Lindsay Below Blog Tour for This Blackened Night

25 Days until the release of This Blackened Night, The Order: Book 3!

Every author has a set of characters more dear to their hearts than any others. In most cases, this stems from these characters being among the first ever created. I won't claim Lori and Terrence were my very first, but they did come close. Their first book, Stalking Shade, which released in 2011, was originally written in 2007. And rewritten. And rewritten.

And now it feels like a dear friend is moving away. With the release of This Blackened Night on September 24th, 2012, the trilogy will come to an end. Lori might be a prickly character, not easy for anyone but Terrence to love, but I had a lot of fun with her. When I wrote this third book late last year, I dragged my feet to see it finished for the same reason. I didn't want to let the pair of them go. A not-so-secret part of me is hoping for an overwhelming response from readers asking me to continue so I have an excuse to revisit my favorite characters.

For now, I'm counting down the days until the third book releases. Maybe you'll fall in love with Lori and Terrence every bit as fiercely as I have. Lori might be stubborn in pushing people away, but Terrence is the most persistent character I've ever written. Good thing, too.

Join me in celebrating the release of the third book a bit early with this short, sweet teaser excerpt:

This Blackened Night by L.K. Below

With murders cropping up all around, who should she trust?

After months of searching, Lori finally scrounges up a clue as to the whereabouts of the missing leader of her secret organization. But her vision isn't encouraging--it points to her vampire companion Terrence as the culprit.

Terrence is adamant that he isn't at fault. Even though she knows she might be walking into a trap, she follows his lead to a shabby island port. When her informants start turning up dead with puncture wounds in their necks, Lori wonders just how well she knows Terrence. And why does he act different during the search than in their hotel room?

Lori doesn't know who to trust anymore. She only hopes that she won't be the next victim.

Six Sweet Sentences from the book:

He stared in her direction. Had he seen her following? Another, more cautious peek showed him continuing down the street. She clung to the shadows and followed.

He moved into an unlit alley. If she didn’t hurry, she would lose him.

Learn more about the series as a whole on the Lyrical Press, Inc. website: http://bit.ly/TheOrderSeries.

Read a longer excerpt from This Blackened Night at http://bit.ly/ThisBlackenedNight.

Bio:

If L.K. Below gets far too attached to her characters, well, that's because they're interesting people. Read two of her favorites in her urban fantasy series, The Order. Join her online at www.lbelow.net to learn more. Want to keep up to date with her tour stops?

Follow her on Twitter (http://twitter.com/LBelowtheauthor) or Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/LK-BelowLindsay-Below/355586159614)

Book Review: Amy Red Riding's Hood

Amy 'Red' Riding's Hood
by Liz Adams
Adult Fairy Tale/Erotica/Short Novella
Barany Publishing
Available for Kindle
Review copy supplied by author.

4 Stars

Now, first off, I don't normally go for shifter stories and I've avoided M/F erotica for a while as a lot of it just seemed to be thinly disguised porn. So, why might you ask, did I read Amy's 'Red' Riding's Hood? Well, I do have a soft spot for fairy tale retellings, especially adult retellings. After all, fairy tales were originally written for adults, not children.

And I have to say with Amy's 'Red' Riding's Hood, I was pleasantly surprised. Amy Riding, our heroine, is fed up with being a virgin and after a disaster with the blacksmith's son, who failed to rid her of it, she sets her sights on Sean, her childhood friend who also happens to be a Lycan. Sean is the epitome of the Alpha male and very hot to boot. Amy is not some trembling wallflower, though, far from it. She knows what she wants and goes right after it.

But there is a lot of prejudice against Lycans and humans getting together, so if they want to be together, they will need to fight for it.

The story is well-paced and the characters have depth you don't expect to find in such a short story. Even the side characters are well-drawn, Amy's parents and her aunt mostly. Most of the time the writing gives a very old-fashioned fairy tale flavour, but there were some words that jarred me out of it a bit, such as using OK. I also didn't like the use of the word (children close your eyes here!) 'pussy'. I just kept thinking of a cat when it appeared. Not what you need in a love scene. The love scenes are erotic and fit in with the characters, with emotional depth, not just physical reactions. Bodice-ripping could have been invented for this book.

Sean and Amy were distinct characters in their own right, not just a male and female body who have sex. I was glad we got to see some parts from Sean's point of view as well as Amy's, which gave the story a more rounded feel. There's even a bit of humour laced throughout the story too.

If you're looking for a romantic, erotic story without too much angst, then try this one. I'm glad I did. You'll be rooting for Amy and Sean.

Reviewed by Annette Gisby

Book Review: Altar of Bones by Philip Carter

Altar of Bones
by Philip Carter
Thriller/Conspiracy
Simon and Schuster
Reviewer's Purchased copy

4 stars

Blurb:

"They didn't have to kill him . . . he never drank from the altar of bones."

In San Francisco, a homeless woman is fatally stabbed by an assailant she's been expecting for years—and her cryptic last words unlock a decades-buried secret that changed history.

In Galveston, an old man makes a chilling death-bed confession—"I am not who you think I am"—that serves as a warning to his sons of danger and deception.

In Massachusetts, a cold-blooded female assassin makes an insidious pact with a corporate billionaire over a highly incriminating film.

Each of these people has ties with a woman who, decades ago, fled a Soviet prison camp with an ancient knowledge people would sell their souls to possess

Drawn in to this web of danger are Ry O'Malley, a man desperate to outrun his own deadly fate; and Zoe Dmitroff, a San Francisco attorney who recognizes the slain homeless woman—a woman she was told had died nearly half a century ago. No one can be trusted in the corrosive game of cat-and-mouse that ensues—one that spans a century, from the frozen Siberian terrain to the serpentine streets of Paris, from the shocking revelations of a doomed Hollywood legend to the deadly machinations of the KGB and the highest office of the United States . . . and ultimately to the guardians of an ancient religious icon ...

A priceless artifact worth killing for. The dark and unimaginable promise of a power that could change the world as we know it.

Review:

This was on roller-coaster of a book. The term page-turner hardly does it justice. I was hooked from the first page and just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. Some if it I had guessed, which disappointed me a bit, I would have preferred it if the 'big kill' referred to in the book had been a not so famous kill already.

Nevertheless, the writing flows so well you just want to keep reading. It's a different sort of conspiracy, in that the reader knows quite early on what the altar of bones is and what it can dd. Maybe more mystery as to what it was would have been better because I, as a reader, prefer to discover things at the same time as the characters, rather than earlier than them.

Parts of it read like an action movie, but there is more depth in these 600 odd pages than a lot of films.

The characters were spot on, I adored Zoe and Ry, although I did feel the romance between them felt a bit forced. Just because we have a man and a woman forced together by circumstances as they evade the bad guys and find out the secrets of the altar of bones, doesn't mean they have to become romantically involved. It's not a rule or anything. Women will still read books even if there is no romance in it. Really.

Reviewed by Annette Gisby

Book Review: Brook Street: Thief by Ava March

Brook Street: Thief
by Ava March
Part of the Brook Street Trilogy
M/M Romance, erotic, novella, historical
Carina Press
Review copy courtesy of the publisher, via Netgalley.
4 Stars


Blurb:
London, 1822

It was only supposed to be one night. One night to determine once and for all if he truly preferred men. But the last thing Lord Benjamin Parker expected to find in a questionable gambling hall in Cheapside is a gorgeous young man who steals his heart.

It was only supposed to be a job. Cavin Fox has done it many times—select a prime mark, distract him with lust, and leave his pockets empty. Yet when Cavin slips away under the cover of darkness, the only part of Benjamin he leaves untouched is his pockets.

With a taste of his fantasies fulfilled, Benjamin wants more than one night with Cavin. But convincing the elusive young man to give them a chance proves difficult. Cavin lives with a band of thieves in the worst area of London, and he knows there's no place for him in a gentleman's life. Yet Benjamin isn't about to let Cavin—and love—continue to slip away from him.

Review:

Now, I'm not normally one who likes books where the two main characters jump into bed with each other before they get to know each other a bit. But with Brook Street: Thief, for these two characters, it just works. Lord Benjamin Parker has been wondering for a while if he prefers men over women and seeks out a gambling house of a certain reputation to discover the truth about himself. Cavin Fox seeks out men of a certain persuasion and then robs them once they're asleep. He works for a man called Hale, and previously he had pimped Cavin out and got his money that way, but Cavin never liked it. It was his idea to instead pick out the gentlemen he wants to sleep with and rob them instead of whoring. Hale doesn't care either way as long as he gets his money.

The sparks fly between Benjamin and Cavin as soon as they meet and you just know that before the end of the night, these two are going to get together. It was Benjamin's first time with a man, but he wasn't a shy blushing, virgin, he knew what he wanted and went right after it. The love scenes are very erotic, well-written with a focus on the emotions the characters are feeling as well as they physical aspects and each one added something different to the story. They flowed with the narrative, rather than the author just decided "we need a love scene here".

I adored Benjamin and Cavin and I was rooting for them to get their happy ever after, even though it probably wasn't true to life in that respect. Would a thief and a gentlemen ever stay together? More could have been made of their different backgrounds and how they overcome them. And of course not to mention the fact that homosexuality was illegal then. But it's a book, and I could suspend my disbelief for that. After all, I was reading a romance, not historical fact.

Ava March is rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors. Reading her books, you can imagine you are in the gambling dens, rich town houses, or in the stews of Regency London without the book turning into a history lesson. Although is a novella, it's a satisfying read and doesn't leave lots of loose threads dangling.

I loved the book and I would have given it 5 stars except there were a few quibbles which took me out of the story. It's set in Regency London, Benjamin was English so there is no way he would have thought to himself that he was "blocks from home". It should have been roads or streets away. We don't have blocks, most cities and towns aren't on a grid system, but sprawl all over the place. Then, there is mention of a marquis, the correct term would be marquess (the male title) and his wife would be a marchioness. Debretts online guide is helpful for that sort of thing.

But all in all a very enjoyable tale, well-told with characters you care about and want to see happy. If you want, hot Regency stories with spicy M/M romance, Ava March should be on your list.

Reviewed by Annette Gisby

Book Review: The Seventh Veil by Heidi Cullinan

The Seventh Veil
by Heidi Cullinan
Loose-Id
Fantasy, M/M, M/F, Romance, Erotic
Reviewer's Purchased Copy

4 Stars

Blurb:

As a bisexual bastard born to a country stuck in antiquated mores and ideals, Charles Perry had learned long ago to set his sights low: all he wants is a drink, a dram, and a whore of each gender to share them with. But strange visions haunt his dreams, and now the ghosts are following him into his waking hours. Charles must seek help from an alchemist or risk running mad. Charles’s House blood makes him a high prize in magical circles, so he’ll have to be careful.

But what the alchemist discovers in Charles's blood turns the whole world on its head. And in the arms of an exotic male pleasure slave, Charles will discover a destiny so huge it doesn't seem possible, but it's true. Charles Perry, noble bastard, is the lost consort of the Goddess of All Creation. And as the forces of darkness converge on him, Charles must learn to channel his power to save the world--or risk becoming the pawn that destroys it.

Review:

When a book's first scene takes place in a brothel, you know this is going to be interesting.

I really, really enjoyed this book. The prose was well-written, the characters were well-drawn and the world building was extensive. We have magic, alchemists, witches, gods and goddesses, demons and daemons, family secrets and betrayals. The love scenes were erotic without resorting to cheesy porno dialogue, which some books I've read have done.

So why only four stars?

Take a look at the cover, this book is obviously being marketed as M/M, isn't it? And yes, we do have an M/M couple, Charles, the bastard son of the noble Perry and Whitby families and the pleasure slave, Timothy. But here's the rub, the book is not focused on them and in fact the first love scene in the book (not counting Charles' time at the brothel) is between Jonathan, Charles' half-brother, and Madeline, an apprentice witch.

There are so many characters that I found it hard to keep track of who was who and once when the author mentioned Emily, I thought, is that a typo? Did the author mean Madeline? No, it was me who'd forgotten all about Emily, Madeline's sister. And now we have another couple's thread to keep track of, Emily and another one of Charles' half-brothers, Stephen (and I had to skim back through the book to remember his name, see what I mean about too many characters?)

From the blurb, this book sounded like it was going to be about Charles and Timothy and that's what I wanted. I was disappointed we got to see so little of them.

It's not that I don't like M/F romances, I do, I read and enjoy them too, but I was expecting this book to be an M/M romance and I was disappointed that it's not. To me, it reads more like traditional fantasy with romantic elements and we just happen to have some gay characters in it. Not what I was expecting.

Reviewed by Annette Gisby

Book Review: The White Devil by Justin Evans

The White Devil
by Justin Evans
Horror/Ghosts/Literary Fiction
Orion Books
3 Stars
Library Copy Reviewed
Blurb:

An elite public school. An outsider. Rumours of a haunting.


Fleeing expulsion and the death of a close friend, Andrew Taylor is sent by his father to spend his final year at the prestigious public school Harrow. It is an eccentric place, a rambling ancient building filled with the sons of the rich and famous. Shortly after he arrives, the other pupils notice Andrew's striking resemblance to Lord Byron, a former pupil of Harrow, and Andrew is persuaded to play Byron in the forthcoming school play.

This is where his troubles begin. Before long Andrew senses a malevolent presence. His fellow Harrovians joke about 'The Lot Ghost' but when a classmate dies, the haunting becomes all too real. Soon another classmate falls ill and Andrew discovers old letters hidden in a bricked-up basement. Aided by his housemaster Piers Fawkes - a once famous poet turned alcoholic - Andrew realises he must discover the secret history behind the letters to prevent further deaths.


Review:
The ghost mystery plot is well done. Who is the ghost? What does he want? Why is he being drawn to Andrew most of all? Why are people getting ill and dying? The reader finds out these things at the same time as Andrew, so we feel drawn into the story and relate to the characters. I also loved finding out more about Lord Bryon too.

I really enjoyed it right up until Persephone Vine appeared. I thought to myself, are you really going to go there? Really, Mr. Evans? To the most clichéd love interest ever? The only girl at an all-boys school, daughter of one of the teachers, who disapproves of Andrew, of course? That was where you lost a lot of my attention. I've seen that too many times for it to interest me.

I did read and finish the book because I wanted to know what happened with the ghost, but the love story parts between Persephone an Andrew just seemed shoehorned in. It was as if the author had written the book, then realised he hadn't written a girl and needed to go back and put her in somewhere. Since the blurb mentions it was an all-boys school, I wasn't expecting any girls to be there and wouldn't have been disappointed with that, rather than have the stereotypical trope that we actually got. It would have been all right if I could sense Persephone as an individual character, but she just seemed a placeholder for Andrew to fall in love with, no other reason for her presence there.

Set an all-boys school, this could have been a good gay coming of age story (there is a lot of gay subtext in the book), but instead we got a clichéd love story which came across as rather lacklustre.

It was interesting, but not one I'd re-read.

Reviewed by Annette Gisby.

Book Review: The Druid Stone by Heidi Belleau and Violetta Vane

The Druid Stone
by Heidi Bellau and Violetta Vane
Carina Press
M/M Romance, Urban Fantasy, Myth, Legend, Ireland
5 stars
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley.

Blurb:

Sean never asked to be an O'Hara, and he didn't ask to be cursed by one either.

After inheriting a hexed druid stone from his great-grandfather, Sean starts reliving another man's torture and death...every single night. And only one person can help.


Cormac Kelly runs a paranormal investigation business and doesn't have time to deal with misinformed tourists like Sean. But Sean has real magic in his pocket, and even though Cormac is a descendant of legendary druids, he soon finds himself out of his depth...and not because Sean's the first man he's felt anything for in a long time.


The pair develop an unexpected and intensely sexual bond, but are threatened at every turn when Sean's case attracts the unwelcome attention of the mad sidhe lords of ancient Ireland. When Sean and Cormac are thrust backward in time to Ireland's violent history--and their own dark pasts--they must work together to escape the curse and save their fragile relationship.

Review:

Ever since his great-grandfather gave him a strange stone, Sean O'Hara has been having the same nightmare every night. He relives again and again the torture and death of someone in the distant past. His sleep disturbed, his days getting more and more surreal as he tries to survive on little sleep and an array of pills, he's at his wits' end. Psychiatrists are no help but he thinks he might have found the solution: Cormac Kelly, an Irish druid.


Unfortunately, Cormac wants nothing to do with him. Emails and letters go unanswered. With nothing left to lose, Sean leaves Boston for Ireland to seek out the one man who is sure can help him. Cormac is reluctant to believe Sean at first, convinced he is one of those "plastic paddies", as he calls them, who think every hill holds a leprechaun or two, everyone drinks Guinness and there really is gold at the end of the rainbow.


But it's when Sean attracts the attention of a sidhe king, Finnbheara, that Cormac realises that perhaps Sean is really cursed after all.

Now, I'm not normally a fan of urban fantasy, but when I read the blurb for this one, I was drawn in with the references to Irish mythology. Being Irish myself, how could I resist? I'm glad I gave it a go, it was a wonderful tale.


Both Sean and Cormac have tortured pasts, which might have come off a bit of a cliché but there was nothing clichéd about this story, it was evocative and imaginative. It was very well-written and I couldn't tell which author wrote which part, it flowed so well.

Sometimes the romance between Cormac and Sean took a back-seat to the plot, which didn't bother me, I like a good bit of plot with my romance. This is certainly a roller-coaster ride of a plot. The book had a bit of everything: romance, adventure, ancient and mythical beings, magic and suspense. It was moving, romantic, funny and heart-wrenching in parts, everything a good novel should be.

I loved the characters, Sean and Cormac's pasts were just part of who they were, it didn't seem to be used as an excuse for cheap drama.

The book was great, I'm glad I read it, but there were a few little niggles that took me out of the story when I first read them. In a few scenes form Cormac's point of view, him being Irish, he referred to being "blocks from home" and walking on a sidewalk. I've never heard any Irish person refer to blocks, it should probably have been street or road. And no sidewalks either, it would have been pavement or footpath.
All in all an excellent read, especially if you like a good bit of plot with your romance.

Reviewed by Annette Gisby

Book Review: A Master's Love by Marty Rayne

A Master's Love
by Marty Rayne
M/M Romance, Erotic, BDSM
Loose-Id
amazon
Reviewer's purchased copy.

3.5 Stars

Blurb:
Nate Jacobs has his health, a roof over his head, food in his stomach, and a best friend to keep him grounded. What more does a Dominant need? That's what he always thought until Kyle Turner knocked on his door.

In a slump since his last break up, Kyle Turner decides to try something different. Angel's Heart. A House of Dominants. Kyle has no idea what to expect, but he definitely gets more than he bargained for when he puts himself at Nate's mercy. Literally.

Irresistible attraction draws Kyle deeper and deeper into Nate's world of domination and submission. But in order to find love, the Master will have to surrender and allow his submissive's love to dominate him.


Review:
    A Master's Love tells the story of Kyle and Nate. Kyle, who thinks there is something missing in life, decides to go to the fetish parlour, Angel's Heart, in order to see if he might be a submissive. Nate is the handsome Dominant who opens the door for their first session and the story continues from there. More could have been made of this. Why did Kyle think he was submissive? Had he seen something somewhere? Read about it and thought it might be for him? The reader never knows.

They are both attracted to each other from the moment they meet, which seemed a bit too sudden for me, as they don't really know anything much about each other yet, and neither do the readers.

There is sexual tension between the two heroes which sizzles throughout. Nate has never fallen for a client before and it takes all his willpower to keep from touching Nate, which is not really allowed during their sessions. The sex scenes are well written, as is the whole book, Ms. Rayne has a way with words but I felt there was something lacking in the character development. It might have been because it's a short book, and if longer, those issues may well have been addressed. There's also a bit of telling, rather than showing. We're told in the narrative about Nate's past, rather than have it revealed as the story goes along.

I did like both Nate and Kyle as characters and you root for them to get their happy ending. If you're a bit wary about reading something with BDSM in it, this one is fairly light on that aspect. There are some toys, some bondage and some Dominant/submissive scenes (Kyle has to obey orders such as not touching himself etc.)

All in all it was a good book. although it had a few problems, they didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of the book. I will certainly give other books by this author a go.
Reviewed by Annette Gisby, author of The Prince's Guard.

Book Review: Curse This House by Barbara Wood

Curse This House
by Barbara Wood
Historical, Mystery, Suspense
4 Stars
Reviewer's purchased copy.

Blurb:

After her mother’s death in 1857, Leyla’s only links with her heritage and family are a letter and her last name—Pemberton. Resolved to seek out her past, she travels from London to the brooding countryside mansion of Pemberton Hurst. Leyla longs to find a loving family, but more importantly, she needs to uncover the truth of her past.

But the Pembertons seem strangely reluctant to discuss family history, and the house feels smothered by the weight of untold secrets. Increasingly torn between the safety of life with her sophisticated fiancé in London and a new, dangerous love, Leyla is no longer sure where to turn and whom to trust.

Then terror strikes. A murderer roams the corridors of Pemberton Hurst, and Leyla is suddenly thrown into a maelstrom of deceit, madness, and horror. With her life in jeopardy, Leyla must uncover the truth of her past before it destroys her.

Review:

Leyla Pemberton returns home to Pemberton Hurst after the death of her mother and a twenty year absence. She remembers little of the time she spent her first five years of life there, save for the fact that she was severely traumatised by witnessing the death of her father and brother and has no memory of the incident.

Her relatives are strangers to her, a grandmother who rules the house with an iron fist from her room, nervous Aunt Anna, sickly uncle Henry, eccentric cousin Martha, boorish cousin Colin and Theo, her eldest cousin who is the only one to welcome her.

What are they hiding?

Shocked by Leyla's return, the residents of Pemberton Hurst have no choice but to give up their secret. All the Pembertons are cursed...

Leyla doesn't believe it and sets out on her own investigation into her father and brother's deaths. Her enquiries are fraught with danger, because there is someone who doesn't want her to remember that fateful day, but who?

This is a well paced and plotted novel, a real page turner. The historical detail is very accurate, but without detracting from the story so that it reads like a novel rather than a history lesson. Leyla is a very likeable character, and I could almost see cousin Martha sitting everywhere, her knitting needles clicking away.

My one gripe would be the spelling. It is written in the first person, supposedly by Leyla, a young Victorian English lady, but her spelling was American. It distracted from the story when supposedly reading about an English girl going to "the center of the coppice." She would have spelled it "centre."

Despite the American spelling, (which is really just a personal opinion) it was a good read, something to curl up with on a rainy day and let the outside world disappear...

Reviewed by Annette Gisby, author of The Prince's Guard.

Book Review: River of Destiny by Barbara Erskine

River of Destiny
by Barbara Erskine
Timeslip/Historical/Contemporary
2.5 - 3 Stars
ARC from amazon vine.

Ken and Zoe have moved from London to rural Suffolk to a set of barn conversions on the river Deben, so that Ken can have more time with his boat. Zoe wasn't too keen on the move, she isn't that interested in sailing but hasn't told her husband until long after they've moved and the deed is done.

There are three barns on their complex, along with The Old Forge, which once belonged to the Victorian hall that is nearby, now converted into luxury apartments. Ken and Zoe have The Old Barn, next to them we have Rosemary and Steve in the one next door, Rosemary a keen crusader to get a footpath reinstated through Dead Man's Field. The Summer Barn is a holiday home for the Watts' family and their wild children. Leo, a blacksmith scarred from an accident now lives at the Old Forge, though he is no longer working as one.

Soon after they move, Zoe hears noises and sees a viking ship sailing up the river quite frequently. At first she thinks it's part of some sort of re-enactment or regatta, but there isn't one and she finds a picture of the ship in a Victorian book.

As well as the modern era, we have intertwined stories from the Victorian and Anglo-Saxon times as well.

I'd consider myself a fan of Barbara Erskine; I've read all of her other books and loved them. This one, not so much. There are so many POV shifts, sometimes within the same paragraph, never mind the same chapter, that you're hard pressed to wonder whose opinion you should be feeling at that time.

In the Victorian timeline we have POVs from Daniel, the blackmsith, his wife Susan, Lady Emily from the Hall, her husband Henry, Susan's sister Molly to name a few, all this within a few pages! The blurb on the back said about the Victorian timeline "a case of forbidden love". It wasn't forbidden love, it wasn't love at all! The blacksmith was forced into it with Lady Emily because she threatened to have him and his wife sacked if he didn't do it. That doesn't sound like any sort of love to me. There was even a scene between Daniel and Lady Emily that was supposed to be passionate and sexy. Sorry, being coerced into it wasn't sexy at all.

There were so many characters having affairs in this book that it became laughable rather than dramatic, more like a farce than a novel. The dialogue is stiff and stilted. How many modern people in real life speak without contractions?

So was there anything I liked about the book? Yes, I loved the part set in Anglo-Saxon times, Edith was one of the more sympathetic characters and I really liked her. But that was the part we got to see least. You were just getting into the scene and bam! we're back to the present, or back to the Victorians.

I'm disappointed. It reads almost as if someone else has written this under the author's name.

Reviewed by Annette Gisby, author of The Chosen.