What do you think?
Rate this book
The Blanchland Secret
The Blanchland Secret by Nicola Cornick released on Sep 24, 2002 is available now for purchase.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 2000
3 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Nicola Cornick
222 books1,164 followersInternational bestselling author Nicola Cornick writes dual-time historical mysteries that draw on her love for genealogy and local history. She studied History at London and Oxford and worked in academia for a number of years before becoming a full time author. Nicola acts as a guide and researcher at the stunning 17th century hunting lodge, Ashdown House and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Friends of Lydiard Park in Swindon. She gives talks and tours on a variety of historical topics.
Nicola lives near Oxford and loves reading, writing, history, music, wildlife, travel and walking her dog. She also loves hearing from her readers and chatting to them. She can also be found on Facebook, Twitter @NicolaCornick and Instagram.
Nicola lives near Oxford and loves reading, writing, history, music, wildlife, travel and walking her dog. She also loves hearing from her readers and chatting to them. She can also be found on Facebook, Twitter @NicolaCornick and Instagram.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 22, 2012
I have trouble tolerating impoverished, untrusting heroines in historical novels when they are hell bent on solving dangerous problems (caused by men) without the help of men. How does a gently reared lady who has no money, no self-defense training, expect to confront licentious men to rescue her niece from a house of ill-repute?
Worse than that, when she receives news that her niece disappeared while visiting that house, does she set off right away, since she is at least one day's journey from the destination?
No.
Instead she waits to attend a ball, setting off two days later. When her carriage ends up in a ditch, she stays two more days with her godparents who live only five miles away from her destination.
And she doesn't worried about what has happened to her niece during those four days. (Four whole days in a house that excells in debauchery?) Nor does she try to enlist the help of her godfather or the hero (her godfather's son) in her task even after she finds out they know something about the "secret" surrounding her niece. She thinks the worst of them, men she has known since childhood, members of her extended family. Can anyone mistrust everyone that much for no reason? Really?
Sometimes, heroines in romance novels don't behave like real women of their time. And this heroine isn't an alpha type female so she doesn't even have that excuse. Instead, she's just too dang independant and untrusting for her own good.
The ending (no climax) felt like it was written to soley make word count, with interuption after interuption keeping the H and h from resolving their main disagreement (lack of trust), which was no surprse and easly resolved.
The hero is typical and forgetable. Nothing special there.
I can't say the story-line bored me. I will say I felt frustration more than any other emotion.
Worse than that, when she receives news that her niece disappeared while visiting that house, does she set off right away, since she is at least one day's journey from the destination?
No.
Instead she waits to attend a ball, setting off two days later. When her carriage ends up in a ditch, she stays two more days with her godparents who live only five miles away from her destination.
And she doesn't worried about what has happened to her niece during those four days. (Four whole days in a house that excells in debauchery?) Nor does she try to enlist the help of her godfather or the hero (her godfather's son) in her task even after she finds out they know something about the "secret" surrounding her niece. She thinks the worst of them, men she has known since childhood, members of her extended family. Can anyone mistrust everyone that much for no reason? Really?
Sometimes, heroines in romance novels don't behave like real women of their time. And this heroine isn't an alpha type female so she doesn't even have that excuse. Instead, she's just too dang independant and untrusting for her own good.
The ending (no climax) felt like it was written to soley make word count, with interuption after interuption keeping the H and h from resolving their main disagreement (lack of trust), which was no surprse and easly resolved.
The hero is typical and forgetable. Nothing special there.
I can't say the story-line bored me. I will say I felt frustration more than any other emotion.
December 31, 2018
This was a very convoluted story about a girl who is a companion to another cousin. She finds out some mystery about her brother and decides to go to her old home. Her admirer who turns out to be her godfather's son follows her and her friend to this home and then they fall in love. However they don’t trust each other and at the end of long boring misunderstanding they finally admit their love for each other.
March 7, 2021
A fast paced, clean historical romance, with a very muddled up course of events at the end.
The hero was disappointing, the romance itself was very weak, as the two main characters were deeply in love too quickly for my taste.
The hero was disappointing, the romance itself was very weak, as the two main characters were deeply in love too quickly for my taste.
February 5, 2025
A nice light romantic read with lots of the expected misunderstandings, but I enjoyed reading it. Just what I needed
September 6, 2011
Wow! I ripped through this one in a steady day of reading. Cornick had definitely found her strengths by this point in her career, and the story is emotionally riveting. Hero is a bit of an alpha-jerk, and I was angry with him a good part of the story, but without giving anything away, the resolution is satisfying.
June 17, 2016
I read this in the German edition by Cora publishing (Historical Lords&Ladies #10, 06/2008)
A nice read but nothing really special.
It was clear from the beginning who would end up marry who and sometimes the characters seemed a little bit flat, but entertaining nonetheless.
A nice read but nothing really special.
It was clear from the beginning who would end up marry who and sometimes the characters seemed a little bit flat, but entertaining nonetheless.
June 12, 2008
made me cry. which is unique, since romance novels nearly never make me cry.
January 13, 2015
Surprisingly good story! Still a light read, but well written and plotted.
January 15, 2016
The plot is quite thin but Cornick pulls it off and the characters, as usual, are very fun.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews