House Of Shadows: Discover the Thrilling Untold Story of the Winter Queen (New Timeslip, #1)

by Nicola Cornick

For fans of Barbara Erskine and Kate Morton comes an unforgettable novel about three women and the power one lie can have over history.

London, 1662:
There was something the Winter Queen needed to tell him. She fought for the strength to speak.
‘The crystal mirror is a danger. It must be destroyed – ‘
He replied instantly. ‘It will’.

Ashdown, Oxfordshire, present day: Ben Ansell is researching his family tree when he disappears. As his sister Holly begins a desperate search, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to an ornate antique mirror and to the diary of Lavinia, a 19th century courtesan who was living at Ashdown House when it burned to the ground over 200 years ago.

Intrigued, and determined to find out more about the tragedy at Ashdown, Holly’s only hope is that uncovering the truth about the past will lead her to Ben.

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Readers love Nicola Cornick:

‘Alluring and hypnotising… I was hooked from page one.’

‘A haunting and mesmerising story.’

‘Atmospheric and filled with tension and danger.’

‘Full of dark twists and spooky turns. Brilliantly written, unguessable and page-turning.’

‘Spellbinding, with a narrative that left me bewitched. Not to be missed!’

‘A fabulous read. I was completely enthralled, and kept guessing throughout.’

• ISBN13: 9781474038089
• Publish Date: 5 November 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HQ
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 448
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[pagesbycyndy]

I am a sucker for a time travel books. The plot was really interesting and I found that I quickly became absorbed in the story. I like how the story went from past to present seamlessly. Overall a very good book.

[chymerra]

I was a little hesitant to request House of Shadows. I actually debated, for a little while, on requesting this book. I haven’t read anything about Elizabeth Stuart or the Stuart Era (1603-1714). I had a feeling that there would be many POV’s. Many POV’s, for the most part, annoy me. I can’t keep up with the story. What ended up making me request this book from NetGalley was the storyline and, believe it or not, the cover. I thought the cover was beautiful. Having read House of Shadows, I can say with confidence that this cover describes the book pretty well.

House of Shadows will sweep you away from the first chapter. You get sucked into the three storylines in the book. The book came alive for me, which thrilled me to no end. It has been a long time where I was engrossed in a book.

There were 3 main storylines. There were some minor sub-storylines that were connected to each storyline. Those were wrapped up in each storyline and didn’t appear again in the book. I liked that all the main storylines were connected.

I thought the mirror and pearl being evil and reigning havoc in every storyline was great. You have inanimate objects that have the power to destroy kingdoms, houses, and lives. What I enjoyed is that they were never together after Craven separated them. Even with them separated, the havoc they did was immense and spanned generations.

Going, to be honest, here, I wasn’t a huge fan of Elizabeth Stuart. Elizabeth bugged me because she kept Craven dangling on the end of a leash. She said she loved him but she refused to go public because she was a Queen and he was a commoner. That drove me nuts (as it did Craven). I thought, as he did, that he was kept around to clean up messes that her family made.

Lavinia, oh Lavinia. I knew that she was going to show up in the story but I didn’t expect that she would show up as journal entries. I thought that was ingenious of the author because you read Lavinia’s story as Holly was reading it. Lavinia got herself in a lot of trouble with Lord Evershot. At first, he was a gentleman towards her but the more Holly read, the more twisted he was. I was shocked that the author chose to portray him as such but, looking back, I can understand why. He got corrupted by the thought of finding the pearl. That turned him into a person that Lavinia didn’t recognize. I do wish that her affair with Robert turned out better. But, as with Elizabeth, it wasn’t fated to be.

How Holly felt after her beloved older brother, Ben, went missing was awful. She adored Ben, hero-worshipped him, to be honest. She decided to follow Ben’s steps to see if she could find out what happened to him.

The end of the book was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. I was sad at parts and happy during others. I know this is vague but you need to read the book to understand why I wrote that.

My Summary of House of Shadows: 5 stars

House of Shadows was a fantastic read for me. You are pulled into Stuart Era France and England, Regency England and present-day England. With plots that are taken right out of history, characters that are flushed out and 3D, and romances that span lifetimes, this is a book that you need to read.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Older Teen

Why: Sexual situations (nothing graphic but characters do have sex), language and violence. There is a very graphic scene where a woman is beaten with a whip and then with stinging nettles.

I would like to thank Nicola Cornick, Harlequin, Graydon House and NetGalley for allowing me to review House of Shadows

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**