Snow Bride (The Rockwood Chronicles #5) by Dilly Court
Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, Victorian era, Romance
Read: 31st December 2023
Published: 13th October 2022
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
‘I foresee happiness for you, Nancy. I hear bells and I see snow, and your heart’s desire comes true’
A chance encounter brings Nancy Sunday to the streets of London, where she finds herself amongst a band of street urchins.
Her heart may have been broken by love but it’s big enough to help those less fortunate than herself, and Nancy takes these unloved orphans in – but when one of them is accused of a serious crime, the neighbourhood turns against her.
The colder the cruel grip of winter grows, the more mouths she finds herself having to feed. Can Nancy’s good heart and strength bring them all through?
*And don’t miss the sixth and final book in The Rockwood Chronicles – Dolly’s Dream – available to pre-order now!*
Book Five of The Rockwood Chronicles
MY THOUGHTS:
This fifth outing in Rockwood sees us travel to Gibraltar for a short time with none of them seeming to remain in one place. Only the first book remained in Devonshire (and maybe Cornwall as well) but the second and third took in France, the fourth was Barbados and this one Gibraltar! They sure do get around. But having said that, this one does have a touch of Lindsey Hutchinson to it which will enthrall those fans, I'm sure.
Once again, Nancy Greystone (formerly Sunday) takes centre stage and shines brilliantly. The story picks up quite literally where the last one left off...and I do mean "literally". Nancy is still at Dorrington Park with Freddie having just proposed and she having just faced off with Lady Dorrington. Next hurdle, Lord Dorrington. And he has some reservations to the nuptials but, after some convincing, agrees but with one stipulation that is non-negotiable. Nancy must take up residence in her ancestral home of Greystone Park and run it as its mistress successfully for one whole year. After which he will grant the couple his blessing.
Nancy is speechless. Although she is the legal owner of Greystone Park she had no intention of living there but if she wishes to marry Freddie then she must agree to Lord Dorrington's condition. She feels sure that Bertie, her legal guardian, will give them his blessing but they are both shocked to discover that he agreed with Lord Dorrington, as strange a request as it was. Nancy is angered that Freddie didn't stand up to either Bertie or his father and is convinced he mustn't really love her if he isn't prepared to fight for her.
So Nancy takes up residence at Greystone Park, much to the annoyance of her cousin Christina Cottingham who believes the estate to be her birthright despite being mistress of Cottingham Manor now. She isn't used to being mistress and is grateful for the help of her faithful servants who assist her in both etiquette and expectations. It isn't long before she gains their loyalty and trust and soon Greystone Park begins to shine again.
Then Aurelia Blanchard arrives unannounced from Cornwall and convinces Nancy to a trip to London but abandons her to make her own way to the station. Unfortunately, Nancy is kidnapped by a gang of street urchins who believe her to be a lady of means and therefore a way ti feed themselves. What they don't realise is that Nancy has no money on her which is why she was walking through the unknown streets of London alone. But instead of reporting them to the police, she takes them in, clothes them,, feeds them and pays for their passage back to Devonshire with her where she will become their guardian and hopefully give them the start in life she was lucky enough to be given by Rosalind Blanchard when she was a child. Of course, everyone thinks she has lost her mind and queries what she must be thinking taking in street urchins who will surely pilfer the silver when she isn't looking.
In all of this, Freddie is conspicuously absent. But then Lord Dorrington did request that they not see each other for the entire year Nancy made a success of becoming mistress of Greystone Park. However, the one time she did call on him for help, she was livid that he seemed to care more for business affairs than her! This annoyed me. Throughout all last book and the beginning of this one, Nancy stipulated that she would not marry Freddie unless both his parents gave their blessing as she did not want to come between his family. She also understood that he was heir to a vast estate and viscountcy and that he had responsibilities that would become his in the place of his father when the time came. Well, now he was stepping up to those responsibilities as his father took ill and she's complaining about it! Not only that, she complains he doesn't seem to have time for her anymore and cares more for the business and the estate than for her. If he really wanted to, he could make the time to see her. She's the one who told him to return to Dorrington Park! She's the one who told him to take up his place as heir to the estate and wait the year out for his father to give his blessing. And now she complains?
But that was my only complaint in all fairness. Well, except for how things ended up. It wasn't what I thought or was expecting or anything. The nuptials was just too weird in my opinion. But that aside, it was still one of the best books in the series with that touch of Lindsey Hutchinson when Nancy took a dozen street urchins under her wing and took them back to Greystone Park.
And so with one more book in this series left "Dolly's Dream" I look forward to reading Dolly's story as she grows into a woman from the child we've seen of her thus far.
Another delightful read.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Dilly Court grew up in North-east London and began her career in television, writing scripts for commercials. She is married with two grown-up children and four grandchildren, and now lives in Dorset on the beautiful Jurassic Coast with her husband. She is the author of eighteen novels and also writes under the name of Lily Baxter.
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