Eliza Ellis has lived and dreamed with her father, the Captain, and her beagle, in a tiny cabin far in the woods all of her life. Her imagined fairytale adventures become reality when a genteel farmer, Felton Northwood, invades her quiet forest insisting she is the long-lost daughter of a viscount, who disappeared fourteen years ago after the murder of her mother.

DOES THE DOG DIE?

NO.

I really enjoyed Hannah Linder’s prior novel, Garden of the Midnights, so I requested this ARC as soon as it became available. This one didn’t thrill me as I’d hoped, but it is well-written. My disappointment largely stems from the way that this book is being marketed as a “Gothic Style Regency” (the subtitle is even “A Regency Novel”) when it’s just not that.

Other than the timestamp of taking place in the years 1812-13, there aren’t any aspects to this story that are specific to the Regency period, and it doesn’t utilize any of the tropes from what is generally understood as Regency genre fiction.

This is a Gothic murder mystery and even rises to the level of a thriller at various points. I believe that this book’s targeted audience is going to be taken aback to learn that the plot is really about the hunt for a serial killer who tortures his victims with knives. The level of violence, gory descriptions, and dark themes are not at all what I was expecting.

Quite frankly, I didn’t like any of the characters in this book. Poor Eliza. Everyone in her life except her dog and a disabled housemaid is completely selfish. She gets kidnapped originally and kept by Captain due to selfish motivations, she gets kidnapped again and dragged back home by Felton due to his selfishness and narcissism, and multiple people try to kill her due to selfish reasons. Even her own father won’t man up and do right by her when he sees that her return to his manor is making her nothing short of miserable, and that her life is in constant danger. And why is the housekeeper such a witch to just everyone in general?

Because it was Felton who couldn’t let his grudges go after 14 years, Eliza’s life was uprooted entirely and she was almost killed. Because of his decision to bring Eliza back to her original home and to expose her identity, many other people actually did get killed, As a result, I had a really hard time rooting for his and Eliza’s romance. I would have kicked that guy to the curb.

I believe that this novel should include trigger warnings/content warnings. This is 2023, and this novel is considered Christian fiction where readers are more likely to be sensitive to disturbing and dark content.

Thank you Netgalley and Barbour Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.