Reviews

After receiving a letter from her friend Lydia, Lady Anne Addison rushes to Yorkshire and Darkefell Castle to be with her. But she arrives only to discover a body, and tales of werewolves. Being of an intelligent and curious nature she decides to investigate. But is she being helped or hindered by Lord Darkefell.
Set within the Georgian period, this is more of a mystery than a romance (thankfully), well-written and a story I really enjoyed with its very likeable characters. A very good solid start to a new series.
A NetGalley Book

krisrid's review against another edition

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4.0

I really enjoyed this book. It drew me in from the first page and held my attention the whole way through.

I loved the character of Anne. As a spinster with money, her unorthodox behaviour was plausible and worked for her choices and actions throughout the rest of the book. Even though her dramas about her feelings for Darkefell went a bit over-dramatic at points, she was likable and spunky and I was happy to go along with her on her determination to find out what was what.

The plot itself, while, again a bit melodramatic was still a cracking good story and filled with plenty of secrets and drama and suspense. The cast of characters was interesting and there were plenty of side sub-plots that added to making this an interesting read.

This was a light, fun easy to read story and I enjoyed it. I will continue with this series to see what fate has in store for Anne and Tony next!

nicfigmentfan8's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

aworldshapedbybooks's review against another edition

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3.0

I could almost give this book four stars, because despite how annoying the Marquess was as a main character, there were moments when I was really shocked by how much I liked it. These moments, like I said, were lessened by moments when I was just really angry about everything that was happening and so upon reflection, I think three stars is where this one should be. Lady Anne is the daughter of an earl, she has decided on spinsterhood not due to lack of options, though she does make it a point of calling herself plain, but because she has the money and familial support to do so. She rushes to her friend, Lydia, after receiving a letter that made it sound like her life was falling apart only four months after being married. She was supposed to marry Lydia's older brother at one point, and feels responsible for her.

Lydia is beyond stupid, like I understand that could just be her character, but it felt like she was being used to make Anne seem smarter and more perceptive. I could have done without the constant reminder that there's literally nothing going on in her head but whatever. Considering her letter and her marriage problems motivated the start of the novel, she was hardly mentioned really at all. She was kind of too stupid to even deserve that much notice.

I did think that Anne was very clever, there were elements when the mystery could have been fleshed out more but I do think it was a pretty decent investigation all around. I also appreciated that she stuck to her perspective from the beginning of the book, she didn't majorly change her opinion on relationships or morals, it could be set up for the next couple of books being a gradual shift, but she is who she is and that's very admirable. The Marquess was not as good of a character for me, mainly because he felt like a pretty rational guy and then used that way overused tactic on getting girls to shut up- pulling them into for unsolicited kisses. He didn't stop after he was punched the first time either, he did it like three times and it was annoying and not called for. That really was the main reason why this book lost a star for me.

Overall though I liked it. I don't think the second book is in the library so I don't know if I'll be able to read on, but I see a lot of potential for where it could all go.

This review and all my others can be found at: https://aworldshapedbybooks.blogspot.com/

jillmlong's review against another edition

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3.0

Lady Anne is smart and ahead of her time. She is a strong female main character. The story was a bit dragged out for me. The mystery was wrapped up quickly and I was looking for more. I will read the next book in the series.

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