Book Blurb:
Allan Everard, an earl's illegitimate son, is dismissed from his employment at his father’s death but inherits a former coaching inn. Needing to make a new life in London, he begins by leasing the inn to a charity.
Unexpectedly orphaned, Rosabel Stanbury and her younger sister are made wards of a distant, unknown cousin. Fearing his secretive ways and his intentions for them, Rosabel and Oriana flee to London where they are taken in by a women’s charity.
Drawn into Rosabel's problems, with his inn under surveillance by criminals, Allan has only a handful of unlikely allies, including an elderly general, a burglar, and an old lady who knows criminal slang.
A traditional romance.
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/cG8Iq6A
Author Bio:
Kathleen Buckley has loved writing ever since she learned to read. After a career which included light bookkeeping, working as a paralegal, and a stint as a security officer, she began to write as a second career, rather than as a hobby. Her first historical romance was penned (well, word processed) after re-reading Georgette Heyer’s Georgian/Regency romances and realizing that Ms. Heyer would never be able to write another, having died some forty years earlier. She is now the author of eight Georgian romances: An Unsuitable Duchess, Most Secret, Captain Easterday's Bargain, A Masked Earl, A Duke's Daughter, Portia and the Merchant of London, A Westminster Wedding, and A Peculiar Enchantment. While a ninth is in production she is writing the tenth.
Warning: no bodices are ripped in her romances, which might be described as "powder & patch & peril" rather than Jane Austen drawing room. They contain no explicit sex, but do contain the occasional den of vice and mild bad language, as the situations in which her characters find themselves sometimes call for an oath a little stronger than "Zounds!"
Captain Easterday's Bargain was an Oklahoma Romance Writers of America IDA 2019 finalist, Historical Fiction category.
Most Secret was an Oklahoma Romance Writers of America IDA 2018 finalist, Historical Fiction category, and a 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist, Romance category.
Editorial Review:
“When their groom pelted into the morning room to inform Rosabel and Oriana their father had collapsed in the stable yard as he dismounted, Rose sat stunned. Their father was not old, not yet fifty years, and in rude good health.
Ory’s first words before Rose could speak or move were “But who will take care of us?”
“I will until Papa is well.” She had mothered her sister since she herself had been twelve and Ory six.”
“Hidden Treasures” is set in England in the 1730s, a time and place that is unforgiving and rigidly conventional. With the tragic loss of their last remaining parent Rose and Ory Stanbury are tipped into a perilous existence, with their youth and gender trapping them in a situation from which they must endure and then escape. Their guardian is a problematic choice and the loyalty of their distant grandfather is only a dream they remember from their childhood. When even he does not want them, all seems lost. And so they are cast on to the streets of London, where danger lurks and knowing who to trust is impossible. But a fortuitous meeting with a curate leads Rose and Ory – and the story – in a new direction, where challenges abound and family secrets surface with some very surprising outcomes.
There is a particular sense of satisfaction for the reader who immerses themselves in such a well-spun story as this one, set in the London of olden-times with a web of family and honour and convoluted inheritances. It is so very English to read of mysterious annuities, black sheep, scandal and chaperones, and “Hidden Treasures” will tick all hoped-for boxes. Without giving too much away the story at its heart is a romance, with a resounding happy ending and some very unexpected redemptions along the way.
The lack of agency given to Rose and Ory is to be expected and is authentic for the times, but will be galling to the modern reader. Even so, Buckley has made a commendable effort to give both sisters distinct personalities, hopes and dreams. They are far from one-dimensional, even though society and poverty makes them powerless in so many ways. It is difficult to contemplate what would have become of them had they not had a level of support when they needed it.
The storyline of “Hidden Treasures” also draws the reader into the reality of poverty during these times, and the tenuous charitable assistance available to women and children who had no family support or financial resources. Rose and Ory must adapt from two relatively sheltered sisters to young women who are more self-reliant and independent, and their respective character arcs are well-described. They are surrounded by significant secondary characters, including Mr Simmons the curate, Mr Everard (who has his own secrets), Barlicorn the investigator and the attorney Mr Brand. Members of the girls’ family also feature, including the obligatory wicked Aunt Martha and their elderly grandfather. But it is their guardian Horace Stanbury who holds center stage, with much to explain and also to conceal.
“Their cousin had a talent Ory found fascinating: a wonderful ability to sketch. Oriana loved to draw and was more accomplished than expected of a young lady, but she was not satisfied, never having had lessons. Rose had no talent at all and could not help her improve. One evening in the parlor after supper, Horace bent over a lap desk, glancing occasionally at Ory, who was embroidering a pair of pockets. Rose, passing his chair, saw the drawing and exclaimed, “Cousin, you have captured my sister to the life!”
Buckley’s descriptive language and her ability to describe the essence of each character makes this book highly readable. Some of the dialogue at times tends towards exposition rather than being a natural conversation, but the reader will find the pages scrolling by nonetheless as the twists and turns of “Hidden Treasures” unfold.
“When he finally left the Three Greyhounds, Allan had reached a decision: he would not sell the inn. The place possessed an odd charm. Someone had inscribed his attempt at an epigram—in English—on one of the window panes. One could deduce two things: the fellow could afford a diamond ring to do the etching, and he was no poet.
Allan would never be landed gentry but owning a piece of London, the greatest city in the world, ay, that was something.”
“Hidden Treasures” by Kathleen Buckley will transport the reader to the England of the 1730s. The resolution to the book provides a heart-warming romantic ending however that is only one aspect of a great story that has an overarching theme of self-determination, with a family mystery to solve along the way. An entertaining read, and a narrative with many different threads!
*****
"Hidden Treasures" by Kathleen Buckley receives 4 stars from The Historical Fiction Company
To have your historical novel editorially reviewed and/or enter the HFC Book of the Year contest, please visit www.thehistoricalficitoncompany.com/book-awards/award-submission
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