The Nature of a Lady by Roseanna M. White | Review

The Nature of a Lady (The Secrets of the Isles Book #1)

How gorgeous is this cover? Bethany House outdid themselves, I’d say.

Let’s take a look at the back cover blurb, my review will follow.

Back Cover

1906

Lady Elizabeth “Libby” Sinclair, with her love of microscopes and nature, isn’t favored in society. She flees to the beautiful Isles of Scilly for the summer and stumbles onto the dangerous secrets left behind by her holiday cottage’s former occupant, also named Elizabeth, who mysteriously vanished. 

Oliver Tremayne–gentleman and clergyman–is determined to discover what happened to his sister, with the help of the girl now living in what should have been Beth’s summer cottage . . . especially when he realizes it’s the curious young lady he met briefly two years ago, who shares his love of botany and biology. But the hunt for his sister involves far more than nature walks, and he can’t quite believe all the secrets Beth had been keeping from him.

As Libby and Oliver work together, they uncover ancient legends, pirate wrecks, betrayal, and the most mysterious phenomenon of all: love.

My Review

I loved the main characters, Oliver and Libby. Their quirks, how White described their appearances so vividly, Libby’s dislike for society’s expectations and Oliver, the clergyman. Not your typical clergyman. And the setting was just beautiful—the Isles of Scilly. I found White’s note at the end fascinating. While at times I found things a bit farfetched (which I actually don’t mind in fiction) I was surprised and intrigued by what White revealed as fact and fiction in her author’s note. So don’t skip that!

I did find the story to be a bit slow moving to start, for me anyway. It took quite a while for the tension to grip me.

However, I fully enjoyed White’s way of developing her characters. Not only does White have a fabulous voice as an author, but her characters, in their own POV’s are so distinct.

Of course, I did miss spies, secret identities and code breaking from the Shadows Over England series and The Code Breakers series. But there was an identity twist in The Nature of a Lady that was quite fun, and I enjoyed the change from WW1 to earlier in the century.

My favorite things about this novel: the sweet love story and the faith thread. When you have a vicar as a main character, you expect a strong faith thread. White always delivers a well thought out (and not preachy, in my opinion) faith thread in her novels and I enjoyed the journey of this one.

Overall, it’s a four star (out of 5) from me. You can purchase The Nature of a Lady on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher for my honest thoughts.

About the Author

Roseanna M. White pens her novels beneath her Betsy Ross flag, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two children, editing and designing, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of numerous novels, ranging from biblical fiction to American-set romances to Edwardian British series. Roseanna lives with her family in West Virginia. Learn more at www.roseannamwhite.com.