Enjoyed the three different time spans in this story as well as the romance, and family intrigue.
I was sold on this book because of the historical eras.

The historical part was good. The story was okay. I was almost going to give it three stars, but then by the very end... suddenly it was not okay anymore.

The novel suffers the "main character is a helpless fawning ditz" syndrome that many a historical novel has, and that on its own would be okay. I can quietly roll my eyes every time "the room temperature goes up" when the love interest enters. Who is apparently good at everything, by the way, and is also instalove. But one thing I can't tolerate. And I spoiler tag it for you.

[spoiler] It's the fact that when a woman comes back home from getting lost in the woods, experienced shock and found her home has been in a fire, it's for some reason OKAY to pounce on her and all she does is fawn. Oh yay, the hot guy digs me! [/spoiler] That is utterly depressing and very disappointing. And harmful to young women as well. Clearly after so much tribulation, all a woman wants is to be validated through that sort of attention from a love interest. Seriously?

The novel could not redeem itself after this. Yes, it's readable. The historical parts are interesting. But no thanks, no god complex please. And no damsel. We need to stop promoting damsels.

What Secret Lies Within the House of Shadows?
House of Shadows was exquisite: rich with imagery, imagination, and intrigue. The stories of women and men from across the ages were blended seamlessly together, united by two enchanted objects (a mirror and a pearl), that shaped their destinies through disaster and heartbreak. The stories of star crossed lovers and lives wrecked by the mirror and the pearl, and the lies of those who tried to control them, come to rest in our modern day in a woman named Holly Ansell.

Image result for structure fire gifHolly’s first clue that something supernatural may behind the disappearance of her older brother is that she glimpses a beautiful mansion through the trees on her way to his home…despite the fact that the mansion had been destroyed in a mysterious fire more than a century before. Not to mention the fact that her brother has vanished into thin air while searching for a mysterious pearl. Holly’s investigation into the cursed mirror and pearl reveals that people across the ages have lied and lost everything trying to control and own the objects. The mirror and pearl have doomed relationships, and may have led the souls of one particular pair of star crossed lovers to keep returning to earth, until things can be righted and the objects destroyed.

Image result for medieval couple kissing gifHouse of Shadows is told through the eyes of Holly in the present day, through the journal entries of Lavinia Flyte in the 1800s, and through the eyes of the Winter Queen (Elizabeth Stuart) and Duke of Cumberland in the 1600s. All of the women are well developed characters, easy to feel sympathy for, although the Winter Queen’s haughtiness can be infuriating at times. Each time period in the book is painted in vivid detail, making it easy to imagine, and the switch between time periods is done without a hitch, and helps to break up the action, romance, and heartache. This book has all the right ingredients to appeal to a wide variety of readers: historical fiction fans will delight in the stories of both Elizabeth and Lavinia, romance readers will findImage result for modern couple kissing gif deep satisfaction in the sensual and genuine romantic relationships in each time period, and mystery lovers will like the twists and turns that the story takes as Holly searches for her brother and attempts to unlock the mystery of the mirror and the pearl. This is truly escapist fiction at its best.

The wooded hills of Oxfordshire conceal the remains of the aptly named Ashdown House--a wasted pile of cinders and regret. Once home to the daughter of a king, its secrets will unite three women across four centuries in a tangle of romance, deceit and destiny...

1662--A queen

Bound by sex and birth to live for everyone but herself--and to love always in secret--Elizabeth Stuart entrusts a pair of arcane artifacts to her faithful cavalier to keep safe for her rightful heir. But fate will not be generous to the Winter Queen, throwing the question of succession into turmoil, the aftermath of which will resonate through the generations.

1801--A courtesan

Lavinia Flyte wanted so much more from life than to be a courtesan at the mercy of the cruel Lord Evershot. He has brought her to Ashdown, the home of his ancestors, for reasons he guards greedily. But the maids' whispers of hidden treasures--a pearl with the power to foretell the future--consume her with a curiosity she confides only to her diary, unaware of the misfortune that threatens.

And the mystery that binds them

Alarmed to hear her brother has gone missing at Ashdown Park, Holly Ansell is inexplicably drawn to the clues contained in the journal of a Regency courtesan who was living at the historic home when it burned to the ground two hundred years ago. Lured by the tragedy at Ashdown, Holly's search leads her not only to the truth about Lavinia, but deeper into her own connection with the Winter Queen.



* * * * *



It all started with a death. When Holly's brother Ben disappears, she discovers an old journal that takes her back in time when she reads about another woman's hopes and dreams. She starts to research this woman and discovers ties back to the Winter Queen.



I really enjoyed this book and how it covers the lives of the three women and how their lives intertwine. It really shows how history can affect the present. And there's no need to suspend your disbelief about time travel.



I really think that any of my readers who enjoy mysteries and love stories that span time will enjoy HOUSE OF SHADOWS. It's well written and guaranteed to sweep you away.


*** I received this book at no charge from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed within are my own.

There was a lot going on in this book, and it vaguely reminded me of a handful of both parallel/historical novels and suspense novels, though I couldn't really place which ones. I thought the three storylines would be a bit much, but I actually like it and didn't find it difficult to keep characters straights. I think my primary objection was that I just didn't like the whole mirror/pearl business, which needed to be either more or less supernatural to really work for me - and I would have preferred less supernatural. Overall though, I thought this was an interesting, unique addition to the world of the parallel narrative in women's fiction.

The best type of historical fiction novels blurs the line between fact and fiction so well that you take breaks from reading to research what is true and what is poetic license. Given how often I was on Google look up Elizabeth Stuart, William Craven, and Ashdown House while reading House of Shadows, I would say Nicola Cornick knows how to blend the two together extremely well. Even her fictional characters of history are eerily realistic. While aspects of the story are pure fantasy, the opportunity the novel affords readers to learn more about this relatively obscure queen and of her life engages readers as much as the story does.

House of Shadows bounces around between three different periods in time following three very different women. Each of the women's characters are developed at different strengths. We get to know Elizabeth from her earliest days to her very last, but the huge time jumps between her scenes require a reintroduction to her character as we play catch up on the trials and tribulations that occurred since we last saw her that have changed her. She's called the Winter Queen because she rules briefly for a few months in winter; the rest of her life was spent in exile trying to raise funds and allies to fight for her son's hereditary rights. In other words, she doesn't actually do much. While her story kickstarts the other two women's stories, hers is also the most stagnant. It is still interesting but not necessarily the best of the novel.

At the other end is Holly's modern-day story as she tries to find her missing brother. Hers is interesting in that she uproots her life for her brother, and we watch her struggles to do so. Whereas Elizabeth grows bitter and more selfish as her story progresses, Holly blossoms. We see her come to grips with her past, find her future, and settle her present all while becoming more confident and independent. Her search through the past to unravel the mystery of her present provides a nice connection without overdoing the coincidences.

Taking place between Holly's and Elizabeth's stories in time, Lavinia's story is the only one told through epistolary means. For all that, she is by far the most vibrant of the three women. Unapologetic, pragmatic, and brutally honest, her story is what makes the entire novel sing. Hers is the connection between past and present, and the threads woven by her story prove to be most fascinating. In fact, so realistic and interesting is her story that when I searched online to find out if she was real, the disappointment I felt at discovering that she is fictional was great. Without Lavinia, the story would waffle between two women who are strong in their own fashion but ordinary in their actions and opinions. Lavinia adds the spice to an otherwise bland narrative.

Overall, Ms. Cornick's latest novel is a fantastic blend of fact and fiction that piques your curiosity and forces you to take a greater interest in the characters than you might normally be wont to do. It is romantic enough to stir the heartstrings and filled with mystery as well as a hint of otherworldiness. In short, it has a little bit of everything to please most readers. And pleasing it is. While not award-worthy, House of Shadows is still entertaining and enjoyable enough to warrant recommendation for a wintry day read to anyone interested in history, romance, and mystery.

I can not express how much I loved this book! I'm really hoping that this turns into a series!

This is the kind of novel which can exclusively enjoyed by a historical fiction buff, as three stories are laced with family history, family artifacts with a tang of love stories that are expressively depicted. Well, as for me, i enjoyed this novel thoroughly and was transported to the Ashdown Houses and along with the shifting timeline, I too moved along with it. The book cover image is taken by the author herself when she was working in the Ashdown Houses ans researching its history. And just one look at that book cover, is bound to elude the readers inside the very core of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nicola Cornick, and Harlequin for allowing me to read and review House of Shadows. What more can I say except WOW. Loved it!

HOUSE OF SHADOWS by NICOLA CORNICK is a romantic, fascinating, suspenseful and a compelling historical fiction novel that was an enjoyable and entertaining read.

NICOLA CORNICK delivers an atmospheric and vividly descriptive novel here with interesting and complex characters told in three different time periods from three different women. I found all time periods equally intriguing and enjoyed the journey as I was transported into this fascinating tale of romance, discovery, danger, love, mystery, and even a hint of the supernatural.

To sum it all up it was an interesting, well-researched, unique, and an entertaining read that had me totally engaged from start to finish! Would recommend!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Harlequin Books, and Nicola Cornick for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

I liked this one - it was interesting and the time periods covered (most notably the Winter Queen portions) were new to me, which I always enjoy in historical fiction because I get to learn something while being entertained... I am generally a fan of stories-within-stories, and found that the overlay of the three women's tales satisfied that quite nicely - particularly through the format of Lavinia's diary, which was a nice counterpoint to the more traditional narrative format of the other two sections.

The present-day mystery was enjoyable and well plotted and paced. I found all of the women to be engaging narrators of their lives and times, and despite their very different voices, think that their stories meshed well into a single book. This is a relatively new genre to me (a modern-day mystery, resolved through historical first-person accounts), and I must say that I find it very enjoyable. It's a nice twist on the more classic mystery, and I probably enjoy it so much because it satisfies my inner history buff as well as my interest in more traditional whodunits.

There was a little more steamy romance than I tend to prefer, especially in historical fiction, but that's a matter of personal taste and offered by way of comment rather than judgment, and should not be taken as a negative reflection in any way. All in all I quite enjoyed this book, and would look for more from the author.

Fantastic story! The way three different time periods were interwoven was amazing and very cohesive. I really enjoyed how all the characters were so intertwined.

It is a hard book to judge by its cover or by any blurb. It has multiple layers of stories twisting within each other, each time period casting a shadow on the one that comes later.

The story is a based on the tale of the Winter Queen, the exiled queen of Bohemia. In this tale she is bequeathed a cursed pair of a pearl and a mirror. Each with secret powers that can and does cause untimely bodily harm.This is the main storyline. The other is of our current time period, which has Holly looking for her suddenly missing brother who seems to have vanished from the face of the earth. The connecting thread is a diary found in the belongings of Ben ( The brother) which seems to hold the key to reveal the required information and contains another life and people. Holly fights with changing situations and tries to come to terms with things that cannot have a reasonable scientific explanation.She tries to work her way through the information she gathers to find answers.

The story is well written but felt a little long for my taste. That is the only reason I rate it as three stars.The different interactions between the people spanning the times is what enriches the book.

This was a historical fiction novel with romance and some magical elements to it. And I loved this blend of genres! I was definitely interested in the events happening in the past, but Holly's story is also very intriguing. The author did a great job of tying in the two different time points and creating such memorable and unique female characters. I loved the diary entries featuring Lavinia and how all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together. I wish there had been more of a focus on the supernatural elements; it was such an intriguing feature what with its historical significance, and I felt that the author could have allowed it to play a more prominent role. It would have made the connection between the past and the present a bit stronger, and also give the myth behind the objects a little more complexity. Surprisingly enough, I really liked the romance between Holly and Mark, which occurred in the passages focusing on the present; it was at times cheesy but the intensity was believable and the attraction felt genuine. All in all, this was a solid piece of work and I really enjoyed reading it! 3/5 stars from me!

An excellent saga that ties historical fact to modern day life. It was fascinating to see how the stories came together!

House of Shadows tells the stories of three women whose lives have been affected by the magical properties of the Sistrin pearl and the crystal mirror of the Order of the Rosy Cross. The pearl and the mirror were made to be a force for good, but were corrupted by the Knights’ use of them to scry for personal gain, thus unleashing death through fire and water. The story begins with Elizabeth of Bohemia, the Winter Queen, in the 1600’s, moves to courtesan Lavinia Flyte in the 1800’s, and finally to Holly Ansell in the present day. We move back and forth through these 3 perspectives for the length of the novel. These three women are connected in many ways, including through tragedy wrought by the crystal mirror, including the present day’s mystery: What happened to Holly’s missing brother, Ben?

At times, the book moved a bit slowly, getting bogged down in secondary storylines, but the author always found her footing again. If you’re a fan of historical mystery, you will likely enjoy this book.

Bouncing between the 1600s, 1801, and the present day, House of Shadows weaves a tale of the Winter Queen and two legendary objects said to foretell the future. Elizabeth of Bohemia, known as the Winter Queen, has seen what the mirror and pearl can do. With her husband dead on the battlefield and her own exile looming near, she tasks the loyal Earl of Craven with destroying the artifacts once and for all. Centuries later, a young courtesan pens her memoirs from her time spent as Ashdown House and, in the present day, a woman hunts for her missing brother after he mysteriously vanishes one day.

It’s no secret that I LOVED this one! Clocking in around 500 pages, House of Shadows is on the longer side, but once I started I flew through the pages, jumping between Elizabeth and Craven’s developing romance, Lavinia’s memoirs, and Holly’s search for Ben. I’m pleased to say there wasn’t a story that I didn’t care for; each time period, each character had me invested and wanting more – in a good way! House of Shadows is being compared to Kate Morton’s work and I wholeheartedly agree. Fans of historical fiction (particularly books that bounce between multiple time periods, my favorite!) will be sure to feel right at home here.

This is my first read by Nicola Cornick. The summary greatly interested me and I love historical fiction, especially dealing with any member of royalty. I love finding new authors and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Cornick has several other books and series. The book is told from three different time periods the 1600's with the Queen of Bohemia, Elizabeth Stuart, Lavinia Flyte, a courtesan in the 1800's, and Holly Ansel from the present day whose brother has disappeared after researching his family history. Despite the hundreds of years between the characters, they are all connected. I think Cornick did a great job researching for this book. The setting and house is beautifully written and I could imagine them in my mind. The mystery and superstition was very well done, as well as the alternating different time periods. I love that she used real characters mixed in with fictional ones. I love to research whether parts of the story were true after I finish the book. I enjoyed how everything started tying together in the last quarter of the book. I loved that this inspired me to research parts of history that I otherwise wouldn't have thought of on my own.

I was drawn to this book because of it's comparisons to Kate Morton's work and I wasn't let down. I love books that take place over multiple time periods, especially when they revolve around family secrets. I also loved how the story gave us a variety of reading appeals... some history, some romance and a bit of mystery. Last but not least, I thought it was beautifully descriptive. However there were two issues that brought my enjoyment down a bit. First, the whole mystical aspect of the pearl and the mirror just didn't work for me. It somehow felt a bit corny. Secondly, I found the story had a few moments where it really lost momentum. Down right slow. Thank goodness, it always picked up again but there were a few points I had to push through. Overall it was still a good read and I would recommend it. It has great appeal for the reader that likes to immerse themselves in a complex story.

A magical story woven in three stories that come together beautifully. The Winter Queen in the 17th Century loves a man in her service, who she calls on to help her destroy two elemental objects that threaten her happiness and future. Lavinia is a courtesan, unhappily tied to a cruel man and desperately trying to find a way out. Holly's brother has gone missing and she travels to a small village, determined to find out what he was researching and what it has to do with his disappearance. The writing is beautiful, the story compelling and the characters very realistic. I highly recommend this book for any lovers of fantastical, historical fiction.