Review: Dusk’s Darkest Shores

If you’re a fan of Regency romance novels you’ll not want to miss Dusk’s Darkest Shores by Carolyn Miller. I went through a phase a number of years ago where I read Regency romances voraciously. At this stage of my life I enjoy more of a mix of genres but I do find myself picking up a Regency now and again, especially if the storyline intrigues me. This one did!

Check out my review and read through to the end for a fun prize pack giveaway! Disclosure: I received a review copy of Dusk’s Darkest Shores from Kregel Publications as part of the Read with Audra blog tour.

My Review

Our heroine is Mary Bloomfield who, now that she’s in her late twenties, has more or less resigned herself that she will probably never marry. (It seems like late teens is the commonly accepted age for marriage in these types of stories.) She’s the daughter of a doctor and often helps her father with some of his cases.

Our hero is wounded soldier Adam Edgerton who has returned home from the war in France to recover as best he can. At the beginning of the book he is engaged to a flighty friend of Mary’s sister, but that relationship doesn’t last long. As Mary assists her father with Adam’s care she makes frequent visits to check on him and help with his recovery. The romance, of course, evolves from there.

What I appreciated most about this inspiring story was that the characters seemed real, not some high-society wealthy people that most of us can’t relate to, but common people that we might have been neighbors with had we lived at that time and place. Don’t get me wrong, I also sometimes enjoy the fantasy of reading about the lavish “lifestyles of the rich and famous” but stories about regular people are my favorite. I look forward to others in this series of Regency Wallflowers.

Click on the book cover to read an excerpt.

About the Series

While most stories set in Regency England focus on the rich, the young, and the beautiful, award-winning author Carolyn Miller decided she wanted to give readers something different for a change. Her new Regency Wallflowers series follows the commoners, away from the hustle and bustle of 1810s London, out in the Lake District of England. She tells the stories of women who are slightly older and have few prospects for marriage, women who might be considered “wallflowers.”

Best-selling author Carolyn Miller is back with a fresh series that will not only thrill readers eager for more of her work, but bring in new fans looking for beautiful writing, fascinating research, deftly woven love stories, and real faith lived out in the Regency period.

About the Book

Mary Bloomfield has no illusions. Her chances for matrimony have long since passed her by. Still, her circumstances are pleasant enough, especially now that she has found purpose in assisting her father with his medical practice in England’s beautiful Lake District. Even without love, it’s a peaceful life.

That is until Adam Edgerton returns to the sleepy district. This decorated war hero did not arrive home to acclaim and rest, but to a new battle against the repercussions of an insidious disease. Mary’s caring nature cannot stand to see someone suffer–but how can she help this man see any brightness in his future when he’s plunged into melancholic darkness, his dreams laid waste by his condition?

Adam wants no charity, but he’s also no coward. If this gentle woman can work hard, how can he do less? Together they struggle to find a way forward for him. Frustration and antipathy slowly develop into friendship and esteem. Then a summer storm atop a mountain peak leads to scandal–and both Mary and Adam must search the depths of their closed hearts for answers if they hope to find any future path with happiness at its end.

Giveaway