Butterfly Palace

18128119

Butterfly Palace
Colleen Coble
Thomas Nelson

Lilly secures a job as lady's maid in a grand manor in Austin, Texas. But even far from home, her past lurks around every corner.

When Lilly Donnelly arrives at the Cutlers' famed Butterfly Mansion in 1899, the massive house and unfamiliar duties threaten to overwhelm her. Victorian Austin is lavish, highly political, and intimidating, but with the help of the other servants, Lilly resolves to prove herself to her new employers.

Then, while serving at an elegant dinner party, Lilly recognizes one distinguished guest as Andrew, the love of her life, who abandoned her without a word back home. He seems to have assumed a new identity and refuses to acknowledge her, leaving her confused and reeling.

Before Lilly can absorb this unwelcome news, she's attacked. Could it be the sinister Servant Girl Killer who has been terrorizing Austin? Or is it someone after something more personal--someone from her past?

Does she dare trust Andrew to help or is he part of the danger threatening to draw Lilly into its vortex?

Though I did find the mystery interesting and well-plotted - it took a variety of twists and turns that I honestly didn't see coming- there were a few things that did bother me. It was mostly the romance between Lilly and Drew; it is stated that in their past they did not keep their relationship pure, and although by the time they meet again both of them regret their past mistakes, there's still an awful lot of kissing involved. (The uncomfortable, mushy kind) I didn't find it difficult to skip those parts, and there was certainly more to the story than that. But still, it was a disappointment.

One of my favorite aspects of the book was Lilly's mistress, Belle, who starts out as an incredibly dislikable character...until later in the book when she begins to change. Normally characters like that don't change and are just the one-dimensional, spoiled and annoying rich girls who exist only to make life harder for the heroine, and though Belle started out that way, by the end of the book she was one of my favorite characters because she was interesting.

In the end, though I wasn't amazed with this book, and found some of the content that continued to pop up rather annoying, I do give it points for having a detailed mystery and few intriguing characters.

Rating: 6

I received this book for free from booksneeze.com in exchange for my honest review.

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