A Tree, A Book, and A Breeze

  Shadows of Swanford Abbey Julie Klassen Bethany House Publishers In pursuit of an author who could help get her brother published, Rebecca Lane stays at Swanford Abbey, a grand hotel rumored to be haunted. It is there she encounters Sir Frederick--the man who broke her heart. When a mysterious death occurs, Rebecca is one of the suspects, and Frederick is torn between his feelings for her and his search for the truth. I enjoyed this one just as much as I have Julie Klassen's other books. This one had a well-developed mystery that reminded me of Charles Dickens (which makes sense, since in the afterward she mentions one of his characters as a particular inspiration.) I especially enjoyed the setting and while this book was lighter on the romance than a lot of the author's other books, I really did love the characters together. In fact, this one had a pretty distinctive cast of characters altogether, and after watching Death on the Nile the other night, I couldn't hel...

  The Dishonorable Miss Delancey Carolyn Miller Kregel   Will a damaged reputation and desire for society's approval thwart the legacy of grace?   Tainted by scandal and forced to leave London for the quieter Brighton countryside, the Honorable Miss Clara DeLancey is a shadow of her former society self. She's lost the man she loved to another and, in a culture that has no patience for self-pity, is struggling with depression. A chance encounter brings her a healing friendship with the sisters of an injured naval captain. But Clara's society mama is appalled at the new company she's keeping.  Captain Benjamin Kemsley is not looking for a wife. But his gallant spirit won't let him ignore the penniless viscount's daughter--not when she so obviously needs assistance to keep moving forward from day to day. Can he protect his heart and still keep her safe?  When they're pushed into the highest echelons of society at the Prince Re...

An Inconvenient Beauty Kristi Ann Hunter Bethany House Publishers       I began reading Kristi Ann Hunter's Hawthorne House series when the first book came out, and I enjoyed it- I do like a good historical novel set in the Regency period, and while this series isn't written in true "Regency" style, it's lighthearted and fun, as well as often comedic.      However, the previous book in the series left me a little disappointed, and I'm afraid the same happened with An Inconvenient Beauty as well. I wasn't sure why the novel wasn't clicking with me, but by the end I think I had it narrowed down to that fact that the writing is a bit too repetitive and over-explanatory; it dragged the plot and the humor down.      There were some things I liked about the book, though: Isabella is a character who in any other romance novel might have been seen as the villain,  as she's beautiful and encourages multiple suitors that she n...

A Stranger at Fellsworth Sarah E. Ladd Thomas Nelson Could losing everything be the best thing to happen to Annabelle Thorley?  In the fallout of her deceased father’s financial ruin, Annabelle’s prospects are looking bleak. Her fiancé has called off their betrothal, and now she remains at the mercy of her controlling and often cruel brother. Annabelle soon faces the fact that her only hope for a better life is to do the unthinkable and run away to Fellsworth, the home of her long-estranged aunt and uncle, where a teaching position awaits her. Working for a wage for the first time in her life forces Annabelle to adapt to often unpleasant situations as friendships and roles she’s taken for granted are called into question.  Owen Locke is unswerving in his commitments. As a widower and father, he is fiercely protective of his only daughter. As an industrious gamekeeper, he is intent on keeping poachers at bay even though his ambition has always been to eventua...

An Elegant Façade Kristi Ann Hunter Bethany House Lady Georgina Hawthorne has worked tirelessly to seal her place as the Incomparable for her debut season. At her first London ball, she hopes to snag the attention of an earl.  With money and business connections, but without impeccable bloodlines, Colin McCrae is invited everywhere but accepted nowhere. When he first encounters the fashionable Lady Georgina, he's irritated by his attraction to a woman who concerns herself only with status and appearance.  What Colin doesn't know is that Georgina's desperate social aspirations are driven by the shameful secret she harbors. Association with Colin McCrae is not part of Georgina's plan, but as their paths continue to cross, they both must decide if the realization of their dreams is worth the sacrifices they must make.        I was wondering what I'd think about this book. I read A Noble Masquerade and enjoyed it, but I wasn't too s...

Dawn At Emberwilde Sarah Ladd Thomas Nelson Isabel Creston never dared to dream that love could be hers. Now, at the edge of a forest filled with dark secrets, she faces a fateful choice between love and duty. For as long as she can remember, beautiful and free-spirited Isabel has strained against the rules and rigidity of the Fellsworth School in the rolling English countryside. No longer a student, Isabel set her sights on a steady yet unexciting role as a teacher at the school, a safe yet stifling establishment that would provide her a steady environment to care for her younger sister Lizzie, who was left in her care after her father’s death. The unexpected arrival of a striking stranger with news of unknown relatives turns Isabel’s small, predictable world upside down, sweeping her and her young charge into a labyrinth of intrigue and hidden motives. At her new family’s invitation, Isabel and Lizzie relocate to Emberwilde, a sprawling estate adjacent to a vast,...

A Spy's Devotion Melanie Dickerson Waterfall Press In England’s Regency era, manners and elegance reign in public life—but behind closed doors treason and tawdriness thrive. Nicholas Langdon is no stranger to reserved civility or bloody barbarity. After suffering a battlefield injury, the wealthy, well-connected British officer returns home to heal—and to fulfill a dying soldier’s last wish by delivering his coded diary.      For a reader, it's always a little risky when an established author takes up a "new" genre. Known for her Christian fairy tale retellings, Melanie Dickerson's new book explores the Regency period, and I'm happy to state that she slides effortlessly into the period, crafting a book that I think I liked even more than some of her fairy tales.      While I confess Melanie Dickerson's writing style is not my favorite, I do love the way she weaves her stories- but even more than that, I'm always pleased by how noble h...