When Emily Clairmont’s husband is tragically struck down by typhoid fever after only a few months of blissful domesticity, Emily finds herself heartbroken and completely alone in the world. Having lost her mother in childbirth and her father right before her marriage, she has no choice but to seek a position as a governess. She reaches out to her husband’s family solicitor, Quinn Westbourne, … hoping that he may be able to help her.
Quinn takes one look at the young and beautiful Emily and decides that a job as a governess will not do. He writes instead to the father-in-law she’s never met, and when Leopold Clairmont offers her a place in his home, Quinn agrees to escort Emily to his isolated refuge in St. Kilda. But he did not anticipate how challenging it would be to keep his distance from the grieving widow when all he wants to do is take her in his arms and console her. The two forge a friendship on their journey, and Emily begins to wonder if she could find solace and a live a comfortable life as a widow in her new home.
The tiny island of Hirta in the remote cluster of islands known as St. Kilda off the Scottish coast is wild and beautiful, her father-in-law is warm and welcoming, and her sister-in-law offers her much-needed female companionship, but the island is also full of secrets. When Emily learns things about her husband that he never revealed, she wonders if she ever really knew him at all. Torn between her devotion to her departed husband and her growing feelings for Quinn, Emily must decide whether her heart belongs to the living or the dead and find the courage to act before it’s too late.
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The book was much better than I had expected as I didn’t care for the cover.
too much sadness
Boring and predictable.
Predictable but well written
That should say unoriginal. I like historical fiction and I like romance. This story was not accurate. A young widow is taken on a trip to live with her deceased husbands family. She is escorted by the family lawyer. No companion, no separate sleeping rooms, joined rooms….I just stopped reading.
Different plot than other stories makes this stand out to me
Very well written
The story was slow and predictable
I would say that the selling point is that the book is paced well, with excellent character development, interesting plot and above all well written. I suspect that it is the author I like more than just the book.
I had to stop. Just so excessively, determinedly, iteratively repetitive.
“They took a small boat because there was no jetty. Then he carried her to shore because there was no jetty.”
I began to feel everything had to be said twice. At least twice. Maybe thrice. Because once is not enough. We need to read it again. Repetition to make sure we get it. It’s important that we understand what’s been said. So we need to read it again. And again.
Get the idea?
Also, the characters were very flat and predictable.
And …
A problem, but not just in this book. Srsly, ladies? If men were as obsessed with envisioning women’s bodies through their clothes as so many of these books imply, they’d be crouched over hiding their crotches ALL the friggin’ time. Nothing would ever get done.
And women would rule the world 🙂
I was drawn into this story because I was curious to see how Emily’s life would pan out. It started out very sad but things were getting better for awhile, and then fate took a turn. Her strength was tested. All in all it was a very good story and I enjoyed it very much.
i really enjoyed this book nver knew what was c omin around the corner the description s of everything was just marvelous …i was right there.