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Tuesday, January 1, 2019

In the Shadow of Croft Towers by Abigail Wilson Review & Giveaway


About the Book







Book: In the Shadow of Croft Towers



Author: Abigail Wilson



Genre: Historical fiction, romantic suspense




Release Date: January 15, 2019




From debut author Abigail Wilson comes a mysterious Regency tale of secrets and spies, love and treachery.

Orphaned Sybil Delafield jumps at the opportunity for a position at the mysterious Croft Towers. She believes she was hired to act as companion to a dying woman, but a highway robbery and a hostile welcome from the Chalcroft family cause her to wonder if she was actually hired to help someone spy for France.

An unsolved murder adds intrigue to this already secretive family, and Sybil recognizes Mrs. Chalcroft’s handsome grandson as one of the infamous highwaymen who robbed her. Sybil must determine if this man’s charming smile and earnest eyes speak the truth or if he is simply using her like others in the house. Everyone seems to have something to hide, and Sybil must decide who to trust while also coming to terms with the truth about her own past.




Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author





Abigail Wilson combines her passion for Regency England with intrigue and adventure to pen historical mysteries with a heart. A Registered Nurse, chai tea addict, and mother of two crazy kids, Abigail fills her spare time hiking the National Parks, attending her daughter’s gymnastic meets, and curling up with a great book. In 2017, Abigail won WisRWA’s Fab Five contest and ACFW’s First Impressions contest as well as placing as a finalist in the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She is a cum laude graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and currently lives in Dripping Springs, Texas, with her husband and children. Connect with Abigail at www.acwilsonbooks.com


Excerpt from the Book

1813

THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE

I often wonder what my life would have been like if I had never learned the truth. I wouldn’t have set off as I did for Croft Towers. I never would have met him.

It’s strange what I remember about the day I left London. The mail coach was late; the weather wretched. The clock had struck midnight long before two strangers and I ducked beneath the postmaster’s outstretched umbrella to board the Royal Mail and rumble across the North Downs.

That difficult journey east marked the beginning of an unseasonably cold autumn. Frigid rain pelted the coach windows. The undercarriage squealed beneath the seats as a metallic scent wound its way between the drafty boards. I gripped the windowsill, wondering if the coachman intended to hit every bump in the road.

“Far to go, miss?”

The woman’s voice startled me. Dressed head to toe in red

satin, she’d endured the last few darkened hours with a handful of smelling salts and a tongue hot for complaints, but she hadn’t spoken to me until now. Not until the first hint of rain-soaked daylight peeked over the horizon.

I lowered my gaze and fiddled with my bonnet ribbons. “Yes, ma’am . . . well, not too much farther, I hope.”

Taken from “In the Shadow of Croft Towers” by Abigail Wilson. Copyright © 2018 by Abigail Wilson. Used by permission of http://www.thomasnelson.com/


Blog Stops

Just the Write Escape, December 20
Faery Tales Are Real, December 20
The Avid Reader, December 20
Mary Hake, December 22
Carpe Diem, December 22
Inklings and notions, December 23
Blogging With Carol, December 23
Stories By Gina, December 24
Remembrancy, December 24
Madeline Clark, December 25
Janices book reviews, December 26
Back Porch Reads, December 27
Book by Book, December 27
Daysong Reflections, December 28
All-of-a-kind Mom, December 28
Godly Book Reviews, December 29
Bigreadersite, December 29
A Rup Life, December 30
Bibliophile Reviews, December 30
A Reader’s Brain, December 31
Texas Book-aholic, December 31
Bookworld Reviews, January 1
Pause for Tales, January 1

Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Abigail is giving away a grand prize of one finished copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d777/in-the-shadow-of-croft-towers-celebration-tour-giveaway


My Thoughts


I love regency stories and I also love suspense and mysteries, so when I first heard about this book I knew I HAD to read it!
This is a great book! I instantly liked the main character, Sybil and was cheering her on throughout the book.  I did predict several of the plot twists, but that did not at all lessen my enjoyment of the story, and there were a couple surprises that I did not expect, it's always super fun when that happens! The suspense and romance in this book were both so great and in my opinion there was the perfect ratio of romance and suspense, all of which were brilliantly written! Speaking of the writing, this book is written in first person POV, my personal favorite so I was super excited to discover that was how this author chose to write her story! 
I definitely consider this book to be a clean read, the only problem I had with it was that I was expecting a faith story of some kind and I was disappointed that there did not seem to be one at all! 
Overall, I enjoyed this book very much and I am so glad I read it! I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. If you are looking for a clean read that combines the regency era with suspense and romance I highly recommend In the Shadow of Croft Towers.
(4 Stars!)



I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. Which did not influence my review in any way, all thoughts and opinions are one hundred percent my own.