Dark Season

Ella Arlington has been told her entire life that her epilepsy is a taint in her blood and will prevent her from ever having a normal life. Fleeing her cousin who would put her in an institution, she arrives in London and finds herself at a séance. When one of her epileptic fits is mistaken for a spiritual possession, Ella awakens in the home of a lonely woman determined to reconnect with her daughter’s spirit through Ella. Loathe to admit the truth, Ella allows herself to be convinced to try to connect with the dead girl. Unfortunately the girl’s fiancé, Viscount Isidore Blackwood, is equally determined to prove Ella a fraud and keep his vow to protect his fiancé’s secrets. But Ella’s presence stirs up secrets some thought long dead, and the truth might finally come out. Even if a killer is flushed out, can Ella and Isidore have a future when their past still haunts their present?

A Victorian Gothic tale that stands out in a sea of historical romance, “Dark Season” is a just that - a dark tale with main characters both fighting pain and depression. Instead of balls and courtship, Ella and Isidore are brought together by séances and the mystery surrounding his fiancé’s death. The pace is smooth, the descriptions are engrossing, and the passion between two people drowning in darkness will set fire to the imagination. While the mystery itself is somewhat predictable in terms of who did it, “Dark Season” is a can’t-put-down must read!

Sarah E. Bradley