Review of A Rich Man's Prize

[Kennedy NC]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Rich Man's Prize" by Mike Hatfield.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Josie Miles is a young girl born in an upper-class family with wretched morals. Armstead Miles, head of the Miles family, is infamous for his horrible temper, madness, and his drunken habit. His sons, Hollins and Rowland, are no different from him. Both are infamous for their reputation of cruelty and shenanigans. Josie seems to be the odd one in the pack. Justice Davies is a boy who is picked off the streets from the cold hands of death and brought to work for Armstead Miles. A love story begins to bloom between Justice and Josie, one that must be hidden.

A Rich Man’s Prize is a coming-of-age romance novel written by Mike Hatfield that tells the love tale between Justice and Josie. Seemingly toyed by fate and engendering the hate of the Miles family, the love birds are soon separated from each other. Would they ever find their way back to each other? Or will the dubious plan which Armstead has crafted serve to separate the love birds forever? What does fate have in store for them? Find out by picking this enthralling piece of historical fiction.

The positive aspects of this novel are all too glaring. The story is set in the 19th-century Victorian era, an age where societal class mattered a lot. The author successfully portrayed this in his novel. The miles and Deborkas symbolize the upper echelons of society. Contrary to Hiram Deborka, Armstead and his sons regard others outside their class as dogs and treat them brutally without mercy or regard. Justice, belonging to the lower rungs of the society, suffered all sorts of beating and maltreatment at the hands of his masters. However, by some strange twist of fate, Justice becomes a part of the upper class—a different breed of the upper class with virtues and traits quite admirable.

Also, the language employed by the author further emphasized this class divide. The upper educated class speaks polished English while the lower class communicates in poor broken English. Justice once again serves as a bridge between these two. He learned to speak English properly even while he was still a servant. More so, Hollins and Rowlands are seen as sexists who believe that a woman has no place in society. Though a wrong belief, this was sadly the reality in the 19th century in England. The author significantly considered his setting in constructing his plot, themes, and characters.

In addition, this novel is not the usual cliché romance story of a rich girl loving a poor guy. The author embellished his story with some action here and there, adventures, unforeseen plot twists, and even mystical powers. It has an intricate plot with an unusual ending distinct from most romance stories. However, there are negative aspects to the novel that I must point out. There were a lot of errors in this book. This shows poor and unprofessional editing of the author’s work. Also, there were a lot of insults and abusive words. The author may have intended for it to show the personality of some of the characters, but it seemed excessive at some point.

Last but not least, the author did not resolve some issues that he raised in the novel. Particularly regarding Josie’s child, Armstead’s escape, and Hugo’s money unless this was intentional on the part of the author. Regardless of all these flaws, the novel is exciting, engaging, and spell-binding. As a result, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. It did not receive a perfect rating due to all the errors discovered. I recommend this novel to fans of thrilling romance novels with a tint of action.

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A Rich Man's Prize
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[Pauls_]

Wow, what an interesting book. The Miles are quite the family with their bad virtues. Poor Josie in stuck in the middle all that drama. I'm excited to find out what happened between Justice and Josie. Lovely review.

[Reading_Jack]

I love this book. It focuses on family and discusses issues such as class. Thanks for an interesting review.

[Nwankwo GC]

Lovers of romance fiction will enjoy this one. The love story of Justice and Josie sounds really interesting. Great review.

[Blessing Odii]

I can't wait to read about Justice and Josie's romance story. Good review.

[Aisha Yakub]

The storyline is intriguing, and it contains lots of plot twist. Great review.