Historical Romance to Tickle Your Fancy

I love it when I discover new-to-me authors, and Abigail Wilson fits the bill. A quick check on Amazon reveals that this is her first book, and I already look forward to her second book, due out this summer. I grew up loving Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and the Brönte sisters, so Wilson’s book really struck my fancy.

In the Shadow of Croft Towers

Sybil Delafield arrives at Croft Towers to take up her position as lady’s companion to the formidable Mrs. Chalcroft bedraggled and worn out—the victim of a highway robber and a relentless rainstorm. The inauspicious beginning to her new venture (and virtual penniless) state doesn’t bode well for her new life.

The family’s reception confirms her sinking suspicion that she’s made the wrong choice. But a penniless orphan of unknown background has little choice in the matter. Even worse, her employer is indisposed, the family seems unaware that she’s been hired, and her employer’s godson is the last person she’d expect to find in an aristocrat’s drawing room.

Fortunately, Sybil has a firm moral compass to guide her through the uncharted waters of living in a household full of intrigue. But as one event after the other propels her deeper and deeper into the intrigue at Croft Towers, she wonders if she’ll ever discover the answers she sought when she left the comfort and safety of Mrs. Smith’s school for young ladies. 

Abagail Wilson has masterfully woven a Regency suspense story that will evoke a long-gone era. The author beautifully blends the Regency genre with vibrant descriptions, a sweet love story, and enough suspense to keep the reader enthralled. 

Jen Turano

I’ve loved every book I’ve read by Jen Turano, but her latest release really tickled my fancy. The characters sparkle and shine, and steal your heart. The madcap situations make me squirm with delight. If you’ve never read one of her books, now’s the time to start!

Flights of Fancy

Jen Turano knocks it out of the park with her delightful new release Flights of Fancy. Miss Isadora Delafield, an American heiress without the usual wish for marrying a man with a foreign title, finds herself in deep water when her beauty (and dowry) catch the eye of an English duke. Her faithful butler (and his fellow butler friend) plot an escape plan that sends the sweet (but undeniably spoiled) Isadora to a country estate in the wilds of Pennsylvania to seek employment as a housekeeper. A job for which Izzy is woefully unqualified.

When a bespectacled (but beautiful) young woman shows up in answer to his advertisement for a housekeeper, Ian MacKenzie thinks she might be an answer to prayer (since his previous housekeeper left in a huff on the last train out of town).

Her letter of recommendation seems a bit suspect, and she seems a tad demanding—just because his Uncle Amos chases her with a rifle, causing her to tumble through a patch of poison ivy doesn’t give her the right to ring a cowbell incessantly. Glory Manor (despite its genteel name) is short of help and filled with people who need it—including his elderly adopted aunt and uncle and four orphaned children.

Will Ian discover his true calling and identity before he makes a cake of himself? Can Isadora learn to adapt when she’s out of her natural environment? Her very life could depend on her ability to adapt.

Readers will fall in love with the cast of characters found at Glory Manor and in the nearby town of Canonsburg (including Buttercup the cow and Elmer the hen). Flights of Fancy, the first in the American Heiress series, has the perfect recipe of humor, romance, witty dialogue, deep truths, and endearing characters.

I receive free electronic advanced reader copies of these books through an arrangement between the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion on NetGalley’s website. I only review books on my blog that I really love.