Summer's End

Summerset Abbey #4

by T.J. Brown

Outwardly, Elaine Buxton has it all—an aristocratic name, money, jewels, a castle and an amusing group of friends who adore her.

She also has a secret.

At age seventeen, shy Elaine, like many other daughters who had less than desirable physical traits or appalling social skills, was sent off to a select school to be polished, slenderized and taught the intricate rules of Edwardian etiquette. After returning from school after her eighteenth birthday, her mother, the formidable Lady Buxton, was delighted to find that Elaine had been transformed into a slim, refined and charming young woman and knew a brilliant marriage was forthcoming.

But Elaine has a secret that could destroy everything.

After the continent erupted in war, Elaine hoped she would finally be able to escape her mother’s thumb and live a brave new life like her cousins, Rowena and Victoria. But terrified for her son's safety on the battlefields of France, Lady Buxton clung to her daughter even tighter than before. When a mysterious man from Elaine’s past returns and threatens to reveal Elaine's secret, she must choose between duty to her family or defying her mother in a desperate quest for freedom and love.

Summer’s End, the charming companion novella to the Summerset Abbey series, moves between the majestic Alps of prewar Europe to Belgravia’s elite drawing rooms to the wounded soldiers of London’s crowded hospitals.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction

89 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 2014

Reviews

[Megan Trempe · Rating 5 out of 5]

a nice ending for our under appreciated character

[William Vignola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romeo and Juliet of 1910.

A love story as old as time. A rich woman falls in love with a starving artist much to her mother's disdain.

[Amy Schmalbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so glad that Brown chose to write this little e-novella to wrap up Elaine's story. That was my number one disappointment at the end of the Summerset Abbey trilogy - that there was no conclusion to Elaine's story. Although she was more of a secondary character, I related to her more than any of her cousins and was sincerely hoping that she could be pulled out of the state of depression she was in.

This novel surprised me (in a good way) by revealing that Elaine actually had a juicy back-story from when she was a finishing school that she kept hidden from everyone, and that her past contributed to her state of melancholy in the present. Brown did a very nice job of rounding out Elaine's character and making the reader feel for her and root for her happy ending.

Less successful was Brown's characterization of Wolfram. He was never really fleshed out, and the book rushed through his and Elaine's courtship, so that, as the reader, I had trouble understanding the extent of his connection with Elaine and didn't feel like I really got to know him.

The ending, while a happy one, was very abrupt. The novella had been well-paced up to the last chapter, which wrapped the story up all in a rush. I would have appreciated a more thoroughly written, satisfying ending. That being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book and would have read it in one fell swoop if I had had the time. I look forward to reading more by Brown.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story about Elaine Buxton, who is first cousin to Rowena, Prudence, and Victoria. Shy and reserved due to an overbearing mother, she had little to say except sympathetic gestures for her newly arrived cousins. This book takes you through Elaine's life, and her time away at school, and new found freedom. Then she is thrust back to Summerset Abbey, and under her mother's unkind words, and demands. I love how the book developes. I wish it had been longer, but I loved the ending,and the hard won woman the she turns out to be. This was a very good read.

[Kevin Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guilty pleasure

This series is of noble girls coming of age during the turn of the century. This novel takes place during WWI in England and Switzerland boarding school 5 years earlier

[ladybird · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually book 4 of the Summerset Abbey series, only available on kindle. A short book but a good conclusion to the series.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

better than the rest

[Bernadette Shekleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Focuses on one of the minor characters from the other books. Seemed like an afterthought.