Rosie Goodwin (1)

Received from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

Well I'll say it for this book: it's packed full of more soap-opera story lines than you can shake a stick at. Deaths, suicide, lesbianism, romance, brothels, murder, rape, slave labour, extortion......to name but a few.

Maryann finds her family falling apart when her mother dies in childbirth, with some coping better than others. She works down the mill with her father, until circumstances find her out of a job. "Luckily" she has come to the attention of the mill owner, who hires her as the new nanny for his disabled child (reminisces of The Secret Garden, with added heart defects). She is immediately in conflict with Marshall's sister, who resents her niece and keeps her drugged and tied to the bed - not quite having the nerve to kill the child.

Marshall falls in love with Maryann long before she admits to loving him. There is much to be gone through in the big house, as well as down in the town, where Toby fails to grasp the fact that Maryann is slipping away from him due to his inaction. Meanwhile Toby has his own problems with his younger brother, which results in something deadly for one of them.

The plotting was good, it was well written, and gave a good indication of what life might have been like for those living hand to mouth in cramped conditions, whilst facing a future working in the mill, the pits, on the streets or in the workhouse.

However, I came through it feeling *exhausted*. There is so much packed into this book, it did feel like a soap opera, and it did beg the question of whether some of the sub plot lines could have been dropped.

In the end: good, clean romance, with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader paying attention… (mer)

The Little Angel by Rosie Goodwin is the second book in Days of the Week series. The story begins in December of 1896 in the village of Nuneaton. Sunday Branning and her husband, Tom run Treetops Children’s Home. One day there is a knock on the door and when they open the door they find a baby girl on the doorstep. There is a note with the child who is named Kitty along with money for her care. Sunday, who is unable to have children of her own, is instantly taken with Kitty and grows to love her more each day. When Kitty turns seventeen, Miss Phyllis Fox arrives. Miss Fox is there on behalf of Kitty’s mother, Ruby Darling who wishes Kitty to join her in London. Kitty desires to know her birth mother and departs for London the next day. Ruby Darling is a singer who works the theater, but, as she gets older, there are fewer opportunities for her. Kitty has an angelic singing voice and Ruby starts grooming her for a stage career. Kitty is not wise to the ways of the world and she needs to be careful whom she trusts. Not everyone in Kitty’s life has her best interests at heart. Discover what happens to Kitty in The Little Angel.

I did not read the first book in Days of the Week series, and I did not feel like I was missing anything. I was able to enjoy The Little Angel without any difficulties. The Little Angel is nicely written and has a gentle pace. The cover is just lovely. I found The Little Angel to be an interesting story. I kept reading to find out what would happen to Kitty. I did find myself yelling at my Kindle on occasion telling Kitty to wise up. One of the themes in the book is to learn from our mistakes. We all make errors in judgement, but we need to learn from them and do better in the future. The Little Angel is an emotional story with some heartbreaking scenes. The Little Angel takes the reader full circle with the ending. It was lovely stepping back in time with The Little Angel.… (mer)

I found this an undemanding read, despite the abuse suffered by the heroine, Grace, as she did not seem a particularly credible character. At times terribly naive and unbelievably good, she seemingly gave into temptation easily and with little soul-searching, despite extensive bible studies.
The romance element was rather perfunctory and wrapped up very quickly: in fact very little space was given over to the man Grace loved so he lacked any depth.
Many of the secondary characters were more interesting people, Grace's Aunt Gertie and an elderly neighbour especially.
The story was written in simple language and both narrative and dialogue were liberally sprinkled with hackneyed phrases but the story rattled on at a good pace and was engaging throughout.… (mer)