Whispers on the Moors #1
“I have faced battle, cannon fire, and the sword, and believe me when I say that nothing has frightened me quite so much as Mrs. Bell.”
Captain Graham Sterling
The Heiress of Winterwood is an enchanting debut novel. It has a slow start, but once the action starts, everything comes together beautifully. Amelia and Graham really began to click for me as they came together to save Lucy.
Family is the main focus of the story and one of the driving antagonists of the story. Graham has lost his wife and now has a daughter he has never met. His brother is a frivolous drunkard and not well-liked at Winterwood because of his drunken actions. What is left of Amelia’s family (uncle, aunt, and cousin) have a collective attitude that would shift from lukewarm to antagonist at a whim or as soon as Amelia spoke up in a manner that they didn’t like. It wasn’t until the latter half of the book I realized Lucy was as much a reason for Amelia to stand up to her family as someone she loved.
The plot meanders quite a bit up until the kidnapping occurs. I was expecting to rate this book lower, but this section redeemed the characters. We see Graham and Amelia pulled away from Winterwood, and it changes them for the better. Graham can rely on people he truly trusts, and even in this tense situation, he can relax, showing a different side to him. Amelia can also flourish out from under the thumb of her family.
While by no means perfect, this is a stunning debut novel. If you are looking for a Regency-era Inspirational Romance set far from the ballrooms of London, this one is well worth reading.
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