Review/Giveaway: Mist of Midnight

Daughters of Hampshire, Book 1

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”?

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 Gothic romance at its best. If you are a fan of Jane Erye, then this book is for you.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters in this novel. I found Rebecca to be refreshing and easy to like. She was perfect for this time period, not headstrong or sassy, but not a push over either. Captain Whitfield was a bit of a dark knight. You never really knew what to expect. I wasn’t sure if I should like him or not. Byrd keeps us guessing until the end. As a writer, I can say it’s very hard to write a mysterious male lead who is also loveable. Yet, Byrd masters this and more.  I think reading this book just for the character of Whitfield would be perfectly acceptable.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good romantic mystery. I loved the ending! As with her other books, Sandra did not disappoint this romantic.

I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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GIVEAWAY!

Leave a comment and you will be entered to win my advance copy of this book.

A winner will be randomly selected on Saturday, March 7th.

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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. The Tudor series’ end cap, Roses Have Thorns: A Novel of Elizabeth I published in April, 2013.

A life-long lover of Victorian Gothic romances, Sandra’s new series, Daughters of Hampshire, weaves elements of that mystical, traditional genre with inspirational and literary threads. Mist of Midnight, the series’ first book, debuts in March, 2015.