Love Practically
Release Date: March 1, 2022
About the Author: Nichole Van is an artist who feels life is too short to only have one obsession. In former lives, she has been a contemporary dancer, pianist, art historian, choreographer, culinary artist and English professor. Though Nichole still prefers the label ‘adaptable’ more than ‘A.D.D.’ Nichole is an acclaimed photographer, winning over thirty international accolades for her work. With an MA in English, she taught technical writing at Brigham Young University for ten years and has written more technical manuals than she can quickly count. She decided in late 2013 to start writing fiction and has loved exploring a new creative process. Nichole currently lives in Utah with her husband and three crazy children. Though continuing in her career as a photographer, Nichole is also now writing historical romance on the side.
MY REVIEW
The first book in The Penn-Leiths of Thistle Muir series, this is the story of Leah Penn-Leith who has been pining for Fox Carnegie ever since a chance encounter with him in her youth. The only trouble is…he can’t even remember who she is.
Leah, around forty years old now, has raised her younger brothers Malcolm and Ethan and devotes herself to those she loves. But when fortune brings Fox back to Scotland, he needs a wife to make his craggy castle comfortable. A local suggests the capable Leah, and Fox makes an offer to the woman. With both parties holding their own secrets close to the chest, they embark on a marriage of convenience.
Leah’s refusal to seek her own happiness and Fox’s predilection for whisky make a poor combination. Can Fox stop drowning his memories in drink long enough to see how unhappy he is truly making his wife? Will Leah settle for being treated like an unpaid housekeeper by her own husband?
This beautifully told story deals with the prickly and unpleasant parts of life. In the end, Leah and Fox come through the darkness and learn to “love practically” in all the best ways. Recommended.
“A wife? Have you not been hearing me, your lofty earlship? I need a competent nurse for Madeline, a cat tamer for that wretch over yon–” Fox jerked his chin toward Mr. Dandy, sitting on the window sill and staring at them as if plotting their demise. “–a fairy godmother to hire devoted servants, a clerk to balance my household accounts, and a bodyguard to ensure no one disturbs my peace.”
“So in other words,” Hadley lifted his glass, “a wife.”
Love Practically by Nichole Van
Romance with Humor and Heart 
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