Grab your clue word and check out my review... Lady of a Thousand Treasures by Sandra Byrd (Review & #Giveaway)


SCAVENGER HUNT CROSSWORD PUZZLE TOUR

On each stop, there will be:
  • special content by the blogger, plus
  • a clue
  • then head back to the launch post on JustRead or straight to the main crossword puzzle to fill in the words and get the special phrase to enter the  giveaway!
Instructions: Head to every stop on the tour to collect a word to finish the crossword puzzle. Hint: You might want to print out the crossword puzzle (link below) and enter it everyday to make it easier.


Not a crossword puzzle fan? Just compile the clue words from each stop and enter it on the Rafflecopter entry.

***This stop's CLUE is: design***

Lady of a Thousand Treasures
(Victorian Ladies #1)
By Sandra Byrd
Christian Historical/Gothic Romance, Suspense
Paperback & ebook, ? Pages
October 9th 2018 by Tyndale House

Summary

Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, trained to know the difference between a genuine artifact and a fraud. But with her father’s passing and her uncle’s decline into dementia, the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone.

The death of a longtime client, Baron Lydney, offers an unexpected complication when Eleanor is appointed the temporary trustee of the baron’s legendary collection. She must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron’s only living son, Harry—the man who broke Eleanor’s heart.

Eleanor distrusts the baron’s motives and her own ability to be unbiased regarding Harry’s future. Harry claims to still love her and Eleanor yearns to believe him, but his mysterious comments and actions fuel her doubts. When she learns an Italian beauty accompanied him on his return to England, her lingering hope for a future with Harry dims.

With the threat of debtor’s prison closing in, Eleanor knows that donating the baron’s collection would win her favor among potential clients, saving Sheffield Brothers. But the more time she spends with Harry, the more her faith in him grows. Might Harry be worthy of his inheritance, and her heart, after all? As pressures mount and time runs out, Eleanor must decide whom she can trust—who in her life is false or true, brass or gold—and what is meant to be treasured.

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My Review

LADY OF A THOUSAND TREASURES is a story set at a time when women were trying to take more control of their lives, but were still very much controlled by men and the whims of society. This creates an interesting backdrop for this story, where a woman who is trained in a "man's" profession is assigned the task of either donating a vast antiques collection worth a fortune to a museum or allowing it to remain with the son and heir after his father's death, a man she was in love with most of her life. Not only does this create a difficult decision for her personally between her heart or her career, it also puts her in the middle of those who would gain or lose greatly from her decision. Her world is crashing all around her and she must learn who to trust, including God. Historical romance fans will find much to love in this story. An excellent beginning to a new series!

This story intrigued me from the beginning. This time in history is always interesting to me because culture was changing and women's place in society was changing, yet the language and expectations were still very much traditional. Eleanor wants to trust Harry, but she doesn't know if she can and their interactions are still so formal. Sometimes I just wanted her to outright ask Harry about some things or to confront others, but she was held back by her fears and by what society expected of her.

Eleanor, Harry, and the other characters were all quite likable, while Eleanor's enemies were quite unlikable (as they should be). The author did a good job of hiding some of the villains in friendly faces where I could tell that there was just something I didn't quite trust about them, but wasn't sure what it was. I would have enjoyed a little more interaction with Harry as he didn't feel quite as full of a character as I would have liked, but I still really liked him. Eleanor definitely takes the spotlight and the story is told through her POV. It's a story full of emotion, of desperate circumstances, of a trial of faith, and of risks and danger.

In the end, was it what I wished for? I thoroughly enjoyed reading this! It has a little of everything I love in a story: inspiration, suspense, a great setting, marvelous characters, an intriguing plot, and a sweet romance. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series!

Content: Some innuendo and mild violence, but clean.
Source: I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through JustRead Publicity Tours, which did not require a positive review nor affect it in any way.

About the Author

After earning her first rejection at the age of thirteen, bestselling author Sandra Byrd has now published fifty books.

Sandra's delighted to kick off her new historical romance series with Tyndale House Publishers, Victorian Ladies, with Lady of a Thousand Treasures. The three-book Victorian Ladies series follows her historically sound Gothic romances, Daughters of Hampshire, launched with the bestselling Mist of Midnight, which earned a coveted Editor's Choice award from the Historical Novel Society. The second book, Bride of a Distant Isle, has been selected by Romantic Times as a Top Pick. The third in the series, A Lady in Disguise, was published in 2017. Check out her contemporary adult fiction debut, Let Them Eat Cake, which was a Christy Award finalist, as was her first historical novel, To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn. To Die For was also named a Library Journal Best Books Pick for 2011, and The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Kateryn Parr was named a Library Journal Best Books Pick for 2012.

Sandra has published dozens of books for kids, tweens, and teens, including the bestselling The One Year Be-Tween You and God Devotions for Girls. She continued her work as a devotionalist, with The One Year Home and Garden Devotions, and The One Year Experiencing God's Love Devotional.

Please visit www.sandrabyrd.com to learn more or to invite Sandra to your book club via Skype.


Tour Schedule

Be sure to stop on every stop on the Tour Schedule for all the clues to enter!

For the full tour schedule, click on either of the launch pages below.
(All stops expected to post by 12:00 NOON EST)

Launch Page at JustRead

Tour-Wide Giveaway


(1) winner will receive:
  • a copy of Lady of a Thousand Treasures (print to US addresses OR ebook to international)
  • Cork coaster set of the British Isles (US Only)
  • "To The Lighthouse" diffuser made by Seawitch Candles in Cornwall, England. (US Only)
  • $10 Amazon gift card (open international)
Enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Entry form will be live on the 19th once all clues are revealed. Clues for giveaway will begin at midnight October 15, 2018. Entries are opened at midnight on October 19, 2018 and lasts through 11:59pm October 22, 2018. Void where prohibited by law. Winners will be notified within a week of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.


Do you have any favorite Gothic romantic mysteries? Any thoughts on this new series or my review?

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