Book Review: Victoria: The Romantic Heart by Linda Sunshine

Many years ago, I decided to buy books I used to want as a girl but couldn’t buy because… well… I was a girl! For the most part, these books are ones that contained many pictures or were easy to read, yet they were pretty or caught my eye. One of the books was The Romantic Heart.

The Romantic Heart is by Linda Sunshine, who is the editor of the book. It is part of Victoria Magazine’s book series. Victoria Magazine, also known as Victoria Bliss, is a magazine that focuses on romantic and vintage topics, themes, and items. In the 1990’s, Victoria Magazine began to publish books that follow the same themes the magazine covers. The Romantic Heart, which was published in 1995 by The Hearst Corporation, is one of these books.

I purchased my copy of The Romantic Heart in 2025 second hand. After owning it for a year, I decided to write a review about this book, which I wanted to own since I was a little girl.

The book is a hardcover book that also has a slipcover on it. The slipcover looks like this…

The back of the book has an image of roses painted on canvas. (Probably an oil painting?) I don’t have a photograph of it, but the painting looks like these roses, which are found on the front and back of the book…

The book itself is hardcover. I also think it is a very sturdy book.

The front and end pages look like this…

The title page looks like this…

And the copyright page looks like this…

As for the rest of the book, it is full of beautiful and romantic photographs, paintings, and other works of art. Beside these images are quotes, experts of books and plays, and letters that invoke the romantic spirit.

This is what some of the pages look like…

 

And finally, this is what the slip cover looks like beside the opened book…

I took this photograph so I can use it as the featured image for this post, but I wanted to add it to the post again!

So, after wanting this book for many years, what do I think of it?

Well, I love it! It isn’t exactly what I expected to be when I was a girl, but then again, nothing usually is. Yet, it is still a beautiful book. It is meant to be read and inspire romance. Now-en days, people may think I’m talking about something smutty. Actually, I’m not. It is meant to be a book that inspires the warmth, comfort, peace, and confidence that love can instill in a person. It isn’t about anything physical. Just the feelings of a love that will last and not fail.

Even though I wanted this book as a girl, but didn’t have my own copy until 2025, 30 years after it was published, I read it in my late teens and early twenties in college. It wasn’t want I expected it to be like as a girl, but I needed to read it. (I was having problems with guys back then and I became extremely cynical of love) Reading it over ten years later, it not only brought back all the reasons why I needed to read it back then, I also needed to ready it today.

To me and others I know that have read this book find it very inspirational. It is perfect for a romantic looking for hope but can’t find it anywhere in their own lives.

Aside from the feelings and emotional attachment I have to this book, I also love the fact this book is so well done. The binding is really good and the quality of the materials used to create it is really good. The slip cover is really nice, but it is not as thick as other books with slip covers I own. (Specifically the Twilight Deluxe Limited Edition, which you can see here) Yet it still a good quality slip cover. (Someone clearly took care of their copy of the book before I purchased it second hand) The pages are really nice, glossy, and thick. The images are clear and not blurry. The writing in the book is well laid out and any sort of graphics used to frame them is perfect for the page, the images, writing and it’s context, and the overall theme of the book. The writing that was chosen for the book contains only direct quotes and excerpts of romantic writings, but is heartwarming, touching, and moving to read. The pacing of the writing and when it shows up in the book is really well done and all images that accompany the writing is well chosen. Also, there isn’t anything dirty in the book. Just clean romance, like the kind found in classic romance novels (Think Jane Austen) or in the Victoria Magazine.

I don’t think this book is for everyone, but it is perfect to read for Valentine’s Day or any other time of the year when someone needs a reminder of the kind of romance this book focuses on. It is also perfect for vintage fans, fans of shabby chic aesthetics, (And any current, modern day variation of shabby chic) and anyone who loves romance in general.

 

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading!