The sheer fact that Jane Edwards traveled back in time to the Regency Era via a bolt of lightning gives you a clue that is is not going to be your typical historical romance. Jane left her fiance because he wasn't supportive of her writing career so she left and went to England to a picturesque quintessential English village to help with inspiration so she can write the best historical romance she has ever written and prove to her ex that it isn't just a hobby. While touring the Summervale House Jane gets caught in a storm and when a bolt of lightning strike the ground in front of her she finds herself suddenly in 1818 standing over the very dead body of the beautiful Titiana sister to the Earl of Camden who just happens to find Jane there he automatically assumes Jane did it. Jane explains her appearance by telling them she fled American and her fiance to pursue her dreams in England but was robbed shortly after docking and after making her way Cloverfield she thought Summervale was as good a place as any to seek work. After Jane calmly explains why she's there and how she couldn't have possibly murdered Tatiana Camden agrees with her and hires her on as a maid.
James, the Earl of Camden, is captivated by this American stranger and it upsets him because he should be focusing on who murdered his sister. Jane with her inquisitive writers brain wants to find out what happened to Tatiana and as a maid she is easily able to talk to the rest of the staff to find thing out. Ignoring propriety Jane often seeks James out to give him the information she found out and often giving him another point of view. James knows there is more to Jane than meets the eye and the more time that passes the more he learns about the life his sister hid from him the more the wants to forget social standings and keep Jane and not as his mistress but his wife.
Overall, I loved the story. The murder mystery was fantastic and the romance was steamy. I loved that Jane knew enough about the Regency Era to know how to act and still snub the rules when she needed. James' internal conflict with himself over his feelings and the inappropriate match between himself and a maid was nice. I wish there had been an epilogue that took place in the present day about how what happened back then might have changed the present day or even Jane's ex showing up and looking at a portrait of James and Jane.
Something I rarely do unless it's part of a blog tour, but I really did enjoy this one.
Amazon:
https://amzn.to/ 2GBGvYONook:
http://bit.ly/2Jqv6zIKobo:
http://bit.ly/2GvDAVoiBooks:
https://apple.co/2xEnnJu
Medlar Mystery #2, Aunt and niece, Sara and Kate, along with their friend and basically roommate, Jack are yet again on the hunt for who murdered a seamlessly helpless old lady. Just a few months after their first adventure and all three say they are going to let the proper authorities handle it but everyone who had contact with the deceased comes to them explaining why they would have had cause to murder and before you know it Sara, Kate and Jack are once again neck deep in the case. The more they look into this lady's past the more they realize she wasn't who she seamed and it quickly goes from a whodunit to a who didn't do it seeing how most everybody had a motive.
