A Stranger at Fellsworth, by Sarah E. Ladd {Book Review}

A Stranger at Fellsworth is the third and final book in the Treasures of Surrey trilogy by Sarah E. Ladd.

Sarah Ladd has become a fast favorite for me. She has quality to her writing and truly draws in the reader in a calming way. For me, this is what makes her books so enjoyable. I enjoy suspense and mystery, but I don't want to experience anxiety at 3 a.m. because the lead character is having a major crisis. For this, I appreciate the way Sarah writes her stories.

In this latest book, Annabelle Thorley is a lovely, kind, and generous young lady living as part of London's society. Her mother died a decade earlier and her father recently died, but not before leaving the family in financial ruin. Annabelle's fiancé breaks things off and her brother is desperate marry Annabelle off to a wealthy sleaze. She fears this arrangement and late one night, she and her ladies' maid escape London with the help of Owen Locke, gamekeeper for one of her brother's friends. (In Owen's character description, I may have had flashes of Aiden Turner of Poldark fame. I think it was the hair.) On the same night of her escape, the murder of one of her brother's friends occurs at her home in London. Owen takes Annabelle to her estranged uncle's home in Fellsworth, where he works as the superintendent for Fellsworth school. Owen has known Annabelle's uncle for years, and almost from the beginning, Annabelle's aunt tries her hand at subtle matchmaking between the two.

The story continues with Annabelle working as a teacher's assistant and her ladies' maid working in the school's kitchen. Owen's daughter attends the school and Annabelle works with her on learning to read and also teaches her to paint. They form quite the bond, so when Owen's daughter runs away from the school through the woods trying to get to her father's house and her foot get caught in a trap, Annabelle knows just where to find her.

Owen is busy working as a gamekeeper on the estate and discovers poachers in the area. The owner of a piece of land that Owen wants is also having trouble with poachers and hires Owen to get rid of them. Owen is kept very busy, but he still finds the time to visit his daughter and to see Annabelle.

While reading the story, I thought the situation Annabelle fled in London and the poaching were unrelated. I don't know why I didn't pick up on it sooner, as I usually do! I just knew she needed to stay away from that disgusting man her brother was forcing her to marry. I did catch on quickly that her ladies' maid was no good, though I felt awful for the extent of the betrayal.

I love how Sarah Ladd slowly brought Owen and Annabelle together and the sweetness of their love story.

My Rating: 5 stars

I am looking forward to the release of Sarah E. Ladd's next book, titled The Weaver's Daughter, due to be released on April 10, 2018!!

A Lady at Willowgrove Hall, by Sarah E. Ladd {Book Review}

A Lady at Willowgrove Hall is the final book in the Whispers on the Moors series by Sarah E. Ladd.

The story begins with 16-year-old Cecily Faire, the daughter of the blacksmith at Aradelle Park in Detham England, 1814. She believes she is about the elope with the 17-year-old heir to Aradelle Park, Andrew Moreton. Cecily's alcoholic father discovers this and puts an immediate stop to it. The same night, her father drops her on the doorstep of the Rosemere School for Young Ladies (the setting of the second book in the series), and leaves for good. She is completely disowned and separated from her twin sister, Leah. Feeling that she has shamed her family and ruined her chances of ever getting married (as she had physically given herself to Andrew), she settles in at Rosemere.

Nathaniel Stanton, the 21-year-old son of the steward at Willowgrove Hall in Wiltonshire, is at the bedside of his ailing father. On his deathbed, his father tells him that Nathaniel is not his son, but the son of the deceased master of Willowgrove Hall, Mr. Trent. Nathaniel is told to tell no one, not even his sisters, and upon the death of Mrs. Trent, Nathaniel will inherit a property in the north.

Fast-forward five years. Cecily has been given a position as lady's companion to Mrs. Trent of Willowgrove Hall. Nathaniel is the steward over the house and land at Willowgrove Hall. Nathaniel and Cecily are drawn to one another almost immediately, but because of the secrets they keep, they do their best to ignore the attraction, knowing that nothing good could come of it.


My Thoughts: This book was unique in that there were no kidnappings or dangerous situations for the characters as there were in the previous two books. The story is told from the perspectives of both Cecily and Nathaniel. Sarah Ladd does an excellent job in her descriptions. The story was not a mushy romance, and not much actually happened in the book, but simply followed the internal struggles of the characters.

I was nervous when Cecily's path crossed again with Andrew Moreton. I wasn't sure of his character and whether or not he would take advantage of Cecily in regards to their shared history. It ended up being quite the opposite. I think Andrew always loved Cecily but it was clear that Cecily had moved on. I was relieved that he didn't make some sort of big announcement about Cecily's transgression in an effort to publicly embarrass her.

I thoroughly enjoyed not only this book, but the entire series. All of the books could be read alone and only had small tie-ins with the books ahead of them. I cannot fail to mention that the covers on each book are absolutely gorgeous. They all do very well in capturing the main characters and settings in each book.

I look forward to reading more from Sarah Ladd's in her Treasures of Surrey series.

Check out the entire Whispers on the Moors series: