Our Fair Lily

Flower Girls

by Rosie Goodwin

Nuneaton, 1875.

Lily Moon, the local miner's daughter, spends her days as a parlour maid for Lord and Lady Bellingham at Oakley Manor, on the outskirts of Nuneaton. She's always been happy with her lot in life, and never expected more. But one day, everything changes when she temporarily becomes lady's maid to the Bellingham's daughter, Arabella, who is pregnant with an illegitimate child.

When Arabella suddenly disappears and Lily is left holding the baby, it is only Arabella's brother, the handsome son and heir of the estate, who shows any interest in the child. Soon a friendship forms between him and Lily. Or, perhaps more than a friendship if the village gossips are to be believed . . .

When Lily is called to Paris to try to bring Arabella home to her family, a new opportunity emerges which could change her life forever.

Could Lily dare to believe that she could be more than just a parlour maid?

Genres: Historical

419 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 15, 2024

About the author

Before becoming a writer, I was a Placement Support Worker and foster carer, and worked in the social services department after completing a teacher training course. Many children have joined my family over the years. I still live in Nuneaton, where many of my books are set, with my husband, Trevor, and our beloved dogs.

I was thrilled to discover that I'd become one of the top 250 most-borrowed library authors in the UK, and would like to thank all of you who have taken out my books over the last few years! I love meeting my readers and am always pleased to hear from you. I hope you will all continue to get in touch and please do sign up for my newsletter!

Reviews

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the time these books are hit and miss for me. Usually there's something that frustrates me but for the last two books I've read I have been pleasantly surprised. If only I'd brought this along to the hospital a few days ago I'd have finished it a lot sooner. But anyway onto the book. After covering the days of the week and gem stones we now have flowers. Although it sounds like there are only three in the series I hope there's more as there are so many girl names that are flowers. Rose, Marigold even Hyacinth although I can't look at that name without thinking of Mrs. Bucket (pronounced Bouquet). In book one we meet Lily. Lily is the daughter of a coal miner, living with her loving close knit family. She works at the manor house as a maid. One day the old lady (dowager lady?) asks to see her. It seems the daughter of the house Arabella has gotten into trouble with a most unsuitable gentleman and Lily is asked to go with her to Yorkshire as a maid until the baby is born. What she doesn't say is that Lily and Arabella look so similar that should anything go wrong people will think Lily had the baby. As expected things do go wrong and Lily is left holding a baby girl and facing gossip from the village. To make matters worse Arabella's brother Louis takes a close interest in the baby Anastasia or Annie and this fuels the gossip more. This is just the beginning of the many plots and storylines in this book. There's an accident at the mine which changes the family's fortunes even more and causes more gossip. Lily is offered a chance to become an artist, her sister Bridget steals Lily's boyfriend then regrets it because she has to live with his parents when they are forced to marry. There is a blossoming romance between Lily and Louis throughout the book that tied things together and kept me guessing when Lily meets a new suitor in London who or if either she'd end up with. Arabella went from being an idiot to one of the best developed characters in the whole book. The story kind of reminded me of A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford. Main character starts as a maid works hard and becomes a success. I loved everything about this book, starting with the gorgeous cover, to the slow burn romance, to the many plots and subplots sewn throughout such as Bridget struggling in her marriage, and Lily's mother Sara coming to terms with the changes life kept throwing at her and handling them with such grace. I honestly wasn't sure if she'd make it to the end of the book, and if course Arabella who I hated at the start and then loved and rooted for by the end. Yes there was an unwanted pregnancy in this book, possibly even two but we were not beaten over the head with how every mother instantly falls in love with her child. The only downside was there was no VC Andrews references I've seen in Goodwin's other books except that Lily's story vaguely resembles Ruby's mostly since they are both artists who are successful with their art. Everything that happens in this book just seems to happen naturally and nothing feels forced or contrived. There's no plot conviences to make things work, they just do. Lily is a naturally loveable protagonist and I loved getting to follow her journey. .

[Trudie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this so much that I read it in a couple of days. Lily was such a wonderful character and the story was written so well that I couldn't stop reading! An excellent start to a new series!

[Sue Sykes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this first book and a 3 book series. Loved the story of Lily and her family and how she turned her life about from her hobby.
And now to wait for the 2nd book to be released

[Rachael Lord · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story and would probably give it 3.5 stars if that were an option - it just doesn’t quite reach a full 4 for me.

Pros:
- The story is engaging, well-paced, and refreshingly clean.
- The characters are generally likeable , and they do get their happy ending.

Cons:
- The characters tend to be one-dimensional. Most are either entirely good or entirely bad. Lily’s sister, Bridget, is almost cartoonishly selfish and self-absorbed, while Lily herself has the patience and selflessness of a saint.
- The Bellingham family is similarly painted with a broad brush - depicted as universally cold and classist, with the sole exception of their handsome, titled son, who somehow emerges from this same environment with an entirely different (and very modern) set of values.
- Some plot points stretch plausibility, particularly in how the story handles social norms and propriety. For example: when Lady Bellingham needs to retrieve her wayward granddaughter from Paris, it’s believable that she sends her grandson. But she also insists that a young parlour maid travel with him, unchaperoned, simply because the missing girl ‘trusts her.’ This decision feels wildly out of character for a woman obsessed with family reputation and already dealing with scandal. It moves the plot along, yes - but doesn’t make much sense within the world the story has built.

Overall:
If you enjoy clean historical romances with likeable characters and happy endings - and don’t mind a few inconsistencies in realism or character nuance - then you’ll likely enjoy this one.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad I decided to pick this up, it was amazing. The characters and setting are so vivid and I really liked the author's writing style. A bit different to what I normally read and this had shades of Catherine Cookson though not quite as tragic.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/4 stars, was an enjoyable listen on audible

[Mary4reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful flavour of the loves and lives of the residents of a 19th century mining town, told through the protagonist Lily Moon. Wonderfully earthy and uplifting.

[H LLOYD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[SweetGreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seemed a bit repetitive with all the Robbie confrontations

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely lovely story. Rosie always has a good plot twists. Highly recommend. Can't wait her next book ❤️

[Leanne Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. As always gutted to be finished it

[Gloria]

Another success, as always Rosie brings the characters to life, throughly enjoyable read.

[Simone McKenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

I would say that I still rather enjoyed this book overall despite also having many criticisms about it, of things that annoyed and grated me to no end. I found it kept me absorbed and I could simply not put it down, much like with the previous Rosie Goodwin novel I read, The Lost Girl. It was quite an emotional rollercoaster to be honest, and quite eventful too which I quite liked. It is always good seeing a character's journey through their rags to riches story. However, I hate to say that I have more to criticise about this book that I do to praise, and perhaps a 3 star rating may even be considered generous.

Lily was far too much of a Mary Sue, simply being this perfect, one-dimensional saint, having the patience, kindness and generousity of one and always being the Good Samaritan, never even showing real anger or resentment towards those who actually mistreat her-and even sympathises with them, which I found really annoying, and was thus not a very relatable character at all. She always seems to know the right thing to say and do the right thing no matter what, and I just found this ridiculous. I found that she seemed to literally have no real flaws, or at least no significant ones that were addressed, with the odd flaw she did have being played for sympathy and as "not her fault!". She didn't feel like a real character to me, but rather this embodiment of a saint, and the only people who didn't like her were those who were simply jealous of her for being such a saint and so favoured all the time. She even takes in and adopts a random waif near the end of the story, which just came out of nowhere and didn't even add anything to the story or fit in with the rest of the story in any way, having been totally unnecessary and pointless, with the waif, introduced as Merry, serving no purpose other than to follow Lily around and hero-worship her non-stop. It happened so late in the story as well that it was just too late to get to know another character at this stage, with it just having been shoehorned in to show yet again just what a kindly, saintly, Good Samaritan Lily is. This Merry character really annoyed me as well with just how much she hero-worshipped Lily, and this got spelled out to us too much, as if we need it spelled out to us yet again just how much of a kind, virtuous saint Lily is, and just follows her around all the time. It's like she was supposed to take the place of Annie, so Lily could now have another poor abandoned little girl to raise as her own, which just seemed ridiculous. Louis's constant hero-worship of Lily was really annoying too, along with us constantly being told just how beautiful he thinks she is which got really repetitive along with the constant "but we're from different classes, it could never work". The taking in strays storyline just kept getting annoyingly rehashed throughout the book too, as first Lily takes in baby Annie (though to be fair she was forced upon her and it doesn't last at least), then she takes in the kitchen maid Ginny's dog after she's been separated from him, then she lets Ginny come and live with her after she has run away after being bullied by the cook, then she takes in Merry and raises her as her own, then she takes in another dog-it just got really tiresome, like the lack of subtly was ridiculous, I mean how many times do you need to spell out to us what an absolute saint and good Samaritan Lily is?!

I feel as well that the way other girls were compared to her in such a negative light, such as her sister Bridget and Samantha (Louis's betrothed), was just yet another way of holding her in a shining light and just not right pitting other girls against each other like this. Samantha came across as a bit forced to be honest, with her horrible, belligerent, snobby attitude (especially towards Lily) being too forced and spelled out to us to the point she was very one-dimensional. She is of course like this because she is supposed to be a love rival to Lily and be one of the barriers that stands in the way of her and Louis getting together (not that she's an actual threat personally speaking given Louis makes his preference towards Lily very clear!) along with her also being an equal in class to Louis of course. It might have been more interesting had Louis's suitor been nicer and that he was still fond of her but only as a friend, much like with Lily and her own false love interest, Jean-Pierre (or Jean-Paul?) who by the way was another shoehorned character purely meant as another hurdle in the Lily/Louis love story only to then utilise the Pair the Spares trope with him and Arabella! Honestly, it was all so cliched and contrived that I felt like I was watching a cliched romance film. But doing that more complex characterisation with Samantha would have made things a bit more complex too, as it would have created more conflicting feelings for Louis I'm sure, and Lily if the girl had been nice to her, as it was all too obvious that Louis clearly had no interest in Samantha at all and only had eyes for Lily, but it would have been more interesting if his feelings for Lily weren't as obvious throughout the book and it had actually appeared that he might like this Samantha girl. The way it is even explicitly pointed out that Louis thinks Lily is so much nicer when it was already obvious, like it's not something we needed to be spelled out for us-readers can read between the lines you know. Both Lily and Bridget also could have had more potential in regards to being more complex, three-dimensional characterisations, as opposed to the one-dimensional saint and narcissist they were respectively.

It was also just far too far-fetched and it got to the point it was pretty cliched and overly sentimental in parts, especially with the cliched ending. I mean it was always obvious that Lily was going to end up with Louis, but I feel like the ending of them ending up together was a bit too cliched and sugary. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if Louis hadn't have said "I love you-I think I have from the minute I set eyes on you" (whether you believe in Love at First Sight or not this is just too cliched, though that may be more subjective on my part). I'm aware that these are meant to be romance novels but I still find the ending a bit too cliched and sugary for my liking, though that is probably just me and is purely subjective of course. Also, while it is great Lily achieved her dreams of becoming a famous artist and very much went from rags to riches, it was still a bit unrealistic the way it happened, with her just coming across this artist in an art gallery in France who loved all her work. It might have made more sense if she had found connections through networking through Louis, who could have easily had loads of connections.

The scenes with Robbie harassing her got far too repetitive which was annoying, and just didn't add anything, and the part towards the end of him kidnapping her and holding her hostage seemed a bit out of place and also didn't really add anything, especially with it being two years after she left Nuneaton, and just seemed to be added in for the sake of drama. I still think he should have been condemned for his behaviour, as yes while he did clearly need help and a mental asylum was probably what was best for him, what he did to Lily was still absolutely criminal, holding a young woman hostage like that, leaving her to die after having already harassed her multiple times previously, I mean he almost killed her and the trauma it would have left with her! While yes he needed help, that does not mean that he should be excused and even condoned. This was clearly just yet another way of depicting how much of an absolute saint Lily is, insisting he not be charged but rather sectioned, with Louis even saying "other girls would have wanted his blood". Honestly, I was so sick of Louis constantly praising and idolising Lily all the damn time, being along with Merry her biggest admirer, sorry, hero-worshipper. Oh AND she even offers to buy a house for her kidnapper and Bridget? Like are you effin kidding me?! I mean first, we get it already, Lily is an absolute saint and angel, you don't need to spell it out to us a trillion times, and secondly, letting him get away with his criminal behaviour is one thing, but offering to buy a house for him?! Seriously?! Talk about Stockholm Syndrome. Yes most other girls would have wanted his blood, because they are normal, and more relatable and realistic! I still don't think he should have gotten away with it and should have been punished, as I still believe in punishment when someone does something anti-social or criminal irregardless of them "needing help", otherwise all criminals could just use that excuse, as apologism and condoning of such behaviour just really annoys me.

I was pleased to see that Annie did end up staying with her actual mother after all, which was one of the less predictable parts of the story, as you keep thinking she'll end up living with Lily forever but Arabella, her actual mother, does end up actually caring for her in the end with both her and her mother coming to love and care for her. Also Lily's family building an extension onto their cottage to accommodate Ginny's family?! Come on! It would have been one thing if this had been a temporary set-up, but it seemed like it was going to be these two families living together forever, like talk about contrived and over-sentimental. They could have at least just Ginny's family find their own, new home in the end, even if that had been with the help of Lily's family. I mean I know this was just a story, but come on, life does not work like that, and how did they manage to build an extension that easily?! Everything just came together too easily and unrealistically in this particular story, making it seem too far-fetched with not enough struggle.

The rags to riches and interclass romance storyline was a bit too cliched for my liking, especially as Lily doesn't actually undergo or endure any real, significant, particular barriers during this process, or any real suffering, mainly just the complicated situation of her feelings towards Louis. Okay I guess it isn't entirely true that she doesn't suffer at all, as there is the whole thing with Robbie stalking her and then kidnapping and holding her hostage, but even that was only suddenly and briefly shoehorned in like an afterthought towards the end. I mean yes there was the struggle when her dad died and her and her family were left in financial struggle, but even then it only lasts briefly as they are soon saved by Louis, of course, who finds them another cottage. Lily also just keeps getting lucky thanks to the help from Louis (aka her obvious admirer/love interest) and of course coming across the owner of an art gallery who just has to single her out and asks to see her work, which upon seeing he likes so much, ultimately resulting in her becoming rich and famous! Even when she is fired from her job, she manages to get lucky landing herself a job as an artist, soon after which she becomes rich and famous!

Now I don't want to write off this book as a terrible book, as I did still find it kept me intrigued enough to keep on reading, which is why I have been generous in giving it an average 3 stars as opposed to low. It is always interesting following the adventures of people in Victorian times, and wondering what is going to happen, so I will give it that. Contrived is honestly probably the best word I'd use to describe this book. It was definitely one of Rosie Goodwin's weaker novels, but to be honest the only one that I've read so far that I was really annoyed and disappointed in.

[Hugh Griffiths]

I realise this is going for "heart-warming", in the sense that it's morally unchallenging, the heroes always know the right thing to do and it always works out for them immediately. I assume that's what it's going for and it does that job well enough.
I'm still unsure whether the title is supposed to be a play on My Fair Lady with a Yorkshire-ish "Our Lily"? Lily does start off a maid and end up a lady, but that's really a small part of the story. Also I'm wondering if this was written to be serialised? It just feels a bit episodic.

Some things I thought were interesting:
No-one has any compunctions about lying, their solution to every problem is to present the shallowest lie and assume no-one will question it. There's weirdly no *moral* issue about lying, and no-one mentions religion or piety. There's some kind of separation where Lily is always perfectly honest and good, but lying in pursuit of a scheme is a-ok, and religion isn't part of their moral thinking, it's all just "pride".

Everyone is worried about their reputation, but it just feels like they don't like people gossiping about them, rather than that everyone is reasoning with partial information and assuming the worst. And really the reason for that is exactly the kind of schemes they keep pulling - it's not enough to be virtuous, protecting your reputation is about making sure there's solid proof that you did too.

There's an interesting part too where the families of miners who died during a cave-in are evicted to make space for new workers. Louie is appalled by this, and makes sure Lily has a place to stay. He's generous to the others, but they're still evicted - because he feels bad, but following that through would unravel a bunch of threads and really break the historical setting, #FullCommunismNow.

And also money - paying rent comes up a fair amount, but also the only housing is controlled by the Lord, and attached to jobs at his manor and businesses. It's weird as the story progresses everything moves from this quite feudal arrangement where the Lord owns most of the county and it's all a command economy he controls, to being actually quite market-based, and anyone can come and go as they like as long as they can pay rent.

[SH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lily Moon is the daughter of a miner or as she calls herself ‘a pit girl’ who works as a parlour maid for Lord and Lady Bellingham at Oakley Manor. When she is called upon to become a lady's maid to the Bellingham's daughter, Arabella, she does so to help cover up that Arabella is pregnant with an illegitimate child. When Arabella suddenly disappears and Lily is left holding the baby, it is only Arabella's brother, Louis who offers any assistance. However, despite a friendship forming between them, Lily realises that as the heir to the estate, there is no future between them. When Lily is called to Paris to try to bring Arabella home to her family, a new opportunity emerges which could change her life forever.
Lily and Louis are two very sweet and sincere characters who try to deny their feelings for each other. Lily is so honourable in all that she does, even though there are times when she deserves better. The secondary characters of her younger sister and mother, also added greater depth to the story. Whilst the POV of the characters mainly were from Lily and Louis, there is also the perspective, if brief, of all the other characters. This was done quite cleverly, adding to an understanding of each characters’ actions. A delightful story.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Sirisha Tadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Tale of Strength, Kindness, and Triumph !

Rosie Goodwin’s Our Fair Lily is a heartwarming and inspiring historical novel that takes readers on a journey through the life of Lily, a pit wench who rises above her circumstances with resilience, kindness, and remarkable talent. Unlike many novels in this genre, where the protagonist’s story is often centered around a love interest, Our Fair Lily offers a refreshing take—one that truly belongs to Lily herself.

Lily is an easy character to admire. She is strong yet gentle, talented yet humble, and her growth throughout the novel is beautifully portrayed. Her journey from the hardships of a mining town to a place of strength and success is both engaging and uplifting. While there is a nobleman in her life, the story does not revolve around their romance, which sets this book apart from similar period dramas. Instead, it focuses on Lily’s evolution as a person—her struggles, her triumphs, and her unwavering kindness.

Another highlight of the book is its wholesome and pleasant tone. There is no excessive drama or steamy scenes, making it a comforting read. Goodwin’s storytelling is immersive, with rich historical detail and a cast of well-developed supporting characters who add depth to Lily’s journey.

Overall, Our Fair Lily is a delightful read.

[Sandra Witter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every one of Rosies books I read, and I have read almost all of them now, I say it's the best one yet, and here I go again
Lily lives in Nuneaton and is a coal miners daughter. They live with her younger sister, her younger brother and Mum in a tiny pit workers cottage on a great Manor. Life is hard, and for escapism Lily sketches, everything she sees around her.
She's taken on as a parlour maid at the big house, and so the story begins. First her sister steals her fiance from her, She's glad really as didn't feel it with Robbie. Then she gets to know the daughter of the house and gets pulled into their families tribulations, making both life long friends, and enemies. I'm not going to say more to spoil the story, but once again, I opened the book this morning, did nothing all day, and put it down finished this evening. How Lily survives the tough life she's been born into, always helping others, which gets her into more difficulties, and how she makes good......on her own in the end. Got to wait till September now till book 2..... Damn. Rosie, you've done it again, and every book is better than the last.

[Carolina CHC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our Fair Lily is a captivating story filled with enchanting characters. This is one of those books where you wish you’ve had an epilogue plus a few more extended epilogues at the end so you can keep reading about all the character’s lives.

Lily Moon is a sensible and talented girl, with a kind disposition but belonging to a servant class. Louis is a noble person, kind above all but part of a society that chooses duty and tradition among anything else. Their commitments towards their families is what entwined their lives at the beginning. All the time they spend working to fix everyone else’s lives made them wish for an unattainable future between them. Whether they have a happy ending will depend on their abilities to follow their dreams and make something of themselves plus some help from life circumstances.

I really appreciated the opportunity to read a copy of this book. The story was well written and had beautifully narrative.

Thanks NetGalley for allowing me to read this copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Ann-Maree · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Our Fair Lily" by Rosie Goodwin is a captivating and skillfully crafted story that immersed me in the lives of the Bellintham and Moon families. This first book in the new series is a delightful read that left me eagerly anticipating the next instalment.

Lily Moon, is the daughter of a miner who had taken on the role of a parlour maid for Lord and Lady Bellingham at Oakley Manor. When asked to be assigned as the lady's maid to the Bellingham's daughter, Arabella Lily accepts, Lily accompanies her on a lengthy travel to the country, despite her mother's disapproval. This decision significantly impacts Lily's life in various ways. As the story unfolds with dramatic events caused by Arabella, Louis Bellingham, her brother, emerges as a source of support for Lily, leading to a deepening bond between them.

[Mrs Lyn Cupples · Rating 5 out of 5]

the boy from nowhere

Hi Rosie, just thought I would let you know how much I enjoyed your book the ‘boy from nowhere’. My wife started reading your books many years ago and suggested I have a read as well! I am by occupation a retired police officer but now fully retired and living in Scotland. I have read and enjoyed so so many of your books, but this one I could certainly see things developing as the story progressed but I was ‘shocked’ when Franky took his own life. And yes it did bring tears to my eyes. I love your books long may they continue. Many thanks - avid reader Pete

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice easy read. logical structure, a nice bit of family drama. Lily was an interesting central character; her supporting cast were interesting. I thought the initial storyline of Lily helping the daughter of the big house was good... until the same thing happened twice... and it seemed for a moment like Lily was going to be too flawed and naive to be endearing. The twist of her artistic talent getting her out of her humble beginnings was a redeeming feature... although the thing with Robbie having a breakdown and kidnapping her at the docks seemed a bit of a 'scraping the barrel' for more drama in the final three chapters.

[Paul Adler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Rosie Goodwin masterpiece. This one revolves around Lily who works as a maid at the local Stately House owned by the rich Bellingham family. When Lily is asked to look after the illegitimate child of Arabella the Bellingham’s daughter things for Lily are never quite the same again. She ends with feeling for Louis the son of the household, but knows nothing can ever come from it. Tragedy strikes the family and upheaval follows. Lily is a talented artist who draws and paints for fun. When a gallery owner sees her drawings he is enraptured and wants to sell them for her. She becomes a great success as a painter, but will she ever find happiness with the man she loves?

[Tamara Glover · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh how I loved this book!

I’ve read at least 50 books through Amazon Prime and many more prints before and during. This is by far one of my favorite books to date. It reminds me of Gap Creek by Robert Morgan… hard times, love, and hardship. It is truly well written. I stayed up many late night reading this after my family had gone to bed, cursing myself, knowing that I’d pay for it at work the next day after staying up late. But I continued to read! It is a truly wonderful love story, but so much more!

[Mrs Linda Sadler · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my goodness I have enjoyed this story so much

I have been in my element reading this story about Lily and Louis, I have read it at every opportunity possible, it has been extremely hard to stop, so for the second night running I am off to bed at midnight! Thank you so much Rosie Goodwin

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent regency story

This could be a rags to riches story, a regency novel, or a good love story or all of the above. It was fun to read even if I knew how it was going to end. It would have been perfect if the author had not ended the story so abruptly, an epilogue or even one more chapter to at least have a wedding!

[irene currie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughter tears and drama

This book is amazing the first in the flower girls collection I couldn't put it down the characters drew you in from the first sentence it kept going with lots of twists and turns but the ending was superb Rosie Goodwin as always delivered a brilliant story looking forward to reading the next one

[Lori Graf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again another great Rosie Goodwin book! This one reminded me of the Downton Abbey storyline. There was a dowager countess who couldn’t her snobbish opinions to herself, the contrast between the upstairs lives of the aristocracy & the servants downstairs. I look forward to reading more of this British author’s novels.

[Judy Tolley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Artist in the family

A true Goodwin story. Poor miner's daughter falls in love with the Lord if the manor. Their class difference keeps them from acknowledging their love. She slowly becomes an artist making money hand over fist. She gets kidnapped ...he rescued her...they end up happy ever after.

[Jennsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is focused on a girl named Lily who lives in the 1800s in the Midlands. It follows her life working as a maid, and she finds herself being victim of a plot with the lady’s family and scandal. There is also a love story. The book was predictable but a light read and a feel-good story, which is just what I needed to pick me up.

[josephine Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story where you knew how you hoped it was going to end but had to wait to find out.

This was a lovely story but it kept me wondering if there was a twist.? I really enjoyed reading it.