"A Lady of High Regard" by Tracie Peterson

Book Description:

Born into affluence, Mia Stanley is a winsome socialite with a knack for matchmaking. She's also a writer for Godey's Lady's Book magazine, much to the dismay of her family -- and their society friends. A proper young lady of social standing isn't meant to labor in such a way, but Mia's always had a way with words...

When her writing draws her into the world of downtrodden seamen's wives on Philadelphia's docks, Mia uncovers an alarming scheme that puts her in harm's way. But her heart ends up on the line as well...

Has her determination to always make a match driven away the one man whose esteem she covets?

Review:
It is quite evident throughout "A Lady of High Regard" that Tracie Peterson is one for her research. There is nothing worse than a piece of historical fiction that has historical inaccuracies. The story is well written and I truly felt that I was in mid-nineteenth century Philadelphia.
"A Lady of High Regard" is the first in a series called "Ladies of Liberty", which are all about well-bred, high society young women.

Mia Stanley is the oldest of three daughters and the only one that still remains unmarried. She spends her time writing for a women's magazine and playing match-maker for all of her friends. The story follows her to the dock's of the city where the poor seamen's wives are being taking advantage of by debt collectors for debts left by their absent or deceased husbands. Along the way, Mia discovers that these debts are false and these women are being wrongly taken advantage of. Mia then falls into danger once she confronts the debt collector who has been responsible for these crimes.
Along the way, Mia falls in love and we watch as she deals with this new feeling.

There were some things about this book that I liked and some that I wasn't too fond of.
I quite liked the pace of the novel. It moved along quickly and, while detailed, it didn't bog you down or focus too much on it. It was an easy read that I was able to lose myself in for hours. It was also quite entertaining to know what was really going on while the characters did not and you watched as they became frustrated and jumped to the wrong conclusions before getting all the answers. In that aspect, the characters seemed very real.
That brings me to the stuff that I wasn't a fan of. I really didn't like how none of the characters seemed to have any faults. If they were the ones you were supposed to like, they had only likable qualities. And the ones you weren't supposed to like (which was only one), didn't have any likable qualities. It was hard to find the characters realistic when they never had any faults.
Some aspects of the plot also didn't jive with me very well. One thing that bothered me but I was able to get over was how you knew exactly who Mia would end up falling in love with from the moment he was introduced into the story. And he's introduced very early on in the book too. Overlooking that though, there comes by biggest problem with the plot - and my biggest problem with the book - and that is the ending. The way it ends is that everything is resolved it seems like all the loose ends are being tied up (even though you can tell by the amount of pages left that it definitely isn't over) and then BAM! Something drastic happens. Now, the drastic event is what I was hoping would happen else I would have been very VERY disapointed in the end of the book, but the way it was done it seemed out of sync and very forced. To myself, the end of the book is what makes the book. If they end isn't done well, no matter how well the book it's self was, it's always overshadowed by a not so great ending.
Now, that being said, it was still a great book. Would I read it again? Probably not. Would I read another of Tracie Peterson's novels? I'm still undecided on that matter.
If you are someone who is into historical fiction with a bit of mystery, then I would recommend giving this book a try. Just a word of advice though, if you are a hardcore atheist or hate feeling like you are being preached to, you may want to skip this novel. No where on the book does it state is Christian fiction, but believe me, it is. I'm alright with reading about Christianity and talking about, but there were some points where I felt uncomfortable reading this book just due to how much was actually involved in it. But, if you are someone like myself who can overlook religious beliefs for a good book, then please, check this one out, especially if you need some form of escapism for a few hours.

Question to the readers:
Have you read "A Lady of High Regard" or any of Tracie Peterson's other books? What did you think about them?