The Headmistress of Rosemere

I cannot wait for A Lady at Willowgrove Hall (October 2014), I cannot wait to see what that cover will look like! In December when my copy of The Headmistress of Rosemere arrived, I realized that I was still wanting to read The Heiress of Winterwood but had not yet quite found the time. I started into it not knowing what to expect as Sarah Ladd is a new-to-me author and was amazed. The mystery, the romance, the page turning desires and the ultimate cannot put it down was what I found within the covers of that ARC. So I was definitely intrigued and delighted to continue the Whispers on the Moors series with the second installment of The Headmistress of Rosemere.
Christmas break, and scheduling I knew that it was coming up. Checked my schedule and found myself set for January 31st, double checked yesterday and discovered there was an updated schedule and I'm due today on the 25th! So I did not get to read this quite as leisurely as I usually do, however, with Sarah's writing that's definitely okay, because I want to turn page after page.

Sarah writes characters for me that I both love and despise. I'm curious and making my own plot plans in my head but always amused by what comes around the corner in the next chapter that was unexpected. Oh and then the covers. My goodness, it's only a part of what goes into a book I know, but this series has cover beauty! Definitely something I'd pick up off an end-cap shelf, and an ebook I'd click on. Then within the pages, elegance, enchantment, romance and surprise. Sarah can write a good character both to route for and the ones that I want to send the way of Tracie Peterson antagonists! (If you've read my reviews of Tracie's historicals, you might have heard me mention that she knows how to write a great bad-guy that gets under my skin!)

Again, I tell you, I'm eager for the third installment in the Whispers on the Moors series! More books please Sarah!

I received this product free for the purpose of reviewing it. I received no other compensation for this review. The opinions expressed in this review are my personal, honest opinions. Your experience may vary. Please read my full disclosure policy for more details.

posted: http://creativemadnessmama.com/blog/2014/01/25/the-headmistress-of-rosemere/

The Headmistress of Rosemere is the second book in the Whispers on the Moors series, but it works as a stand-alone novel. I enjoyed Patience and William's bittersweet tale of loss, change, and hope for the future.

So...I think Sarah Ladd did better on characterization on this one than the first, because I can already tell that this cast of characters is going to be easy to remember. It was a good story, and definitely has me on the list for buying her next.

The writing style at first had a number of bumps that pulled me out of the story. The biggest of these was the use of the word compress; it in this sense should be a dressing for a wound, yet in the story was repeatedly used to refer to a cloth used to wipe or clean a hurt, not to bind it up. You don't wipe a wound with a bandage; you clean it first, then put the bandage on it. It would have been easier to excuse if the same thing didn't happen three separate times. There should have been some clean linen somewhere in a girl's school!

The story plot was excellent. I wish there had been more room to develop the details, because it went by way too fast in some areas. I could easily have stayed with these people for more than four or five hundred pages instead of just over three hundred. I would like to have seen more of the spiritual growth in these two; it seemed to be over very quickly, and was not deeply necessary to the story.

I have read a lot of books where men have pasts and then go on to win good women and have responsible lives thereafter. However, Patience seems to take his past very much in stride and never consider the consequences, diseases, other possible illegitimate children, etc, regarding him fondly as a fixed man. A player of his type in real life would have a lot more emotional obstacles to deal with than just being able to prove his bravery and get out of debt. As a young woman who's picky about Prince Charming, this handsome fellow didn't quite cut the mustard.

Patience was my favorite character. I loved her devotion to her family and fully appreciated her struggles.

And I hope to hear Cassandra's story someday...