What a fantastic start for a new series!
The Sisters of Sea View is the first installment of what promises to be a wonderful new series. Five captivating sisters start a tortuous but delightful path towards their HEA. Viola is the first, and it’s a beautiful story.
Our thanks to the author, Bethany House Publishers, Austenprose, and NetGalley, for the advanced reader’s copy.
Book Details
Print Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (December 6, 2022)
Language: English
ASIN : B09V6J6L5Z
Book Description
Some guests have come for a holiday, others for hidden reasons of their own . . .
When their father’s death leaves them impoverished, Sarah Summers and her genteel sisters fear they will be forced to sell the house and separate to earn livelihoods as governesses or companions. Determined to stay together, Sarah convinces them to open their seaside home to guests to make ends meet and provide for their ailing mother. Instead of the elderly invalids they expect to receive, however, they find themselves hosting eligible gentlemen. Sarah is soon torn between a growing attraction to a mysterious Scottish widower and duty to her family.
Viola Summers wears a veil to cover her scar. When forced to choose between helping in her family’s new guest house and earning money to hire a maid to do her share, she chooses the latter. She reluctantly agrees to read to some of Sidmouth’s many invalids, preferring the company of a few elders with failing eyesight to the fashionable guests staying in their home. But when her first client turns out to be a wounded officer in his thirties, Viola soon wishes she had chosen differently. Her new situation exposes her scars–both visible and those hidden deep within–and her cloistered heart will never be the same.
From the Publisher’s Blurb
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Review
I first read Julie Klassen years ago at the suggestion of my librarian (the book was The Secret of Pembroke Park). I was immediately captivated by the subtle hints of Jane Austen and the flowy prose. Since then, I have read almost every book she published.
Of course, I would not pass up the opportunity to read The Sisters of Sea View and its promise of another fantastic series.
The book introduces the reader to five sisters who were displaced from their home after their father died and a male relative inherited it. But unlike Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret, the Summer Sisters were not left to fend for themselves. Instead, their father left them a summer house by the coast of Devon.
Struggling to cope with the expenses, the sisters opened their house to paying guests. While this solved their financial issues, it also brought new challenges, especially for Viola, one of the sisters with a scar on her mouth due to a cleft lip.
The romance has all my favorite elements: grumpy, scared, traumatized hero, strong, vulnerable, loyal, and loving heroine, slow-burn relationship, compelling relatives, and a little bit of angst.
I fell in love with Major Hutton right from the start, which is not surprising as I have a thing for convalescent soldiers. But he was incredibly loveable, as was his father and his valet Armaan.
The chemistry between him and Viola was wonderfully sweet, and their HEA filled my heart with joy.
The only sad part about the book is that I have already finished it. So now I have to wait to find out what will happen to Sarah, Emilly, Georgiana, and Claire (oh, I so much want to know what happened to Claire).
Fantastic read!
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
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About the Author
Julie Klassen loves all things Jane–Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. She worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. Three of her novels have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. She has also won the Minnesota Book Award, the Midwest Book Award, and Christian Retailing’s BEST Award. Julie is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She and her husband have two sons and live in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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Lu Reviews Books 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Lu. Wishing you a lovely holiday season.
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