Title: The Heiress of Winterwood
Author: Sarah E. Ladd
Series: Whispers on the Moors, #1
Genre: Historical Romance
Age-Range: 13+ (young adult/adult)
Era: 1814 (Regency)
Setting: Darbury, England
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Source: library
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Content: 3/5. I’d say thematic elements (fights, guns, knives, semi-detailed … nothing gory or overdone) and then some kissing (not detailed), noticing, all the average romance stuff, but none of it inappropriate. The main thing is that a baby is conceived out of wedlock by minor characters and it barely comes up and is hardly talked about at all. No cussing.
Cover: 4/5. Such mixed feelings … just like with the book! It’s really elegant and pretty, but I feel like it doesn’t portray the actual nature of the novel too well, y’know?
The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah E. Ladd
Darbury, England, 1814
Amelia Barrett gave her word. Keeping it could cost her everything.
Amelia Barrett, heiress to an estate nestled in the English moors, defies family expectations and promises to raise her dying friend’s baby. She’ll risk everything to keep her word—even to the point of proposing to the child’s father—a sea captain she’s never met.
When the child vanishes with little more than an ominous ransom note hinting at her whereabouts, Amelia and Graham are driven to test the boundaries of their love for this little one.
Amelia’s detailed plans would normally see her through any trial, but now, desperate and shaken, she’s forced to examine her soul and face her one weakness: pride.
Graham’s strength and self-control have served him well and earned him much respect, but chasing perfection has kept him a prisoner of his own discipline. And away from the family he has sworn to love and protect.
Both must learn to have faith and relinquish control so they can embrace the future ahead of them.
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This was a decent novel, but not worth a second read.
My main problem with this book can be summed up in one word – pacing. It ended to quickly; it didn’t give me a feeling of resolution. In fact, I found the whole book to be too fast-paced …
… and at the same time, too slow-paced. The big plot twist mentioned in the summary didn’t happen until midway through! I kept waiting and waiting for something interesting to happen, but it didn’t for the longest time.
I didn’t really adore the main characters. There wasn’t anything specifically wrong with them, but they seemed a bit bland to me. Some of the situations were unrealistic and the villain was unbelievable.
Now, I won’t go on any longer about this book which I didn’t particularly like. That wouldn’t be fair to anyone (such as the author, an editor, etc.) who put a lot of time into this novel because they might run across this. So I’ll stop, but I will say that this book needs sharpening!
~Kellyn Roth
p.s. Sorry about the extra post! It was admittedly another scheduling fail …
