On May 6 and 7 I am pleased to share Book 1 and Book 2 of The Shadows of Rosthwaite by Colleen Kelly Eiding. I thank Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for sending the books at no charge for my honest reviews. Today I feature Favoured by Fortune, tomorrow Face of Fortune.
About Favoured by Fortune:
Publication Date: August 1, 2019
Phase Publishing
Paperback & eBook; 342 Pages
Series: The Shadows of Rosthwaite, Book One
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance
In a time of war and upheaval in England, their forbidden passion binds them together against all odds. Charlotte Pruitt throws off the norms of Georgian society and discovers her sensual power in the arms of a soldier named James Clarke, whom she has adored from the moment her eyes fell upon him.
He must be, she says, the most favoured by fortune of any gentleman I have yet beheld. This troubled, passionate war hero offers her a world of awakened senses and intimacy beyond anything she’s ever imagined in the embrace of her husband, Audley. However, after Audley’s murder, James’s dreadful madness and a stranger’s horrific revenge their fragile world is being threatened. The harrowed couple vow to face these challenges together, but all too soon, Charlotte finds she must summon all her inner strength to fight alone to save her lover and their bastard son.
From the mist-bound northern mountains of England, to sunlit Venice and the flower-scented shores of Lake Como, this epic tale of illicit love and its consequences reaches across gothic Europe, and all the expanse of the human heart.
About the Author:
Colleen Kelly-Eiding is a member of the Screen Actors’ Guild-American Federation of TV and Radio Artists, and Actors’ Equity. Her husband is an actor, as are their two adult daughters. Theatre, acting and above all, storytelling, are part of her family’s DNA.
Colleen, was in the first class of women at Kenyon College in Ohio when the school went co-ed. She also studied drama and political science at the University of Manchester in England. She later received an MFA in acting from the University of Minnesota. She has been an actor, director, casting assistant, 3rd grade teacher, and audiometrist.
Favoured by Fortune and Face of Fortune have been occupying Colleen’s imagination for a quite a long time. After both daughters graduated college, she and husband Paul became empty nesters. The time seemed right for Colleen to bring young Ms. Pruitt, our heroine, to life and let Charlotte tell her story.
During her time in Manchester, Colleen fell in love with the country. When she returned to England to do research for her series, she was beyond elated. She interviewed a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, spent time researching indictment records from the 1760‘s at the Guild Hall in London, and walked the route that the carts of the condemned travelled from Newgate Prison to the Tyburn Tree. Visiting the tiny village of Rosthwaite, located in the beautiful Borrowdale Valley in the Lake District, where much of the action takes place, helped give context and inspiration to Colleen.
Colleen continues to act for stage and film. She studies sculpting and ceramics. And enjoys traveling to Comic Cons around the world, where her husband is a frequent guest.
Her series of historical novels is titled The Shadows of Rosthwaite. Watch for the second book in the series, Face of Fortune, set for release February 1, 2020. Published by Phase Publishing, LLC.
My Opinion:
Charlotte spies a man walking down the street while on vacation with her family and she falls instantly in love. Problem is – she has no idea who he is, how to find him or if he is suitable for her. Her parents want her to marry her father’s business partner but she feels nothing for him. What follows is a tale of intrigue, passion, and forbidden love.
Charlotte is a well drawn character, determined to live her life and find her happiness. She is often thwarted by the mores of the times and the men in her life. Her soulmate, James is a very complicated character and while he loves Charlotte he has not come away from the war with his sanity intact.
As these two try to navigate a way towards each other there are others that would pull them apart. The question is whether these two will ever be together in a peaceful, happy relationship. There are I believe three books in the series so there will be a lot of fast paced reading to find out!
I did enjoy the book and looked forward to the second volume. These two do not live boring lives by any stretch.
Rating:
4
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