reviewsbyerin | "A Lady at Willowgrove Hall" by Sarah E. Ladd

I really love Sarah E. Ladd's Regency fiction! She is a lovely voice in this growing market, and I believe her covers are the prettiest ones in the business. When I was offered the chance to review "A Lady at Willowgrove Hall," I jumped at the opportunity!

Our heroine for this story is Cecily Faire, a sweet redhead who finds herself accepting the position of lady's companion to the elderly Mrs. Trent. Cecily has a tangled past, as she has been separated from her family since the age of 16, when her temperamental father dropped her off at a school for young ladies and intentionally never came back for her. She finished her education there and then taught for a few years before setting out to make a way on her own. She hopes someday she can be reunited with her family, especially her twin sister, but has few leads about where they have moved to.

Nathaniel Stanton is the young steward at Mrs. Trent's Willowgrove Hall estate. He inherited the position from his father and the secret of his true parentage from his mother. He's been promised to receive a legacy from his biological father upon Mrs. Trent's death, but meanwhile he is doing his best to serve at Willowgrove and take care of his mother and sisters.

Scarcely has Cecily arrived at Willowgrove before she comes face to face with her past, but rather than her family, it's the last person she ever wanted to see. But life has changed for Cecily since the youthful elopement she once planned with Andrew Moreton, and she hopes he has changed, too. Would Mrs. Trent dismiss her if she found out that Cecily was once romantically involved with her nephew? Cecily feels they must keep their secret, for her sake as well as for Andrew's upcoming marriage, and meanwhile feels growing attraction for Willowgrove's kind and serious steward.

This was a gentle story with likable characters for whom it was easy to cheer. I felt the issues that Cecily and Nathaniel faced, with things in the past that haunted each of them, were ones that readers could relate to today. There was enough mystery that the narrative was enhanced by it, rather than driven by it. I greatly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to all historical fiction fans.

My copy of the book was provided by the author in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.