Her secret cloaks her in
isolation and loneliness. His secret traps him in a life that is not his own.
Cecily Faire carries the shame
of her past wherever she treads, knowing one slip of the tongue could expose
her disgrace. But soon after becoming a lady’s companion at Willowgrove Hall,
Cecily finds herself face-to-face with a man well-acquainted with the past she’s
desperately hidden for years.
Nathaniel Stanton has a secret
of his own—one that has haunted him for years and tied him to his father’s
position as steward of Willowgrove Hall. To protect his family, Nathaniel dares
not breathe a word of the truth. But as long as the shadow looms over him, he’ll
never be free to fall in love.
When the secrets swirling within
Willowgrove Hall come to light, Cecily and Nathaniel must confront a painful
choice: Will they continue running from the past…or will they stand together
and fight for a future without the suffocating weight of secrets long kept?
A Lady at Willowgrove Hall is the third
book in Sarah E. Ladd’s Whispers on the
Moors series, coming after The
Heiress of Winterwood and The Headmistress of Rosemere. Although I haven’t yet gotten the chance to read The Heiress of Winterwood, I read The Headmistress of Rosemere a little
less than a year ago, and absolutely loved it. That novel made me a huge fan of
Sarah’s, and this book just reinforced that decision. Honestly, I may have
liked this book a little bit better than the second one, but I’m not entirely
sure. Each is wonderful for mostly different reasons, so I cannot be sure which
is my favorite. No matter, for both have made it onto my all-time favorites
list, and that is a real accomplishment, to be sure.
Cecily
Faire has been harboring a secret for well on five years without telling a
soul, and it has made it difficult for her to make real connections with
people, which has kept her from finding a “family” to stand in for the one she
lost so long ago. When she is given the opportunity to become a lady’s
companion for the mistress of Willowgrove Hall—Mrs. Trent—she hopes that this
can be a new start for her, though at the same time she dreads accidentally
confessing something that could give away her greatest secret. Will she be able
to open her heart to those around her, or will she choose to leave when
surprising secrets come to light?
Nathaniel
Stanton—the steward of Willowgrove Hall—has also been harboring a secret of his
own, one that turned his world upside down and caused him to live a life that
is not his own. He has decided that marriage is not for him, at least not until
he is finally able to reveal his secret, but when Cecily arrives at Willowgrove
Hall, she changes everything. He is drawn to her in ways he never imagined he
could be, but he knows she holds secrets, and he fears taking a chance on love.
Will he put aside his plans of not getting married, or will he let Cecily, and
the secrets she carries, into his heart?
A Lady at Willowgrove Hall is a novel
full of secrets, love, and forgiveness that will sweep you off your feet and
touch your heart in ways you never imagined. And the best part about this book—aside
from the wonderful romance that is—is the way that it weaves in Christian themes
without preaching at you, though I would most likely be okay with it if it did.
Anyway, I’ve already mentioned that I added this to my all-time favorites list,
so it is pretty clear that I have chosen to award it all five bookshelves. It well
deserves it, since it is a wonderful novel I would recommend to absolutely
anyone.
Happy
reading!
To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party
page.
All credit for the italicized synopsis goes to Sarah E. Ladd
and Thomas Nelson publishing.
I love this series!
ReplyDeleteI do too! Thanks for visiting!
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