"Garden of the Midnights" by Hannah Linder

About this book:

  “The accidents are not a matter of chance. They are deliberate. As English gentleman William Kensley becomes aware of the danger at Rosenleigh Manor, he pleads for the truth of his past from the only man he can trust—until that man is murdered. 
    As the secrets unfold into scandal, William’s world is tipped into destitution, leaving him penniless and alone. His only comfort is in the constant friendship and love of Isabella Gresham. If he does not have their nonsense at the seashore, their laughter, their reckless adventures, has he anything at all?
    He should have known that would be ripped from him too. When a hidden foe arises from their acquaintances and imperils Isabella’s life, William may be the only one willing to risk his life to rescue her. But even if he frees Isabella from her captors, will he still have to forsake her heart? 
   Some sacrifice everything for love. Others sacrifice love for everything else. In this haunting tale of rigid social prejudices and heart-aching regrets, the greatest decision of their life will be determined in the garden of the midnights.”


Series: No, a stand-alone novel.


Spiritual Content- Prayers; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Towards the end, William wonders if God is laughing at him and does not care about him *Spoiler* because of all of the things that have been taken away from him and feels very bitter; He tells God that he forgives Him towards the very end *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of God, Christ, & forgiveness; Mentions of churches & clergymen; A few mentions of praying & prayers; A few mentions of a man’s “saintly wife” & her making him confess and repent to a clergyman; A few mentions of sins; A couple mentions of a Bible (including swearing on one); A couple mentions of Godspeed; A mention of someone looking like an angel; A mention of an Anglican liturgy at a funeral; 
             *Note: When discussing the poor and rich and how they are viewed, William says that “there are too many people who would offer the honorary seat to the rich and the stool in the corner to the poor.” and Isabella responds “I have heard the vicar at church read as much.”; William’s aunt tells him that he was a “sinful child” and was “wicked”also; A man says that “we are here and there, caught in a realm between heaven and hell. I sometimes wonder if we are in the latter already”; The phrases “for mercy’s sake”, “mercy”, “by all that was holy”, “would/wish to heaven”, “good heavens”, and “what in the name of heaven?” are said and exclaimed up to multiple times each; A few mentions of some men and women being called devils; A couple mentions of a terrible event being the work of demons and devilish; A couple mentions of ghosts & haunting a place; A mention of a place being as “black as sin”.
 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘give a devil’, a ‘stupid’, a ‘thunder and turf’, a ‘what the devil’, three ‘bloody-well’s, three ‘the devil’s (replacing ‘heck’ or stronger), four forms of ‘dash/dashed’, and six ‘bloody’s; Mentions of curses (said, not written); Wishing to die (when things look deadly or hopeless, both William and Isabella have these thoughts up to a few times total); A Swordfights/Duel, Fighting/Punching, Being slapped and hit, Being strangled, Being kidnapped, Being shot, Being shot at, Being held at gunpoint/knifepoint, Being robbed, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, Passing out, Nightmares, & Thinking they are dying/will die (up to semi-detailed to detailed); Seeing deaths, seeing someone shot and killed, injuries, & blood/bleeding (semi-detailed); Someone has ordered for William to be killed & we see attempts (semi-detailed); Marauders attack, shoot at others, and try to set a young woman on fire (someone believes another is dead after their attack, up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler* William kills a man in a duel by stabbing him multiple times (up to semi-detailed) *End of Spoiler*; William goes to drink and wants to lose himself in the alcohol to forget someone (but doesn’t drink more than the foam); William recalls his aunts verbal and physical abuse & her locking him in dark rooms as a child (up to semi-detailed, including comments of it being good that his mother died because she wouldn’t have loved a “sinful child” like him and he believes her, having bitterness in his heart towards his mother and father; She claims his parents are to blame for him being wicked and therefore deserving of her punishments); Isabella eavesdrops on conversations; Mentions of a murder, murder attempts, deaths, bodies, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of raiders/marauders, fires, stealing, & thieves (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a husband who abandoned his family & his family ill and dying after he left (including his starving children, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of murder attempts disguised as accidents; Mentions of verbal and physical abuse by an adult figure to a child (William’s aunt towards him growing up); Mentions of grief (for a lover, a wife, mothers, sibling, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of blackmail & threats; Mentions of nightmares (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of hatred; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, social drinking at parties, & drunks; Mentions of smoking, tobacco, cigars, & pipes; Mentions of having to shoot an injured horse & bury it (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of manure & human waste; Mentions of a butcher shop, the smells, throwing up, & blood (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); A few mentions of hangings (including a man saying that if something was revealed to others, he would hang himself); A few mentions of workhouses & children dying there; A few mentions of torture; A few mentions of vomiting; A few mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of a man beating his son to where he couldn’t walk (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of a baby being bruised & mistreated; A couple mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of eavesdropping; A mention of gambling; 
             *Note: William’s aunt and cousin have been mean to him for years, but he always hoped that they would love him; William’s cousin always craved his mother’s attention, but never received it (because of this he is jealous of William being punished by her because that means he at least got her attention); William feels upset at his aunt for her cruelness and wishes for her to die, but stops that train of thought; *Spoiler* William finds out his parents are not his biological parents and feels hollow at not knowing who he is; His nanny who was involved in his upbringing thought it was the better choice for him than to grow up in the workhouse and he agrees that he could have died there if not taken *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of prejudices towards the poor; A few mentions of a man loving one child but treating his other child terribly; A couple mentions of a book (‘The Sorrows of Young Werther’); A mention of a man calling other cowardly men women (“men who are not women, too afraid to fight”).
 
 
Sexual Content- Staring at another’s lips, finger kisses, a forehead kiss, two cheek kisses (one being semi-detailed), a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, six semi-detailed kisses (two unwanted/forced), and a detailed kiss; Remembering kisses (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Hand holding, Electricity, Warmth, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed, some are unwanted/forced); Remembering touches, embraces, & warmth (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (including imagining undoing a girl’s hair pins, up to semi-detailed); Noticing (including muscles, up to semi-detailed); Blushes; *Spoiler* At the beginning, William is told that he is an illegitimate child; Later it’s revealed that his biological parents and their marital status is unknown *End of Spoiler*; Isabella doesn’t believe in love *Spoiler* after hearing her parents talk about not loving the other when she was young and her realizes that they acted like they cared for the other only in front of her *End of Spoiler*; Isabella is intrigued and scared by a mysterious man (not William); There is a man somewhat obsessed with Isabella & touches and kisses her without her permission *Spoiler* He kidnaps her towards the end of the book, tears her clothes to show her undergarments, kisses her only, and William says he will kill the man if he had “robbed her innocence” *End of Spoiler*; Isabella wishes to runaway with William *Spoiler* and though he is tempted, he will not do that to her because he cannot provide for her *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of illegitimate children, men doing their duty when a woman is pregnant, affairs, secret love trysts; Mentions of women running away with servants; Mentions of reputations, scandals, & young women being compromised; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of blushes & flirting; A few mentions of a man being a rogue & stealing kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of trollops; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a man losing control of himself and loving a woman in “every forbidden way” (and thus her becoming pregnant); A mention of a man’s “uncontrollable passions”; A mention of a man’s sensual lust after Isabella; A mention of a man running off with a married woman; A mention of prostitutes; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: William thinks that being near Isabella is healing him and his wounds; Mentions of mothers and a baby who died in childbirth; A few mentions of scantily clad trollops & a woman’s dress not fully covering her bosom; A couple mentions of a young woman who only finds gentlemen and wine delightful; A mention of a man saying obscenities towards fair-faced maids; A mention of a man saying that he’s yoked to a plain woman, but knows he could never be happy without her; A mention of a shirtless man.
 
-Isabella Gresham, age 20
-William Kensley, age 21
                                P.O.V. switches between them 
                                           Set in 1809-1810 (Prologue in 1787 & Epilogue in 1814)
                                                        322 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

Let’s first admire that gorgeous cover, yes? It’s beautiful. 

 

I was very hesitant about reading this book, because the author’s first book wasn’t my favorite writing style with it being very poetic and flowy, but I found this one more enjoyable and easy to read. Like the prior book I read by this author, this one was also very dramatic most of the time, though some of the beginning parts were entertaining. I don’t read many books with the Forbidden Lovers trope and this book reminded me why—the angst nearly does me in! And that was especially the case with this book and all the dramatic parts and scenes. I’ll admit that I wasn’t a fan of the last part nor thrilled with the ending angst. (The epilogue was good though and was a nice calm after the crazy storms these characters went through.)

 

I really enjoyed the first third of this book because of the cute sibling moments. I love the sibling content. I’m disappointed that ended up being a romance book, even though I knew it was going to be, hahaha! They quickly went to possibly-siblings to not to forbidden lovers a bit too fast in my opinion, but it was over the course of sometime in the actual book, which I tried to keep in mind. That said, they were really cute together with both angles.

 

The villain of the story was…well, a villain and I hated him, quite honestly. His parts and events towards the end made me drop the ratings for this book personally and for BFCG’s age groups. 

 

I think it’s important to note two things: 1.) There’s a few times the main characters wish to die or to end it all when things look terribly hopeless that could be hard for some readers. 2.) There’s a lot about forgiveness but it doesn’t come across as the Christian thing to do or what God requires of us until the very end when a character chooses to forgive God because of different past events and feeling bitter towards Him. Most of the faith content prior was begging prayers or asking God why something happened. 

 

It was an interesting read to be sure, but one that I liked some parts and disliked others.

 

 

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Barbour) for this honest review.

"Beneath His Silence" by Hannah Linder

About this book:

  “Will Seeking Justice Lead to Her Own Demise?
    A Gothic-Style Regency Romance from a Promising Young Author
    Second daughter of a baron—and a little on the mischievous side—Ella Pemberton is no governess. But the pretense is a necessity if she ever wishes to get inside of Wyckhorn Manor and attain the truth. Exposing the man who killed her sister is all that matters.
    Lord Sedgewick knows there’s blood on his hands. Lies have been conceived, then more lies, but the price of truth would be too great. All he has left now is his son—and his hatred. Yet as the charming governess invades his home, his safe cocoon of bitterness begins to tear away.
    Could Ella, despite the lingering questions of his guilt, fall in love with such a man? Or is she falling prey to him—just as her dead sister?”


Series: As of now, no. 


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are read; Bible reading; Ella doesn’t care what God thinks of her because she doesn’t know if there really is a God, that she was repulsed that her father had turned to “such weakness” on his deathbed, & hasn’t seen proof of God (which Henry tells her that she just hasn’t looked and that gets her wondering); Ella doesn’t want to say prayers out-loud with a child, thinking that he’s been taught foolishness; *Spoiler* About halfway, Ella truly starts wondering about God and then a bit later prays to God, saying she believes in Him *End of Spoiler*; Henry has a faith after going through terrible events, but sometimes feels like there’s too much guilt between himself and Heaven (he wonders if God has forgiven him); A vicar aims a gun at someone saying that he is performing the will of the Lord (he says that is won’t be easy as he’s a man of the cloth and it could destroy his congregation, *Spoiler* but does not end up shooting him *Spoiler*); Many prayers; Many talks about God, seeing proof of Him, & faiths; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Many mentions of God, faiths, praying, & forgiveness; Mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; Mentions of churches, church going, & a vicar (who is said to spent half the time trying to convert Ella and the other half trying to win her heart); Mentions of sins; A few mentions of Heaven; 
             *Note: Phrases like “in the name of everything holy”, “for mercy’s sake”, & “in heaven’s name” are used up to a couple times each; Ewan tells Henry to “go to the devil” when mad at him & tells a group “the devil with all of you”; Henry believes a curse has been placed on his house and him after his wife’s death & mentions of it; Ewan thinks that God Himself is ordaining a punishment (but is actually his own plan); Ewan says that a deceased person still talks to him (he is mentally unwell); Ella isn’t one who adores children, thinking that they are “strange and devilish creatures if the village urchins are any indication”; Someone calls Ella an “uncouth little devil” after she talks back to someone in a higher status than her; A nightmare about hellfire and hearing “sleep of death” said; A couple mentions of a woman being called a goddess; A couple mentions of a rumored ghost; A mention of a prison/locked room being called a man’s “demon chambers”; A mention of a man being like a “mad, devilish creature”; A mention of rats being “fearsome little devils”; A mention of guilt being a demon; 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘bloody’, a ‘bloody-well’, a ‘blooming’, a ‘stupid’, a ‘why the deuce’, two ‘blasted’s, two forms of ‘dash it all’, two forms of ‘what the—‘, three forms of ‘what/why/who the devil’, six forms of ‘dash’, and twenty-one forms of ‘biddy’; Mentions of curses (said, not written); Being threatened with a gun (thrice), seeing someone shot and killed, being shot, shooting at someone (self-defense), pain, blood/bleeding, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); Setting a fire, being locked in a fire set on fire, panic, & pain (semi-detailed); Fighting, Being hit, Being choked, Pain, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Helping a those on a shipwreck, being caught in the waves, seeing bodies, & passing out (up to semi-detailed); Being thrown off a horse & pain (up to semi-detailed); Nightmares (up to semi-detailed); *Spoiler* Ewan kidnaps Peter (Henry’s son) to have Henry become all alone like him & also sets fire to Ella’s room after locking her in there (semi-detailed) *End of Spoiler*; Ella believes that Henry murdered her sister/his wife; Henry threats a man by grabbing his throat (barely-above-not-detailed); Ewan gambles, drinks alcohol, & throws up (*Spoiler* Including Ewan gambling Peter (a young boy) away and the man who “won” him using him for ransom for money and Ella (he tells her that he killed the boy, but did not) *End of Spoiler*); Ella hides her true identity from Henry and both Ella & Henry lie a couple times; Henry did not have his mother’s love growing up and is sadden by the fact his son won’t as well (Henry struggles to forgive his mother for her leaving/disappearance); When something is destroyed, Ella thinks that her mother was right in her endless scolding about Ella’s recklessness; Many, many mentions of Ella’s sister’s murder, her trying to find out what really happened, the murderer, & Ella wanting revenge on the murderer (up to semi-detailed, *Major Spoiler* It turns out her sister was having an affair with her husband’s brother and was accidentally shot by Henry (who feels guilt and grief over this) when he confronted her and the brother (Henry says he was so angry that he almost wanted to kill his brother and asks God why the gun went off) *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of someone who wants to kill himself, but is locked up so that doesn’t happen (he is not mentally well most of the time after the death of a loved one) & him wanting to make someone else suffer, *Spoiler* Henry’s brother and Ewan wants Henry to suffer *End of Spoiler*, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a shipwreck, deaths, bodies, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of the possibility of being murdered; Mentions of ransom; Mentions of gunshots, being shot, getting the bullet out, fights/being hit, blood/bleeding, injuries, & pain (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of fires, smoke, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of crimes & criminals; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & taverns; Mentions of gambling & debts; Mentions of hatred (including Henry and Ewan towards their mother); Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deceit; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of nightmares; A few mentions of wars & injuries; A few mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of smoking & cigars; A few mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of bribes (including someone thinking that a constable is taking them); A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of eavesdropping; A mention of a possibly injured horse.
 
 
Sexual Content- Two hand kisses, two cheek kisses, a jaw kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and three semi-detailed kisses; Staring at someone’s lips; Touches, Dancing, Nearness, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (including a brief mention of a bit of chest hair, barely-above-not-detailed); *Major Spoiler* Ella’s sister (Henry’s wife) had more than one affair with his brother and they had a child together (which she kept who was the biological father a secret from both Henry and Ewan; Henry believes that the child is his); Ewan had “a thrill” in taking Lucy away from his brother and gaining her love without Henry knowing; In Lucy’s diary, it’s said that Henry did not give his heart to her (he married her out of social obligation) and was aloof to her; A couple mentions of their secrets nights of love that was “wild and forbidden” with passion *End of Spoiler*; A man tries to get Ella to warm his bed and go with his to a room by threatening to kill her if she doesn’t & *Spoiler* later asks for her as part of a ransom deal (which Henry is strongly against her being a part of it, but Ella sneaks out and Henry saves her before anything happens.) *End of Spoiler*; For the first third of the book, Henry doesn’t like interacting with women because he knows what they want (marriage) when they try to brush up against him (he later says he “wants” Ella but catches himself); Mentions of couples sharing beds (married and an affair); Mentions of kisses, hand greeting kisses, & embraces; Mentions of touches, smelling, & blushes; A few mentions of a mother possibly disappearing with another man (leaving her husband and children); A couple mentions of reputations & compromising someone; A couple mentions of flirts & flirting; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a maid’s scandal; Love, falling in love, & the emotions.
 
-Ella Pemberton, age 22
-Henry Sedgewick 
                                P.O.V. switches between them & Ewan
                                            Set in 1814 (Epilogue in 1815)
                                                        320 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

All I need to hear is “clean regency mystery” and I’m excited to read the story. Which is what happened when I first heard about this new novel. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would and that’s possibly because I hyped it up in my head prior to reading it. It’s a bummer, unfortunately, and I have mixed feelings on this book. :( 

Some things I liked: The faith content was strong throughout the story and very realistic for what the characters were going through; I particularly liked seeing Ella’s development in that regard. I liked the writing style and would definitely try another book by this author. That we see both Ella and Henry’s point of view, because if we only saw her POV, then we probably would have hated him with her in the first half of the story. (He’s dealing with his own grief and guilt over the past events, but doesn’t share his emotions with anyone else.)

What I wasn’t a big fan of: The suggestions of a creepy man towards Ella and him trying to force her to go with him into a room. The last 30% or so of the story felt very melodramatic, and while, yes, there was a lot happening, I can’t pin-point exactly what displeased me on this (part of it was partially because of someone who’s mentally ill being a villain-like figure). Henry believing in a curse on him, even though that’s not of God. Henry was interested in Ella, knowing that she didn’t believe in God and didn’t share his faith (that part is quickly resolved, but I would have preferred Henry to be at least somewhat hesitate towards her because of that). The vicar was an odd side plot. The angst of Henry and Ella’s feelings, particularly when the reveal of identities happened. There felt like there were inconsistencies in regards to the regency time period (Henry and Ella being alone together a lot, no chaperones, and elements of the dramatic ending).

So, yes, it was more of some suggestive hints and then some little things that added up and affected my enjoyment of the story, unfortunately. 

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Barbour) for this honest review.