I am absolutely in love with anything to do with The Wars of the Roses—and this book was a wonderful way of paying honor to that time. I was intrigued from the idea, but the writing and story kept me reading to the very end. A must read, I highly recommend.

Ms. Cornick has written another great time travel story with a mix of history, murder, and romance. The story moves between the Lovell family in the mid 1400's and the Warren family in the present. Eleven years ago Serena's twin sister Caitlin disappeared and Serena was found huddled semi-conscious with no memory of what happened that night. But now Caitlin' s remains have been found and Serena goes back to Minster Lovell where her grandparents lived to try to regain her memory and discover what happened to her sister. The mystery of the Lovell lodestar and the actions of Yorkist Richard III supporter Francis Lovell and his wife Anne reverberate through time. The characters are sympathetic and and this is an enjoyable follow up to "The Forgotten Sister," although it is not a sequel. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.

The Last Daughter of York is the historical fiction novel you want to read this year!

This novel begins when Serena Warren learns her sister, who disappeared eleven years prior while staying with her grandparents at a medieval castle, has been found. The mystery? Her body was discovered within a tomb dating back two centuries. Traveling back to the castle, Serena must piece together her forgotten memories of that fateful night to find the truth of what happened to her twin sister.


The second point of view and timeline takes place in the fifteenth century from Anne Neville and her husband Francis Lovell. Told from Anne’s perspective, she details the demise of the House of York by Henry VII of the House of Tudor while taking possession of a religious relic. Will this lodestone have the power to save her husband and family?

Throughout this novel, there is mystery and intrigue. The reader knows parts of each story and it comes together beautifully, albeit too quickly in my opinion, in the end. Anne and Serena are well thought out characters whom the reader roots for throughout the novel. And while their backstory is minutely detailed, the ending felt rushed. I wanted more of how the mysterious lodestone passed through all the generations. I had so many questions that were never answered and although I enjoyed the building and backstory of our characters, I wish we would have gotten more at the end.

The research and detail it takes to write a historically accurate fiction novel is pretty impressive. To weave real events and people into current day fiction takes skill and Nicola Cornick did a remarkable job.

Thank you to the author, Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy to read and share my humble thoughts and opinions.

4.8 stars
The story: When she was 17, Serena Warren's twin sister disappeared but Serena's mind has blocked out the whole evening and has no memory and the investigation went cold. Now, ten years later, her sister's remains have been discovered in a most impossible way. In the past, Anne Fitzhugh is a child when she is wed to a boy only 4 years older, Francis Lovell. Through the years, their marriage grows and changes as they are caught up in the intrigues of court and the battles over the throne of England.

This novel has it all: history, love stories, family bonds, and a mystery that has been unsolved for centuries. I was fully along for the ride as the story went back and forth from the court of Edward IV and his brother, the Duke of Gloucester to the present day ruins of Minster Lovell and the mystery that Serena has struggled to solve for a decade.

In the past, Anne and Francis grow up and learn their respective roles in their dangerous world but the love and trust they have for each other was heartwarming. It was a unique look into a time that is one of the most speculated on in British history. In the present, Serena's story is one of a traumatized young woman who is given a chance to confront the past and learn secrets and truths she hasn't been able to face before. There we multiple times when I had chills and tears sprang to my eyes along with the characters. Only very slightly disappointed in the speedy conclusion as I could have lived with these characters for several hundred more pages!

This is a book that I found myself staying up late and then getting up early to finish! Nicola Cornick's The Last Daughter of York tells a story that is skillfully woven through two timelines - one being a present-day timeline where we meet Selena Warren, whose twin sister had disappeared 11 years prior when they were both seventeen and she had suffered from amnesia of that day for all of those years, and the second timeline being during the time of Kings Edward IV and Richard III. I got a real kick out of learning that Selena's good friend is Lizzie Kingdom, who is featured in Nicola Cornick's The Forgotten Sister which I had enjoyed reading last year. No spoilers but this book also comes to a satisfying ending. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in historical fiction and the time period of the Wars of the Roses. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Years ago Serena's twin sister disappeared. Serena has been unable to remember what happened that night but now a body has been found. Serena returns to the site of the disappearance to try and recover her memory. How does the disappearance relate to Francis Lowell, a Yorkist defender and the mystery of the princes in the tower? Two stories centuries apart merge to give us the solution.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing a pre-pub copy for review.

I love medieval history, but outside of Sharon Penman I usually only read nonficton. On a whim, I downloaded The Last Daughter of York and was immediately taken with the time-traveling storyline of Richard III, the Battle of Boswell, Henry Tudor, and Francis Lovell.
Lovell is remembered as heading the first armed uprising against King Henry VII after he won the crown at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Even though the rebellion was crushed, Lovell somehow managed to escape the battlefield alive and was never seen again.... couple this with the still-unsolved murders of the Princes in the Tower and you have a marvelous time-traveling adventure.
Cornick has researched the details and ambiance of the period so well that even Warwick and the Neville women come alive... This is by far one of the best historical fiction/fantasy books that I've read in ages. I could go on, but that could spoil the twist and turns of the addicting story.