Review: The Heiress Of Winterwood By Sarah E. Ladd

Publication Date: April 9, 2013
Series: Whispers On The Moors (Book 1)
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN-10: 1401688357
Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction

About The Book:
Pride goes before the fall . . . but what comes after?

Darbury, England, 1814

Amelia Barrett, heiress to an ancestral estate nestled in the English moors, defies family expectations and promises to raise her dying friend’s infant baby. She'll risk everything to keep her word—even to the point of proposing to the child’s father, Graham, a sea captain she’s never met...

Review: The Tutor's Daughter By Julie Klassen

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Release Date: January 1, 2013
ISBN-10: 0764210696
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance

About The Book:
Emma Smallwood, determined to help her widowed father regain his spirits when his academy fails, agrees to travel with him to the distant Cornwall coast, to the cliff-top manor of a baronet and his four sons. But after they arrive and begin teaching the younger boys, mysterious things begin to happen and danger mounts. Who does Emma hear playing the pianoforte, only to find the music room empty?

Who sneaks into her room at night? Who rips a page from her journal, only to return it with a chilling illustration? The baronet's older sons, Phillip and Henry, wrestle with problems--and secrets--of their own. They both remember Emma Smallwood from their days at her father's academy. She had been an awkward, studious girl. But now one of them finds himself unexpectedly drawn to her.
When the suspicious acts escalate, can the clever tutor's daughter figure out which brother to blame... and which brother to trust with her heart?

My Thoughts:
Julie Klassen has very skillfully created a regency romance that is astonishingly reminiscent of Jane Austin and Jane Eyre. Set against the backdrop of 19th Century England's beautiful Cornwall coast, The Tutor's Daughter is everything I could possible want in a Regency Romance novel: well-researched and full of historical descriptions, a wide array of characters with very distinct personalities, blossoming romance, and enough suspense and intrigue that kept me in anticipation for the next page. Klassen has certainly proven herself a gifted storyteller and one who has done her research extremely well. Each time I opened this book I felt as though I were transported back in time. And the character of Emma Smallwood is just so endearing and admirable with her sense of determination and self-reliance, as well as her "blue-stocking" ways. I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end and highly recommend it to fans of Jane Austen or historical fiction in general. Overall an excellent novel and one that I can easily give five stars!

Review: The Flight of the Earls By Michael K. Reynolds

Release date: January 1, 2013 
Series: An Heirs of Ireland Novel
About The Book:
It’s 1846 in Ireland. When her family’s small farm is struck by famine, Clare Hanley and her younger brother, Seamus, set out across the ocean to the Promised Land of America. Five years prior, Clare’s older sister Margaret and her Uncle Tomas emigrated in similar fashion and were not to be heard from again. But Clare must face her fears as she lands in the coming-of-age city of New York. There she discovers love, adventure, tragedy, and a terrible secret which threatens to destroy her family and all she believes. Flight of the Earls is the first book in a historical novel trilogy based on Irish immigration in the 1840s.

Are You Irish?/ Michael K. Reynolds, Author Heirs of Ireland Series:

My Thoughts: 
In his first novel in the Heirs of Ireland saga, Michael K. Reynolds presents an astounding detail of Irish immigrants in America and their unwavering determination in the midst of famine and shattered dreams. Claire, her brother Seamus, and family-friend, Pierce embark upon a journey to the land of plenty with hopes of relieving the hardships faced by family back home in Ireland only to be met with equal hardships in the new world, as well as the discovery of heart-wrenching family secrets. Reynolds has written a mesmerizing tale filled with remarkable characters and amazing historical details. He's certainly an author who has done his research and extremely well at that. I was immediately transported back in time with his vivid imagery and attention to detail. The sights, the sounds, the smells, and the raw emotions of the characters were brought to life and kept me reading to the wee hours of the morning. Flight of the Earls is a must for any fan of historical fiction and one that I highly recommend. I easily give this novel a FIVE! I'm eagerly awaiting the second installment of this series, In Golden Splendor, currently scheduled to be released this summer on July 15th, 2013.