Thanks for visiting my blog! I’m reviewing Lost in Darkness by Michelle Griep today. It’s a standalone Regency novel with elements of mystery, suspense, and romance — all with roots in the classic story Frankenstein!
Even if there be monsters, there is none so fierce as that which resides in man’s own heart.
Enchanting Regency-Era Gothic Romance Intertwined with Inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Travel writer Amelia Balfour’s dream of touring Egypt is halted when she receives news of a revolutionary new surgery for her grotesquely disfigured brother. This could change everything, and it does. . .in the worst possible way.
Surgeon Graham Lambert has suspicions about the doctor he’s gone into practice with, but he can’t stop him from operating on Amelia’s brother. Will he be too late to prevent the man’s death? Or to reveal his true feelings for Amelia before she sails to Cairo?
Lost in Darkness is an intriguing Gothic mystery and romance with elements of the classic Frankenstein and an atmospheric Dickensian feel. Fans of Jaime Jo Wright will enjoy this one!
I LOVE the relationship between Amelia and her brother, whose POV we readers also have. He helps to shape the themes of the story and draw out how identity deeply important yet not tied to physical appearance.
The romance develops nicely. Graham is so completely gone over Amelia at a certain point, it’s very sweet. Their relationship is the quiet, supportive complimentary kind I appreciate — especially in a historical novel.
I felt the pacing of this book didn’t match my expectation. While it held my interest and continued to develop, I read it at an unusually slow pace. It could have totally been my reading mood, though, which made me like this one less. I also didn’t care for the resolution of a key part of the story conflict — I wanted a slightly more hopeful conclusion to one of the story threads.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy. This is my honest review.
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