The Curse of Morton Abbey

HISTORICAL: Vaughan Springthorpe knows Sir Peter Spencer’s offer of employment is too good to be true. Women aren’t allowed to be proper Solicitors, but with her father’s training, and desperate to avoid being dependent on her family, Vaughan takes the job anyway. Despite family pleas and odd warnings from locals, Vaughan arrives at Morton Abbey planning to prepare for the sale of the estate as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, someone at the manor is determined to stop her. From ghostly crying to suspicious mishaps, Morton Abbey is full of more mystery than Vaughan ever expects. In order to sort the mystery and complete her job, Vaughan turns to handsome gardener, Joe Dixon, and Nicholas Spencer, the invalid brother of her employer, for help. But Morton and the nearby village hide many secrets, and revealing them could stir a ghost no one expects.

Readers who wished for something fabulously different and even unique in their historical romance will want to read “The Curse of Morton Abbey”, a true combination of ‘The Secret Garden” and “Jane Eyre”! This book is full of intersecting romances, a creepy gothic mystery, a little tragedy, a lot of secrets, and an independent heroine who is dead-set on completing her job and proving herself. The twists and turns will keep readers guessing until the reader finds themselves short on sleep and out of pages to turn! The romance itself is well developed, leaning one way then the next as the characters sort their feelings and needs and challenge their own weaknesses. While gothic romances are hardly new, Ms. Harwood creates a story that raises the bar and should top to-read piles!

Sarah Bradley