abrupt shifts in conversation or narrative which left me feeling disconnected. It felt to me like there were things missed out or skipped over. I had the impression the author knew those bits but for some reason, they didn't make it to the page, or at least the final edit.There were some aspects of the story I wanted more information/detail about and I felt their lack. For example, I never did get a full accounting of Shane's injuries. Mostly, they were alluded to and only some details were parsed out over the course of the story. Another one is a reference in the book to a "line-of-duty investigation and a Fifteen Six". The very brief explanation contained in the following sentence was not enough for me to understand what this was really about and it felt more like a nod to the author's military background/knowledge - because it wasn't properly explained for a lay person (ie, me) it pushed me out of the story. Other things were belaboured (Jen's worries about her mastectomy scar, Shane's guilt and responsibility for his men). It's not so much that they were present in the story that was my problem, it was more that the same issues kept getting repeated with no forward movement. It felt very repetitive.I also felt there was too much time spent on setting up Laura and Trent's story (which I think is the next one in the series). The book is only 231 pages. The sequel bait and the suspense subplot (which wasn't fully resolved and also had a cardboard villain) all took page time from the main romance - which was the story I wanted to read.I found myself a little frustrated by the end - there was a good story in there that I wanted to read but I felt too much got in the way. I can't say that I really believed the HEA between Jen and Shane - they didn't talk all that well together and Shane was significantly banged up for most of their "courtship" for me to feel truly comfortable that they really knew each other. I did feel like parts of the story had been left out.Still, there was enough in this, that I'm interested in seeing what the author does with book 2 in the series. ( )

Reviewed by Jen
book provided by Joan Schulhafer Publisher and Media Consulting

Considering I'm a huge historical romance fan, I found it very interesting that I've never read a Cathy Maxwell novel. Shocking, I know! So, when I was asked to review this re-release of Because of You, I was quite happy to accept.

So, what we have in this novel is the classic nobleman seemingly compromising a lady and having to enter a marriage of convenience. What made this story for me was the characters. I really enjoyed getting to know Yale and Samantha. Yale grew up as a son of a duke, but after being disinherited, he traveled the world and basically grew up. Samantha is a vicar's daughter and the person everyone in her small village turns to in their time of need. The sparks between Yale and Samantha jump off the page. And of course, they have to overcome numerous obstacles on their way to happily ever after. Add in a wide variety of supporting characters and you're in for a real treat.

I am glad I chose to read this book and I can honestly say this won't be my last Cathy Maxwell book. ( )

Samantha Northrup is the daughter of the old vicar, now deceased, and considered the town "spinster", unmarried at twenty-six. She's found herself at a crossroads in her life, and then enters Yale Carderock. Brash and handsome, the mysterious stranger finds himself directing the path that Samantha chooses, and her life is thrown into a tumult.

The characters were likable, and there was adequate character development. I was left with a good feel for each of them, and their actions and behavior felt appropriate to what I knew of their character.

The main issue I had with the book was that there were several moments that I felt were unrealistic, and it went beyond me simply being a little jaded when it comes to romance. The moments felt “cheesy” with romance, or seemed highly unlikely to have occurred as depicted in the culture and era as it was supposed to have occurred. But, all things considered, I still enjoyed the story. It touched me emotionally, as I “boo-hooed” countless times throughout the course of the story, and the characters were likable.

My other issue was that, although I don’t read much romance, when I do I like a more complex storyline. The romance novels that I’ve enjoyed most have included mysterious side stories with murders and kidnappings and love triangles. They have kept me guessing, with little surprises in the endings.This story was lacking that complexity. While I don’t remember ever actually being bored, I found the storyline to be predictable and mostly uneventful.

My final word: A simple story with light moments of wit, intermingled with heavy moments of emotion and romance, this was a comfortable “medium” romance. A great escape! ( )