While I love the fact that this book is a clean read, I have mixed feelings about the ending of the book. I realize that this is book one of a series, but I felt that there were TOO MANY things left untied. All we really know is the choice her cousin made. We know (and understand the choice) that Gabriel McLeod made. It just seemed that everything was going well and then suddenly came to a dead-end right at the train station. Yes, I realize that more will be explained in book two, but I just felt that more could have been done to wrap up book one a little neater. Or at least provide a better set-up to dive into book two. ( )

I would like to thank Ramona Flightner for sending me an e-copy of Banished Love in exchange for an honest review.

Historical romance has always been my favourite genre and was particularly interested in this book as I knew it touched on the suffragette movement. It made a nice change from the usual historical romance books that I have read. I rarely write a blurb as to what a book is about, as one can easily read the author’s synopsis for themselves. This book hooked me soon after Clarissa bumped into the ladder in her uncle’s store.

I loved the cover of this book and this alone would have attracted my attention, had I not received this e-copy. ( )

Clarissa Sullivan has spent the past two years of her trying to forget an incident in her past. But with relatives who seem to blame her for what happened, it is definitely hard to just lock the horrid memory away. When she meets cabinetmaker Gabriel McLeod, however, it seems that maybe her dark cloud of a life has finally revealed its silver lining.

Immediately, or maybe a little after that, they hit things off, and they are both amazed by the love that is starting to unfurl between them. The only snag in their budding relationship are the rules of society. The rules that both of them have known about since they were born. According to those very rules, they do not belong together, and this fact will be pushed in their faces at every turn.

But can they overcome? Can they live a happy life together? Can they throw society's rules out the window?

I definitely hope so, because their love is pure and unprejudiced, and that is truly something special.

I absolutely am in love with this story and its characters. (Even the truly aggravating ones.) The many different things that Clarissa and Gabriel have to endure regarding their pasts and their backgrounds and their statuses in life will ultimately reveal how far their love is willing to go.

READ THIS!! It is completely worth it, and the cliffhanger at the end just makes you (or at least it did me) want to read the next book in the series.