3.5 stars

Recommended for fans of histfic, romance, and mystery. Also, readers that enjoy paranormal and reincarnation themes will enjoy this story more than me. Although well written and engaging, I couldn’t connect with these themes in a meaningful way. Even though the story is told from three different time periods, it’s easy to follow. The writing flows in a way that allows you to read the story quickly despite what the length would indicate. I think it could have been edited to trim 50 pages from the length for an even easier read. It does contain quite a bit of historical detail, so that’s a plus for histfic fans.

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The best type of historical fiction novels blurs the line between fact and fiction so well that you take breaks from reading to research what is true and what is poetic license. Given how often I was on Google look up Elizabeth Stuart, William Craven, and Ashdown House while reading House of Shadows, I would say Nicola Cornick knows how to blend the two together extremely well. Even her fictional characters of history are eerily realistic. While aspects of the story are pure fantasy, the opportunity the novel affords readers to learn more about this relatively obscure queen and of her life engages readers as much as the story does.

House of Shadows bounces around between three different periods in time following three very different women. Each of the women’s characters are developed at different strengths. We get to know Elizabeth from her earliest days to her very last, but the huge time jumps between her scenes require a reintroduction to her character as we play catch up on the trials and tribulations that occurred since we last saw her that have changed her. She’s called the Winter Queen because she rules briefly for a few months in winter; the rest of her life was spent in exile trying to raise funds and allies to fight for her son’s hereditary rights. In other words, she doesn’t actually do much. While her story kickstarts the other two women’s stories, hers is also the most stagnant. It is still interesting but not necessarily the best of the novel.

At the other end is Holly’s modern-day story as she tries to find her missing brother. Hers is interesting in that she uproots her life for her brother, and we watch her struggles to do so. Whereas Elizabeth grows bitter and more selfish as her story progresses, Holly blossoms. We see her come to grips with her past, find her future, and settle her present all while becoming more confident and independent. Her search through the past to unravel the mystery of her present provides a nice connection without overdoing the coincidences.

Taking place between Holly’s and Elizabeth’s stories in time, Lavinia’s story is the only one told through epistolary means. For all that, she is by far the most vibrant of the three women. Unapologetic, pragmatic, and brutally honest, her story is what makes the entire novel sing. Hers is the connection between past and present, and the threads woven by her story prove to be most fascinating. In fact, so realistic and interesting is her story that when I searched online to find out if she was real, the disappointment I felt at discovering that she is fictional was great. Without Lavinia, the story would waffle between two women who are strong in their own fashion but ordinary in their actions and opinions. Lavinia adds the spice to an otherwise bland narrative.

Overall, Ms. Cornick’s latest novel is a fantastic blend of fact and fiction that piques your curiosity and forces you to take a greater interest in the characters than you might normally be wont to do. It is romantic enough to stir the heartstrings and filled with mystery as well as a hint of otherworldiness. In short, it has a little bit of everything to please most readers. And pleasing it is. While not award-worthy, House of Shadows is still entertaining and enjoyable enough to warrant recommendation for a wintry day read to anyone interested in history, romance, and mystery.

The plot kept me hooked, since it was split nicely between historical happenings and a modern day mystery.

It was also cool to read about Elizabeth of Bohemia, since there’s not much fiction about her or any at all. The love affair was a nice touch, if slightly predictable.

I really enjoyed reading it, even if the supernatural elements were a bit over the top.

When I read the description for this book I was expecting a more YA book, so I was quite surprised when I started it and the story featured older characters. The overall premise of the story was enjoyable though. It's set partly in the present and partly in the past, which creates an interesting narrative. The writing was beautiful, although it tended to be slow at times.
I think the reason I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would, is because I couldn't relate to any of the characters at all.
I would still recommend this book to anyone who's interested in historical fiction though.

A surprisingly compelling read. The story centers on three time periods: an exiled queen in 1600s Europe, a courtesan writing her diary in the early 1800s, and a glassworker artist in modern England who is summoned to the countryside by the mysterious disappearance of her brother. There are powerful artifacts, Rosicrucians, strong love affairs, fate, and courtly politics. Thinking too much about the story points out its flaws, but the writing was so strong that I enjoyed getting swept away by it.

An interesting weaving of three historical time periods.

This was a historical fiction novel with romance and some magical elements to it. And I loved this blend of genres! I was definitely interested in the events happening in the past, but Holly's story is also very intriguing. The author did a great job of tying in the two different time points and creating such memorable and unique female characters. I loved the diary entries featuring Lavinia and how all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together. I wish there had been more of a focus on the supernatural elements; it was such an intriguing feature what with its historical significance, and I felt that the author could have allowed it to play a more prominent role. It would have made the connection between the past and the present a bit stronger, and also give the myth behind the objects a little more complexity. Surprisingly enough, I really liked the romance between Holly and Mark, which occurred in the passages focusing on the present; it was at times cheesy but the intensity was believable and the attraction felt genuine. All in all, this was a solid piece of work and I really enjoyed reading it! 3/5 stars from me!

I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I was a little hesitant to request House of Shadows. I actually debated, for a little while, on requesting this book. I haven’t read anything about Elizabeth Stuart or the Stuart Era (1603-1714). I had a feeling that there would be many POV’s. Many POV’s, for the most part, annoy me. I can’t keep up with the story. What ended up making me request this book from NetGalley was the storyline and, believe it or not, the cover. I thought the cover was beautiful. Having read House of Shadows, I can say with confidence that this cover describes the book pretty well.

House of Shadows will sweep you away from the first chapter. You get sucked into the three storylines in the book. The book came alive for me, which thrilled me to no end. It has been a long time where I was engrossed in a book.

There were 3 main storylines. There were some minor sub-storylines that were connected to each storyline. Those were wrapped up in each storyline and didn’t appear again in the book. I liked that all the main storylines were connected.

I thought the mirror and pearl being evil and reigning havoc in every storyline was great. You have inanimate objects that have the power to destroy kingdoms, houses, and lives. What I enjoyed is that they were never together after Craven separated them. Even with them separated, the havoc they did was immense and spanned generations.

Going, to be honest, here, I wasn’t a huge fan of Elizabeth Stuart. Elizabeth bugged me because she kept Craven dangling on the end of a leash. She said she loved him but she refused to go public because she was a Queen and he was a commoner. That drove me nuts (as it did Craven). I thought, as he did, that he was kept around to clean up messes that her family made.

Lavinia, oh Lavinia. I knew that she was going to show up in the story but I didn’t expect that she would show up as journal entries. I thought that was ingenious of the author because you read Lavinia’s story as Holly was reading it. Lavinia got herself in a lot of trouble with Lord Evershot. At first, he was a gentleman towards her but the more Holly read, the more twisted he was. I was shocked that the author chose to portray him as such but, looking back, I can understand why. He got corrupted by the thought of finding the pearl. That turned him into a person that Lavinia didn’t recognize. I do wish that her affair with Robert turned out better. But, as with Elizabeth, it wasn’t fated to be.

How Holly felt after her beloved older brother, Ben, went missing was awful. She adored Ben, hero-worshipped him, to be honest. She decided to follow Ben’s steps to see if she could find out what happened to him.

The end of the book was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. I was sad at parts and happy during others. I know this is vague but you need to read the book to understand why I wrote that.

My Summary of House of Shadows: 5 stars

House of Shadows was a fantastic read for me. You are pulled into Stuart Era France and England, Regency England and present-day England. With plots that are taken right out of history, characters that are flushed out and 3D, and romances that span lifetimes, this is a book that you need to read.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Older Teen

Why: Sexual situations (nothing graphic but characters do have sex), language and violence. There is a very graphic scene where a woman is beaten with a whip and then with stinging nettles.

I would like to thank Nicola Cornick, Harlequin, Graydon House and NetGalley for allowing me to review House of Shadows

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

The historical part was good. The story was okay. I was almost going to give it three stars, but then by the very end... suddenly it was not okay anymore.

The novel suffers the "main character is a helpless fawning ditz" syndrome that many a historical novel has, and that on its own would be okay. I can quietly roll my eyes every time "the room temperature goes up" when the love interest enters. Who is apparently good at everything, by the way, and is also instalove. But one thing I can't tolerate. And I spoiler tag it for you.

It's the fact that when a woman comes back home from getting lost in the woods, experienced shock and found her home has been in a fire, it's for some reason OKAY to pounce on her and all she does is fawn. Oh yay, the hot guy digs me!

That is utterly depressing and very disappointing. And harmful to young women as well. Clearly after so much tribulation, all a woman wants is to be validated through that sort of attention from a love interest. Seriously?

The novel could not redeem itself after this. Yes, it's readable. The historical parts are interesting. But no thanks, no god complex please. And no damsel. We need to stop promoting damsels.

I thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange with my honest review.