I received a free copy of Mist of Midnight for my honest review.
About the Book:
Publication Date: March 10, 2015
Howard Books
Formats: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 384
Series: Daughters of Hampshire
Genre: Historical/Christian/Romance
In the first of a brand-new series set in Victorian England, a young woman returns home from India after the death of her family to discover her identity and inheritance are challenged by the man who holds her future in his hands.
Rebecca Ravenshaw, daughter of missionaries, spent most of her life in India. Following the death of her family in the Indian Mutiny, Rebecca returns to claim her family estate in Hampshire, England. Upon her return, people are surprised to see her…and highly suspicious. Less than a year earlier, an imposter had arrived with an Indian servant and assumed not only Rebecca’s name, but her home and incomes.
That pretender died within months of her arrival; the servant fled to London as the young woman was hastily buried at midnight. The locals believe that perhaps she, Rebecca, is the real imposter. Her home and her father’s investments reverted to a distant relative, the darkly charming Captain Luke Whitfield, who quickly took over. Against her best intentions, Rebecca begins to fall in love with Luke, but she is forced to question his motives—does he love her or does he just want Headbourne House? If Luke is simply after the property, as everyone suspects, will she suffer a similar fate as the first “Rebecca”?
A captivating Gothic love story set against a backdrop of intrigue and danger, Mist of Midnight will leave you breathless.
About the Author:
After earning her first rejection at the age of thirteen, bestselling author Sandra Byrd has now published more than forty books. Her adult fiction debut, Let Them Eat Cake, was a Christy Award finalist, as was her first historical novel, To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn. To Die For was also named by Library Journal as a Best Books Pick for 2011 and The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Kateryn Parr, was named a Library Journal Best Books Pick for 2012. Roses Have Thorns: A Novel of Elizabeth I published in April, 2013.
Sandra has also published dozens of books for tweens and teens including the Secret Sisters Series, London Confidential Series and a devotional for tweens.
A former textbook acquisitions editor, Sandra has published many nonfiction articles and books. She is passionate about helping new writers develop their talent and their work toward traditional or self publication. As such, she has mentored and coached hundreds of new writers and continues to coach dozens to success each year.
Please visit www.sandrabyrd.com to learn more, or to invite Sandra to your bookclub via Skype. You can also connect with Sandra on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
My Opinion:
Every now and then I love a romance novel. But I don’t want the basic boy meets girl, boy hates girl, then boy decides girl is OK but girl doesn’t like boy, etc. You know the drill. I like my romance novels to have a little bit more to them. In the case of Mist at Midnight it’s mystery; Rebecca Ravenshaw returns from India after the uprising that killed her parents expecting to find comfort in her childhood home but what she finds is a new owner and distrust. It seems someone arrived before her claiming to be her and everyone loved that Rebecca Ravenshaw and now no one believes the real one. Rebecca 1 died under mysterious circumstances and Rebecca 2 wonders if a similar fate awaits her as the new owner of her house is most enamored of the manor.
Ms. Byrd has done a wonderful job of bringing Victorian England to life with all of the rules that young woman needed to follow to be considered ladies. She also brought the exotic flavor of India into the story with Rebecca’s parents’ back story as missionaries Rebecca was reared as a young English girl should be reared but it was done in India where the strictures were not as great so that when she returned to the country of her birth she was somewhat adrift when it came to living in that very structured society. This can be difficult to portray and can bog a story down but it did not here. Ms. Byrd wove Rebecca’s discomfort in very well and made her a character to root for.
I enjoyed the book. It was nice to read a lighter novel with charming leads and a bit of mystery yet still with a historical setting. All of the characters were well developed and there were plenty of twists and turns to keep me turning the pages. I’ll look forward to the future books in the series.
Rating:
4
Please follow Sandra Byrd on Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Instagram
Other Books by Sandra Byrd:
Roses Have Thorns
The Secret Keeper
To Die For
A Lady in Disguise
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