Treasure Hunting Tuesday...But It's Wednesday: A Review of A Rumored Fortune by Joanna Davidson Politano

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

It has been a hot minute since I’ve sat down and read a mystery. But I wasn’t in the mood for a thriller. No. I wanted something a bit more cozy, much more historical, and with a dash of romance.

Please welcome to the stage A Rumored Fortune by Joanna Davidson Politano!

As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site then you will know I simply love to spoil the entirety of books I read. This is your one and only warning. Now let’s get to the synopsis.

In the south of England lies Trevelyan Castle. Home to a beautiful vineyard and the Harlowe treasure. At the start of our story, Tressa Harlowe is returning home to Trevelyan Castle after receiving a summons from her father. Except her father wasn’t the one who sent the missive. It came from the castle’s servants as they have some bad news: Tressa’s father, Josiah Trevelyan, is dead.

A fortnight prior, Josiah took a boat out in the middle of the night and never returned. His wrecked boat was recovered the next day, but his body has yet to be found. Things go from bad to worse as with Josiah’s death, Tressa becomes the head of the household…with no money. Josiah Harlowe hid his fortune somewhere in Trevelyan Castle and told no one where it was; not even his daughter. Now she has debts to pay, workers on the verge of rioting, fortune hunters trying to steal her land and money, and distant family members claiming they are the true heirs. Josiah Harlowe did leave one thing behind for Tressa though.

That is Donegan Vance, the new vineyard manager. He’s a tad bit gruff, he definitely has a chip on his shoulder, and he drives Tressa crazy. I think we all know what’s going to happen here. Yeah, these two develop feelings for one another, and Donegan even offers to help Tressa find her family’s fortune. So can they do it? Can Tressa find the Harlowe fortune before everything is taken from her? And will Tress and Donegan live happily ever after? Find out in A Rumored Fortune.

The selling point of this novel isn’t the treasure hunt, it’s the romance between Tressa and Donegan. I am a sucker for a rivals to lovers/enemies to lovers romance. Tressa and Donegan aren’t enemies, nor are they really rivals, but they start off on the wrong foot. Their relationship has the same vibe as rivals or enemies to lovers and I’m obsessed. I love this couple. There’s a great push-pull dynamic between the two. The scenes where they’re together are the best of the book as far as I’m concerned. I found myself speed reading to get to moments where they interacted. The romance is the best part of the this book!

I wish I could say the same about the treasure hunt aspect. The search for the lost fortune is what initially drew me in. Tressa is very active in this search. She’s not just bumbling along and happens to stumble into it. We love an active protagonist in this household. That being said, parts of the treasure hunt come across as clunky. Parts of the hunt were not properly explained. Characters kept making vague comments regarding the location of the fortune. It doesn’t come across as mysterious, it comes across as the author not knowing the exact details of the mystery. So read this book for the romance, not the mystery.

Also read A Rumored Fortune for the beautiful imagery and metaphors. There is so much imagery surrounding the vineyard. It’s a reference to a Bible verse, and it works quite well in this story as the metaphors relate quite strongly to Tressa’s relationship with her father; more so than I believe they relate to the Bible.

Yeah this is also a Christian fiction book. I didn’t know that when I picked this book up at a thrift store, it just sounded like an interesting read to me. Now, I am an atheist so I have to be honest, most of the Christian aspects went over my head. Aside from at the end of the novel. Two-thirds of the way through A Rumored Fortune, the author gets really heavy-handed to the point where once a paragraph Joanna Davidson Politano writes something akin to “god is watching” or “god will provide.” Thank you, the subtext is as subtle as a howler monkey.

Overall, A Rumored Fortune is a decent read. The romance between Tressa and Donegan had me giggling and kicking my feet at times. Everything else was fine. I’m not mad at reading this book, but nothing particularly stood out to me. Personally I find this one to be mid. If A Rumored Fortune sounds interesting to you, then go ahead and give it a read.

With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. I will see you all again next week another new post. If you can’t wait that long to revel in literary goodness then I suggest giving Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books then you can check out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk about everything and anything. We have episodes on Disney, Scooby-Doo, Barbie, bad 90s wrestling, and so much more; there’s bound to be something that strikes your fancy. You can currently listen to Nothing to See Hear on Spotify and YouTube.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!