Blackmoore

I didn't like Julianne Donaldson's "Blackmoore" as much as "Edenbrooke", but it ended up being better than I thought it would be at first. It wasn't as straight forward a Regency Romance as "Edenbrooke" was, there were some Gothic elements, too.
Kate has always longed to visit Blackmoore, her friend Henry's (well, once he inherits it from his dying grandfather) country estate. Henry and his sister, Sylvia, go for a month every summer, but Kate has never been allowed to go. Her mother and Henry's mother despise each other, despite their children being good friends. But Henry is of age now, and he invites Kate to come and visit Blackmoore. Kate's mother, who is a truly despicable creature, refuses to allow Kate to go unless they strike a bargain: Kate must receive and turn down three proposals of marriage, and if she does, she'll be allowed to travel to India with her aunt. If she doesn't, however, she must do exactly as her mother says. Kate quickly agrees to the bargain. There are a lot of secrets going on, and once they finally got teased out of Kate (slowly, tortuously) the book got better.