Curl up with Sandra Byrd’s New Victorian-Gothic book, Mist of Midnight (Review & Giveaway)

About Sandra Byrd

After earning her first rejection at the age of thirteen, bestselling author Sandra Byrd has now published more than forty books. Her adult fiction debut, Let Them Eat Cake, was a Christy Award finalist, as was her first historical novel, To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn. To Die For was also named by Library Journal as a Best Books Pick for 2011 and The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Kateryn Parr, was named a Library Journal Best Books Pick for 2012. The Tudor series’ end cap, Roses Have Thorns: A Novel of Elizabeth I published in April, 2013.

A life-long lover of Victorian Gothic romances, Sandra’s new series, Daughters of Hampshire, weaves elements of that mystical, traditional genre with inspirational and literary threads. Mist of Midnight, the series’ first book, debuts in March, 2015.

Sandra has also published dozens of books for tweens and teens, and is passionate about helping new authors develop their talent and their work toward traditional or independent publication. As such, she has mentored and coached hundreds of new writers and continues to coach dozens to success each year.

About Mist of Midnight: Daughters of Hampshire, Book 1

In the first of a brand-new series set in Victorian England, a young woman returns home from India after the death of her family to discover her identity and inheritance are challenged by the man who holds her future in his hands.

Rebecca Ravenshaw, daughter of missionaries, spent most of her life in India. Following the death of her family in the Indian Mutiny, Rebecca returns to claim her family estate in Hampshire, England. Upon her return, people are surprised to see her…and highly suspicious. Less than a year earlier, an imposter had arrived with an Indian servant and assumed not only Rebecca’s name, but her home and incomes.

That pretender died within months of her arrival; the servant fled to London as the young woman was hastily buried at midnight. The locals believe that perhaps she, Rebecca, is the real imposter. Her home and her father’s investments reverted to a distant relative, the darkly charming Captain Luke Whitfield, who quickly took over. Against her best intentions, Rebecca begins to fall in love with Luke, but she is forced to question his motives—does he love her or does he just want Headbourne House? If Luke is simply after the property, as everyone suspects, will she suffer a similar fate as the first “Rebecca”?

A captivating Gothic love story set against a backdrop of intrigue and danger, Mist of Midnight will leave you breathless.

My Review of Mist of Midnight

I’ve been a fan of Sandra Byrd ever since reading the first book in her Ladies in Waiting series, To Die For and my love for her books continued to grow throughout the series. I learned so much about the Tudors through her books — and my interest to learn more about this time period grew because of Byrd. So when I saw that she was starting another historical fiction series, I know I couldn’t not read the book (even though I was a tad sad that we wouldn’t be delving back into life at the royal court. So much intrigue! 😉.

With all of that background given, I think it’s needless to say that I had very high expectations for Mist of Midnight. I wanted it to capture me in a time period that was so full of intrigue and tension that it pulled me effortlessly through the book.

The beginning of Mist of Midnight was rather slow — but not in a boring way. It was an intense introduction that started to build in suspense and intrigue with every turn of the page. By the time I reached the half-way mark I was enraptured in the plot and completely engaged with the characters.

I found Rebecca to be such a heroic and strong character. To have gone through so much in the Indies, and then to return home and not find the rest and welcome you had looked forward to — that would be tough! But her determined attitude just took it in strides.

Captain Whitfield (I was nearly at the end of the book before I could think of him as ‘Luke’) was such a mystery! It took me forever to figure him out…

…literally, it felt like forever!

And my favorite part about reading a suspense book is figuring out who is the real bad guy and who is the good guy. So it was somewhat frustrating that it took me so long. Good job, Sandra! 😉

Mist of Midnight was a bit stronger on the romance than I felt (or that I remember) her Ladies in Waiting series having, so if you love a good, tension-filled romance with a seemingly shady hero and cautious heroine, this book will definitely appeal to you! Personally, I’m more into the suspense aspect of this book, which was also satisfying!

If you can’t tell by now….I thoroughly enjoyed delving into this Victorian time period and walking alongside Rebecca as she tried to solve the mystery of what was haunting her beloved childhood home. Get this book, curl up on a dreary day, and get completely lost in Mist of Midnight.

Because who doesn’t love to win something? And if you’re a bookworm (like me!) than this is the perfect prize for you! Isn’t this bookmark so lovely??

RULES: USA Only. Must be a Bloglovin’ follower of From My Vanity. Winner is randomly chosen using Random.org. Once contacted, the winner has 1 week to respond to email. After a week, one more email will be sent. After another week, the winner forfeits the prize and a new winner will be chosen.Giveaway ends on March 16th, 2015 at midnight.
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I reviewed this book for the author. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this book, which I have done.