Under the Harvest Moon anthology – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of Under the Harvest Moon to review.

Here is the book blurb.

As the village of Reabridge in Cheshire prepares for the first Harvest Festival following Waterloo, families are overjoyed to welcome back their loved ones from the war.

But excitement quickly turns to mystery when mere weeks before the festival, an orphaned child turns up in the town—a toddler born near Toulouse to an English mother who left clues that tie her to Reabridge.

With two prominent families feuding for generations and the central event of the Harvest Moon festival looming, tensions rise, and secrets begin to surface.

Nine award winning and bestselling authors have combined their talents to create this engaging and enchanting collection of interrelated tales. Under the Harvest Moon promises an unforgettable read for fans of Regency romance.

Moonlight Wishes and Midnight Kisses by Collette Cameron
A scarred veteran with no future, Courtland Marlow-Westbrook wants to be left alone. Scottish heiress Avery Levingtone never stopped loving him and is determined to win his love again. Will these former sweethearts find happiness together, or will the wounds of the past keep them apart?

The Morning Light by Caroline Warfield
Adam Wagner is meant to save lives, not take them. He is haunted by Waterloo. The horror of it keeps him from those he loves. Meg Barlow doesn’t understand how Adam could turn his back on her so thoroughly, but she isn’t about to let him get away with it.

A Harvest Blessing by Rue Allen
All the battles are over, or are they? When Captain Thom Owen is forced into a false engagement, he must escort his pseudo-fiancée home to meet his father. Can an English vicar’s son and a French Comte’s daughter find love despite their differences?

Coming Home by Mary Lancaster
Old memories, new love
Home from Waterloo, Captain David Buckley contemplates settling down near his home town of Reabridge—only it is full of painful memories. The mysterious Lady Lorna falls literally into his arms, and he begin to understand the true meaning of love and home.

Under the Champagne Moon by Alina K Field
Fleur Hardouin’s heart longs for Captain Gareth Ardleigh, but she needs an advantageous marriage.
Gareth has promised to find Fleur—on behalf of another man.
Now he must choose between honoring a promise and trying to win the hand of the woman he loves.

A Quiet Heart by Elizabeth Ellen Carter
Widowed at Waterloo, where she also nursed the wounded, Veronica Petersham promised a dying man to bring his effects to a family in Reabridge. She falls ill just short of her goal, in the milking shed of kind and stoic Martin Bromelton.
Perhaps there is hope for the future after all and the opportunity to find love once more.

A Love Beyond Time by Sherry Ewing
Eight years ago, Hannah Pownall had her heart broken by a young lord.
Captain Brandon Worthington returns to the town of Reabridge to recover from the war and finds the girl he once loved still unwed. Can love at first sight be reborn after heartbreak, proving a second chance is all you need?

The Widow’s Harvest Hope by Cerise DeLand
The new Earl Barlow returns home from Waterloo, intending to live by his own rules. The woman he loved and lost years ago visits for the Harvest festival—and he plans to offer Vicky Wright what they both want. Can a lady who has lived by the rules throw them all away to seize her last chance for happiness?

Love In Its Season by Jude Knight
The Battle of Waterloo lost Jack Wrath the use of one arm and ended his career in the cavalry. He has no place to go and nothing to offer. Gwen Hughes has a business to run and no time for romance. Under the harvest moon, two people who believe romance has passed them finally reach their season for love.

This book contains nine stories by nine authors, of whom Mary Lancaster is the only one I have previously read any other titles. This group of authors are known as the Bluestocking Belles and have collaborated together on other collections too.

All the stories are set around harvest time in the village of Reabridge, Cheshire in 1815 and the storylines are interlinked with the characters appearing in multiple tales. However each author has been assigned a different pair of main protagonists.

I take my hat off to whoever coordinated this collection as it works perfectly, and the different writing styles all complement each other. The running theme throughout is to feature characters who have returned from the battle of Waterloo.

It also incorporates an air of mystery regarding the parentage of an orphaned toddler. Will they find out who were Sam’s parents, in order to identify other relatives?

There was one author whose style didn’t really work for me, but this didn’t put me off as I was hooked into the book by then, raring to read each tale.

Under the Harvest Moon is available on Amazon. This is a brilliant collection of interlinked romantic reads. And it is a great way of introducing you to new authors.

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Solving the Climate Crisis by Palmer Owyoung – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an ebook I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Solving the Climate Crisis by Palmer Owyoung to review, a topic that worries me greatly. To find out more about the author you may visit his website.

Here is the book blurb.

Some things you will learn in Solving the Climate Crisis:

• Dozens of Ideas On Things You Can Do to Fight Climate Change (it goes beyond just your carbon footprint)
• How to Save Our Oceans
• How to Save Our Forests
• How to Repair Our Soil
• Who is Most Responsible For Climate Change
• Does ESG Investing Work?
• How to Pay for Climate Change
• Why Carbon Offsets are Scams
• Ways to Fix the Food System
• How Society Changes
• Why Climate Doomers are Wrong
• Is Grass Fed Beef Really Better for the Climate?
• Reasons for Hope

Solving the Climate Crisis is an easy to read solutions-based book that offers actionable advice readers can take to create lasting changes in their communities. The book is filled with hope that by working together, we can build a sustainable future by using science, and evidence-based solutions to reimagine our economic, political, and social systems, to stabilize the climate and restore biodiversity.

We hear about it on the news every day, but climate change can be confusing
Are we doomed? How did we get here? What can I do about it? These are some questions you have probably asked yourself.

In Solving the Climate Crisis, Palmer Owyoung deconstructs climate change to understand how we got here and looks at how we can create a better future by building a nature-based economy in which we live in balance with our environment. Not only will this save us from the worst effects of climate change, but it will also save millions of lives, save trillions of dollars, create jobs, lower health care costs, reduce pollution, lower energy costs, and create a more stable economy.

Wow! I could tell the author had put a huge effort into researching this subject very thoroughly and is obviously passionate about Climate Change . I know some of the general headline bullets, but I’ve learnt so much reading this book, which encompasses a huge breadth of topics.

I’ve been reading this book for a while now, but I’m still not quite a third of the way through, although in reality I’m probably a lot further, as a lot of the latter part of the book will be all the numerous reference sources. It is the type of book, you read a bit, put down and then come back to. However, I’ve decided to share my thoughts so far now.

I shall be returning to this book frequently, as an excellent resource to dip into. It is very lengthy, so some sections I have only skim read for now and will need to revisit.

I was already offsetting my CO2 emissions at Shell petrol stations, so I shall be reviewing whether to terminate that, as one thing I’ve personally learnt from the book is that it is mainly greenwashing and references this article in The Guardian.

Solving the Climate Crisis is available on Amazon in paperback and kindle format. A fascinating informative read. I highly recommend you read this resource.

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Petteril’s Corpse by Mary Lancaster – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Petteril’s Corpse by Mary Lancaster to review. You may find out more about the author on her website.

Here is the book blurb.

A murdered stranger in his home wood…

The discovery of a naked corpse upsets the new Viscount Petteril’s return to his ancestral acres. The local magistrate, Robert Lindon, has no idea how to proceed with so heinous a crime. Neither has Petteril, but curiosity compels him to help – with the aid of his fearless new assistant April, struggling to find her feet in this rich new world, and yet invaluable to more than the investigation.

Identifying the corpse is difficult enough. Suspecting that the culprit is one of the local gentry, some of whom were Petteril’s boyhood friends, is harder still. Could it be the aristocratic fortune hunter betrothed to Lindon’s daughter? Or, as everyone would prefer, Brandy Bill, the highwayman still hiding out in the nearby town?

This is the second book in the Lord Petteril Mysteries series, set in Regency England, but worked well as a stand-alone read.

Piers, Viscount Petteril and his new assistant April seem to have found themselves a sideline in sleuthing. In book 1, it was a missing valuable necklace, but this time a murder. They discover the body in woodland on the Petteril estate, from the smell of burning cloth, before they even arrive at the house for Piers’ first visit since inheriting the title.

Firstly difficult to identify the naked corpse without clues. Why has the murderer burnt the victim’s clothing? Is it to prevent identification?

But a visitor arriving the next day at the nearby Lindon household is able to help by identifying the victim? This also gives them a clue as to other missing possessions of the victim. Where might those be hidden?

Piers and April theorise as to possible motives and culprits, working well together as an unlikely pairing.

Note, if you haven’t read book 1 Petteril’s Thief, this title will give you a spoiler for that, so I do recommend best to read them in order.

Petteril’s Corpse is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle format. A good historical mystery, although the ending did feel like justice wasn’t really served.

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About the author

Mary Lancaster lives in Scotland with her husband, three mostly grown-up kids and a small, crazy dog.

Her first literary love was historical fiction, a genre which she relishes mixing up with romance and adventure in her own writing. Several of her novels feature actual historical characters as diverse as Hungarian revolutionaries, medieval English outlaws, and a family of eternally rebellious royal Scots. To say nothing of Vlad the Impaler.

Her most recent books are light, fun Regency romances written for Dragonblade Publishing: The Imperial Season series set at the Congress of Vienna; and the popular Blackhaven Brides series, which is set in a fashionable English spa town frequented by the great and the bad of Regency society.

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The Baron to Break by Tammy Andresen – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book The Baron to Break by Tammy Andresen to review.

Here is the book blurb.

What if Prince Charming wasn’t so charming? What if he was the bad guy?

And Baron Robinson liked it that way. Except when his best friend’s sister, the lovely Miss Emily Cranston, is suddenly alone in the world, he knows it’s his duty to protect her.

Which turns out to be a much larger job than he anticipated. Because while Emily is the picture of innocence, the trouble nipping at her heels is anything but.

Jacob might be a no-good rake… but a lady that vulnerable needs to be protected from real evil.

And that fact that she tempts him in all sorts of ways she ought not…. Well, he’s just going to have to keep her safe from that too. But while saving her from the world is a challenge, keeping his hands off her is proving to be impossible.

This is the third title in the “All That Glitters” series, set in the Victorian era, but works perfectly as a stand-alone read.

The story begins with Jacob, Baron Robinson attending the funeral of his best friend’s parents, but Ash isn’t here, only his sister Emily. A flashback shows how Ash supported him 10 years ago when his own father died and in Ash’s absence, he vows to do the same for Emily, pretending to the solicitor Mr Barrow, that they are engaged.

Meanwhile Emily is worried. She has no idea when Ash will return from overseas or how to cope. He was expected back months ago. Should she have married the odious Lord Tinderwall, whom her mother had tried to arrange a match with?

And she is not convinced about Jacob’s plan to fib further by pretending his aunt Clara is Emily’s aunt, so that they have a chaperone for the trip to the Duke and Duchess of Wingate.

But attraction simmers and danger buzzes around the carriage. Who has been plotting what against Emily? Who can they trust and who is dangerous?

According to the author, this story is loosely based on Sleeping Beauty, but unlike the previous two titles, I couldn’t really see the similarity.

However it certainly created an opening for a future story to explain where Ash has been.

The Baron to Break is available on Amazon in both Kindle format and paperback. An intriguing romantic tale with a thread of dangerous mystery.

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About the author

USA Today Bestselling Author, Tammy Andresen lives with her husband and three children just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. She grew up on the Seacoast of Maine, where she spent countless days dreaming up stories in blueberry fields and among the scrub pines that line the coast. Her mother loved to spin a yarn and Tammy filled many hours listening to her mother retell the classics. It was inevitable that at the age of 18, she headed off to Simmons College, where she studied English literature and education. She never left Massachusetts but some of her heart still resides in Maine and her family visits often.

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Her Last Words by Carolyn Arnold – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an ebook I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Her Last Words by bestselling author Carolyn Arnold to review. To find out more about the author you may visit her website.

Here is the book blurb.

The glow from the fireplace throws an eerie light over the woman’s carefully arranged body, her lifeless eyes reflecting the flames that slowly burn the evidence of who did this to her…

When Detective Amanda Steele is called to the brutal murder scene of successful local author Felicity Kelley, her blood runs cold. Because Amanda not only knew the victim, but was the last person Felicity called moments before she was murdered. Plagued with guilt that she never answered, Amanda is left wondering whether she could have prevented the murder, and vows to catch the killer, no matter what.

Desperately searching the crime scene for clues, Amanda is shocked when she discovers a Queen of Hearts playing card, suggesting the murder could be an imitation of a scene from Felicity’s bestselling crime novel. Terrified that she is dealing with a crazed fan who could strike again, Amanda’s worst fears are confirmed when another innocent woman is viciously murdered, with the same chilling calling card left behind.

But when Amanda connects the murders with a cold case from fifteen years ago, a case that Felicity appears to have been researching for her next novel, she is forced to question if the killer’s motive is even more sinister than she first suspected. But the closer Amanda gets to unearthing this motive, the closer she gets to becoming the next victim…

This is the ninth title in the Detective Amanda Steele series and here are the links to my reviews of the previous titles.
The Little Grave
Stolen Daughters
The Silent Witness
Black Orchid Girls
Her Frozen Cry
Last Seen Alive
Her Final Breath
Taken Girls

The prologue draws you in with Felicity feeling in danger and convinced that she has let a killer into her home.

Detective Amanda Steele is shocked when returning Felicity’s missed call from the previous day to be answered by one of her own colleagues. Felicity has been murdered and Amanda feels that she needs to be the one to investigate this case, as she had interviewed Felicity previously.

Felicity was a mystery writer who had been enjoying a lot of success lately, including signing her first movie deal, so potenially lots of suspects. Amanda hasn’t read Felicity’s books, but it turns out that Felicity has been posed like a victim in one of her own novels. Could the murderer be a crazy fan?

And why is there no paperwork in the house of an author?

Or what about a serial killer, when another body is discovered similarly posed?

So which lead to follow first? Who to speak to?

For once I did make a correct guess as to the murderer before all was revealed.

However I hadn’t remembered that we had previously met Felicity in an earlier title, Her Frozen Cry.

Her Last Words is available on Amazon. A gripping thriller indeed.

Includes some continuity references to earlier stories for those who enjoy reading the whole series but works excellently as a stand-alone read too.

About the Detective Amanda Steele Series
Gritty. Raw. Unapologetic.

Immersive crime fiction for fans who love their mysteries set in a small town and hard-boiled to perfection. From the murder scene to the morgue, interrogation of suspects and following down leads, you’ll feel like you’re part of the investigation. Realistic and complex characters, accurate police procedures and forensics paired with tight, serious writing make these books read more like true crime than fiction. Meet Homicide Detective Amanda Steele with the Prince William County Police Department in Woodbridge, Virginia. She’s smart, motivated, and real. Her tragic past has her claiming to be no one’s mentor, but she’s more hero than she thinks.

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About the author

CAROLYN ARNOLD is an international bestselling and award-winning author, as well as a speaker, teacher, and inspirational mentor. She has several continuing fiction series and has many published books. Her genre diversity offers her readers everything from police procedurals, hard-boiled mysteries, and thrillers to action adventures. Her crime fiction series have been praised by those in law enforcement as being accurate and entertaining. This led to her adopting the trademark: POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.

Carolyn was born in a small town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower.

She currently lives near London, Ontario, Canada with her husband and two beagles.

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I’m participating in the blog book tour. Do take time to browse round some of the other posts.

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England’s Best Export by Ruth Danes – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an ebook I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book England’s Best Export by Ruth Danes to review. You may find out more about the author on her website.

Here is the book blurb.

Sapphire Carmichael’s life changes when an online argument escalates into a relentless campaign of harassment and death threats. Fearing for her safety, she flees her London home and finds refuge in a quiet West Country village, adopting a new identity as Melissa.

There, she falls for the charismatic Kai Tudor, who promises protection but hides dark secrets. As Melissa navigates a web of deception, she learns the truth about Kai, and must choose between love and safety. Amidst village life, Melissa forges bonds with her family members and new friends.

As secrets unfold and danger escalates, Melissa must choose her allies carefully and rely on her new-found strength.

This book is set in 2021 and starts by telling us what has happened to Sapphire over the last couple of months since she posted her negative opinion of Alicia on Twitter. We also revisit Sapphire’s history as to why she had a grudge against Alicia in the first place. Anyhow the tweets spiralled into an online argument which led to Sapphire being harassed and receiving death threats. Her family and friends were also harassed and since the threats are still ongoing, she has been forced to change her name and how she looks and flee from London to Godlarton village near Bristol, where her aunt and uncle live.

She is now known as Melissa (her middle name) and she can have no direct communication with her parents, brother or friends. Any messages will be via her aunt, uncle or cousin. Her aunt has sorted out a flat for her to rent, a car and a job.

Early on, we also get back history on her cousin and his wife, which lays the groundwork for them also being key to the story.

But before she even starts her new job or meets her colleagues, she gains a boyfriend, Kai Tudor, sleeping with him within 24 hours of meeting him and trusts everything he says. But who is Kai really? He hides dark secrets behind his kind facade.

And why does her new colleague Seren run off, immediately on meeting her?

I loved all the intertwined threads and coincidences in this thrilling psychological read.

England’s Best Export is available on Amazon in paperback, hardback and kindle format. A very intense tale with plenty of twists.

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Petteril’s Thief by Mary Lancaster – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Petteril’s Thief by Mary Lancaster to review. You may find out more about the author on her website.

Here is the book blurb.

A missing family heirloom – and one of the family stole it.

In the spring of 1812, Piers Withan is dragged from his beloved Oxford to be the new Viscount Petteril. Burdened by responsibilities he doesn’t want and the remnants of a family who don’t want him, he is saved from an irredeemable mistake by Ape, the small thief burgling his house.

When the family heirloom known as the Petteril Necklace is found to be missing, Piers seeks out his burglar to get it back. However, their search leads them to Piers’s own family – entitled, resentful and largely indebted. Only, which one of them is the thief?

As he uncovers the truth, Piers begins to find his feet and his old joy in life, not least in his burgeoning friendship with Ape, whose past is a mystery of its own.

This is the first title in the Lord Petteril Mysteries series.

The story starts by immediately introducing us to both main characters, Ape, a young thief who got more than he bargained for when he realised the house he was burgling wasn’t empty. Instead his quick reaction saves Viscount Piers Petteril from falling off the balcony, who lets him leave with the few trinkets he has purloined.

Piers had reluctantly returned to London from Oxford to take over his duties as new Viscount following the death of his uncle. But the next day, Piers along with the Dowager Viscountess discover that the valuable Petteril ruby necklace heirloom is missing.

So Piers sets to track down Ape and his master in his search for the missing heirloom. And if they don’t have it, then who else might?

And what other surprises might be revealed?

The story worked fine as a stand-alone read but you could see how openings had been left to develop the main characters further. I certainly am looking forward to reading book 2.

Petteril’s Thief is available on Amazon in Kindle format.  An intriguing historical mystery.

I’ve only read one other title by Mary Lancaster a few years back, a romantic novel, The Wicked Marquis, so it is good to see that she can switch between genres and keep the reader enthralled.

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About the author

Mary Lancaster lives in Scotland with her husband, three mostly grown-up kids and a small, crazy dog.

Her first literary love was historical fiction, a genre which she relishes mixing up with romance and adventure in her own writing. Several of her novels feature actual historical characters as diverse as Hungarian revolutionaries, medieval English outlaws, and a family of eternally rebellious royal Scots. To say nothing of Vlad the Impaler.

Her most recent books are light, fun Regency romances written for Dragonblade Publishing: The Imperial Season series set at the Congress of Vienna; and the popular Blackhaven Brides series, which is set in a fashionable English spa town frequented by the great and the bad of Regency society.

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A Rendezvous with a Rake by Tammy Andresen – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book A Rendezvous with a Rake by Tammy Andresen to review.

Here is the book blurb.

“I’ve got one rule and it’s no women on board. Ever.”

When the youngest brother of the rough and tumble Smith family turned to smuggling, Fulton Smith knew he had to keep his operation simple to keep from being caught.

But the beautiful stowaway, Sophie, makes his life anything but easy. His smuggling self knows he ought to drop her at the nearest port and follow his own damn rules. It’s a dangerous business. The lord in him, however, can’t help but protect the fragile beauty who has demons of her own.

But when his past begins to haunt them too, danger lurks around every corner and not even his boat is fast enough to outrun it.

Keeping her safe will push him to the breaking point.
Keeping his hands off her…

Impossible.

This is the sixth title in the Lords of Temptation series, but works well as a stand-alone read.

It features Fulton the youngest of the Smith brothers, captain of a ship, who has been chasing Lord Gyla, a criminal who has been attacking the Smith family for months. But having lost track of Gyla, they have anchored at a village near Bordeaux to restock before setting chase again.

But back at sea a day or so later, a stowaway is discovered on board. It is Sophie from the winery where he purchased some barrels. Sophie has run away to avoid marrying the mean cruel Pierre. A dilemma for Fulton, as women are not permitted on board, but if they turn back now, he may lose the chance of catching Gyla.

He settles on moving the beautiful Sophie into his own cabin. A torture.

Fulton owns a vineyard in Italy himself but the grapes are not doing well and he hasn’t dared tell his brothers of the failure. Sophie catches onto this and tries to make an offer to help, to avoid being taken back to France. But Fulton certainly doesn’t want to admit to other secrets besides bad grapes awaiting in Italy. How will things pan out?

A Rendezvous with a Rake is available on Amazon in both Kindle format and paperback. As ever, a nice light short romantic story from Tammy Andresen.

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About the author

USA Today Bestselling Author, Tammy Andresen lives with her husband and three children just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. She grew up on the Seacoast of Maine, where she spent countless days dreaming up stories in blueberry fields and among the scrub pines that line the coast. Her mother loved to spin a yarn and Tammy filled many hours listening to her mother retell the classics. It was inevitable that at the age of 18, she headed off to Simmons College, where she studied English literature and education. She never left Massachusetts but some of her heart still resides in Maine and her family visits often.

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A Dragon’s Dyne by Brett Salter – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book A Dragon’s Dyne by Brett Salter to review. You may find out more about the author on his website.

Here is the book blurb.

Things have gone from weird to blatantly absurd in Rome and Julian’s quest to preserve the boundary between the Earth realm and The Void. With Darkbrand numbers growing at a terrifying rate, the escape of Beliarahm, the fiercest Nocturn yet, and the struggle to make ANY headway with the Elementals and all their tomfoolery, The Alliance has hit a veritable wall. Even with the promise of the light Talisman to oppose the forces of darkness, there’s just no telling how or where to find it. All the other Talismans are collected, but that doesn’t necessarily give our heroes any comfort, because to this point, these magical items seem to have served more as crosshairs than protection. Maybe they need something more than the Talismans. But what could that be?

This is the sixth title in the Talisman series, but works fine as a stand-alone read. However I have read all the books and love how they follow-on, but am always pleased with the bonus of a recap in the prologue, when it has been a while since reading the previous title.

This time the story begins with Rome, Julian and the rest of the team attempting to locate the light Talisman, but the Elementals seem unable to help until Arbalis is summoned, who shows them an image of a lake. Can they identify which lake it is?

Meanwhile a new Rider family member is revealed. And of course there are more battles with Nocturns. Some dragon romance plus Rome gets a bonus Dyne ability. What might that be? The arrival of allies and more surprises.

I love how they all gel so well as a team. Each character is well developed by the author.

And after the final showdown just when you think it is the end, a clue in the epilogue. Could that be a hook for another book?

A Dragon’s Dyne is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format, targeted at young adult readers. Another brilliant episode in this great fantasy series. Suitable from age 11 upwards in my opinion.

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The Beast of Blackthorne Castle by D K Quinn – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book The Beast of Blackthorne Castle by Daphne Quinn to review. This time, Daphne has swapped to a new pen name of D K Quinn and I’m intrigued as to why?

Here is the book blurb.

A beast of a duke…

When Miss Emma Drake travels to Northumberland to answer an ad for a companion, she learns very quickly that her new employer is as mysterious as he is powerful. A scarred duke, known as the Beast of Blackthorne, his intimidating presence leaves her quaking in her slippers.

The rumors about him might frighten most ladies away but she’s as desperate as she is determined to find her future. Besides, she’s no family to go back to and no money to even book passage if there were. She is well and truly trapped with the beast.

But the longer she stays, the more she sees the man underneath the scars, and she begins to wonder. What is true and what is just rumor? And is there a heart under his rough exterior and difficult past that might just beat for her?

This is a SWEET Regency romance with a grumpy scarred hero and a sunshine heroine.

This is the first title in the new A Wish Upon a Castle series but works perfectly as a stand-alone read.

The story begins at the funeral of Miss Emma Drake’s father. At 25, she has no money or dowry and her aunt and uncle want to see her “settled” and have prepared a list of suitors. She hates this idea, wanting time to grieve and when she spots an ad for a female companion in her aunt’s magazine, she runs away, boarding the mail coach to go to Northumberland and apply for the position in person. Very improper behaviour and definitely burning her bridges.

Nathaniel, the Duke is very surprised when she knocks at the door of Blackthorne Castle, but as there have been no other applicants, he offers Emma the role of companion to his mother Agnes, the Dowager Duchess of Coldingham.

Emma gets on very well with Agnes, but the mysterious grumpy Nathaniel who does not mix in Society, is an enigma. Emma has heard the whispers in the nearby village and she hears more of the tragic tale from Agnes. But what does it mean?

Blackthorne Castle is fictional but has been based on Bamburgh Castle.

The Beast of Blackthorne Castle is available on Amazon in both Kindle format and paperback. A nice “chalk and cheese” style romantic read.

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