When it comes to historical romance fiction, Roseanna M. White is one of my go-to authors. The romances are never cheesy or too fast, the characters are loveable and the history is very well researched. You feel like you're transported back in time. Such was the case with this book/series. An Hour Unspent is book 3 in the Shadows Over England series, but the story holds its own. This series takes place during WWI, which is a time period I don't often see in historical fiction. It's interesting to think of a time when cars were uncommon, planes couldn't cross the English Channel, and wristwatches were a new design. In this book, we meet (or see at a deeper level if you've read the other books in the series) Barclay Pearce, one of London's best thieves. He's reforming his ways as he learns more about God as his Father. Having spent a majority of his years as an orphan, this is a foreign concept to him. It was interesting to see his growth in this area as the book progressed. Barclay is the leader of his "family", a group of 12 other orphans who have banded together, looked out for one another and become true family in the face of adversity. Barclay's latest assignment is to connect with the local clockmaker, who may have some designs on a device that could help sway the tide of the war. Before he has a chance to meet Mr. Manning himself, though, he has an interesting run-in with the man's daughter, Evelina Manning. The book alternates between Barclay's and Evelina's viewpoints, though the novel is solely in third person voice.
Some things I enjoyed about this book:
1. Evelina's not-so-subtle rebellions against an overbearing mother. Their interchanges had me literally laughing out loud at times. I could totally see myself doing the same thing in Evelina's shoes.
2. The character growth of all of the main characters. I loved seeing how they evolved as the story went on and considered things differently when circumstances dictated.
3. Learning about history - things such as German bombings in England through the use of zeppelins because their planes couldn't cross the Channel, the start of the Rolex brand and Daylight Savings Time (I always thought it was the farmers who started that!).
4. Learning some English vocabulary, such as "brolly". I already was aware of "pram" and "boot" (as in car trunk). I also found it amusing that any time there was a frustration, the character would say "Blast!". I think I need to start using that one!
5. Getting some additional closure from the last book. As well as seeing a good end to this particular story-line.
6. Having a mystery that took over much of the story so that the sole point of the book was not the romance aspect.
All in all, this was a great way to end the series! Next from this author is "Number of Love", which will be the first in the Codebreakers series. This will actually be a continuation of this series as well as it focuses on Margot De Wilde, a major character in "A Song Unheard" (book 2 of the Shadows Over England Series) and who made some appearances in this one as well. I look forward to learning more about her story in June of next year!
My review for An Hour Unspent is below!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2305015671
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