Dusk's Darkest Shores by Carolyn Miller

A complimentary review copy was provided to me.

Life is a little busy for us lately but that didn't stop me from finding time to read. I had a quiet Saturday afternoon (following a busy, productive morning) which was the perfect time to snuggle in on the sofa and finish reading Dusk's Darkest Shores by Carolyn Miller. It is the first book I have read by her and is book 1 in the new Regency Wallflowers series she is writing.

I very much enjoyed reading the book I have long been a fan of Regency literature and like the 'wallflower' spin on this one. The main character Mary is 'nine and twenty' and many assume that she will forever be alone and she is not bothered by the concept. Her father is a doctor and she spends time helping him and calling on patients, which she enjoys doing. She has that right demeanor and touch to make others comfortable and help them through childbirth and recovery from ailments. The other main character is Adam, a soldier who recently returned from the battlefield a hero of the war, faced with a new battle. He suffered an ailment at war that he must now learn to live with. Always a leader and a hero, he has to find his way in an unknown world. Growing up, Adam spent time with Mary's brother and she spent time tagging along with them on some of their adventures, so although they didn't really know one other, they did know of one another and had a small connection. Based on this connection and her ability to help, Mary's father and Adam's mother task her with helping Adam on his journey to recovery. Through many ups and downs they come to be true friends and help each other discover new things.

This story was very enjoyable and it was nice to watch the two main characters grow individually and in their relationship. The author did a great job painting the setting and developing the characters. I felt a connection to them and found myself engaged in their lives, struggles and outcomes. Watching them discover how a person's reactions to adversity reveals their true character and that what really connects us is deeper than looks. I look forward to reading more books by Carolyn Miller in the future.

About the Book

How can a meek wallflower help a returning war hero whose dreams are plunged into darkness?

Mary Bloomfield has no illusions. Her chances for matrimony have long since passed her by. Still, her circumstances are pleasant enough, especially now that she has found purpose in assisting her father with his medical practice in England's beautiful Lake District. Even without love, it's a peaceful life.

That is until Adam Edgerton returns to the sleepy district. This decorated war hero did not arrive home to acclaim and rest, but to a new battle against the repercussions of an insidious disease. Mary's caring nature cannot stand to see someone suffer--but how can she help this man see any brightness in his future when he's plunged into melancholic darkness, his dreams laid waste by his condition?

Adam wants no charity, but he's also no coward. If this gentle woman can work hard, how can he do less? Together they struggle to find a way forward for him. Frustration and antipathy slowly develop into friendship and esteem. Then a summer storm atop a mountain peak leads to scandal--and both Mary and Adam must search the depths of their closed hearts for answers if they hope to find any future path with happiness at its end.

Best-selling author Carolyn Miller is back with a fresh series that will not only thrill readers eager for more of her work, but bring in new fans looking for beautiful writing, fascinating research, deftly woven love stories, and real faith lived out in the Regency period.

Click here to read an excerpt.

About the Author

Carolyn Miller is an inspirational romance author who lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia with her husband and four children.

A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer’s Regency era, Carolyn holds a BA in English Literature, and loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. She enjoys music, films, gardens, art, travel and food.

A longtime lover of Regency romance, Carolyn's novels have won a number of RWA and ACFW contests. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Australasian Christian Writers.

Learn more about Carolyn at www.carolynmillerauthor.com or find her on Facebook (Carolyn Miller Author), Instagram (@CarolynMillerAuthor), and Twitter (@CarolynMAuthor).

Giveaway!

Enter to win a fun prize pack inspired by the book and its English setting that includes:

- a copy of Dusk’s Darkest Shores
- a canvas bag to carry your latest reads
- a fun pair of Jane Austen socks
- Novel Teas’ English Breakfast tea
- “Drink tea, read books, and be happy” tea spoon
- “Let your faith be bigger than your fear” mug
- Black currant preserves from England
- Wax Lyrical candle from England

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Giveaway is not hosted by A Busy Mom of Two but is part of the book tour, please see giveaway for official rules and guidelines. No compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family. A complimentary review copy was provided to me.

The Indebted Earl by Erica Vetsch

A complimentary review copy was provided to me.

It has been a bit of a crazy couple of weeks at our house. All of the craziness made me happy to have a good book to escape into (when time allowed). I just finished reading the new book by Erica Vetsch, The Indebted Earl. I have always been a big fan of Regency fiction and this book did not disappoint. There was something so great about watching the transformation of the Captain from stiff Navy officer to a man that discovered his softer side. I read the book without having first glanced at the back cover, which lead me to be surprised and a bit caught off guard as things happened. The story was well written and the characters came to life on the pages of the book. There was a nice balance of romance, intrigue, and mystery woven into the story.

After reading, I discovered that this was the third book in the Serendipity and Secrets Series. It certainly reads well as a stand-alone book but now that I know that there are others out there (and it appears they include some of the other characters in this story), I have more books to add to my list to be read.

About the Book

Can Captain Wyvern keep his new marriage of convenience all business--or will it turn into something more?

Captain Charles Wyvern owes a great debt to the man who saved his life--especially since Major Richardson lost his own life in the process. The best way to honor that hero's dying wish is for Wyvern to escort the man's grieving fiance and mother safely to a new cottage home by the sea. But along the way, he learns of another obligation that has fallen on his shoulders: his uncle has died and the captain is now the Earl of Rothwell.

When he and the ladies arrive at his new manor house in Devon, they discover an estate in need of a leader and a gaggle of girls, all wards of the former earl. War the new earl knows; young ladies and properties he does not. Still wishing to provide for the bereaved Lady Sophia Haverly, Charles proposes a marriage of convenience.

Sophie is surprised to find she isn't opposed to the idea. It will help her care for her betrothed's elderly mother, and she's already fallen in love with the wayward girls on the Rothwell estate. This alliance is a chance to repay the captain who has done so much for her care, as well as divert her attention from her grief. When Wyvern returns to his sea commission, she'll stay behind to oversee his property and wards.

It sounds so simple. Until the stalwart captain is arrested on suspicion of smuggling, and Sophie realizes how much he's come to mean to her. Now she'll have to learn to fight, not only for his freedom but also for his love.

Click here to read an excerpt.

About The Author

Erica Vetsch is a New York Times best-selling and ACFW Carol Award–winning author. She is a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota with her husband, who she claims is both her total opposite and soul mate.

Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks.

A self-described history geek, she has been planning her first research trip to England.

Learn more about Erica Vetsch and her books at www.ericavetsch.com. She can also be found on Facebook (@EricaVetschAuthor), Instagram (@EricaVetsch) and Pinterest (Erica Vetsch).

Giveaway!

The Giveaway is not hosted by A Busy Mom of Two but is part of the book tour, please see giveaway for official rules and guidelines. No compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family. A complimentary review copy was provided to me.

The Elusive Miss Ellison by Carolyn Miller

A complimentary review copy was provided to me.

With a sudden return of winter weather to our area, I found myself with some time to curl up and read. This time, the book of choice was The Elusive Miss Ellison by Carolyn Miller. This is the debut novel by Carolyn Miller and also the first in the Regency Brides A Legacy of Grace series. This piece of Regency Era fiction, set in 1813 was well written and has me looking forward to learning more about it's characters in the future books in the series.

I loved the character of Lavinia Ellison, or Livvie, as her friends know her. She is a well-educated young woman, who is a talented pianist and vocalist and one who is not afraid to speak her mind. She recognizes that she lives in a world with strict social divisions, but in spite of that she finds pleasure in helping the servants keep up with weeding the garden, tending to the needs of the poor in the village and to engage in conversation on all matters with the Earl, who has recently returned to the village of St. Hampton Heath. There is something about her lack of worry about the norms of society, her educated view on life and her almost quiet assertiveness that I was able to relate to. I love that unlike even her dearest of friends, because of her character and her up bringing, she was not focused on the latest fashions, the social scene and finding a husband...

"She could hide nothing. Like the fact she now enjoyed his company. Which was just as well, because he enjoyed hers. She was interesting, well-read, able to converse on all matters of life. How refreshing to speak to a young woman whose topics of conversation were not limited to the latest fashions or gossip about others. And her quiet absorption in his conversation had led him to open his heart as he never had before." (p 170)

...and it was as though that lack of focus and her intelligence were exactly what made her so attractive. Of course, there always has to be a foil to an easy boy meets girl story. In this case, it was of course the difference in their station - him an Earl and her merely the daughter of the reverend. I was not surprised at the change in environment when the Earl's mother arrived at his house and decided to invite over friends, whose daughters were a better match for the Earl in her mind. She definitely was not about to let her son fall for the daughter of the reverend and did her best to intervene.

I was at first a little bit disappointed to learn about the family secret that was revealed to Liviana as she dealt with disappointment in herself and the loneliness that ensued. It felt like too neat of a turn at first, but the author did a great job using it to help unwind the story without allowing it to become a truth that made all the rest neatly fall in place. The story wrapped in a great fashion, almost in spite of the turn of the family secret, leaving me wanting for more. I guess the good news is that the next book in this series is set to be available this summer and I can continue to learn more about this set of characters from the Regency Era.

If you enjoy period fiction, and more specifically Regency Era fiction, I would recommend this book to you.

About the book:

Handsome appearance counts for naught unless matched by good character and actions.

That's the firm opinion of not-so-meek minister's daughter Lavinia Ellison. So even though all the other villagers of St. Hampton Heath are swooning over the newly returned seventh Earl of Hawkesbury, she is not impressed. If a man won't take his responsibilities seriously and help those who are supposed to be able to depend on him, he deserves no respect from her. In Lavinia's pretty, gray eyes, Nicholas Stamford is just as arrogant and reckless as his brother-who stole the most important person in Livvie's world.

Nicholas is weighed down by his own guilt and responsibility, by the pain his careless brother caused, and by the legacy of war he's just left. This quick visit home to St. Hampton Heath will be just long enough to ease a small part of that burden. Asking him to bother with the lives of the villagers when there's already a bailiff on the job is simply too much to expect.
That is, until the hoydenish, intelligent, and very opinionated Miss Ellison challenges him to see past his pain and pride. With her angelic voice in his head, he may even be beginning to care. But his isn't the only heart that needs to change.
These two lonely hearts may each have something the other needs. But with society's opposition, ancestral obligations, and a shocking family secret, there may be too many obstacles in their way.

Fans of Georgette Heyer, Lori Wick, and Julie Klassen will enjoy the spirited exchanges between the bluestocking minister's daughter and the bruised war hero as they move past pride and presumption to a humbled appreciation of God's grace and the true strength of love.


Learn more and purchase a copy here.

About the author:

Carolyn Miller lives in New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. A longtime lover of Regency romance, Carolyn's novels have won a number of RWA and ACFW contests. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Australasian Christian Writers.

Learn more about the book and read additional reviews on the Blog Tour Landing Page.


No compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family. A complimentary review copy was provided to me.