Dusk’s Darkest Shores by Carolyn Miller: Book Review

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.”

About the book:

How can a meek wallflower help a returning war hero whose dreams are plunged into darkness?

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.

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.

Click here to read an excerpt.

About the Author

Book Review:

I absolutely fell in love with this story! Mary and Adam are amazing characters who you can’t help but love. They have a sense of fierce determination that helps drive the story, and they both know what they want (or they think they do), but God’s plans are not our plans. It’s nice to see the wallflowers take center stage for a story series. Mary is well deserving of her own tale.

The relationship between Mary and Adam was one of slowly built trust and friendship that became more than either could dream. Their only problem is accepting the love the other offers, and their emotions are so beautifully written and heartfelt that they leaped from the page.

The story is lyrical and poignant while also digging deep into the emotional center of who we are as people. The age-old question of “who am I?” is one both Adam and Mary struggle with and we as readers can relate to.

Highly recommend!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Read with Audra. I was not required to leave a positive review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.