A complimentary review copy was provided to me.
I have been jumping between genres recently and this past week have been reading a piece of Edwardian fiction, in which I have been deeply engrossed - A Song Unheard by Roseanna M. White. A Song Unheard is the second book in the Shadows Over England series and is set primarily in Wales in 1914. This story is a stand alone story, but if you had a chance to read the first book in the series, A Name Unknown, this book offers a chance to catch a brief glimpse of those main characters, but more so, focused on the story of another member of the family.
Willa has a love for music, spending time catching practices of the symphony in London and playing on a well-loved violin. So when Mr. V offers a role that has her spending time with famed violinist Lukas De Wilde to locate a highly sought cypher key, she knows that she is the right person for the job. The author did a good job developing characters through the progression of the story, continuing to reveal things about some of the characters right up to the end of the story. Lukas is intrigued with Willa the moment he sees her on the street, assessing the building in ways similar to how he has seen his sister assess things. When he learns that she is a violin prodigy, he offers her lessons as a way to get to know her and spend more time with her. Willa is determined not to follow the path that Rosemary did and fall for her target, but she needs to spend time to get to know him to get close enough to locate and steal the cypher key.
Suspense and danger is woven throughout the story. We get the sense of the danger faced by Willa when she finds herself not alone on her quest and the ongoing danger faced by Lukas' family who is hiding out from the soldiers, even with one sharing the same house. When it seems that she will not succeed in completing the job and is caught in a place she shouldn't be, Willa confesses to Lukas and changes the dynamic between them. The story isn't over at that point though bringing more into the story as the danger intensifies and more secrets come out, making the story even that much more intriguing.
Through her vivid descriptions of the settings, both internal and external, the author is able to transport the reader to another time and place. Her story was so engaging that I found myself not wanting to put the book down, resulting in me yet again staying up later than I should simply so I can read a little more. The book had the perfect balance of danger, friendship and courtship, romance, mystery, deception, intrigue and faith.
I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
About the Book:
If Betraying Her Heart Means Saving Countless Lives, Will She Find the Courage?
Willa Forsythe is both a violin prodigy and top-notch thief, which makes her the perfect choice for a critical task at the outset of World War I--to secure a crucial cypher key from a famous violinist currently in Wales.
Lukas De Wilde has enjoyed the life of fame he's won--until now, when being recognized nearly gets him killed. Everyone wants the key to his father's work as a cryptologist. And Lukas fears that his mother and sister, who have vanished in the wake of the German invasion of Belgium, will pay the price. The only distraction he finds from his worry is in meeting the intriguing and talented Willa Forsythe.
But danger presses in from every side, and Willa knows what Lukas doesn't--that she must betray him and find that key, or her own family could pay the same price his surely has.
About The Author:
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award-nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she's homeschooling her two kids, designing book covers, editing, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books . . . to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.
No compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family. A complimentary review copy was provided to me.