From the blurb:

A tragedy brought Eva Brookwell and Samuel Shaw back into each other’s lives. But will lies from the past destroy their chances of a future?

Left penniless after the death of her philandering father, Eva Brookwell takes a job as a governess at Rye Hall, but didn’t expect to find her young charges scarred and blinded from smallpox. Rye Hall is an unhappy house with a tyrannical master and Eva is forced to turn to her pupils’ uncle, Samuel Shaw for help.

Eva and Samuel had once been engaged, until his lies drove them apart. Still in love with him, Eva knows she could never trust him again; however he is her only ally in the dark and disturbed household she now lives in.

I was delighted to receive a copy of this book for review, having very much enjoyed Lucy’s first novel (see my review at https://hannahfielding.net/?p=1991). This book didn’t disappoint at all; in fact, I was most impressed to find Lucy is as fine a historical romance writer as she is a contemporary romance writer.

I loved this short  novel. I read it in two sittings happily ensconced in the corner of a coffee shop, and it felt like blissful ‘me time’.

The story is compelling and believable. I loved the setup – the abused wife, the poor little girls, the lady who’s fallen on bad fortune, the tyrant villain and the former fiance whom I wanted to dislike for abandoning Eva but just couldn’t. The characters leap off the page and demand that you connect with them, for their strengths but also for their flaws. I especially felt for Samuel, and the predicament in which he’d found himself, and I liked Eva’s struggle to cope with Samuel’s past and to broaden her mind.

The story builds to an exciting climax which had me clicking avidly through the pages on my Kindle. The ending was, for me, perfection – everything you could want – and I was left with a happy, warm glow when I got to the last page.

In all, a brilliant, well-crafted, romantic read which has left me very much looking forward to the author’s next historical fiction novel.

I was offered this book in exchange for a fair review via NetGalley.

Summer in Rye is available now from Amazon; click on the book cover below to visit the store.