Beauty Among Ruins by Jnell Ciesielski Publisher: Thomas Nelson (2021 {January 21})
eARC (368 pages)
Via: NetGalley
Rating:
Reading Challenges: Read 2021
Synopsis
In Ciesielski’s latest sweeping romance, an American heiress finds herself in Scotland amid the fallout of the Great War, and a wounded Scottish laird comes face-to-face with his past and a woman he never could have expected.
American socialite Lily Durham is known for enjoying one moment to the next, with little regard for the consequences of her actions. But just as she is banished overseas to England as a “cure” for her frivolous ways, the Great War breaks out and wreaks havoc. She joins her cousin in nursing the wounded at a convalescent home deep in the wilds of Scotland at a crumbling castle where its laird is less than welcoming.
Alec MacGregor has given his entire life to preserving his home of Kinclavoch Castle, but mounting debts force him to sell off his family history bit by bit. Labeled a coward for not joining his countrymen in the trenches due to an old injury, he opens his home to the Tommies to make recompense while he keeps to the shadows. But his preference for the shadows is shattered when a new American nurse comes streaming into the castle on a burst of light.
Lily and Alec are thrown together when a series of mysterious events threatens to ruin the future of Kinclavoch. Can they put aside their differences to find the culprit before it’s too late, or will their greatest distraction be falling in love?
Find the book: Goodreads, Amazon
My Review
I found this book really an interesting read. For a main character, we have Lily. Lily is an American socialite and heiress sent to her aunt’s home in England when her parents have had enough of her frivolity. But Lily is more than just frivolous things and her time in England is not the same as her life in New York.
While in England, World War I starts and makes it impossible for Lily to return to her parents. She doesn’t want to end up on the bottom of the ocean like the Lusitania! Lily and her cousin, Bertie, decide to become nurses to help the wounded men returning to England from the war. The two end up in Scotland, working on the estate of Laird Alec.
Alec is a man who is quite fine being on his own and keeping his distance from people. An old injury prevented him from fighting in the war and he feels that opening his home to the injured is the way he can help out. He also has the piling debts that many nobles of the time have from generations of spending beyond their means.
Lily and Alec keep running into each other, figuratively and literally. They are very different people and yet both are very passionate about the things they care about: Lily about her patients and Alec about his estate. They end up having their disagreements and some hilarious encounters, particularly when Lily does things that Alec does not find agreeable.
If you enjoy historical fiction set in the early 1900s, I would recommend this book. It was a good read and lovely to see the characters develop as they did.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley for
review consideration. This in no way affects my opinion of the title
nor the content of this review.
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