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Victorian Villains Saga #1
Windemere Hall
Shy, stammering Clara Hamilton is shocked when her father announces her betrothal to a cousin she barely knows. Her uncle’s stepson, Branson Hamilton is handsome, avaricious and rumoured to be unstable. Nineteen-year-old Clara, anxious for her father’s approval, agrees to the union unaware of what is at stake. A sinister family secret surfaces and Clara soon discovers that the master of Windemere Hall has a dark revenge in store when she enters into his power.
316 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 27, 2016
52 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Lloyd
32 books8 followersLibrarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Catherine Lloyd is a pseudonym for mystery author, Nadine Doolittle, who wrote three romance novels before switching genres to psychological suspense. She was born in 1960 in Comox, British Columbia, the third daughter of an RCF mechanic and his Scottish wife. A graduate of Vancouver's prestigious Studio 58 Theatre Program, her career path has taken her from acting to casting film and television with Toronto's Alliance Films, to writing for a weekly newspaper and a city daily.
Nadine has two grown children, two stepdaughters, a cat, a dog and a grandson. She lives with her partner Tim in a beautiful house on 22 forested acres nestled in the Gatineau Hills where she writes full time. She is a member of The Writers' Union of Canada.
Catherine Lloyd is a pseudonym for mystery author, Nadine Doolittle, who wrote three romance novels before switching genres to psychological suspense. She was born in 1960 in Comox, British Columbia, the third daughter of an RCF mechanic and his Scottish wife. A graduate of Vancouver's prestigious Studio 58 Theatre Program, her career path has taken her from acting to casting film and television with Toronto's Alliance Films, to writing for a weekly newspaper and a city daily.
Nadine has two grown children, two stepdaughters, a cat, a dog and a grandson. She lives with her partner Tim in a beautiful house on 22 forested acres nestled in the Gatineau Hills where she writes full time. She is a member of The Writers' Union of Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 30, 2023
This book started off full of contradictions.
First one; the father and son dislike the hero and say multiple times he is worthless and will run the family name and property into the ground, then discuss how ruthless he is in business and how wealthy he has made himself. Ok, so is he incompetent or capable?
Secondly, the father says that he needs to marry his daughter off to the hero because this is her only shot at marriage/regaining their fortune, and they can't afford to botch it; yet the entire time they're discussing the marriage terms the father is insulting and degrading to the daughter. Not exactly enduring??
Not in the mood and don't feel like sticking around if this is how we start off.
First one; the father and son dislike the hero and say multiple times he is worthless and will run the family name and property into the ground, then discuss how ruthless he is in business and how wealthy he has made himself. Ok, so is he incompetent or capable?
Secondly, the father says that he needs to marry his daughter off to the hero because this is her only shot at marriage/regaining their fortune, and they can't afford to botch it; yet the entire time they're discussing the marriage terms the father is insulting and degrading to the daughter. Not exactly enduring??
Not in the mood and don't feel like sticking around if this is how we start off.
August 22, 2024
Overall: 3 stars. I'm rating it for the sheer joy I had reading it, not objective quality
This is an absolutely BONKERS, old-school gothic romance that feels like it teleported here from the 1970s. There's no literal bodice-ripping, but the vibes are very high. To be fair, I'm not sure this book is good, per se, but it sure as heck is entertaining.
I almost gave this book up in the first few chapters and called it a DNF, but I kept going to see what would happen, and it was very very fun. Batshit, but fun. Also, the dialog is fantastic. There's lots of dramatic yelling and insults, followed by declarations of love, and all of that dialog is sizzling. What’s not so hot is the sex scenes; the blurb may describe this book as “steamy,” but it’s really not. Body parts are mentioned, but sex scenes are just skimmed over, FYI.
I'm not going to give a full plot summary, since I think that would spoil the fun, but here's a list of some of the themes and plot devices stuffed into this book to give you an idea: arranged marriage, evil fathers, disabilities, insane asylums, rape (multiple instances; not really described, but they do happen), family debt, snooping neighbors, cheating husbands, inheritance drama, drowning, murder and attempted murder, "mad women," swooshy dresses, and boobs.
The "romance" is toxic as can be, there's fast-forwarding and time skips that make things disjointed, there's clichés and tropes all over the place, and still...I had a lot of fun reading this book. I think it would be a great choice for the right reader who knows what they're getting into and is ready to ride this wacky rollercoaster of a plot. If you're looking for a more modern gothic romance with a more cohesive plot....just skip it.
This is an absolutely BONKERS, old-school gothic romance that feels like it teleported here from the 1970s. There's no literal bodice-ripping, but the vibes are very high. To be fair, I'm not sure this book is good, per se, but it sure as heck is entertaining.
I almost gave this book up in the first few chapters and called it a DNF, but I kept going to see what would happen, and it was very very fun. Batshit, but fun. Also, the dialog is fantastic. There's lots of dramatic yelling and insults, followed by declarations of love, and all of that dialog is sizzling. What’s not so hot is the sex scenes; the blurb may describe this book as “steamy,” but it’s really not. Body parts are mentioned, but sex scenes are just skimmed over, FYI.
I'm not going to give a full plot summary, since I think that would spoil the fun, but here's a list of some of the themes and plot devices stuffed into this book to give you an idea: arranged marriage, evil fathers, disabilities, insane asylums, rape (multiple instances; not really described, but they do happen), family debt, snooping neighbors, cheating husbands, inheritance drama, drowning, murder and attempted murder, "mad women," swooshy dresses, and boobs.
The "romance" is toxic as can be, there's fast-forwarding and time skips that make things disjointed, there's clichés and tropes all over the place, and still...I had a lot of fun reading this book. I think it would be a great choice for the right reader who knows what they're getting into and is ready to ride this wacky rollercoaster of a plot. If you're looking for a more modern gothic romance with a more cohesive plot....just skip it.
October 21, 2024
2.5 ⭐️⭐️Girl, so confusing!
No but like this book was very confusing and I get that it’s a gothic romance with Villain in the series title so I was expecting dark tortured hero etc. but dude was sending so many mixed signals.
If you like true bodice rippers then you may like this as Bran embodies many of the bodice ripper hero/villian traits - tw for SA (not done by the hero) but I think my biggest issue with this and hence my confusion is because the romance feels so underbaked and lost in all the other plot points that happen in this. More on that in spoilers section.
This book was bonkers and almost felt like a penny dreadful to me in just how batshit a lot of the events in the book are. I didn’t care for the romance, but the book was entertaining.
This definitely has many gothic spooky vibes and very unpleasant characters, almost everyone is kind of an asshole. I have very mixed feelings, I was intrigued by the plot and read it in 24/7 because I genuinely was like what the hell is going to happen but I’m left less than satisfied.
.
.
.
Spoilers! *******
Okay so the first 30% of the book is spent with them “developing” their romance and that’s it, it’s like okay we are in love with each other after like 3 days. The rest of the book is the plot unraveling and coming together, secrets being uncovered, etc. also through the beginning Bran is constantly going back forth on what he will and won’t promise her, whether he’s lieing to her her or not, and she’s constantly like “oh we are friends” or “oh he’s scaring me” and it’s like okay which is it? Idk how to describe it but there just isn’t enough time spent on showing them actually developing a romance/connection. I think a lot of depending on us knowing that they had a connection as children, but we as readers don’t know what’s that like, so it means nothing to us.
The other thing is the whole Grace plot - so she falsely accused Arthur of rape. But a big theme here is about how women aren’t believed and are institutionalized for telling the truth. So idk what the messaging is lol, everyone believed Grace but that created a whole mess, no one believed Clara and that also created a huge mess so idk that bothered me. Not that you can’t have a female character lie about stuff like that, but with everything else going on in this book, it felt out of place and odd to me personally.
But also idk why I’m looking for messaging in this lmao this book was nuts.
No but like this book was very confusing and I get that it’s a gothic romance with Villain in the series title so I was expecting dark tortured hero etc. but dude was sending so many mixed signals.
If you like true bodice rippers then you may like this as Bran embodies many of the bodice ripper hero/villian traits - tw for SA (not done by the hero) but I think my biggest issue with this and hence my confusion is because the romance feels so underbaked and lost in all the other plot points that happen in this. More on that in spoilers section.
This book was bonkers and almost felt like a penny dreadful to me in just how batshit a lot of the events in the book are. I didn’t care for the romance, but the book was entertaining.
This definitely has many gothic spooky vibes and very unpleasant characters, almost everyone is kind of an asshole. I have very mixed feelings, I was intrigued by the plot and read it in 24/7 because I genuinely was like what the hell is going to happen but I’m left less than satisfied.
.
.
.
Spoilers! *******
Okay so the first 30% of the book is spent with them “developing” their romance and that’s it, it’s like okay we are in love with each other after like 3 days. The rest of the book is the plot unraveling and coming together, secrets being uncovered, etc. also through the beginning Bran is constantly going back forth on what he will and won’t promise her, whether he’s lieing to her her or not, and she’s constantly like “oh we are friends” or “oh he’s scaring me” and it’s like okay which is it? Idk how to describe it but there just isn’t enough time spent on showing them actually developing a romance/connection. I think a lot of depending on us knowing that they had a connection as children, but we as readers don’t know what’s that like, so it means nothing to us.
The other thing is the whole Grace plot - so she falsely accused Arthur of rape. But a big theme here is about how women aren’t believed and are institutionalized for telling the truth. So idk what the messaging is lol, everyone believed Grace but that created a whole mess, no one believed Clara and that also created a huge mess so idk that bothered me. Not that you can’t have a female character lie about stuff like that, but with everything else going on in this book, it felt out of place and odd to me personally.
But also idk why I’m looking for messaging in this lmao this book was nuts.
May 17, 2020
Loved it. Fabulous revenge drama. Both Clara and Bran are great.
June 15, 2025
bridgerton for my goth girls, BTEC Jane Eyre, she's fun, she's hip, she's got twists but I wouldn't trust her to do my mortgage application
September 6, 2019
Bronte
Before I read this book I had felt she held her own with Brontes. Windermere Hall made me full of joy as I watched the story unfold. A most credible re-working of Jane E
Before I read this book I had felt she held her own with Brontes. Windermere Hall made me full of joy as I watched the story unfold. A most credible re-working of Jane E
May 18, 2025
I had to make myself finish.
I loved the cover but that’s was about it.
This book seemed like a first draft to me. Possibly someone uploaded the wrong file??
Too many typos mostly the word to or too. Either completely missing or extra in a sentence.
Too many tragic events to be believable
The characters were not well written. Their personalities changed with every new event that dropped out of the sky.
I like a well written anti-hero that changes as the plot thickens but this plot bounced me all over the place.
They love and hate each other so many times I just didn’t care if there was a happy ending.
I don’t recommend this book but there were others who did. I only found one review that matches my opinion so maybe download a sample.
I hate leaving bad reviews but this book needs more work
I loved the cover but that’s was about it.
This book seemed like a first draft to me. Possibly someone uploaded the wrong file??
Too many typos mostly the word to or too. Either completely missing or extra in a sentence.
Too many tragic events to be believable
The characters were not well written. Their personalities changed with every new event that dropped out of the sky.
I like a well written anti-hero that changes as the plot thickens but this plot bounced me all over the place.
They love and hate each other so many times I just didn’t care if there was a happy ending.
I don’t recommend this book but there were others who did. I only found one review that matches my opinion so maybe download a sample.
I hate leaving bad reviews but this book needs more work
December 17, 2025
Read this book!!
I don’t normally read books with so little reviews but I took a chance on this one and I’m so glad I did! This book has everything that a dedicated romance reader could want. Romance, mystery, intrigue and of course, angst, in a very well written story! It could do with some proofreading but other than that it was an excellent read and I look forward to reading more of this author
I don’t normally read books with so little reviews but I took a chance on this one and I’m so glad I did! This book has everything that a dedicated romance reader could want. Romance, mystery, intrigue and of course, angst, in a very well written story! It could do with some proofreading but other than that it was an excellent read and I look forward to reading more of this author
June 18, 2025
I'll admit that this book definitely kept me on my toes but this romance was TOXIC and the characters were soo awful. The last line of the book audibly made me laugh out loud and had nothing to do with the entirety of the plot and was clearly an after thought to develop it into a series. The Jane Eyre plot was an interesting tie in but good lord I would not revisit this
October 16, 2025
You are a little freak Catherine
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews