The narrator's Scottish accent was truly painful. I couldn't continue listening. I wish it was better because the description sounded really good.

Alec owns the Castle where they are tending to the wounded. He is in debt and selling off his families possessions little by little in the shadows. He wishes no one find out. He can’t serve in the war so this is his way of doing his part. He doesn’t want to staff and soldiers to know because he is trying to give them a safe haven where they can come and not worry. He is doing all he can but is it enough.

I loved the friendship that’s bonded and the romance. I do, however, think that the ending was to easily settled. I really did enjoy reading this though. It was great to read some historical fiction that wasn’t too heavy. Maybe I will pick up more historical romances here in the future.

This is a wonderful romance that has an element of a childhood favorite, The Secret Garden. If you like historical romance, war stories, princess to handmaid tales, deception, and ruin this may be for you.

I really enjoyed this book. WWI setting, Scotland, a wounded laird, a feisty heroine. Drama in the family dynamics, disasters at the castle. Ciesielski kept the villain pretty well hidden till the end. Sweet romance but fraught with challenges. I listened to a library copy of the audiobook and was not required to write a review. The opinions are my own. The narrator, Kate Rudd, did a great job bringing Lily and Alec's story to life which made for an enjoyable listening experience.

This was my first by this author and I absolutely loved it! It has it all the aspects of a historical fiction, mystery and romance! Loved the feel of a beauty and the beast retelling

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I loved it! It is very beautifully written with an intriguing and well executed plot. The story gave me a glimpse into a World War I setting that I have not experienced before. I savored this book as I read it and I look forward to reading more by Ms. Ciesielski!

I want to admit here that I don’t love audiobooks, nor did I live this one. But it’s nothing personal to the author or the book, it’s just my personal preference. This story, however, I did really enjoy, which is why I rated it four stars and not three. I would’ve only given it three stars if I was talking about the audio itself (the narrator, etc.) But again, that’s my personal preference and had nothing to do with the story itself. If this was a physical copy or ecopy of the book, I feel that I would’ve enjoyed it even more. But alas, I did enjoy it nonetheless.

This is lovely historical romance placed in Scotland within the WWI. American socialite Lily Durham is sent to England to mend her sassy ways - to end as a nurse to the wounded soldiers recuperating at a convalescent home. This home is at a crumbling, yet romantic Kinclavoch Castle, where the brooding Scottish laird Alec MacGregor has no time to get entanglend with an American beauty, as he is desperately trying to save his family's home financially. Yet, Lily truly is a ray of sunshine hidden behind her naive, easygoing ways, and the ever grumpy (yet hot!) hero finds himself to be drawn to her true kindness. But the war is raging, there is no money and the enemies trying to get the castle are rich and powerful.

This is a well-known story of beauty and beast, yes. But there is much to be enjoyed in this romantic pattern, and this novel delivers. There is genuine sweetness present here, and for this feature alone I would recommend the novel, as these days many novels are fake, yet this one is heartfelt. Also, one can truly understand Alec's lifelong pain and him seeing himself as a crippled man whom no woman could desire (but the guy is truly appealing!). Lily is a heroine who can touch hearts, and she is doing it naturally.
So, kudos to Ms. Ciesielski's writing skills, this is something many novels can not reach.

So why 3 stars? Firstly, the novel is prolonged. The individual scenes are cute, but the plot overall could benefit from a scissors-endowed editor. Secondly, the big ending is kind of "deus et machina", where the baddies are revealed too easily for my reading taste.

But having said all that - I will read more from this authoress and I mean it as a compliment!

As for the narrator - Ms Kate Rudd was fabulous here. She definitely enhanced my experience here! She can understand the nuances; she can give her characters their personality and she can make them come alive. Her voice is also very pleasant. The romance genre could definitely benefit from narrators like her!

I’ve read a great deal of WWII books but I know very little about The Great War (WWI) but it seems to keep coming up in the past few weeks so I’m taking that as a sign that it’s time to study up. To kick start that trend, I read a great historical fiction by jnell ciesielski. She’s been so consistently good with her novels that she’s become an autobuy for me. Love the historical accuracy and the great plots. Add in my fav setting, scotland, and you get book magic, ya ken?

Romance and Mystery in Scotland During the Great War

Wannabe "bad girl" American heiress Lily Durham is sent off to visit English relations just before the start of World War I. Her parents hope she will become a more proper young lady more suitable for marriage within their stratified social set. But Lily's life changes as England becomes embroiled in the Great War. She and her cousin opt to help as an aide and nurse, respectively, at a Scottish castle now dedicated to helping wounded young men coming back from the front. The story is both a romance and a mystery. The young heiress captures the interest of the young, impoverished, and physically disabled Laird of the castle. As they get to know each other under the watchful eye of "the matron," unfortunate incidents start happening around the castle, like a missing patient, a fire, and a poisoning. Not only do these horrible things happen, but a London newspaper owner is happy to not only publish stories about them but smear the laird's and his family's good name. Will the laird get over his belief that his physical limitations prevent him from marrying? Will he figure out who's causing all the problems around the castle before it's too late?

I listened to the audiobook version of this story, and unfortunately, I didn't think the narrator always did a good job. Although she voiced the Scottish villagers and tenants fairly well, her vocal styling for the laird was almost laughable. I've been to Scotland several times, and the accent she gave him sounded more Eastern European most of the time, or even Indian in places. Now and again, a Scottish flavor would come out, but that was rare. As the laird is the romantic hero and so often at the Forefront of the story, the sound of his voice is actually important.

In general, I liked the story itself. The heroine certainly had a growth arc; she matures yet still retains her essential core herself that not only endears her to the hero but also to the men she cares for. The girl certainly has strength and flare! And she’s not afraid to stand up to difficult people when needed. I liked the relationship the heroine developed with the laird's reclusive, ill younger sister. I thought, perhaps, the hero was a little too broody, and I didn’t like the way he believed his leg injury was such a romantic setback that it would preclude marriage. Despite the poor vocal styling, I thought he was a great character, though, and swoon-worthy as we like our historical heroes to be. I thought the author did a good job setting up the book’s mystery aspect as well. Something was definitely amiss at the castle, and I enjoyed puzzling out who the villain or villains could be. I figured it out before the reveal, but that did not diminish my enjoyment of the story.

Neither the book's title nor cover reflected the book well. I'm not quite sure what “Beauty Among Ruins” is supposed to mean, as the castle is not in ruins and the heroine's beauty is the least important aspect of her character! The castle in the cover doesn't look like an early 1700s-era Scottish castle. It looks more like what people think castles should look like or what some of the more whimsical ones in France and Germany look like. All in all, though, I found this to be a well-written and enjoyable book.

I fell in love with this book and couldn’t put it down. The setting, characters, plot- it was all wonderful. I enjoyed reading about Scotland and truly felt like I could be there by the beautiful descriptions of the land and the castle. Getting to experience a place like that is now on my list of things to do. The whole idea of opposites attract sums up the relationship between Lily and Alec. I enjoyed watching the two of them come into their own to really learn who they are and how they can help others. Lily’s fun spirited attitude attracted me to her from the beginning. Her growth as a woman was inspiring to witness. We all need someone like her to bring joy into our lives. The plot moved fast enough for me to not get bored but not too fast and I felt like details are missing. I highly recommend this book!

This is a period drama with a slow build that would be great as a TV series, and I think I would have enjoyed it more as a book rather than audiobook. I wasn’t keen on the narrator but taking on multiple characters and accents can’t be easy. On the whole though, a good romantic story. My review is in exchange for an audio version from Netgalley.

I enjoyed this listen and learning about the time period. Lily finds herself in unusual circumstances as she finds herself overseas just as a war breaks out. She has to change the way she is used to living to adapt to the times. A good read/listen.

I found a new author to pick up with it comes to historical romance or just historical fiction. There was more then romance with this one. There was a history lesson. Lily and Alex I liked. Parents of the two I did not. Others in the secondary cast become more than background.

I found Kate Rudd did a good job with allowing the history of the story come through in her voice. She gave pitch and diction. Even the brough was delightful. The audio narration was very much enjoyed the echoing undertones did not completely take away from the story. It was more a nuisance than anything else.

3.5 stars

It's difficult to talk about this book because I have mixed feelings. I enjoyed reading it and it was actually quite addicting because I just had great fun reading about the characters and Scotland and everything. I really like how the characters were all different from each other. But, at the same time, it felt like it had too many incidents happening so it would have something to talk about (a kidnapping and a fire are just two of them) when it didn't actually needed that many things and, after all that, the last part of the story felt too rushed. Also, the villains were quite obvious from the start.

The narrator made a deep voice when being the male characters and I found that hilarious (but I'm just weird like that).

All in all, a good book to read in some lazy days (which was not my case).

A beautifully narrated story set during WWII in Scotland. I enjoyed the brief snapshot into the convalescent homes set up in the homes of large estates during this time frame. This, however, was not the focus of the story. Instead it was the love story between an American socialite and a Scottish laird who both find a purpose in their lives by the end of the narration. I would highly recommend the audiobook for both the narration and the story.

Sweeping historical romance. WWI, nurses at a convalescent home in a Scotland castle, a grumpy leave me alone laird, a flighty American heiress sent away to learn some manners. Throw in a bit of mystery. If this doesn’t sound like the makings of something akin to Downton Abbey, I don’t know what does. But sign me up for it!

Thank you to @tlcbooktours @tnzfiction for gifting me Beauty Among Ruins by @jnellciesielski. This was just what I needed to be swept away by! And the love story of Lily Durham and Alec MacGregor is sure to melt your heart. A perfect story for the romantic month of February. And if you listen to the audiobook too, oh ye will be speakin with a bit of an accent too!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* 3.5, didnt read this for the romance and more for the historical fiction, which was pretty good. would recommend to people who like romances

J’nell Ciesielski’s newest historical fiction novel is perfect for fans of Downton Abbey and Outlander! Need I say more?!

Lily Durham hails from a wealthy and influential American family and enjoys a fun and frivolous lifestyle. In an effort to force Lily to mature her parents send her live with cousin in England, but then World War I begins and everything changes. Lily decides to travel with her cousin to a convalescent home in Scotland to help nurse wounded soldiers. After arriving, Lily finds the laird, Alec McGregor, to be disagreeable and drowning in debt. Lily and Alec find themselves opening up to each other even as mysterious events begin to happen that threaten everything.

This was such a sweet and clean, slow-burn historical romance. With so many WWII stories out there, it was refreshing to read and learn more about WWI. The time period and the convalescent home setting reminded me so much of Downton Abbey and the Scottish setting gave me some Outlander vibes! I am a sucker for Scotland. The storyline also reminded me of Beauty and the Beast as well. The book just tied so many of my favorite things together and created a beautiful story that I couldn’t get enough of!

Like I do with a lot of books, I alternated between the physical book and the audiobook. In this case, I preferred the physical book to the audio version. The audio seemed to have an echo which made it difficult to concentrate on the story and I would have preferred a Scottish male voice for Alec. I think two narrators would have made the audio incredible!

4/5 stars!
Thank you so much to TLC Book Tours, Thomas Nelson, and Netgalley for the gifted ARC and audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

When a wealthy American medical aide meets a Scottish lord who has opened his home up for wounded soldiers during WWI, you know what is going to happen. BUT, how it happens is really quite delightful! Add in a mystery of who is causing all the bad things to happen at the castle, and you have a great story.

I found lots of excuses to exercise and run errands so that I could listen to this audiobook. The narration was well done with voices and accents (or at least it sounded well done to me). The romance in the story was sweet. The characters were both flawed, and they acknowledged those flaws. I thought that the author did a great job creating them.

I thought that the mystery was well done too. I had an idea of who the culprit or culprits were, but I didn't fully know until the end.

The only weird storyline involved Lily's parents. I found that implausible and kind of strange. Still, overall great book! I look forward to more from this author.

Thank you Net-galley and publishers for the free e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I fell in love with this author when she wrote her last book. This one had me at "nurse". As one myself, I love reading about what nurses went through in other times and found this story to be heartbreaking and warm at the same time. I cannot fathom the great tragedy that the characters endured, but I enjoyed reading how they overcame the struggles of the time.

WWI feels like an invisible war. Beauty Among Ruins is set in Scotland and those returning from war, needing care, are terrified of an unseen enemy thanks to trench warfare. Overall, this was beautifully written.

I loved listening to the narrator. I felt transported to another time and place.