A Novel of Victorian Romantic Suspense - Sea of Secrets

I have been really frustrated with the current crop of historical romances so I went "old school" and reread a Victoria Holt book which led to a recommendation to try Sea of Secrets. I'm so glad I followed that recommendation as I thought it was really quite good.

It was wonderfully written and I was kept guessing throughout the book and I loved that I had to second- and third-guess myself as the plot twisted. I appreciated that the hero (or maybe that's heroes) was non-traditional and that all the characters grew or changed or revealed bit of themselves as the story progressed. Heck, I'm just glad there was a coherent story instead of tired plot devices tossed in among the sex. But there is much more to recommend this satisfying mystery romance.

The story line was predictable and the main character was very unlikable. Overall the writing was below average, and frankly I don't know why I even finished it. I've read this authors books before and thought she wrote better than this...but this was bad, don't waste your time.

I would describe this book as a mix between Hamlet and Jane Eyre. There was not really any romance in the book, at least not enough to be called a "gothic romance." The most you get are a few embraces and stolen kisses. The mystery was enough to keep me reading it until the very end because I wanted to know who the murderer was. However I kept waiting for the romance...it just never went there and it was disappointing to me.

While it was well written and detailed descriptions of the time were good the idea that the step father tried to kill his wife's son and it all gets glossed over was just plain unbelievable. I liked the main character and am glad for her happy ending but the central plot ending was dumb

Wow, what a find. An absolute pleasure to read. I got this book purely on the cover. It reminded me of of an old Victoria Holt novel cover I saw at a second hand book store. I love a well written gothic in the twentieth century updated mold written by Mary Stewart, Jane and Joan Aiken, Dorothy Eden or du Maurier. Very few authors can write a good gothic novel. Now I have to check out her other novels.

The story is told from the perspective of the heroine -Oriel Pembroke, a young woman plagued with a selfish but loving brother and an irascible father. After her brother's death in the Crimean war, her father cruelly disowns her. What's a single young woman of marriageable age, cast out by her iron handed, merciless father to do? Well, so glad you asked. Oriel is intelligent, unusually well educated in the Classics, a reasonable seamstress and very resourceful. She finds a way. She meets her mother's step sister-the Duchess of Ellsworth and manages to get away from her vicious father. Or does she...

This book is so worth the time and is well written, plotting is cohesive and consistent. The author has knowledge of the fashion and customs of the time frame within which she embedded this novel. 5 stars, without hesitation.

After reading the Ash Grove Chronicles I expected nothing less but an excellent story from Sea of Secrets and I was pleasantly surprised because this story was very different from the Ash Grove Chronicles. Sea of Secrets begins with the death of Oriel's dear brother Leonin, and her stressful relationship with her horrible father, who is constantly demeaning her and inducing fear in his own daughter. Oriel's father disowns her and as a last resort she contacts her mother's side of the family, people her father has never mentioned and who she has never met before. What Oriel doesn't know is that there are more links between her mother's side and her father than she could ever imagine.

I sympathised with Oriel, because she has never been loved and it was such a pleasant change to see her mother's family dote on her and for her to fall in love with the Duke. Oriel's father was so cruel and I was horrified to see him return to ruin the little happiness Oriel had finally found.

Overall, the characters were excellently described and all felt so real. The story is full of secrets, just as the title suggests and I liked the dark feel the story takes.

**I received a free ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

Favourite quotes

"You may be proud that he died a hero's death," intoned Abel Crowley, one of my father's colleagues.
"Indeed, a bullet in the head at twenty-three is far more gratifying than pneumonia at seventy," returned Father, and Crowley, a man not highly attuned to sarcasm, nodded sagely and clapped my father on the back before ambling away.

But it was left to Mrs. Armadale from down the street to make the most foolish attempt to console my father for his loss.
"At least you still have your daughter," she said.
Father stiffened. I kept my eyes lowered, but I could sense the withering glance he directed at me.
"Madam," said Father, in his deep, solemn voice, "you cannot imagine how that fact has cheered me."

"So I have succeeded in teaching you something," he said, his voice almost purring in its deep contentment. "You have inherited something from me after all- the capacity for hate. That will be your legacy."

He stood at the foot of the grave, gloved hands clasped behind him, his dark clothes and hair blending into one black silhouette, as if he were not a presence but an absence, a hole cut out of the landscape.

"Then why shouldn't it be a sin to turn my back on a world that's been left to chaos?" he demanded in triumph. "There can be no sin where there is no deity to sin against. And if there is a God, He can only be my enemy now. Why should I then hesitate to enact the justice that He fails to administer, or to end my own life if I feel it has no further purpose?"

She made no move. Anxious, I put my arm around her shoulders. "He is not lost to you forever, I am sure: in time he will come back to us, out of this prison he has made for himself."
She raised her head at that, and I was shocked anew at the weary hopelessness of her eyes, the tired lies that leapt into sudden relief. "It may be so," she said tonelessly. "But it may be that this prison is stronger than time- or love."

I could see the scene as if it were unfolding before me now: Herron, gazing down at me with love rekindled in his eyes; the duchess and Lord Claude, smiling in their delight; my father, confounded for once, looking as if he had swallowed a bad oyster...

"You gave me a start, daughter," he said almost gaily. "I never expected you to be here. I thought you would be deep asleep, sunk in a laudanum-induced stupor. What a nuisance you are. Can't you do anything I want of you?"
"What are you doing?"
"Killing young Herron. He takes a great deal of killing, this lad. I'm losing count of the times his uncle and I have tried."

I began to laugh, lying there half in and half out of the water, drenched and half-drowned. I had thrown myself into the arms of the sea, and it had thrown me back.

"Oh, I could; but in any case, acting as you did- to save another life- that is not murder. You are no more capable of cold-blooded, deliberate murder than...than Claude. There is some situation in which everyone will kill, whether it is to save her own life or that of someone she loves. That does not make her a killer by nature, or mean that, having destroyed one, she will ever do so again."

"How can you be so sure?" I could not help asking it, even though I did not want to find fault with her kindness. "How can any of us really be certain we know what those around us a capable of?"
She rose to her feet and shook out her gown. "Sometimes we cannot, dear, but often our hearts tell us enough. In any case, we cannot depend on absolute certainty; sometimes we must take people on faith, and trust them even if we risk being hurt."

Sea of Secrets by Amanda DeWees

Rating 5*****

This book was provided by the author in exchange for honest literary review.

Everything about this novel is just amazing. It takes you on a trip through time were women still wore ball gowns and men knew what chivalry meant. Blending the rich details aristocrat life with betrayal, deception and murder made for a novel I couldn't get enough of.
Oriel is disowned by her father after the death of her brother. While digging around in he family bible, she learns she has powerful family ?. She then sets out to befriend the dutchess and hope for a station in her home. Dutchess Gwen does so much more for her long lost niece, she takes her in and makes her family.
Once she arrives at the Duke's beautiful estate, she learns that nothing is as it may seem. While their is every luxury known to man, the walls hold secrets....some of those that can cost lives. Oriel starts a journey of blossoming into womanhood. Never has she been free to live and experience life and suitors. Maybe even find a husband!
From the start there is strange happenings and a sense of foreboding. The author does such an awesome job of developing this plot. From the first pager it just draws the reader in. Each page is Better than the on before it!
The characters are real and have depth. Some of them I loved, some I seriously couldn't stand. That is a mark of a good author though. I am not usually a romance fan unless it Jas a paranormal factor, but The hint of a ghost story was just am added bonus to this story. Overall it is a recommended read for ages 16+ . This is one of those books you keep on the frequently read shelf, and reread it from time to time. Go get your copy today!!!!!

My review for Sea of Secrets written by Amanda DeWees

I was given this book as a gift in exchange for an honest review.
I was immediately captured and sucked into this 1800s gothic novel centered on young Oriel Pembroke. The loss and sadness she experienced at such a young age is tragic and unimaginable. She loses her brother to the war and shortly after is abandoned by her father who was her sole provider at the time. Just when she thought all hope was loss, she finds herself at the estate of where her mother had passed away.
The book is full of mystery and intrigue as to uncovering her family's true history. The writing in this book is beyond superb and elite. I appreciate every colorful word that assisted in me seeing the world Amanda created. Amanda has definitely taken the time needed to build every character to the standard required to assist the reader in identifying the antagonist and protagonist, as well as allowing us to bond with the primary character.
The usage of dialogue was on point. Amanda is obviously very good at what she does and it was a joy to read her novel. I recommend this book for all enthusiast of period gothic novels. A+ in book.

Mihelle Hunter
Waar

This book is about Oriel Pembroke who has just recently lost her beloved brother, in the Crimean War. He had been the joy in her life, and the buffer between her and the father who hated her. Then as if loosing her brother was not enough her father disowns her(though maybe that may have not been so bad) but in the process leaves her with nothing. But Oriel is a smart young lady, and does some investigation learns she has some family on her mothers side. She then appeals to her aunt to see if she knows of anyone needing a governess. Things take a turn for the better as her aunt decides she should come home with her. Her aunt's family welcomes her with open arms. Oriel is a little overwhelmed with being treated so nicely, as well as receiving gifts. But there are many secrets at her aunts home, and rapidly Oriel finds herself caught up in them. But things work out and Oriel finds love with someone maybe I did not suspect she would but it was a pleasant surprise. Praise to Amanda DeWees on such a lovely, well written story. She will now be an author I will be keeping up with, as she has won me over.

Warning: do not start reading this book late at night! You won't be able to tear yourself away, and the next thing you know, there's sunlight peeping through the curtains... Yes, I speak from experience :)

A great Gothic needs four things to succeed: a likeable, smart narrator, a brooding, fascinating love interest, a plot full of twists and turns and plenty of spooky atmosphere. "Sea of Secrets" delivers all these in spades. I won't say much about the plot for fear of accidentally revealing too much, but rest assured that "Sea of Secrets" will lure you in -- I rarely say a book is impossible to put down, but this one truly is. DeWees' writing is lyrical and compelling, the characters (even incidental characters) are well-fleshed out and realistic, and the story is riveting.

Whether you're a fan of the 1960s-1970s Gothics who'd long since given up on finding new books in the genre, a reader of historical romance looking for something historically accurate but different from the usual wallpaper Regency, or just someone who loved "Jane Eyre" and would like to meet another wry, sympathetic first-person narrator, you can't go wrong with "Sea of Secrets."

Once I started reading this, I got hooked. Very hooked. This book has so much going for it: Romance, historical setting, mystery, murder, a little touch of Gothic, and of course scandal!
I won't ruin anything for you. So I will tell you my thoughts.
I loved how the Duchess could overcome and stay calm in all the situations. Amazing.
Oriel, she was tougher, smarter, and prettier than she thought
Herron: learned a lot at the end and made peace with everyone.
Oriel's father: got what he deserved.
Claude: weak, but loving
Charles: strong, quiet and dependable
The story is well written and will draw the reader in.
A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher for an honest review

I read this over the space of an afternoon/evening. I was that into it I couldn't put it down!
The writing style perfectly matches the setting of the book; archaic but not off-putting, the author knows and has used all the correct phrases and sayings for the time period, it's a ravishing read.
Had me guessing right up until the end, which is a great thing to manage to do cos I've normally figured it out about half way through.
Very easy to identify with Oriel and I did quite like the impression made of the duchess.
Thoroughly enjoyable read.
Five stars. x

I didn't expect to read such a wonderful historical novel. I felt as if I were actually one of the characters in this book. The intrigue, the romance, the suspense, all of this so well described. The description on the clothing, dining, Christmas exceptional. The ending was not what I expected and was a delightful surprise. I was disappointed when the story ended. I hope there will be a sequel someday. Thank you for such a great book.