Abandoned by Booklikes

This was a great book. At times it was a bit slow, which was the only reason why I gave it 4.5 stars. If the flow had been improved it would have been a five star book.

The main character Martha (Marty) Leigh comes to Mount Mellyn after not managing to secure a proposal. She is going to the governess for Connan TreMellyn's daughter Alvean. Martha is having a hard time realizing her new situation in life (either she is a governess dependent on the fact that the children she minds will one day take her into their home, or she goes off and becomes a spinster and hopes her family will take care of her) means she is thought of us no more than a servant. Going to Mount Mellyn fills Ms. Leight with trepidation. Once arriving there she finds that she is going to need some tough love for Alvean as well as keep on her toes with regards to two men who start to vie for her affections.

This book really does check off most of the Gothic novels tropes. We have an enigmatic widow who is also handsome. A gorgeous old home that at times is spooky due to all of the hidey holes it has. The moors. A heroine who doesn't understand how attractive she is as well. A dead spouse. And a mystery to be solved.

Ms. Leigh starts to poke her nose in what became of the former mistress of Mellyn. Everyone has gossiped about how she ran off with their neighbor and long time friend. Ms. Leigh wonders if something more insidious occurred.

Ms. Leigh is headstrong, but I thought really clever about how she went about managing Alvean and digging in to find out more about her mother. I thought the romance that occurs between her and the master of the house made sense. We get a nice slow burn of things which was nice. I also like how Holt shows how people really are, and how much appearances meant to everyone.

I thought the other characters were well shaped, Alvean, Connan, Gilly, etc. I also had no issues with the writing. I just thought the book dragged things out too much at times. I wanted to say get on with it while reading here and there.

The ending was a surprise and I thought it was very well executed. I even went back and re-read some passages after finishing too. Holt does a very good job of not telegraphing things too explicitly which I liked.