Just not for me I'm afraid. While some of this book worked for me I just wasn't feeling it overall. Will keep it as a 3 star, but may change if I come back to this at a later stage.

A sweeping family drama with a surprise inheritance, unkind neighbors and an unlikely suitor. The pacing is just right - the author doesn’t get bogged down in over-long descriptions or flowery prose, so the action keeps moving and held my interest. The romance unfolded perfectly, and a few surprise moments had me teary.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I found this to be a good Historical romance, I enjoyed the story line and the characters. This book had good drama, lots of action, some mystery, suspense and best of all romance.
This book was voluntarily reviewed.

Louisa and Eleanor Campbell two impoverished sisters, receive a surprise inheritance from an uncle they never knew they had. A farm in the North West part of England, Cumberland. Instead of selling the 1,000 acre farm they resolve to keep the estate, moving from Dublin and resettling in England, a place they have never been or known Because their uncle was not just unpopular among his neighbors, he was utterly disliked, they were duly disliked as well. To make matters worse, the fact that they were Irish there were those that put them under suspicion as being part of the Irish Revolution. There are mysteries to clear, secrets to uncover and relationships to resolve. The plot thickens!

This book had it all, history, romance, and secrets. What a fantastic debut...I am so looking forward to reading more from Ms. Lecky. My thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Louisa Campbell and her sister Eleanor, who are living on a shoestring, inherit an incredibly beautiful and productive farm from an uncle that they never knew. As a result, their lives change forever. Louisa intends to sell the property, using the funds to care for Eleanor, who is a physically fragile girl of sixteen. Once she sees the Bowes home and property, Louisa falls in love with it. Selling it now is not an option.
The Bowes Farm once belonged to the Maxwell family, and Nicholas Maxwell has been trying to get it back since his father lost it years ago in a card game. He is determined to purchase it from the new owners, no matter what it costs.
Herein lies a really good story of intrigue, suspense, and love. Each character is essential to the story line, contributing interest and serving to move the story forward. Uncle Jack Campbell himself continues to play a consuming role, even after his demise. His involvement with the Irish Fenian underground sets the historical background of the book, adding to the intensity of the relationship between Louisa and Nicholas.
It is a good book, easy to read yet substantial and interesting.
I enjoyed the book and sincerely recommend it. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

A good Historical romance enjoyed the story line and characters.
Had good drama,action,mystery,suspense and sweet romance.
Enjoyed the bit of history of the Irish rebellion.
voluntarily reviewed.

I enjoyed this historical novel of suspense. Two sisters move from Dublin when an unexpected inheritance falls into their laps. However, all is not as it seems as our heroines take up residence in England. Lots of information on the relationship between England and Irish revolutionaries.

When informed of an inheritance from an uncle they didn’t know they had, the Campbell sisters are relieved to escape the life of poverty their orphaned status had left them in. On arriving at Bowes farm, however, Louisa discovers life may not be peaceful as their closest new neighbor is set against them.

Louisa’s determination from the start was admirable. She wanted nothing more than to provide a healthy home for her ailing sister. She refused to allow Nicholas Maxwell’s suspicions, accusations, and cold manner to sway her. Nicholas’ attitude is easy to understand as well, even if it became tiresome.

Some plot points were rather easy to guess at, but there is a deeper mystery that kept me guessing. The romance was a bit unbelievable given the antagonism on both sides through the majority of the novel. Why would either one fall in love with such angry words and behaviors?

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to readers looking for a historical novel with a strong heroine.

Excellent book with a great storyline. Characters that are so well written. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

I was perusing historical fiction titles on NetGalley and discovered this gem, and I am so glad I did.

Most of the story takes place in Northern England. This is where Louisa and Elenor have inherited a massive estate from their Uncle Jack.

Upon arriving in England the two sisters are thrown into confusing circumstances. Apparently their father's brother, Jack was quite an unscrupulous fellow. The sisters try to ingratiate themselves into proper society, but are thwarted at every turn.

I liked this story. The characters were likable, all except Nicholas Maxwell, he was a little too strong in the beginning.

The plot moved along at a nice steady pace and key elements were revealed in a timely fashion, not hurried.

If you enjoy historical fiction with a little romance and suspense as well, you will enjoy this book.I hope you chose to pick up a copy.

Full Disclosure: I received early access to this book in exchange for writing an impartial review.

A compelling debut novel from a new author who shows great promise, though the construction of this novel feels less than perfectly-executed to me. Awarded 3 stars here and on Goodreads but 3.5 stars is probably more reflective of my overall impression.

This book begins in the late 1800s in Dublin when a pair of impoverished, orphaned sisters (late teens) learn they have inherited property from an uncle they never knew existed. Louisa Campbell, the elder sister, believes moving to England to assume control of this property is their best option and will hopefully benefit her sister Eleanor, who is in ill health.

It is upon their arrival that the drama begins to unfold. An adjoining landowner, Nicolas Maxwell, who has long wanted to possess the Campbell’s farm, which had once been part of his own family’s vast holdings, greets Louisa with resentment, anger and threats. The Campbell property's caretaker is reluctant to show Louisa "the books" or educate her about how the farm is run. And as Irish immigrants from humble origins, the two sisters are uncertain whether local society will even accept them. Especially because some local Irish freedom fighters, the Fenians, are behind a string of recent terrorist activities.

Against this backdrop, the Campbell sisters slowly begin to learn about some of the long-held secrets and resentments within their own family, as well as hidden connections between some of their new neighbors. Along with the political tension between the Irish and British, the author explores some important human themes including the nature of family loyalty, how initial impressions can turn out to be false, the ways trust is built and/or destroyed, how power gets wielded and sometimes abused in a small town, and, of course, how love can blossom in the unlikeliest places. (After all, there has to be SOME romance in any good historical fiction, right?)

It’s a fast moving story, with quite a few surprises, that will keep you turning each page. And I enjoyed the humor the author develops in some of the more important characters. But there were also moments where I felt the story construction lacked polish. Here are a few examples:

• One chapter would build tension toward an important upcoming event. Then, the next chapter picked up AFTER that event was complete. Perhaps those “missing” chapters had been included in earlier drafts and then removed for some reason. But, as a reader, I wound up feeling a bit cheated. Like I had been left out of some important moments.

• A few of the characters are complex and fully three-dimensional. But others are more simplistic, either wholly good or wholly bad.

• In the budding romance, some plot twists felt contrived to me, inserted simply to provide an extra and unnecessary “test” to developing affections.


I still recommend this book, especially to lovers of historical fiction. And I will look for future offerings from this author. Pam Lecky clearly exhibits substantial innate talent that I believe will only improve with time.

Note: This novel has been awarded the B.R.A.G. Medallion and was short-listed for the Carousel Aware Prize (CAP) 2016 and long-listed for the Historical Novel Society 2016 Indie Award.

Intriguing and very captivating, this book entices you in a subtle way into its pages, deeply engrossing you into the story. The drama is tense with slight sexual attraction, with anger at its helm. The conniving and devious are at play driving this book to an entertaining and exciting read. Another must-read, truly well written with a gripping and entertaining storyline along with great characters.

The mystery, suspense, and intrigue that unfolds in the story holds the reader to the point of never quite knowing how it will turn out. The characters come alive and paints a story that I can see with vivid depictions and being particularly well developed, as the plot progresses.. I would enjoy reading further novels written by the above author.

Well, what an exhilarating and wonderfully enchanting story, this is the first I have read by Pam Lecky, I was fascinated by the sound of this book the moment I saw it, but the actual words within the pages are far more than I would have expected. The Bowes Inheritance isn’t just your stereotypical historical romance, there is a real raw and exciting edge to this that kept me hooked and turning the pages with lightning speed. What surprised me about this book was that it is Ms Lecky’s debut novel. I was just amazed by that as this has a quality that I would never have expected from a debut.

Louisa is practically destitute, she and her ill sister; Eleanor are living literally off the cuff after their father’s death. When she receives word that she has just inherited a large estate in Cumberland from an uncle she never even knew existed, but why hadn’t her family ever spoken of the mysterious ‘Uncle Jack’? This couldn’t have come at a better time for Louisa and Eleanor, she fully intends to sell of the estate and make sure that her sister has every luxury she needs. She sets sail for England, but once face to face with her inheritance she soon sees that the Bowes Estate is just the thing that they need.

No sooner has she stepped foot through the front door then she realises that all is not as it seems, there are secrets coming out of the woodwork at every corner and the more she finds the more her life becomes threatened on top of that she has the disarmingling handsome magistrate; Nicholas Maxwell on her back, making her blood boil with both lust and absolute anger. And the blackened reputation of her mysterious and some-what nefarious uncle Jack constantly lurking in the back ground, plus her ill sister to care for.

This is a brilliantly crafted, atmospheric and satisfying historical story that entwines romance with mystery, The Bowes Inheritance has an impressive plot which see takes the reader on a whirlwind journey through the Victorian era and into the dangerous underworld of the Irish Rebellion, which I will admit I didn’t know a lot about but Ms Lecky has created a strong and intelligent storyline, that will have the reader wanting more. I do love an historical that has a lot of historic detail and this is wondrous, it is rich and vivid the writing is stunningly real, every aspect of the story is captivating. I have to say that Ms Lecky has captured the atmosphere with spot on clarity, you can feel every emotion that Louisa goes through as through your were right there with her, the prejudice and uncertainty that she has to face would make a lesser woman hide away but not strong and resilient.

I do love this book, I was blown away and instantly charmed with the style and quality of Ms Lecky’s writing, so much so that I know for a certainty that I will be reading more from this talented author.

A stunningly beautiful debut from an author I know will go far.

This is a clean Romance set in the 1880’s. It is your typical story of enemies falling in love with some mystery thrown in.
Louisa is taking care of her sickly younger sister by herself after her parents die (it’s not mentioned how but assumed it was at the same time). When they die, she is left with nothing but debts from her Dads gambling addiction. She sells off pretty much all they have and goes to live in the cheapest decent place they can afford in Dublin.
She receives a mysterious letter addressed to her father from a solicitor in England. Fast forward and she learns that she has inherited an estate in England she didn’t know existed from an uncle she didn’t know existed. She travels there determined to sell it to help provide for her and her sisters medical bills. However, she falls in love with the estate and they ended up moving there instead only to discover they’re not very welcome by most of their neighbors because of their Irish roots. As she and her sister try to win over the town, they learn deep and dark secrets from the past about their uncle. As she delves deeper, she gets into more than she realizes. Her neighbor, who has wanted her gone from the beginning is also the local magistrate. As they work together, their affection also grows towards each other.
There were some sad parts and parts that made me smile. There were also gaps that didn’t make sense and some predictable parts. Overall, it was a nice story, not too fluffy, but cute and clean.
Thanks to Netflix and the publisher for a free copy.

This was my introduction to Pam Lecky's writing with the Bowes Inheritance. I really enjoyed this novel. I found the story rich and multilayered, the characters fresh and interesting, and the historical setting very captivating. This story makes me want to delve further into historical romances and I will be looking for further offerings from this author.

I did read every page in
this book about two sisters from Dublin,who inherited thru death? a Country estate from their uncle.
Then it was just kind of like an old Country song,a
somebody done somebody wrong song.
Too me,it was too long,with no real storyline,that I could get interested in.
For all you romantics out there,who like all the lovey-dovey stuff,you will enjoy all the trials and tribulations especially of the older sister,that this book has to offer.
As for me, I just like a little more meat on the bone.

It's not my usual type of book but reading the blurb intrigued me so I requested it and I'm glad I did. It's an easy uncomplicated read but still engrossing enough to keep me interested. I would like to see another book with the same characters again. I would like to thank the publishers and netgalley for letting me have the arc to review and the opinions expressed are entirely my own and are unbiased.

Louisa and her ill sister, Eleanor live in poverty in Dublin, barely having food and lodging. Most of their money goes to Eleanor's doctor bills. The only family that she knows about is her horrible Aunt Milly. A letter comes for Louisa from a solicitor, she has inherited an estate in England from an uncle she didn't know she had. When she gets there, she finds a beautiful estate clouded in suspicion. The uncle she has inherited it from has a very bad reputation as a terrorist for the Irish Republican Army and a generally bad person. When she gets there, she has an offer to sell the estate, from a neighbor, Nicholas Maxwell. It so happens that her uncle won the estate from Nicholas 's father in a card game. He is willing to ruin her in society or any way he can, to get the estate from her. He is a law enforcement officer as well as wealthy land owner. Rumors fly as more and more bombings take place in England. Louisa is under suspicion by Nicholas and he has her followed. I loved this story of intrigue and mystery. It has history of the IRA and how it started. I hated Nicholas thru the whole story. I didn't get the romance of between Louisa and Nicholas. If someone treated me like that, I would never speak to them, let alone love them. Surprise ending which fit the story well. I received this book from Net Galley and BooksGoSocial for a honest review and no compensation.

this historical is filled with mystery and intrigue. A fast paced story with interesting and complex characters. Lots of detail of people places and events. wonderful read! I loved the book!