Play Book Tag discussion

When Eloise Denham's husband died, she was left destitute due to his poor investment choices. Her brother-in-law, instead of taking care of her as he was expected to, gave her some money and kicked her out. With nowhere to go, she takes a job as governess to the child of Ian Kerr in the distant hills of Scotland. But on the way to her new job, she is assaulted lands in jail on trumped up charges.

Despite a few flaws, I enjoyed this story overall. I liked the characters, and many of the conflicts were unusual ones I had not encountered before. There were a few times where I felt the author overdid the descriptions and explanations, and sometimes the dialogue felt a bit stiff in places and even cheesy in a few parts. Some of the arguments between the protagonists felt a bit contrived to further the tension in the story, but the relationships between them as well as with the child made up for it. The plot was intriguing with quite a bit of action, and it seems to be well researched, reflecting the level of scientific knowledge and social mores of the time period. The villain gets his comeuppance of course, but I do like how she wrote his ending.

I believe this is the author's debut, and it's a very good one. I would like to see a picture of that raspberry gown! I'm looking forward to the second book.