Changes

My first impressions of Diane Allen's latest work was that this was going to be a historical crime novel: a young woman marries a man she hardly knows only for a body to show up not far from her new home just weeks in to her marriage. As it turns out, there isn't much mystery to the story because you find out very early on what the motive of each character is, so you're reading to see how the actions of each of the characters affect the lives of everyone around them. I would have liked to have had a little mystery to the plot and been able to try to figure everything out along with the characters, but it's still a good read.

At first , I thought Charlotte might grate on me, but she grows into a promising heroine as the story progresses – she's likeable, strong, and isn't a pushover which I was especially pleased about. She fights throughout the story and never backs down. Parts of this book actually reminded me of Daphne du Maurier's ''Rebecca'' which is an excellent work of literature, and I sensed Diane Allen might have been inspired to base the stern housekeeper of Windfell Manor on the formidable Mrs. Danvers. Overall, this is a pleasing and enjoyable story for fans of Diane Allen or for anyone who fancies a bit of easy-reading historical fiction.

 If this book sounds like it might interest you, then I recommend [[Gypsy by Lesley Pearse]], which is a superb story of love and loss set in late Victorian England. You might also enjoy [[The Willow King by Meelis Friedenthal and Matthew Hyde (translator)]].