★★★☆☆
Review:
First, I would like to thank NetGalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Publishing for providing me with a free digital audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Looking at all the rave reviews on this book, I appear to be in the minority. This book just was middle-of-the-road for me. I read the synopsis immediately upon finishing the book (I like to go into a book with as little information as possible) and was shocked to see that it was billed as a regency romance. While there is a hint of second-chance romance in this book, it is certainly not the focal point. This is much more of a historical mystery than anything else. I believe I would have enjoyed this book much more if the romance had been even marginally more involved in the story.
The narration was also middle-of-the-road. I was not able to distinguish one character from another based on her narration. All older characters sounded old, and all the younger characters sounded alike in their respective genders. The only person truly given a distinct voice was Mrs. Cavanagh.
As for the mystery aspect, I felt no spark of intrigue as clues were revealed. When the final twist emerged, what should have been a shocking realization just fell flat.
I read most books on audio, so I do not believe that the format had anything to do with my average rating. This book unfortunately just did not work for me.
#NetGalley #TheVanishingatLoxbyManor
Audience: adult
Trigger warnings: violence, references to prior sexual assault, murder
Recommended for fans of: historical fiction, historical mystery, mystery, regency romance, second-chance romance, gothic fiction
Publisher's Synopsis:
Disappearances, strange activities in the night, and secret organizations abound in this mysterious Regency romance.
Haunted by the assault she’s kept hidden over the past four years, Charity Halliwell finally has a chance to return home to the quaint village she left more than five years before and the happy life she wants so badly to reclaim. All she needs is good conversation with her old friend and an opportunity to find a governess position, and she can leave the fear and guilt behind. But the family who agrees to her yearlong visit turns out to be a far cry from the one she thought she knew, particularly when her friend disappears and the one man she made certain would not be at the house is forced to return. How can she possibly heal and claim her independence when day in, day out she must face the only gentleman who ever held a piece of her heart?
Piers Cavanagh was branded a coward when he failed to show up for a duel he arranged. He had his reasons, of course, but disclosing them would hurt far more than continuing life as an outcast. And worse, with the mysterious departure of his sister, the strange nightly occurrences in the ruins of an old abbey, and the uncomfortable whispers of a secret organization, Piers must overcome his aversion to society and work with the last person he ever thought he would get the chance to speak to again—the girl whose heart he had no choice but to break.
Source:
NetGalley
©Thomas Nelson and Zondervan: January 26, 2021
Edition: Audiobook
8 hours 58 minutes
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