She’s
out to steal his name. Will he steal her heart instead?
Rosemary Gresham has
no family beyond the band of former urchins who helped her survive as a girl in
the mean streets of London. Grown now, they are no longer pickpockets—instead
they focus on high value items and have learned how to blend into upper-class
society. Rosemary is beginning to question whether she can continue in this
life when she’s offered the challenge of a lifetime—determine whether a certain
wealthy gentleman is loyal to Britain or to Germany. After all, how does one
steal a family’s history, their very name?
As Europe moves ever
closer to World War I, rumors swirl around Peter Holstein. Awkward and
solitary, but with access to the king, many fear his influence. But Peter can’t
help his German last name and wants to prove his loyalty to the Crown—so he can
go back to anonymously writing a series of popular adventure novels. When
Rosemary arrives on his doorstep pretending to be a well-credentialed
historian, Peter believes she’s the right person to help him dig through his
family’s past.
When danger and
suspicion continue to mount, both realize they’re in a race against time to
discover the truth—about Peter’s past and about the undeniable attraction
kindling between them.
A Name Unknown is
the first book in Roseanna M. White’s Shadows
Over England series, but definitely isn’t the first book I’ve ever read by
her. In fact, Roseanna is one of my favorite authors of all time, and I have
read all of both her Culper Ring and Ladies of the Manor series. As soon as I
heard she was coming out with another series I knew I had to read them, and so
far I have not been disappointed. Just like I expected, A Name Unknown is expertly woven with an intriguing storyline,
well-developed characters, and the perfect historical setting.
Rosemary Gresham is such a strong character. As her story
unfolds and her painful past becomes clear, one cannot help but feel so much
compassion for her. At the same time, it is obvious she is perfectly capable of
taking care of herself, and that fire and determination is one of the aspects
of her personality that immediately drew me to her. Even though I also loved
Peter, I couldn’t help but want Rosemary to succeed in her mission, because I didn’t
want to know what would happen to her if she didn’t.
Peter Holstien is one of my favorite characters I have ever
read about. Although I am not anywhere near as serious of a writer as he is, I couldn’t
help but really relate to him as a lover of stories myself, and it always made
me laugh when he forgot everything else when inspiration struck. Besides, he
was also by far the sweetest, most compassionate man, and I loved how he tried
to keep his good deeds a secret. And his relationship with Elowyn was pretty
cute too.
All in all, I think this is one of my favorite books that
Roseanna has written. The storyline is so different from anything I have read
before, and it definitely wasn’t lacking unexpected events. I never could have
guessed how the story would end, and the last few chapters were so full of
action I was literally on the edge of my seat. I have always highly recommended
Roseanna’s novels as she is by far one of my all-time favorite authors, but I would
say if you never read any of her other books, read this one. It is so worth it,
so captivating, and will convince you to read more of her books because you won’t
be able to get enough. As you can tell, this is one of my all-time favorite
stories, and has therefore received all five bookshelves, and is definitely a
novel I will read again.
Happy reading!
I received a copy of this novel through the Litfuse
Publicity Group in exchange for only my honest review.
To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party
page.
All credit for the italicized synopsis goes to Roseanna M. White and Bethany House Publishers.
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