Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Barb reviews A Single Step by Georgia Rose

Today we have a review from Team member Barb, she blogs at http://barbtaub.com/

Barb chose to read and review A Single Step by Georgia Rose.

Here is her review.

“Oh, no,” I thought when I saw the quote from Jane Eyre at the beginning of A Single Step, Georgia Rose’s first book of The Grayson Trilogy. Despite (or perhaps because of?) my appreciation for all things Austen, this particular Brontë oeuvre has always been my least favourite. I braced myself for yet another gothic— orphaned young heroine, gloomy mansion complete with turrets, sinister servants, family members who’ve met with untimely deaths, mysteriously significant piece of jewellery, foreboding weather that mirrors the frightening events.

 

Thank you Ms. Rose for proving me wrong. Her version of gothic does indeed involve an orphaned heroine, the grieving Emma Grayson. But from that point on, Georgia Rose grabs hold of the gothic genre with both hands and makes it her own. Emma, though deeply damaged by the loss of her child and subsequent meltdown of her marriage, has a quiet inner strength that lets her rebuild her life on her own terms. She accepts a job managing the stables on an aristocratic estate, where she is soon fending off romantic offers from co-workers, and orders from her supervisor, the enigmatic Trent.

 

I don’t hesitate to give A Single Step five stars out of five. While I’m not normally a fan of careful, deliberate pacing, in this book it lets readers get to know Emma, peeling back the protective layers she’s built around her wounds. We get a picture of her quietly stubborn strength. And—this part is the most fun for an American like me—we get to see it play out in that most British of settings, the estate plus neighbouring village and pub. Yes, there are a few points that were unresolved, such as who actually slipped the advert for the new job under Emma’s door. But those are the kind of loose ends that the remaining books of the series will undoubtedly address. For now, A Single Step is the perfect first volume. Its story arc is resolved completely satisfactorily, while there are still questions that will demand answers in those next volumes.

 

If you like carefully paced, well-plotted stories which showcase the development and growth of characters, plus an irresistible glimpse into a world that most Americans would never see, I recommend A Single Step. Your only problem will be waiting.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com