The Vanished Days (Scottish/Slains, #3) Susanna Kearsley – Review

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5 stars, Book Review, favorite series, historical, Jacobites, romance, Scotland, series, Susanna Kearsley

About The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley

There are many who believe they know what happened, but they do not know the whole of it. The rumours spread, and grow, and take their hold, and so to end them I have been persuaded now to take my pen in hand and tell the story as it should be told…
 
Autumn, 1707. Old enemies from the Highlands to the Borders are finding common ground as they join to protest the new Union with England, the French are preparing to launch an invasion to carry the young exiled Jacobite king back to Scotland to reclaim his throne, and in Edinburgh the streets are filled with discontent and danger.
 
Queen Anne’s commissioners, seeking to calm the situation, have begun settling the losses and wages owed to those Scots who took part in the disastrous Darien expedition eight years earlier.
 
When Lily, the young widow of a Darien sailor, comes forward to collect her husband’s wages, her claim is challenged, and one of the men who’s assigned to examine her has only days to decide if she’s honest, or if his own feelings are making him blind to the truth, and if he’s being used as a pawn in an even more treacherous game.

A story of intrigue, adventure, endurance, romance…and the courage to hope.

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Review of The Vanished Days

The Vanished Days is told through the narrator, Sergeant Adam Williamson, as he investigates the claim of Lily Aitcheson.  The first person viewpoint tells the reader that Williamson is telling his personal tale.  The third person perspective means that Williamson is telling someone else’s tale with details provided by the many witness he questioned.  The effect is to create a dual storyline, a method often used by Susanna Kearsley, as her readers will be aware.

The book centers on Lily’s story:  from her childhood with its happy, memorable moments to the days when it appears the world is against her.  Lily perseveres through many trials using her own grit and sometimes getting help from friends and family.  Ultimately, there are terrible men using their power over women.  But there are also good men who will do what is right.  The Vanished Days has a few characters to boo and curse at, but even more to hope for, weep for and cheer for. 

There is a great deal of withholding of information by the narrator (or by the author).  One of the characters, Robert Moray, said “All men do leave pieces out when they tell tales.”   This is evident in the way the characters lives intersect in ways the reader does not imagine they will intersect.  When the facts are revealed, the revelations are pleasantly surprising and may even bring tears of joy.  If you have read Ms. Kearsley’s books, you are familiar with the path she likes to take.

Slains and Scottish are the two series names that now appear to be attached to this book.  Whatever you call it, The Vanished Days is pure Kearsley storytelling magic.  If you enjoyed The Winter Sea and/or The Firebird, I recommend you check out The Vanished Days.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book so I could bring you my honest review.

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The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart by Nancy Campbell Allen – Review

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5 stars, book club, Book Review, mystery, Nancy Campbell Allen, romance, Victorian England

About The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart by Nancy Campbell Allen

Amelie Hampton is a hopeless romantic, which makes her the perfect columnist to answer lonely heart letters in The Marriage Gazette. When Amelie plays matchmaker with two anonymous lonely hearts, she also decides to secretly observe the couple’s blind date. To her surprise, the man who appears for the rendezvous is Harold Radcliffe—a grieving widower and a member of Amelie’s book club.

Police detective Michael Baker has been struggling ever since his best friend and brother-in-law died in the line of fire. Because he knows the dangers of his job, he has vowed never to marry and subject a wife and family to the uncertainty of his profession. But when he meets Miss Hampton, he is captured by her innocence, beauty, and her quick mind.

When a woman’s body is pulled from the river, Michael suspects the woman’s husband—Harold Radcliffe—of foul play. Amelie refuses to believe that Harold is capable of such violence but agrees to help, imagining it will be like one of her favorite mystery novels. Her social connections and clever observations prove an asset to the case, and Amelie is determined to prove Mr. Radcliffe’s innocence. But the more time Amelie and Michael spend together, the more they trust each other, and the more they realize they are a good team, maybe the perfect match.

They also realize that Mr. Radcliffe is hiding more than one secret, and when his attention turns toward Amelie, Michael knows he must put an end to this case before the woman he loves comes to harm.

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Review of The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart

From the beginning of this story, sparks fly between Amelie and Michael.  Though at first, the sparks at not the romantic kind.  More like sparks cause by friction.  Their first meeting, in the rain, while they are both spying on the same person, leads to less than ideal first impressions.  But they agree to work together even if their goals do not align.  While Amelie wants to prove Mr. Radcliffe is a good person, Michael feels he may be a murderer.

What follows is a story of discovery of personalities.  While they both figure out who Mr. Radcliffe is, they also get to know each other.  The romance is slow and comfortable.

Amelie, the heroine, is very young and a little naïve.  So, not my favorite type of heroine.  But she is a fast learner, so as the story progresses, she becomes more interesting.

The author used admirable restraint with Michael.  She could easily have made the hero either more charming or more antagonistic.  But the low key detective makes a great hero as a man of honor, intelligence and grace.

All through the story, the reader pretty much knows who the bad guy is.  What keeps the reader interested is watching Michael and Amelie prove the guilt of someone who seems to be a just grieving widower.  Mystery is woven into the story since you never know where the bad guy will strike next. 

The Victorian England setting is light on historical details, so the mystery is the focus of the story.  For avid readers, there is a book club in the story.  The meeting and its members add interest and provide a little humor.

The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart is perfect for readers of historical fiction who like a little romance with their mysteries. Thanks to the publisher who provided a copy through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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Summon the Stars – Anthology – Review

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, Carysa Locke, cats, Christina Westcott, Erin Hayes, Libby Doyle, romance, S.J. Pajonas, scifi, series, short story, space opera

About Summon the Stars

Summon the Stars is a thrilling space opera anthology dedicated to badass heroines on action packed science fiction adventures, and the scoundrels—that is, heroes—who love them.

An Unforgiving Desert by S. J. Pajonas

When their class ship is hijacked during the final exam, and Skylar and Kalvin are marooned in the desert, they have a long way to go to make it to safety, if they don’t kill each other first. Will they make it out of the unforgiving desert in one piece? Part of the Flyght series.

Pirate Spark by Carysa Locke

Vashti has spent her entire life trying to prevent the war she foresaw in her nightmares. Having failed, she must now find an advantage for her people, or watch as it rips the galaxy, and her people, apart. Part of the Telepathic Space Pirates series.

Outer-Rim Rescue by Libby Doyle

Ex-cop Jane Mwanda is in over her head as she tries to rescue a runaway teen from a criminal gang on a dangerous planet. When a man she’d thought was her enemy offers help, they embark on perilous adventure to bring the girl safely home.

The Rogue’s Heart by Erin Hayes

Faced with a failing heart, space pirate Clementine Jones and her crew must come up with the cash to buy her a new one in a brutal, unforgiving galaxy.

Spacer’s Third Law by Christina Westcott

Stranded at an isolated space station, Bru Thorsson must hire a second licensed pilot for her salvage ship before she’s allowed to undock, but the only candidate for the job is a burned out ex-marine who is still reliving the horrors of the war and doesn’t want the job, leaving Bru one last desperate option—shanghai him. Part of The Dragon’s Bidding series.

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Review of Summon the Stars

Imagine one story that combines scifi and romance and then take that times 5.  Each of the 5 short stories tells a complete tale.  There are no cliff hangers and no need to read the rest of the series.  Though you may be introduced to a series that you now need to check out.

Erin Hayes is the only author I had not yet read, though she was on my Amazon wish list.  The Rogue’s Heart starts to read as a YA, with the heroine being quite young.  But Clementine is in a very mature situation.  In this case the space pirates are basically corporate spies, stealing information.  One case puts the pirate crew in a moral situation unlike any they have previously experience.  Doing the right thing is a favorite subject for me.

Libby Doyle’s Outer Rim Rescue starts quietly enough with the heroine, Jane, hired to find a kidnapped young woman.  From there, things snowball with Jane herself needing some help out of one sticky situation after another.  An unexpected hero helps out and then they take a ship all over the solar system.  Lots of action in this one!

Carysa Locke’s story, Pirate Spark, which takes place in her Telepathic Space Pirates series, is the only one that may suffer from lack of series knowledge.  Having read only one of the series, I stumbled across several references that I was unfamiliar with which were not well-detailed.  However, this did not prevent me from enjoying the story.  The old woman who finds herself back in a young body has the most interesting combination of wisdom and daring. 

S.J. Pajonas and Christina Wescott also contributed stories that are parts of series, though both of them stand very well on their own.  In Pajonas’s An Unforgiving Desert, Skylar and Kalvin will learn that first, second and even third impressions often miss the mark.  The story of survival could happen in any genre, but the scifi aspect of the desert may make you appreciate the Sahara.

Westcott’s Spacer’s Third Law was probably my favorite, but that is because I am already a fan of The Dragon’s Bidding series and because it has a sentient cat.  Yes, Lilly the cat can communicate telepathically.  Oh sure, the rest of the story is good too, but …. cat!  Bru’s and Eric’s reluctant path to romance is also quite charming.

Space opera fans, this book is for you. Especially if you like a little romance in your scifi. 

Thanks to Ms. Westcott who sent a copy of this book my way in exchange for my honest review.

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