Kristina Anderson
The Light at Wyndcliff by Sarah E. Ladd is the 3rd installment in The Cornwall Novels. Each book in the series can be read as a standalone. I thought The Light at Wyndcliff was well-written with developed characters. The main characters as well as the major secondary characters have depth. I appreciated that the author took the time to do this. There are vivid descriptions of the estate, the moorland, town, and coastline. It allowed me to visualize the scenes. Liam Twethewey is a strong, male character. He was eager to take over the Wyndcliff Estate and make changes that would benefit the estate as well as the tenants. He may have made some unpopular decisions, but Liam knew they were the right ones to make. Evelyn Bray grew up in a discordant household with her mother unhappy and at odds with her grandfather, Rupert Bray. The mother liked the lavish lifestyle, and she was never going to be content until she got it back. I found myself yelling at Evelyn to stand up for herself and make her own decisions. It was interesting to learn about the china clay pits and how they extracted the clay from the ground. I also found it fascinating to learn about the shipwrecks and the laws regarding the recovery of cargo. I could tell the author did her research for this story. I was shocked at how people would rush to grab the goods without concern for the crew floundering in the water. I like how the story wrapped up and the epilogue that provided a complete ending. The Cornwall Novels was a wonderful series with a great conclusion. The Light at Wyndcliff is a unique Regency tale with the rocky Cornish coastline, suspicious shipwrecks, the clay pit project, shocking secrets, a gallant gentleman, a guarded grandfather, and the striking steward’s granddaughter.
Emma Davis
This is an excellent historical book. The author is creative in the way words used to describe the surroundings of the nature of the Cornwall cliffs and estates. It creates a vivid image of what the characters were seeing at the time. The author also cleverly describes the emotions and feelings each character was experiencing. It makes the book interactive with the reader bringing them into the conversation of the characters. The reader may actually perceive being back in time alongside with the characters. Their realistic feelings of attraction, suspicion, dislike, tension, pain, shame, betrayal and fear. I absolutely loved this book. There was one thread left hanging and it was annoying. It had to do with the mother of the heroine at the end of the book. I was also surprised at the end the continued integrity of one of the criminals. That person was forced to do what they did but tried to shelter the innocent along the way. It reminded me of a Poldark episode. I have read the entire Poldark series and watched the television series. This is just as creative. A must read and I highly recommend it. Reasons I enjoyed this book: Original Page-turner Romantic Realistic Unpredictable Wonderful characters
Betti Mace
At some point you must make decisions for yourself and do what is best for you - Jenna to Evelyn The author once again takes us to the moors of Cornwall, where many traditions rule the way of life. The sea plays a large part in those rather unsettling customs as this is an area where many ships meet an unfortunate end. Salvaging what they can, the villagers eke out a small income from those sales. Liam Twethewey not only inherits the Wyndcliff Estate from his uncle, but also the longstanding practice of storing the cargo from many of these shipwrecks. How can he possibly condone what is occurring on his own land? Will a rescue at sea help change these unwritten rules? Evelyn Bray lives in the steward’s cottage along with her grandfather, the steward. This somewhat controlling relationship leads Jenna to make the comment above. But where can a young woman go in 1808, if she has no family to stand behind her? With a great deal of detail, the author takes us walking on the moors, along the seashore and into what life must have been like in 1808. I could almost smell the sea and hear the waves crashing. This wonderful mystery will not be easy to set aside until you finally reach the conclusion. This ARC of Book 3 in the Cornwall Novels was received through Thomas Nelson, HarperCollins Christian Publishing and NetGalley. The impressions and comments are my own and were in no way solicited.
